If things get tougher?

ceridwen

I have a feeling I can foretell an email to Ecover coming on..........

Ermmm.....not being a technically-minded sort meself - ummm...what is this "food grade" plastic of which you speak? I tend to think the fact that the containers have held washing-up liquid wouldnt be a problem - as one obviously gets washing-up liquid residue basically on ones washed dishes ...

Gigervamp

Food grade plastic is different to other grades in that it's safe to store foodstuff in it. Other plastics will leach chemicals into the food.
You might be able to get some free containers from take-aways. Oils often come in large buckets with lids.


I've just had a look at the ingredients list for the washing up liquid. The perfume and preservative would be my biggest concern. I have cosmetic grade perfume oils for my soapmaking and they're pretty potent (can melt through plastic if spilled).
The MSDS (manufacturers safety data sheet) for the preservative is interesting, especially this bit:

[SIZE=+1] Environmental information [/SIZE]

• [SIZE=+1] Very damaging in the environment. Toxic to aquatic organisms.[/SIZE]

http://msds.chem.ox.ac.uk/BR/2-bromo-2-nitro-1,3-propanediol.html
when on the ecover site they state this

minimum impact on aquatic life

Obviously, the preservative is used in a very small amount (usually in the region of 0.5-1.5%) and the MSDS is for the undiluted preservative, but I definitely wouldn't use those bottles for storing potable water.


Sorry for the rather long post, but having done a lot of research for my soapmaking (and making bath & body products), this is a subject I know a little about! :rotfl:

ceridwen

Oh well.....that was that great idea then......shucks! Thanks for that.

Naughty...very naughty....of Ecover to make out they are environmentally-friendly - and then whammy.......one is left wondering by what you say about this...:mad:

Anyone know where to buy those "swisher" thingies then that one can put bits of soap in and swish them round in the washing-up water - instead of using washing-up liquid. I remember them - but dont know if anyone even uses them anymore.

moo2moo

Ceridwen - the thingie in question was a soap shaker http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=263706 and is currently harder to get hold of than rocking horse manure however a loose tea infuser like this http://www.greenherbcafe.com/PhotoGallery.asp?ProductCode=8160 does the job nicely but with itty bitty bits of soap.

Aril

Thanks for your post Charis. I too watched the Who do you think you are? last night and was moved by the abject poverty of Patsy Kensit's ancestors. I had family in Poplar who ended up dying in the dreaded Workhouse and it really is quite heartbreaking how they must have suffered. It puts everything sharply into perspective. I am currently reading my way through various titles regarding the Second World War partly from a thrifty point view to pick up tips and also to see how on earth they coped at what was such a stressful and uncertain time. It makes difficult reading sometimes eg 38000 children never went back to their families after they were evacuated but the thing that comes through time and time again is how supportive many were to each other [I'm not suggesting that people were perfect] and the resourcefulness people showed in adapting and using their skills just to cope with what were always changing and frightening times. As if oft quoted- " Necessity is the mother of all invention" and it is so true. It certainly gives me hope when I read so many of us sharing ideas and supporting one another positively through our current situation.
Aril

ceridwen

Hi Aril

...and I'm sure we'd all appreciate hearing any useful tips you pick up from your reading:T

Charis

Aril wrote: »

I had family in Poplar who ended up dying in the dreaded Workhouse and it really is quite heartbreaking how they must have suffered. It puts everything sharply into perspective.

My father tells me that my grandmother used to 'hide from the tally man' (payment collector) and that she was once reduced to breaking up her furniture to try and heat the room. Winters were so much colder then. She lost one child - every family seemed to lose at least one then. Family research has revealed one or more lost in each generation. Mind you, my maternal grandmother was one of 13 children and my maternal grandfather one of 19. That's 32 between 2 women :eek: Of course they didn't all survive.

I was appalled how much of a family's income went in rent. For the poorest only one eighth of their income was left for anything else.

I am currently reading my way through various titles regarding the Second World War partly from a thrifty point view to pick up tips and also to see how on earth they coped at what was such a stressful and uncertain time.

I was born five years after the end of the war, so heard lots of tales from my Nan, Aunt, Mum and Dad. They never wasted anything. Sugar used to come in a double bag and I can remember my mum taking the two bags apart to get to the few grains that slipped in between the two. Her catch phrase was 'It might come in useful' and, having been bombed out of the family home, she became a hoarder, to the point where our front room was unuseable because of her hoarded junk. She maintained it was cheaper to heat just the one room. So war affects the next generation too.

It makes difficult reading sometimes eg 38000 children never went back to their families after they were evacuated

I didn't know that. I did hear tales of how the local kids bullied the 'evacuees', many years after the war, from an ex evacuee. Some kids were used as farm labour.

but the thing that comes through time and time again is how supportive many were to each other [I'm not suggesting that people were perfect] and the resourcefulness people showed in adapting and using their skills just to cope with what were always changing and frightening times. As if oft quoted- " Necessity is the mother of all invention" and it is so true. It certainly gives me hope when I read so many of us sharing ideas and supporting one another positively through our current situation.
Aril

I think it is up to us few, who can see what will be possible in a post oil economy, to take the lead and start skill sharing with the next generation now. I've joined a local green group and hope to take the idea further. There's no point in waiting for some government plan to rescue us, they usually seem to lead in the opposite direction, to conflict and war, trying to preserve the status quo. How many of my children's generation can cook, sew, think for themselves? How many would have the first idea how to mend something? The current school system turns out people who are IT literate and image conscious but without any survival skills at all. Even my own children were not interested in learning when they were younger. It wasn't 'cool'. If I dare say 'Don't waste that, it might come in useful', they fall about laughing.

Sarahsaver

My dad said when he was little he had a pet rabbit and they had rabbit for christmas dinner once. He was born in 1915. As he got older he was taught by his father to catch things to eat. i don't think many people would do that now unless it came in a box with 'pizza' written on it! There's 'hard times' then there's REALLY hard times. I don't think we are in REALLY hard times.

Margaret54

Hi Sarahsaver, I totally agree with you there. These are not really hard times, and I wonder how many of us would be able to cope if they were to come about. I have heard some people over the years saying they were depressed as they had no mobile etc??????? and it would have been too much bother to walk over to a phonebox with some coins:) Honestly, it would be a real wake up call for so many I think. I feel when you have the mindset of make do and mend as so many on here have, it stands you in good stead. I have had comments to me about why are you squeezing the t/paste tube etc when you can buy another tube, and I was looked on as if i was on another planet.I am just being careful and it has been a life long habit of mine passed down from my Granny and Mother, but my dd(married now) would never dream of being like this, and would waste stuff, which I think is awful, but that is her way and her choice. Maybe one day, she will get a light bulbmoment too:) Bless her. I have been worrying about when my husband and I are older, about being able to stay warm, etc and we are only in our mid fifties. We are careful and we save and still enjoy treats and are comfortable fed and warm with no debt now at all, but still it can worry me. If we were to be in hard times in the future we have the skills of making do to hand, as he had a hard childhood too, with very little. It builds your character we both believe.

Gigervamp

Margaret54 wrote: »

I have heard some people over the years saying they were depressed as they had no mobile etc??????? and it would have been too much bother to walk over to a phonebox with some coins:)

lol, they'd probably have trouble finding a phonebox that takes coins now!