My war on waste!!!

GreyQueen

I still use cloth hankies and sides-to-middle my bedsheets. Heck, I'm even using a sides-to-middled terrycloth tea-towel. Well, the middle was wearing thin whereas the sides were perfectly good, seemed a bit of a shame to rag it.:rotfl:

My refuse bin is one of those black flower tubs with a carrier bag inside it and is presently one-third full after a fortnight. As I empty it out so seldom, anything which might get a bit stinky, like the plastic wrapper off the gammon joint, gets washed up first. The carrier bag sentenced to binlining duties will be one which has had a hard life and suffered some injury such as a torn handle or rip in the bag itself (quick mend with selloptape and it's perfectly fit for purpose).

On the subject of not being wasteful, I trust no one is wasting electricity or personal energy ironing anything which could be left un-ironed? These things are important.

Anyone got suggestions for the net my YS satsumas came in today?

meritaten

is it plastic or the cottony one? the plastic ones can be saved, til you have a few, cut off the metal bit and sort of ball them up to make a useful pan scourer. the cottony ones I haven't quite found a good use for yet - but, they are recyclable in composter!

lillibet_dripping

Oh yes, real hankies are next on my list!! Preferably dabbed with lavender water!!
GQ - it was you and your teabags that alerted me to the fact that the paper in the bags takes ages to rot down. I am growing to love the 'ritual' that tea making now involves.

How many of you will join me in taking your own containers to the deli counter instead of buying pre-packaged?

lillibet_dripping

GQ - what is this 'ironing' of which you speak?

lillibet_dripping

Actually, GQ, I was thinking of you yesterday morning..... Radio 4 on Saturday morning were asking listeners to call in with their 'unknow claim to fame'. I immediately thought of you and your Country Living blanket!!!

juno

This isn't a "war on waste". This is a pathetic attempt to feel good that actually achieves nothing. It's "slactivism", to borrow a stupid word.

lillibet_dripping wrote: »

PUT THE BAG BACK ON THE SHELF.

And what does that achieve? Nobody else will use that bag. The shop assistants will probably have to clean it up and put it in their general waste bin.

lillibet_dripping wrote: »

Celery couldn't be bought loose, so at the till, I opened the packet, put the celery in my basket and GAVE THE PACKET BACK TO THE CASHIER. 'I don't want any packaging, thankyou' I said. Her face was a picture!!

No, the cashier would have been more concerned about when her break was. She couldn't care less about your silly antics. You just want to make a nice story. But to her, you're mildly more interesting than most transactions, but still behind the person who made a fuss about not being able to use a coupon after the expiry date. You didn't dance or throw things or take your clothes off so really, you're nothing to her.
And the celery bag went in the general waste.

You haven't changed the world, or even celery packaging. It didn't even get recycled.

lillibet_dripping wrote: »

I bought some loose ham from the deli counter. I asked the girl to put the ham in my lock n' lock box because I DIDN'T WANT ANY PACKAGING. 'I bet you've never been asked to that before', says I!!!

Exactly, you had to ask. Because, again, it's nothing to her. And to weigh it correctly and follow food hygiene procedures she will have still used plastic, which again just went in the general waste!

lillibet_dripping wrote: »

I left the milk on the shelf, as I have signed up with my local milkman who delivers milk in glass bottles. WASH AND RECYCLE. Plus, it keeps my milkman in work.

Most people don't have a milkman, so that's probably more effort - it's hardly good for the environment for them just to visit you.

So yeah, well done with your "zero waste challenge"! The rubbish just went in someone else's bin, not yours. That really showed them.

Justamum

meritaten wrote: »

anyone remember 'string bags'? like a 'string vest' they sort of stretched moulded to accommodate your shopping

You can still get them in a few places http://www.greentradingcompany.co.uk/turtle-bags.php

http://www.organic-ally.co.uk/26080.html

pigpen

lillibet_dripping wrote: »

Hello pigpen!
I've lost count of the number of nights I've spent trying to catch mice that are running around my bedroom because the cat has presented them to me alive!!

My next step in this challenge is to wean myself off of the supermarket and get to know my local shopkeepers. The biggest problem where I live is b****y parking. We have two excellent butchers in the town, plus bakers and greengrocers but parking is dire. That's where the supermarkets win hands down - and don't they know it.......

I'm really lucky to have a fabulous shopping street within 2 minutes walk. 2 nice butchers, lots of lovely greengrocers and a bunch of every other kind of shops.. some nice Polish shops about which do different cuts and are very good value for money. We have several Asian shops too which stock very cheap fruits and spices and rices.


Problem with walking distance shops is I cannot carry any of it so I have to send OH and he comes back with all manner of stuff.

thriftwizard

Aargh! Lost a great big long reply... The gist of it was, I make string bags! If you're on Ravelry, search for "garden twine string bag" and mine should come up. They're as tough as old boots.

And hankies, of course, are part of my stock-in-trade. You can't get more "vintage" than a pretty hanky - or real tea, in a pot, with pretty china. I'm afraid I keep all the best hankies for myself...

Caterina

I try to use as little packaging as possible, failing miserably a lot of the time, but meaning to improve as I go along. Recycling is second nature and I do not have a food rubbish bin as any food leftovers (very little, mainly inedible plant parts and teabags) go to the compost bin in the garden.

I also try to buy less packaged stuff, especially plastic. Also failing miserably on this account but aiming to improve, to find better, "naked" alternatives.

However I have discovered with great dismay (I put a separate post up about this) that my local milk delivery company, Dairy Crest, are planning to discontinue glass bottles in 2016 and move to all plastic.:mad:

Sometimes it feels like a never ending uphill struggle!