Vegan Living & Ethical Buying

KxMx

Very true. I've gotten through so many bottles of spray cleaner throughout lockdown I've plenty of empties! 

I found a great small business called smol:
https://smolproducts.com

They do laundry and dishwasher capsules, 100% plastic free.
I signed up for a trial of the laundry and was so impressed I'm now a regular customer. 
They even sent me as a trial, free of charge a gadget to make opening the package easier, developed because they understand some with dexterity problems find the packaging difficult. 

KxMx

I've found out both shops I wanted to get refills from will be offering them  

So SESI washing up liquid from one shop, and all purpose cleaner from another. I tried E Cover from the first shop and didn't like it at all.

So happy to get refills again and I'll be able to get local eggs as well! 

[Deleted User]

Glad you got the refills sorted KxMx! 
My hotbin composter arrived and is now up to temperature! 🙌 I've started shredding all my old paperwork and letters so they are no longer going to the recycling 😊 
Veggies are coming on nicely- I should have salad leaves to harvest in the next couple of weeks and some radishes so I'm very excited about that - rock and roll lifestyle I lead! 😂 
Lack of work travel means that my petrol tank has been full for weeks, other than dropping some stuff off to my dd, I have only been out in my car on 3 occasions since lockdown began! I'm going to save the cash to boost the house funds 😉

greenbee

I find the hotbin requires quite a bit of TLC - particularly getting it enough 'brown' waste. I spent a lot of time tearing up cardboard for it. And am going to have to start shredding the hedge clippings/prunings etc to provide some bulk. I'm getting far too much liquid from mine, which suggests that it is too wet, and it is getting through the waste at a rate of knots and I keep having to top it up! 

I need to sow more radishes and lettuces - the first lot have been fabulous. And like you, I've hardly used the car, but I will need to fill up the petrol cans for the mower (although I saved on that by doing 'no mow May' to encourage wildflowers for the insects, and have left large parts of the garden unmowed with paths through them for June, which I'm tempted to keep until August. The wildflowers are lovely, and the long grass, flowers and paths look great). 

savvy

Been a while posting in here..........because I'm now growing veg!! Who knew I would end up doing that hey But still a baptism of fire, it's definitely not a strong skill of mine - especially in lockdown when you can't get what you need arrrgg!

Nonnadiluca

Greenbee, one thing I do to help the green/brown ratio is to wrap veg peelings in newspaper, makes it easy to carry out to the bin too. 

greenbee

Nonnadiluca said:

Greenbee, one thing I do to help the green/brown ratio is to wrap veg peelings in newspaper, makes it easy to carry out to the bin too. 

But that would mean I have to buy newspapers 🤣 Also any paper or card going into the hot in has to be shredded to avoid blocking the airflow and lowering the temperature. It’s quite high maintenance as it gets through so much stuff so quickly it needs regular topping up (in the right proportions) and stirring. 

Nonnadiluca

I use free newspapers, I wouldn't actually buy one!!!!!

greenbee

We don't get them - so nothing like that comes into the house. I do have a nice pile of damp cardboard outside which will be sorted out - bit bits into the compost, small bits stored in the greenhouse with shredded paper for the hotbin.

[Deleted User]

The garden sounds lovely greenbee! 😊 I have a 'woodland' bit in mine where I leave the grass a bit longer - no wildflowers though as the trees make it quite shady but I love it! 
I also am finding that the hotbin needs a lot - once the veg gets going properly I'm sure that we'll have enough to feed it but it's a bit of a struggle at the moment 🙈 thankfully, I have access to plenty of shredded paper but am lacking in green stuff - I'm really pleased that I bought the mini version! 😂 
Savvy, welcome to the world of growing your own! 😊 I'm really looking forward to eating my first crops (if they work! 😉) 
My breadmaker arrives today! 🙌 I'm very happy about that - I haven't been able to get one since my last one broke recently and I've had to buy bread, I've really missed the fresh smell and taste of hm 😔 If I didn’t have a brain like a sieve I could have been eating my 'no knead' stuff but it needs about 8 hours and I keep forgetting to put some on!!  I've also missed being able to make pizza - I'm really looking forward to summer when other than the flour and nuts or seeds for the cheese, the whole thing will be from my own produce! 😊 
I've currently got the kids saving all of the jars they use so that I am prepared for preserving - I thought I had more than I do so got into a bit of a panic when my 'stash' turned out to be tiny! Thankfully I still have time on my side though and if our office reopens, I'll ask my colleagues to save them for me too - only one of them does any preserving but she has a large family so is never short of jars!