A Simpler Life 2018

VJsmum

lessonlearned wrote: »

I am to be a first time Grandmother this year. My son, DIL and I have all agreed we will not be buying their baby lots of plastic tat. Quality rather than quantity. In fact I shall be opening a savings account for said grandchild rather than buying loads of presents.

My mum did this for my two, and for many years I put birthday and Christmas monies in there. For complicated reasons they haven't been able to access them until now when they are 21 and 18 but they are about to get £900 and £700 respectively which has made them very happy

Well_Preserved wrote: »

I have a wormery, so I empty the contents of DH’s teabags in there. It still means the empty bags go in the household rubbish but the best I can do unless I can persuade him to go back to loose tea. I can do the same with my coffee grounds. As I only drink it black I don’t see any point in the pods. I would like to move to using more bar-type toiletries like you get from L*sh but I hesitate to buy online unless I know the product & we’re 20 miles from the nearest store.

My DD works for lush and she loves their shampoo bars, I think online would tell you what each product is good for. The packing peanuts are composts able too.

GreyQueen

I use loose tea at home in a teapot, and pour through a tea strainer. The leaves get saved and added to the allotment soil. The small amount of tea-bags I use are ripped open and the contents saved and the bags thrown. I wondered how they partially survived the composting process until I found out there was some polyester in the weave.

For those who'd like to use leaves but don't want to use a teapot, you can get tea balls on little chains. They look cute but I've never used one myself - I like tea with my tea so a pot is great for me.

Re cleaning, stainless steel scourers are great. They're recyclable when you've finished with them and a brilliant for stainless steel but are also recommended for pyrex and thus cover most of my cleaning needs.

I've just been poring thru the expenditures part of my 2017 diary, working out what worked out for me and what was a bit excessive - decided that I really don't need any more clothes unless I see something beyond fabulous at silly money. I tend to do that at the end of each year, so I can see what I'm actually doing, as memory has a habit of playing me false, sometimes.:o

Brambleberry

I ran out of shampoo once (well couldn't be bothered to drip out of shower/into cupboard) so washed my hair with l'occitane lavender soap, surprisingly it worked fine, I have also tried using dove and fiddled about with some dilute cider vinegar in a spray bottle for final rinses - all of which were perfectly serviceable, leaving my hair clean and soft. I suppose it depends on your hair, but while my hair is currently happy with a silicone-free normal shampoo/conditioner, it's nice to know I can scale back more.

Wednesday2000

I need to buy loose leaf tea as I have quite a few boxes of teabags. I did buy loose leaf tea for a while, but then I thought caffeine was a migraine trigger so I stopped. I must get back to buying loose after I use up the teabags I have.:)

Sitting in my chair after a hot bath with a blanket on my lap and a glass of wine watching an old black and white film. Bliss.

maryb

I have the sort of hair that holds the smell of vinegar so sadly that doesn't work for me

BUT citric acid works even better. Dilute some in a spray bottle and it gives a real shine. Used to be that it was hard to get and you would get the third degree from pharmacists who were convinced that a comfortably upholstered, grey haired, unmistakeably suburban lady was after something with which to 'cut'(I believe the term is) hard drugs. Then I found it in Asian grocers where I buy large packets of spices. Then the powers that be obviously had an uncharacteristic outbreak of common sense and now I can get it in Wilkos

maryb

:rotfl:I remember one pharmacist looking relieved when I said I wanted citric acid for my elderflower cordial. Could I be more of a cliche?:rotfl:

IrisViolet

I'm another trying to minimise my impact environmentally. Reducing plastic is number one on my list. I will wear out what I have as I think the best thing to do is use up what I have and get as much use out of it as possible.
*maryb* I found out that all stretchy plastic can go into carrier bag recycling points. So I have a bag atop my fridge now for all my bags from fruit and veg and freezer items like peas. Includes cucumber wrappers and toilet roll wrappers. Basically any plastic thats stretches.
I will be switching to bar soap and solid shampoos. Considering making my own. Don't use cling film but do use time foil. Started wrapping in paper more. You are right it makes sense to wrap more with paper .
I think it definitely goes hand in hand with simple living. Live less wastefully.

I use powder in my washing machine and do use a tumble dryer in winter as we get damp badly.
There's so.much room for improvement in my family but i.see it as one step at a time. Every change makes a difference. I was horrified by the blue planet stuff about the ocean and plastic. Humans are just destroying the world and it's so.depressing. I think it's everyone's responsibility.

disneybabe1

Having a few days off work has been great in starting my mission, loads of things have been removed from my life. My problem is my wardrobe, it's bursting at the seams.having gone through it I've discovered that I have a load of clothes in the next three sizes down too, this is a bonus to me as I'm currently losing weight. So bigger clothes have gone to the charity shop, which is will continue to do and as the others get to big I think I will focus on a capsule wardrobe and have quality clothes.
Now just to get the hubby on board and out of his hoarding ways :eek:

lessonlearned

Iris.....thanks for the advice on stretchy plastic. I didn’t know that so I will definitely add it to my recycling in future.

Because I live alone I tend to wrap raw meats such as steaks, chicken breasts etc into individual portions and freeze them. I wrap those in greaseprooof paper rather than plastic before freezing. Seems to work well, no feeezer burn and of course no hormones and hopefully fewer chemicals from plastics.

I am trying also to reduce the amount of chemicals in my home. Not tried making my Own shampoo yet but I think I’ll give it a go. Already make most of my lotions and potions, using only natural ingredients. Healthier, cheaper and better for the environment. :A.

kate1irwin1

I’d love to follow this post, been trying to make life a lot simpler for about 2 yrs, since a massive life change. (Gave up well paid job - v v v stressful and I was v ill, now have a lot less money, but a lot more peace of mind!)
Just my son (5) and I do something’s are more challenging than others!
Things to do so far-get rid of dvds, have a massive box of them I never ever watch...can I sell these anywhere or best just to donate?

Garden - we rent so limited amounts I can do here, have herbs and last year tomatoes and strawberries in pots...have cleared a small patch at the end so this year will do some more veg.

Clothes -Still have a few ‘work’ clothes which I don’t wear and will eBay.

I cook all our meals from scratch but not snacks etc, wil start that this year.

Sure there are a lot more things I can do, also trying to pay off a credit card so all savings will go to that!
Thanks for starting the thead, looking forward to new ideas and glad I’m not the only one...lots of my friends think I’m a bit mad😁