SaveThePlanetTrackWorld

Just been looking at silicone food bags as suggested by molgrips, Stasher seems to be popular brand but in all honesty I can’t see myself paying £10 for one bag. As a rough estimate in 2 days I’ve used around 30 plastic bags purely for the freezer which is totally unacceptable. Will try washing and reusing, updates to follow.

We don’t need to predict what it will be like in 100 years time, just look at it now. If technological solutions are developed then all the better, you can adjust the average level to live life at as they come on board. Simply carrying on as is and having faith someone sometime in future will invent something is wishful thinking.

Cinnamon_girl great thread, can’t believe I’ve missed it until now.

Last year, trying to green our local BMX club, looking forward to seeing how the compost goes.

Weaning off plastic, had a moment one lunchtime at work when I saw the amount of nonrecyclable plastic after a supermarket meal deal, so knocked them on the head and use local sandwich shops now.

Shampoo bars are great, got one to take to the megavalanche last summer from lush, used daily at work for my commute and still have more than three quarters left, my locks are shinier than ever.

Also superinsulated the house during a big refurb, working great.

This year, cutting back on meat, no flights, looking at broadening some community green initiatives, probably at our local park, starting with a basic litter pick once a month around the BMX track, we already do inside the track. May build a cheeky singeltravk route to get a local fix of mtbing in…

With regards to the future of the world etc Ratboy recommended reading Ishmael, and I’ll pass that recommendation on here. Not read a book that may potentially have such a profound change on my outlook, I’m now working out how I fit in with changing our culture for the better… Josh is therefore my current sustainable guru! Didn’t see that coming…

Steve

Oh, my partner has also started building ecobricks with any applicable plastic we do use (I have medical stuffs that comes in plastic and that I need so that’s a large contributor).

On the scrubby things, my mum was selling Ancient Wisdom lather things. Basically a sandbag with replacable soap inside but my missus liked them for exfoliating. Would recommend. They wear out after a while (several months) and it’s rather a flat lather if you get my drift but definitely do the job.

Thinking about it a bit more, I’ve been saving plastic takeaway containers and using them for food or general storage, bubblewrap gets reused (more likely to recycle or compost the paper packaging) and any reusable bags go to the charity shop. Not bought a plastic bag all year.

On the consumption aspect, surely that only becomes an issue if you keep up with trends and don’t just use what is available? I’m still on my Mk2 Trailstar, my ’04 Shore is still up and running and my newest bike is a ’10 Pitch Pro. All 26″, all hideously unfashionable and all cheap as chips. Not to mention all perfectly capable.

What do Badgers taste like?

They’re a Mustelid, related to polecats, stoats, weasels, etc. What do you imagine they’ll taste like?
My own contribution? Trying to avoid using anything with palm oil in, vast tracts of forest and the lives of indigenous people are being destroyed by the greed of international corporations feeding off the desires of people wishing to ‘do something for the environment/avoid climate change’.
Yeah, how’s that working out for you…?

On the consumption aspect, surely that only becomes an issue if you keep up with trends and don’t just use what is available?

It’s suprisingly easy to switch off from wanting (ie not actually ‘needing’) new stuff and the money you save by not keeping up with the metaphorical Joneses is staggering which kind of spurs you on to do a bit more. It’s a very nice way to live.

Without getting into a whole tin-foil-hat rant, the system’s ****. Work hard, earn more, buy a car, get a mortage, get into debt to buy stuff to fill the hole in your soul that working so hard creates… No. How about we build more social housing, stop buying stuff so we don’t have to work so hard to pay for it all and be content with what we have. You really don’t need a massive house and a twatty car. Grow some of your own veg or whatever, walk or ride to the local shop. Yes, it takes time but what else are you going to be doing? You don’t have to work so hard because you’ve stopped buying stuff you don’t need.

Aspiration, avarice and doing shit for ‘likes’ all drives conspicuous consumption which is mainly what’s **** the place up. For ****’s sake, fake tan, hair extensions and false nails. What the actual ****.

kayla for PM, you go girl!!

We’ve got a terracycle drop off point at a local cafe. The lady there collects clean crisp, biscuit and crackers wrappers, which then get used for eco bricks.
Boots the chemist have started collecting contact lens packaging for recycling.

While our next door neighbour carries out her destruction of our planet, I will do the exact opposite and do everything I can (in reason, as we still ski and have a caravan) to do my small bit.

We use standard clipfresh containers for food in the freezer.

Why do you need bags for the freezer cinnamon? Can’t you use tupeware? Would have thought it stacks better and better for reheating in microwave?

Good morning all.

twistedpencil, my goodness you’re going great guns especially with community initiatives. Well done! Is your water hard or soft? Have read some reports that shampoo bars don’t work as well with hard water. Have you a link to that book please?

squirrelking, those sound similar to soap bags that can be made of anything. Currently using one made from bamboo that gently exfoliates, throw in washing machine but too early to see how long it lasts. Did find however that one particular non-commercial soap seemed to shrink in it and disappeared in a matter of days!

Bunnyhop, not heard of that before but was aware of contact lenses and must let daughter know as she uses daily disposables.

myti, have a fridge/freezer with two and a half drawers for frozen food. Using tupperware would simply take up too much space. Tend to reheat in oven but often add other items to it.

Oh yes, need new toothpaste so have ordered powder in glass jar (decided against making my own) together with mouthwash chewable tablets, again in a glass jar. Jars will be repurposed and are earmarked already. Report to follow!

Yes, let us know how the tooth powder goes please!

Shall do kayla. Had to laugh at your comments that included false nails. Daughter off on hols meaning another ‘reason’ to visit the cheap as chips nail salon where young Vietnamese girls are ’employed’. I’ve given up trying to reason with her, she’s not a teenager and more than capable of understanding. Still, this time it’s individually coloured nails and some have water melons on them. I kid you not!

CG, we use these for our freezer meals:Soup n’ Sauce

Thanks Mat, those look good and a lot cheaper than silicone.

So decided my next small step will be to double the size of my raised veg patch so I can grow more of my own veg so avoiding supermarket plastic and food miles. It has the added bonus of helping to guard against Brexshit food shortages too!

I look at these things we do and I split them into straight choices and efforts, ie things needing some endeavour to achieve them. Most of those mentioned on this thread I put into the latter category, which I think is a really impressive effort. It takes real effort to change behaviour every day and maintain it. Myself I’ve tried to do some of these things but am way behind you lot.

What I find interesting though is watching the big choices people make when they are simply choices and there’s very little other advantage to the decision one way or the other, or very little effect on the effort we make to carry the decision on. And it’s here I think we often fail, or you could say we are looking at a big opportunity for change.

My classic examples are on car travel and space heating, two of our biggest carbon emitters.

All else being equal (speed, space inside, comfort levels, engine type, driving style etc) an “suv”, being simply taller and heavier, uses how much more fuel than a lower down normal car? 20%? More? I don’t know the numbers but the difference is clearly substantial. Yet their sales are huge. Hardly anyone needs or even uses the off road capability. Jaguar has built one electric car, making them something of a leader in the field (sort of) and what do they choose to make? An SUV because, I assume, of “the market”. That’s not leading the way.

I’m building a house. I’m lucky enough to be able to fund it, yes, and my house is not the average one, but many of the decisions I have come to about insulation, windows, heat source, choice of things that would necessitate holes in my house etc, are ones where almost every house built in this country chooses the environmentally poorer option. Some of these are extra build cost but it’s often not much and they will prove cheaper over only a few years, a fraction of their life. Some of them are cheaper even in build cost terms. And how do architects, builders etc generally respond to questions about these options? Most often it’s to dismiss them as not being worth it, but on a bit of probing the people in question know neither the cost nor the benefit, and on further research I consider these opinions to be often wrong. Deeply disappointing I think to express this opinion without any backup.*

Back on topic, I’ve taken to just not buying perishables unless we’ve actually run out. We’re a shocker for wasting vegetables and this method does seem to have cut that right back. And we have a few acres so planted 1000 trees last year, hopefully nearly the same again this coming winter. Not measured scientifically but I think our population and variety of invertibrates has increased already.

*some finger crossing here. It’s scary to go against advice on something so big and I can’t confirm it won’t come back to bite me!

luket – wow! planting all those trees, that’s fantastic.
We planted a mixed hornbeam and hawthorn hedge a few years ago. The amount of wildlife has dramatically increased, mostly birds.

Yes – I don’t understand the high usage of SUV vehicles on the roads (which aren’t really built for those and don’t get me talking about parking space sizes). When you ask some people they say its for the safety of their children. What a load of tosh. Piling children into one of those instead of walking them to school is causing high pollution, breathing problems (asthma), possibly obesity.

Anyway there are many choices to be ‘green’, but most people will always pick the easy solution and not think about the consequences beyond their little world. If there is a green grocer’ nearby where you can pick up loose fruit, veg and salad items, which is maybe a 5 minute walk away, or choose a supermarket, a 1 minute walk away, where most things are packaged to within an inch of their lives, then people will choose the convenience of the supermarket. I don’t mind walking. But most people are lazy.
Whoops its turned into a rant – apologies.

The challenge with tree planting I’ve found is that I run out of space very quickly! My aspiration is to buy a few more acres of unproductive land and plant it up bit by bit over many years, but it doesn’t look very likely.

What surprised me was how easy it is to plant whips. In a good day I reckon I could plant 250 and have a lovely time doing it. So the difficult bit is definitely finding and paying to buy the land.

On cars again, how often does google maps flag up that a different route is something like 3 minutes quicker, despite being multiple miles further? It is nudging you to drive much further, much faster, so quite a lot more fuel per mile as well as more miles, all to save 3 minutes. Some kind of setting to compromise resource use, only accepting an increase in energy used if it gets you a big time saving, would I think have a positive impact.

Riiise from your graaaaaave….

Minimal waste toothpaste tablets-

https://www.anythingbutplastic.co.uk/product-page/denttabs-toothpaste-tablets-with-fluoride

and I stopped using shampoo a few days ago after the last lot ran out. I’m going to try a bicarb of soda hair wash later with a lemon juice condition after. I shall report back if anyone’s interested. My hair’s just about shoulder-length so it should be easy to manage the initial greasiness…

I still don’t know how to stop using the planet up in order to pay our rent and buy food though 🙁

Less driving, more cycling to work, and I’ve started waging a campaign for us to get an EV (or a hybrid maybe) with the missus based on both environmental and financial arguments…

Our big things for a starter…

Mrs g-d is working on single use plastic packing reduction and I’m giving the yoghurt pots a re-use role in the shed.

I’m on a mission to reduce my car use. I’d like to roughly half my normal annual mileage this year (down from 20k to 10-12k). I have to drive for work on occasions but I’m trying to cut the car commute down to 1-2 days a week with careful planning. I set up a blog to track my progress and how to overcome some of the challenges but I’ve not yet got round to publishing anything. I don’t want to just do for me I also want to be an advocate for better transport choice.

As part of that I decided not to buy a new car (sorry car industry). I didn’t want the I’m paying for it so I’ll use it mentality to creep in.

We have a zero waste store down the road now so I’m getting dried goods, washing up liquid, shampoo etc all from there by taking along my containers to fill.

I’m going to try a bicarb of soda hair wash later with a lemon juice condition after.

Well, my hair’s still there and hasn’t gone all frizzy or green or anything, which is nice. The bicarb cleaned it down to a squeak like you get from shampoo and the lemon juice did the job of conditioning it. We’ll (tentatively!) call it a success. I’ll give it another go in a few days’ time.

Late to the party but pleased to see more contributions where people really are embracing change and how they can help.

Stonking effort from luket with planting so many trees, also your posts really nailed some pertinent issues and demonstrated the need to change our way of thinking. Must undoubtedly be exciting to watch the growth and also spot wildlife that makes an appearance. Do keep us updated!

Hey kayla and you’re one brave lady using bicarb and lemon juice! Are you intending to only use these ingredients? Guessing you don’t colour? Definitely interested in regular updates.

Brief review of Georganics mouthwash tablets: made from natural and non-toxic ingredients and being in a glass jar means that it can be repurposed. I dissolve one tablet in warmish water before brushing teeth then by the time I’ve finished it’s ready to use. The spearmint flavour is rather mild for my liking and really struggle with the lack of ‘zing’ compared with conventional brands. Also available in wild thyme. It must be said though that changing back to large plastic bottles of mouthwash is not an option so once these have gone I’ll investigate other eco-friendly options.

https://georganics.co.uk/collections/mouthwash-tablets/products/mouthwash-tablets-spearmint

Next product to tackle was lip balm of which I get through tons. Made up my mind that I was not buying any more in plastic containers so spent some time researching online to see if it could be made easily. Found a recipe for imitation Bert’s Bees lip balm and luckily happened to have all the ingredients in the cupboard. So simple to make with beeswax, Shea butter, coconut oil and peppermint oil. Managed to repurpose a glass jar and it turned out really well.

Oh yes, just taken delivery of some melt and pour soap base that will become bars of soap at some point. Really wanted to try the cold process method, seriously investigated but decided that my cupboards are simply full up with no room for more saucepans and ingredients.

If you live in Leeds and surrounding areas then read up on refill stores, you’re spoilt for choice:

http://www.little-birdie.com/jenlittlebirdie/2019/3/22/seagulls-refills-leeds-amp-live-green-live

Next product to tackle was lip balm of which I get through tons.

Can you not just buy a catering pot of Vaseline?

But I’m not a caterer Cougar.

Hey kayla and you’re one brave lady using bicarb and lemon juice! Are you intending to only use these ingredients? Guessing you don’t colour? Definitely interested in regular updates.

Ta! So far, a week and a half in, it’s ok, not much different to shampoo and conditioner really and probably easier with shorter, finer hair like mine than a huge mane of curls. I’ve done a few bicarb washes and lemon juice rinses and a ‘wash’ through with just water on nights I don’t wash my hair. I did a lemon tea rinse once (with no wash beforehand) which worked nicely. OH says it’s no different to how it was which is either a glowing review of the bicarb/lemon juice thing or a damning indictment of the state of my hair before I stopped using shop-bought bottled shampoo…

I got some no-plastic Fit Pit bicarb, tea tree and orange oil deodorant too- it works nicely! I’m going to try making some of my own when it runs out. **** plastic!

Can you not just buy a catering pot of Vaseline?

Vaseline’s an occlusive and doesn’t actually moisturise- it’ll stop moisture escaping but it’ll also stop moisture getting in.

We also looked into making some cold-process soap but I decided I’d rather support someone else’s endeavours than spend bike-riding time making something I can buy for a quid or two.

We’ve yet to try the Dentabs toothpaste tablets but the tube’s about dead so it won’t be long.

I have just gave up Coffee and Ice Cream (Hard).

Feel better as well 🙂

God… I miss Ice Cream :_)

I aim to cycle to work more. I have been very poor at this over the last 6-9 months. I work away slot which involves unavoidable air travel. Being away a lot means I am fitting stuff in the evening so driving to work hence the lack of cycling.

I have tried selling the shampoo soap at home but it had a cold reception. I am using soap instead of shower gel.

I have made a sandwich bag out of the bottoms of some gortex trousers.

Renovating a house and hope to use many reclaimed items as possible. Plus add insulation. Planning on a DIY solar thermal setup for hot water in the summer.

Plan in building a composting look for summer use.

Need to try and do some veg growing but time is tight.

I am trying to figure out a way of building a electric utility bike on the cheap. Really requires purchase of a Tig welder (something I have fancied for yeeeears!) so I am on the lookout for one

I am trying to figure out a way of building a electric utility bike on the cheap. Really requires purchase of a Tig welder (something I have fancied for yeeeears!) so I am on the lookout for one

We made some axle plates for this bolted-together cargo e-bike-

You just reminded me of it- thanks!

edit- found the link from my emails-

XYZ CARGO Bikes – made in Copenhagen and Hamburg – buy, rent or get a customized cargo bike!

edited again-

http://www.n55.dk/MANUALS/SPACEFRAMEVEHICLES/spaceframevehicles.html

Our local dentist is now recycling used toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes and even electric toothbrush heads. I believe these go off to be made into kitchen worktops (this was told to me be a neighbour – so maybe hearsay)

I’m still naughty by driving to the swimming baths. But will get the bike up and running soon.

Got our bin down to a quarter now.

Noticed that more schools are promoting ‘pedal,walk and ride’ to school. I urge any parents on here to get in touch with their school and push this. Most children have a scooter or bike or are able to walk.

All good stuff!

In Dentabs-related news, they’re ok. Nice and minty and my teeth felt as clean (subjective, I know) as they would if I’d have used toothpaste. I’ll see at my next dentist appointment…

Glad it’s working kayla but did laugh at using lemon tea! Have you ever tried the ‘no poo’ method? Doesn’t appeal I must say but, then again, have loads of bottles of (hair loss) shampoo hiding in the cupboard that need using despite them not working.

Following Cougar’s comment I took a look at the Vaseline website in an attempt to find out exactly what the ingredients are. Only managed to see mention of minerals, no specifics though, together with petroleum jelly.

Melt and pour soap is bought in a block, sliced into small pieces and zapped in a microwave. Just need to add essential oil, colour etc. then pour into a mould. You can buy kits. Some links that may be useful:

http://www.wellnessmama.com

Traditional Wisdom + Modern Research

http://www.draxe.com

All ‘merican I’m afraid, doesn’t seem to be much in the way of UK home-made personal care product websites.

redthunder – why have you given up both coffee and ice cream? Sounds tough-going!

Great efforts by TheBrick especially for a novel use of Goretex.

Bunnyhop – well done that dentist, hadn’t realised those could be recycled. I know that some people are using bamboo toothbrushes but am not prepared to give up my electric one although these should have rechargeable batteries to stop replacement every few years.

I’m trying the no ‘poo thing now- baking soda = bicarb of soda and I use lemon juice or any mild acidic as a rinse straight after it. You can do a green or black tea rinse once a week as well (hence the lemon tea rinse!) I’m a fan, so far.