Travelling On

Karmacat

Noella wrote: »

Since I read your last post I've been musing on how stores could offer such foodstuffs as feta without using some form of plastic wrap, given that feta is a 'wet' cheese. Even if they use greaseproof paper to wrap it in we might need an outer plastic bag to put that in. Or should we be taking our own small plastic food bags with us? Either way, we're still using a plastic bag for it whether we supply it or the shop does.

Hi Noella, I was a bit blurry when I read this yesterday, sorry. Yes, you're right actually, loose feta would be a particular problem - I have several sizes of plastic tubs I could store it in, however, so I'm hoping I'll be able to do that.

earthgirl wrote: »

I'm also at the beginning of the recycling /using less plastic journey. It is depressing that most things are so plastic wrapped.

The NT house with family connections sounds amazing!!

It's the layering of plastic wrapping that makes me feel very exasperated, really thoughtless. And as for the NT house, yes, now I've realised, I'm very chuffed Their London house is very near an NT property I want to go to, so I'll take a good photo of that as well.

teapot2 wrote: »

We have a shop in the high street that sells great fruit and veg and has loose grains, pasta and all sorts of goodies where you can take in your own container and just buy as much or little as you want. They will also split a bunch of herbs if you don't want the whole thing which is handy. They sell shampoo, household stuff, liquid soap etc in containers they will refill. I really like the shop and they way they operate BUT it far more expensive than all the supermarkets so at the moment I sadly can't afford to do my weekly shopping there tho I hope that might be possible at some point.

Thats it, isn't it, the huge extra expense. Only exception I know of is when I saw some linseed at a shop near my nephew's, the one I catsit for - instead of 90p per 100g, it was 29p. And I couldn't even stock up, I'd taken my own bedding and I just didn't have the space :rotfl:

Karmacat

Right, a new day tiler is here, he may not be able to do the extra job of moving the shelf because of a little cut that needs to be done, which I can quite understand. I've texted the builder - I'd like to get the light done today, as well as making good a panel in the hall. No reply yet.


I'm stuck upstairs again, as I was when the building work was going on, though I don't have to cook up here at least. Which means the easiest thing to do might be to catch up on some paperwork. No idea really, but I'll try, after I've finished pootling around on here.

beanielou

Good news on the tiler being there

Karmacat

Thanks beanie. And yes, he's gone! Tiles look amazing, especially considering they were the cheapest available :rotfl:And he *did* move the shelf - if I need to use the emergency tap thats just underneath it, I'll have to sweep everything off the top shelf and jiggle the shelf upwards to turn the tap. Not a problem, and I get useable space with no fuss.

Electrician is coming this afternoon to replace the sockets from the tiling, put sealant between the upstand (I love that word) and the tiles, and put the electric light up. I *am* going to [STRIKE]ask about [/STRIKE] say about the panel in the hallway that he left hanging, sealant round that would be the absolute minimum I think.

And yes, I've spent the last few hours unearthing the paperwork that was mouldering on my desk. Not bad

:j:j:j I feel like I'm getting my life back!

beanielou

:j:j:j:T. :T

[Deleted User]

Karmacat wrote: »

:j:j:j I feel like I'm getting my life back!

Must be a lovely feeling when all the loose threads are finally being tied up:T:j:beer:

teapot2

So glad you are pleased with the tiles, must feel like its all really coming together now. Hope the electrician did all the outstanding jobs and your light is up?

Karmacat

Ah, er, no, the electrician bit didn't happen ... I texted, and the builder replied this time, says its going to be tomorrow. I spent the day realising I hadn't got the kitchen in as good a shape as I thought, plus when the RSJ was put up, a lot of rubble happened to the back of the big bookshelves in the living room :rotfl: so I've been emptying and cleaning those all day!

themadvix

Karmacat wrote: »

Thats it, isn't it, the huge extra expense. Only exception I know of is when I saw some linseed at a shop near my nephew's, the one I catsit for - instead of 90p per 100g, it was 29p. And I couldn't even stock up, I'd taken my own bedding and I just didn't have the space :rotfl:

I think the expense depends on your viewpoint. I know I'm lucky that I *can* afford it, but ultimately we've all been paying far too little for food for too long in terms of embodied cost. What we spend on food is a fraction of what our ancestors spent on food in terms of proportion of income. I'm not saying we should go back to those days, because we shouldn't, a lot of things were worse, but I think people do need to accept that good quality food costs (and that cheap food is probably worse in terms of ethics). I know that will be impossible for people truly on the breadline/on benefits, but for the majority that is not the case (and those people should be picking up the slack for the ones who really can't). Our food budget comes out at about £200/month - I don't eat meat and DH doesn't tend to at home, although we do have fish occasionally. But to avoid plastic I cook from scratch (or almost) and bake all treats etc. which definitely saves money (and I think that homecooked treats are more filling so less needed to fill you up!).

Our local zero-waste shop is keen to make things as affordable as possible - where they can buy in bulk they do and the pass the savings on (they opened the store to make a difference, not to jump on the bandwagon). However, because of the short shelf life of things like seeds and nuts, it's going to be more expensive as they sell less and can't buy these in bulk. The owners' hope is that they'll be made redundant by the supermarkets doing it all for them anyway, so fingers crossed (although I'll miss my monthly chats and personal service!).

Anyway.... I've wittered on enough, sorry Karma! Hope the electrician turns up today!

Karmacat

themadvix wrote: »

I think the expense depends on your viewpoint. I know I'm lucky that I *can* afford it, but ultimately we've all been paying far too little for food for too long in terms of embodied cost. What we spend on food is a fraction of what our ancestors spent on food in terms of proportion of income.

Sadly, I agree with your overall point I say "sadly", because I don't actually have any income (except the 1.4% p.a. or so coming from savings) - I live on savings, so I watch regular expenditure like a hawk.

I'm not saying we should go back to those days, because we shouldn't, a lot of things were worse, but I think people do need to accept that good quality food costs (and that cheap food is probably worse in terms of ethics).

You know when that stands out for me? On the rare occasions I make something - rose hip syrup with my brother, quince jelly from my garden, blackberry jelly from the fields, even the elderflowers I used to make those pancakes I mentioned. Making that good food takes time and effort, a lot of it, especially compared to how little it takes to go to a shop and pick up a packet.

The money is still huge to me, in my no-income, but its not disproportionate to what's being bought, if I can put it that way. The difference is that I've been an independent professional, I live in a house that I own, and I *do* have savings; I even had an inheritance of part of my mother's house when she died. A hundred years ago (lets be totally realistic, 110 years ago) I'd have been in the workhouse, just like my grandfather's grandmother, who died in 1910 in the workhouse. She'd been a laundress, who had an illegitimate child, brought up not only him but his son too, and saw her great grandchildren start to grow up - there just wasn't the money and time to look after her and look after the children. My grandad always emphasized the fact that he and his brother and sisters all had shoes, that they could wear every day of the week, and that was the choice that was made. Compared to that, I am most definitely rich beyond the dreams of avarice :cool:

I know that will be impossible for people truly on the breadline/on benefits, but for the majority that is not the case (and those people should be picking up the slack for the ones who really can't). Our food budget comes out at about £200/month - I don't eat meat and DH doesn't tend to at home, although we do have fish occasionally. But to avoid plastic I cook from scratch (or almost) and bake all treats etc. which definitely saves money (and I think that homecooked treats are more filling so less needed to fill you up!).

My food comes out about the same as yours

Our local zero-waste shop is keen to make things as affordable as possible - where they can buy in bulk they do and the pass the savings on (they opened the store to make a difference, not to jump on the bandwagon). However, because of the short shelf life of things like seeds and nuts, it's going to be more expensive as they sell less and can't buy these in bulk. The owners' hope is that they'll be made redundant by the supermarkets doing it all for them anyway, so fingers crossed (although I'll miss my monthly chats and personal service!).

I've just seen that Waitrose is trialling refills in their Oxford branch :j

Anyway.... I've wittered on enough, sorry Karma! Hope the electrician turns up today!

Thanks! And I've enjoyed your post - I was feeling really rough this morning, lots of things coming on together, but what you've written has energised me in a really positive way :kisses3: