My war on waste!!!

GrannyKate

Ordinary rubbish wheelie has gone out tonight for the morning. Less than a third full with a fortnight's rubbish. Have already half filled my large cardboard/plastic recycling bin which has another week before it is emptied. Took some small oddments of hard plastic to tip which has a collection skip for this ie flower pots, toys, plastic furniture etc.

lillibet_dripping

YAY! Well done GrannyKate:j
When you really start paying attention to what you are throwing away, it makes such a difference!

I keep a (plastic:o) bucket under the sink which gets emptied when full. It's been there for about ten days now and is still only half full.

I also used to line it with carrier bags, but since the 5p charge has put paid to this I've discovered that it's really no trouble to wash it out. Another example of convenience over laziness.

Caterina

Have a look at this link, if you want to make smaller bags to use when buying produce:

http://mymakedoandmendlife.com/2015/11/20/how-to-make-cloth-bags-for-zero-waste-shopping/

Justamum

There's also this shopping bag. Same bag but better method of making it here.

lillibet_dripping

Puppy has just chewed up a flip-flop:eek:
Bits of foam rubber all over his bed! This will have to go in the general waste, non?:(

suki1964

Many moons ago I was attending a back fitness class and one of the things they advocated was the shopping trolley

The amount of strain you put on your joints carrying bags of any description can be crippling in later life

I can no longer carry a bag of any description for any length of time, not even a basket in a supermarket I have to use a trolley even if I'm just in getting two items

I live 6 miles from town with no bus service so I drive nowadays. When I lived in London I had a trolley and I used it for everything. I didn't care what people thought Was great for taking the washing to the launderette as well as doing the shop

We have had the 5p charge for bags for a few years now and use the JS big orange bags and the asda ones. For clothes we have a few m&s cloth bags

Luckily the butcher and baker can still give free bags, they come in handy for pack ups when hubby forgets his lunch box and I'm out of bread bags. Guy he works with often turns up with his lunch in a bin bag lol

My wheelie is still empty. I have a small under sink bin in the kitchen and that's still not full from last weeks collection. It's containing mostly outer plastic which isn't recyclable. However once again the recycling wheelie is nearly full, which to my mind means I'm still buying too much pre packed stuff and I need to think more on how to reduce it. Unfortunately shopping in lidl does mean everything is packaged - no deli - no loose produce. Then I'm sort of caught because if I go to a deli it's one of the big four who's pockets I don't really want to line and if I do I'm going to be getting a product that has a zillion air miles ( lidl iE stock Irish meat, veg, dairy,bread etc).

Perhaps I'm going to have to rent the back field and get a cow so can get loose milk and make my own cheese

maryb

Suki, I have that dilemma too. We do have a street market once a week where I buy veg and eggs where I take back the old egg boxes to refill. I was just thinking today at least sugar flour and porridge come in paper bags still

suki1964

maryb wrote: »

Suki, I have that dilemma too. We do have a street market once a week where I buy veg and eggs where I take back the old egg boxes to refill. I was just thinking today at least sugar flour and porridge come in paper bags still

I have hens so they don't need egg boxes, I took an empty egg tray from work

My recycling bin is mostly milk and drink cartons/bottles plus wrappers from cheese. veg etc

I have a multi fuel stove so tissues, loo roll inners etc get burned

Actually all paper products get burned


food is eaten, given to the dog or chickens and only that they dont eat is composted

yet I still fill a wheelie every two weeks

purpleivy

lillibet_dripping wrote: »

117 views AND NOT A SINGLE IDEA! Old Stylers, step up to the plate.....

That was a bit harsh, most people would still have been getting in from work and getting their oldstyle meal on, changing into their second best clothes and putting the kids to bed!

purpleivy

clickerty-click wrote: »

Well done OP for taking the initiative, our food is vastly over packaged. One of my personal gripes is when you buy a pack of 4 yogurts that are then wrapped up in an unnecessary cardboard sleeve. I don't think I would have the bottle to take my own tub to the supermarket to be filled but I have seen someone turn up at my local takeaway with their own and the lady behind the counter didn't bat an eyelid so that must be something they do on a regular basis.

We expect that in spite of high turnovers and careless customers, that our food will be presented to us in good condition. Cardboard sleeve may appear to you to be unnecessary, but it does protect the foils from ppuncture and absorbs some of the impact if the pack is dropped.