Paper, plastic and zero waste
Reducing the amount of paper I use has been the easiest of the three.
1. No more buying tissues we both have cotton handkerchiefs that are laundered and ironed. Old fashioned but better for the environment. Having said that I feel paper is the least problem being made from a natural product and as long as no plastic is involved Rots down easily.
2. No more kitchen towel. I made a large pile of washable kitchen towel from flannelette and toweling. That have been very successful. The Gites are given one paper kitchen towel roll and I often have a bit left over. They hang around ages as we are now somused to the cloth version. Occasionally I have to relegate a fabric one to very mucky jobs due to heavy staining but I have yet to actually throw one away.
Plastic
1. This is very hard as so much of what we buy comes in plastic. My local supermarkets have had bring your own bags for years and this year introduced a biodegradeable bag for fruit and veg. I still feel slightly uncomfortable with this and prefervthe cotton bags I made for this job.
2. I now freeze things in glass jars. No more freezer bags. I was given a wonderful present of 36 Kilner/Parfait jars and they are used all over the place. I even use a small one to put salad in for a picnic. I continue to use the Tupperware type stuff I already had but will not buy anymore. I now have a drinks bottle I take with me that is BPA free. It will last years. No more water bottles. The likes of Costa and Starbucks do not exist where I live..no takeaway coffee. We sit in a bar and have coffee in China cups. I am more mindful when shopping but France has a long way to go in this regard.
Zero Waste
1. This is the hardest of the three caused by issues with the first two. Everything is over wrapped involving too much plastic. I recycle all I can and keep all big pieces of cardboard for my no dig veg plot.
2. All food stuff is either composted, given to chickens or frozen for further use. All veg peelings ( and there are loads) go either into the compost or into the freezer ( in another jar) awaiting being turned into vegetable stock. Bits of bread go to the chickens as do pasta and rice. To be honest we have very little food waste here. Soft bananas are loved by the chickens and the ducks.
3. Most of what we send to landfill is plastic from food wrappings. We empty our kitchen bin fortnightly. I hope to reduce this further.
With all of these things it is work in progress and thinking more about what we buy and throw. If I have any breakthroughs I will update this page.
1. No more buying tissues we both have cotton handkerchiefs that are laundered and ironed. Old fashioned but better for the environment. Having said that I feel paper is the least problem being made from a natural product and as long as no plastic is involved Rots down easily.
2. No more kitchen towel. I made a large pile of washable kitchen towel from flannelette and toweling. That have been very successful. The Gites are given one paper kitchen towel roll and I often have a bit left over. They hang around ages as we are now somused to the cloth version. Occasionally I have to relegate a fabric one to very mucky jobs due to heavy staining but I have yet to actually throw one away.
Plastic
1. This is very hard as so much of what we buy comes in plastic. My local supermarkets have had bring your own bags for years and this year introduced a biodegradeable bag for fruit and veg. I still feel slightly uncomfortable with this and prefervthe cotton bags I made for this job.
2. I now freeze things in glass jars. No more freezer bags. I was given a wonderful present of 36 Kilner/Parfait jars and they are used all over the place. I even use a small one to put salad in for a picnic. I continue to use the Tupperware type stuff I already had but will not buy anymore. I now have a drinks bottle I take with me that is BPA free. It will last years. No more water bottles. The likes of Costa and Starbucks do not exist where I live..no takeaway coffee. We sit in a bar and have coffee in China cups. I am more mindful when shopping but France has a long way to go in this regard.
Zero Waste
1. This is the hardest of the three caused by issues with the first two. Everything is over wrapped involving too much plastic. I recycle all I can and keep all big pieces of cardboard for my no dig veg plot.
2. All food stuff is either composted, given to chickens or frozen for further use. All veg peelings ( and there are loads) go either into the compost or into the freezer ( in another jar) awaiting being turned into vegetable stock. Bits of bread go to the chickens as do pasta and rice. To be honest we have very little food waste here. Soft bananas are loved by the chickens and the ducks.
3. Most of what we send to landfill is plastic from food wrappings. We empty our kitchen bin fortnightly. I hope to reduce this further.
With all of these things it is work in progress and thinking more about what we buy and throw. If I have any breakthroughs I will update this page.
More on Plastic
This is a subject that causes me a lot of worry. I cannot understand how so much plastic arrives in our oceans. From the research I have done it would suggest that 80% of plastic found in the sea comes from land! Blown into storm drains etc. At recycling plants the waste plastic is left in giant bins with open tops and are overloaded. The wind takes off the top layer. Some toiletries and toothpaste contain tiny plastic beads that exfoliate skin or whiten teeth!
whilst it is noble to upcycle plastic into clothing this then sheds tiny bits of plastic every time the clothing is washed. This rather negates the benefit of using the plastic. Someone somewhere has made a great load of money from the invention of plastic. We are literally swimming in it! It never decays just gets smaller. It is a serious problem. It is killing our sea life.
Governments to need to be honest with us and work with us to correct this. There are alternatives.
We need to stop using throwaway fashion that is made cheap by the use of plastic. We need to make a conscious effort to reduce the plastic we buy but more importantly the plastic we throw away. Get back to the basics and make more things ourselves.
It is brilliant that shops no longer provide plastic bags but manufacturers need to remove plastic from packaging.
This is a subject that causes me a lot of worry. I cannot understand how so much plastic arrives in our oceans. From the research I have done it would suggest that 80% of plastic found in the sea comes from land! Blown into storm drains etc. At recycling plants the waste plastic is left in giant bins with open tops and are overloaded. The wind takes off the top layer. Some toiletries and toothpaste contain tiny plastic beads that exfoliate skin or whiten teeth!
whilst it is noble to upcycle plastic into clothing this then sheds tiny bits of plastic every time the clothing is washed. This rather negates the benefit of using the plastic. Someone somewhere has made a great load of money from the invention of plastic. We are literally swimming in it! It never decays just gets smaller. It is a serious problem. It is killing our sea life.
Governments to need to be honest with us and work with us to correct this. There are alternatives.
We need to stop using throwaway fashion that is made cheap by the use of plastic. We need to make a conscious effort to reduce the plastic we buy but more importantly the plastic we throw away. Get back to the basics and make more things ourselves.
It is brilliant that shops no longer provide plastic bags but manufacturers need to remove plastic from packaging.