post

Friends who compost…

by Posted in 3.1 Composting 3 Comments

Don’t fancy composting yourself? Neither did Jen! So she found a super green option! Heres an extract from her post

I have to be honest – I put off composting for a long time. We have a small garden and I didn’t want to pong it out with a large
bin of old rotting food. Plus I’m not paricularly green fingered. At most, I’ll have a pot of herbs in the kitchen, which sometimes I accidentally kill. I’m not sure I would use the resulting soil.

So I found a person locally who was willing to pick up my compost.

There’s a website called Streetlife “the local social network” where you can communicate with your community.

Read more here

More

This would be a good use for Bokashi Bins. These bins let you store masses of kitchen waste before it needs collecting and composting elsewhere. More on Bokashi Bins here

Do fancy composting? Read this intro 

 

post

Fabrics, Fibres & Yarns Index

by Posted in 2.1 reports, stats and studies, 3.6 Good to know, 4.9 Useful to know Tagged , 4 Comments

Index

  • Natural fibres for rope, string, sacking, industrial uses, delicate fabrics and yarn  HERE
  • Synthetic fibres  Read more HERE
  • Regenerated Fibres Read more HERE

Yarns

Fabrics

Clothing
See all textile & wardrobe related posts HERE.

Stats on fibre production

Introduction to Fibres & Fabrics

Definitions

  • Fibres are short fine hairs.
  • Fibres can be can be natural, synthetic or chemically produced hybrid called regenerated fibres.
  • Fibres can be twisted or spun into longer thread or yarn.
  • Threads can be woven or knitted into fabric.

 

Natural Fibres

These are plant or animal derived and they biodegrade.

Coarse Fibres Are used for rope, string, sacking and industrial uses. They include

  • Abaca for rope,
  • coir from coconuts has a wide range of applications,
  • jute is used for sack cloth and
  • sisal for string.

Fibres used for finer fabrics and yarn include

  • Cotton used to make cotton
  • Flax is used to make linen. It is one of the strongest vegetable fibres. Other vegetable fibres include hemp and nettles.
  • Wool and other animal hair 
  • Silk strong and light weight.
  • Read more  HERE

Synthetic fibres

  • These are man-made from chemicals many of which are petroleum derived.
    Most do not biodegrade.
  • Acrylic, nylon and polyester  are the most common. They are made from oil and coal.
  • Read more HERE

Regenerated Fibres

  • The base material is cellulose that can be obtained from a range of sources including wood, paper, cotton fibre, or  bamboo. It is then converted through a chemical process into a fibre.

    Some it is claimed are biodegradable. Some are not.

    They usually go under the trade names such as 

    • Rayon
    • Bamboo Rayon
    • Viscose,
    • Modal
    • Tencel (lyocell)
    • Read more HERE

Mixed Fibre

Where different fibres are mixed together like a wool/ silk mix  popular for suits or natural and synthetic eg polycotton. 

Then there are other more specialist mixes  where natural fibres are mixed with elasticine added to make fabric stretchy.

 

Yarns, Threads and Ropes

Yarns and threads usually take the name from the fibre in which they are spun. They range from thin threads for sewing to thick ropes. 

Here are the ones we use.

 

Fabrics

Threads can be woven or knitted into fabric.

They may be named after then yarn type. So cotton can be the fibre the yarn or the fabric. They may be named after the trade name like Modal.

But fabrics can also be subdivided into a huge number of additional categories. For example cotton fabric can be described as denim, lawn or muslin.

Fabric may also be described by the technique used to make it. So jersey is a knitted fabric that could be made from cotton, silk or polyester.

Clothing

Clothes can now be made out of woven/knitted fabrics or knitted yarn.

See all textile & wardrobe related posts HERE.

Fibre Production

fibre pie chart

2013 figures

Global 2013 fibre production estimated at 85.5 million tons

• Global 2013 synthetic fibre production estimated at 55.8 million tons (i.e. excluding cotton, cellulosics and wool)

Natural Fibres
Cotton 25 million tons
wool production is around 2.1 million tonnes.
Silk 150 000 tonnes in 2006
Linen 147 000 tonnes of flax fibre 2007,
Alpaca 6 500 tonnes
Cashmere” after scouring and dehairing 6 500 tonnes
Mohair is estimated at around 5 000 tonnes a year, down from a high of 25 000 tonnes in the 1990s,
Angora is estimated at 2 500 to 3 000 tonnes
2009 figures  only – google let me down!

Carbon footprint

A study done by the Stockholm Environment Institute on behalf of the BioRegional Development Group  concludes that the energy used (and therefore the CO2 emitted) to create 1 ton of spun fiber is much higher for synthetics than for hemp or cotton:
KG of CO2 emissions per ton of spun fiber:

KG of CO2 emissions per ton of spun fiber:
 

crop cultivation

fiber production

TOTAL

polyester USA

0.00

9.52

9.52

cotton, conventional, USA

4.20

1.70

5.90

hemp, conventional

1.90

2.15

4.05

cotton, organic, India

2.00

1.80

3.80

cotton, organic, USA

0.90

1.45

2.35

Lots more great info on the carbon footprint of fabrics can be found here on this great blog.

More Information

Lots of outrageous statistics HERE

Read all our fabrics, apparel and yarn related posts HERE.

post

Fabric Natural

by Posted in 4.9 Useful to know Tagged 3 Comments

Textiles and ultimately clothing start with fibres

Know Your Fibres

Textiles and ultimately clothing start with fibres
Know Your Fibres
Fibres are short fine hairs that can be twisted or spun into longer thread or yarn. This may be woven or knitted into fabric.
Fibres (and then yarns and ultimately fabrics) can be can be natural, synthetic or chemically produced hybrid called regenerated fibres.

Natural fibres Are derived from plants like cotton or animals like wool and silk, Coarse Fibres Are used for rope, string, sacking and industrial uses.Read more HERE
Fibres used for finer fabrics and yarn include cotton, wool and silk. Read more HERE
Synthetic fibres are man-made from chemicals many of which are petroleum derived. Read more HERE
Regenerated Fibres The base material is cellulose that can be obtained from a range of sources. It is then converted through a chemical process into fibres.Read more HERE

Yarns and threads

and what they are used for….
Yarns and threads often take the name from the fibre in which they are spun.
they can be used as a yarn or woven / knitted into a fabric.
See links to plastic free products yarns HERE

Fabrics & Fibres, an intruduction
Guide to synthetic, (plastic), regenerated, combination and natural fibres.
why I prefer natural fabrics over synthetics here.

Fabrics

Threads can be woven or knitted into fabric.
The fabric often takes the name of the fibre such as cotton or wool.
It can also go under a trade name such as nylon.
Or it can be called something else completely such as denim or crepe de chine.

Natural Fibres

Fibres used for finer fabrics and yarn include
Cotton used to make cotton
Flax is used to make linen. It is one of the strongest vegetable fibres.
Wools include
Sheep’s wool in a range of weights and qualities
Alpaca wool used to make high-end luxury fabrics.
Angora wool -The silky white wool of the Angora rabbit is very fine and soft, and used in high quality knitwear
Mohair also from the Angora goat.
Cashmere wool comes from cashmere goats and has great insulation properties without being bulky
Silk is strong and light weight.

Coarse Fibres for rope, string, sacking and industrial uses include:
Abaca -Once a favoured source of rope, abaca shows promise as an energy-saving replacement for glass fibres in automobiles
Coir -A coarse, short fibre extracted from the outer shell of coconuts, coir is found in ropes, mattresses, brushes, geotextiles and automobile seats. Can also be used in a brush rather like a bristle.
Jute -The strong threads made from jute fibre are used worldwide in sackcloth – and help sustain the livelihoods of millions of small farmers
Sisal -Too coarse for clothing, sisal is replacing glass fibres in composite materials used to make cars and furniture.
Copied from Natural Fibres

Hessian /ˈhɛsi.ən/, burlap in America and Canada,[1] or crocus in Jamaica,[2] is a woven fabric usually made from skin of the jute plant[3][4][5] or sisal fibres,[6] which may be combined with other vegetable fibres to make rope, nets, and similar products. Gunny cloth is similar in texture and construction.

Hessian, a dense woven fabric, has historically been produced as a coarse fabric, but more recently it is being used in a refined state known simply as jute as an eco-friendly material for bags, rugs and other products.

Wikkipedia

Why is nothing EASY??

From the world wildlife fund

About 20 million tones of cotton are produced each year in around 90 countries.

China, United States, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and West Africa account for over 75% of global production.

Cotton represents nearly half the fibre used to make clothes and other textiles worldwide ( the rest is synthetic fibres)It can take more than 20,000 litres of water to produce 1kg of cotton; equivalent to a single T-shirt and pair of jeans. (Though I think there is more cotton in a tee shirt?)Here are some more facts about cotton taken from this article in GOOD
textile mills consume 4.5 million bales of cotton yearly
a quarter of the total worldwide pesticide use occurs in cotton farming.
Each year, the World Health Organization estimates that three million people are poisoned by pesticide use
In November 2012, Greenpeace International investigated the use of hazardous chemicals used in dyes and they discovered that 63 percent of the clothing items they tested showed high traces of nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), and others had highly toxic phthalates and carcinogenic amines.

A report found that water pollution in China over the past few years has grown, with the textile industry responsible for pumping out 2.5 billion tons of wastewater per year.

Read the rest for yourself … it’s just as bad.

You can read more about fabrics and yarns here….

There’s a great list of organic cotton products & suppliers here  at the www.curiouslyconscious.com blog.

Why This Post Is ….

A little bit rubbish. You are reading a work in progress. Here’s how the blog is written and why we post half cocked.

Corals & Micro Plastics

by Posted in 2.1 reports, stats and studies Tagged

Corals such as those found on the Great Barrier Reef are at risk from the estimated 5tn pieces of plastic in the world’s oceans because researchers have discovered they digest tiny fragments of plastic at a significant rate.

A study led by the ARC centre of excellence for coral reef studies at James Cook University found that corals consumed “microplastics” – plastics measuring under 5mm – about the same rate as their normal food.

From the Guardian

Read more about micro plastic pollution here

post

Seeds

by Posted in 3.1 House, Office & Garden Tagged 5 Comments

It is hard to find plastic free seeds. They are usually sold in waterproof plastic lined foil or plastic lined paper sachets. It’s not much but it is there. If you want to be a real purist you can try these.

Plastic free heritage seed

But if you do want a whole packet here are some seeds that are plastic free AND you can harvest the seed to use over and over again. As I’m sure you know many hybrid seeds are good for one year only – you can read more about that here. Not these

Vital Seeds

“As all of our seeds are open-pollinated you can save your own seed from them year after year.”

And more

  • Organic seeds: vegetables, herbs and flowers
  • Plastic-free and compostable packaging
  • Free delivery on orders over £35
  • Open-pollinated varieties
  • Based in Devon
  • Absolutely no GMOs
  • Proud members of the Open Source Seed Initiative

see the range here

More Seeds Here

“Here at The Heritage Organic Seed Company sustainability is at the heart of what we do and it is so important to us to offer our products in eco friendly, plastic free packaging.

Our seeds are lovingly hand packed in manilla seed envelopes which, along with our mailing envelopes are made from recycled materials and can be recycled or composted after use.

You may find some of your seed packets also contain glassine envelopes, we use those for our tiniest seeds to help you to handle them more easily but these are also completely biodegradable

see the range here.

Seedcell 

These look interesting. For when you don’t need a whole packet of seeds but dont want any more plastic seed trays . The tomato mix for example consists of 12 X SEEDCELL PODS biodegradable, plastic free seed pods. (4 varieties) that you pop into your reusable plant pot.

See the full range here –

“Where possible we will ensure all products across the entire range are waste free, biodegradable and compostable, using as little plastic as possible. Grow Sow Simple™ only use plastic when necessary and even when we must use plastic, we ensure it is fully recyclable, we focus our design to encourage the reuse of any plastic products and the safe and proper disposal after use.”https://growsowsimple.com/products/tomato-selection

Seeds In Tins

You can get seeds in tins though the tins will almost certainly be lined with epoxy resin.

Wildflower Seed Grenades

“Flower Grenades throw a seed bomb for an explosion of flowers in derelict places

Take action in the green revolution and throw one of these fun Flower Grenades. Each ‘grenade’ is an air-dried clay shell containing a selection of wild flower seeds, and soil to get them started.”

Got to love that idea. Get them here

Or make your own! Instructions here

You can harvest your own seed. You can find out more here.

The Plastic Free Garden

You can find other plastic free garden products here.

  • N.B.
    lines changes, products get removed. For more information why not ask the Plastic Is Rubbish FB group for updates. They are a great source of tidbits, personal experience and the latest news. Why not join them and share the plastic free love x
Join our Facebook group here

post

How To make Tea, Tea pots, & strainers

by Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink, 3.2 How To...plastic-free Tagged , , , 5 Comments

These days most of us automatically reach for the teabags but is that really the best choice? Certainly not from a plastic free zero waste point of veiw.

Nasty Bags

  • Whats in your tea bag? Paper and tea you wish but actually no. Most do in fact contain plastic and so are only between 70-80% biodegradable. And chlorine bleached. Read more HERE.
  • There are plastic / chlorine free bags out there but they are very expensive and often come packed in plastic read about them here.

How To Use Loose Tea 


In short, loose tea is a better option. But it may seem daunting. It’s not. Here is a guide on how to make the perfect cuppa.

Buy

First you will need to source some loose tea. Not as hard ad you think thanks to PG Tips. Find out more HERE

Pots, Strainers & Balls to you Mrs!

Next you will need a teapot and, unless you fancy taking up fortune telling, something to stop the leaves getting in your cup. You can get great teapots from charity shops. I favor the stainless steel 70s version, good for traveling in the van with. You can get all metal tea strainers if you look. Try the market, Ebay or  Amazon. I am not a big fan of tea strainers. They dribble and you need a saucer to put them on. And you have the icky job of removing the tea leaves from the pot afterwards, a soggy business at the best of times. No, I like these mesh balls. You put the tea in them then put them in the pot. At the end you empty them in the compost bin without worrying about nasty plastic mesh. Easy as!  You can even get some teapots that have integrated diffusers built in.

Just One Cup?

If you are brewing up for the WI, a teapot is fine but what when you want a quick cuppa for one?
You can get cotton bags that you can fill to make your own reusable teabags but really who can be bothered with that kind of faff.

I have found that a steel mesh single cup infuser works perfectly. It sits on your mug, you fill it with loose tea, let the brew, brew then remove. Really no effort at all and very easy to empty into the compost bin after. Mine was given as a gift but I have found something similar on Amazon

Brewing Up

So now we are good to go. Put the leaves in the pot (or the mesh ball first) add boiling water and let it brew.

and again…

Don’t be so quick to empty the pot. You ca muse those leaves again to make a fresh pot. Even keep them in the fridge and reuse the next day.

When the tea gets a bit weak you can ad a pinch more.

Honestly. I learnt this from the Chinese tea shop where they sell 50 year old tea for a hundreds of dollars a gram. Yes apparently tea, like wine, does improve with age. Who knew?

Milk?

If you take milk, you will need to get yourself a milk man who delivers milk in glass bottles and possibly a milk jug!

More

Find other sneaky plastics here….

Buy Teapots & Strainers

Being committed to local shopping I prefer to buy that way whenever possible. I would encourage you to do the same. One of the joys of living plastic free is mooching round the local shops seeing what you can source.

If you can’t buy local, please do check the links in the posts.  They link direct  to the suppliers.  Do consider buying from them and support their online businesses.

If you can’t do that then I have put together and Amazon catalogue. Yes I know…

Amazon is a very dirty word at the moment and I thought long and hard before suggesting them.  Heres why I went ahead….. No we are not entirely happy with Amazons recent history. However these links are for 3rd party sellers, we have always found the Amazon service to be good and their packaging usually compostable. In the absence of anything else we feel we can recommend them.

Kitchen Craft Stainless Steel Double Handled Tea Strainer- boxedTea Ball Infuser 2" 18/8 Stainless Steel.Tea Ball/Strainer Mesh Tea Infuser Tea filter Reusable
Kitchen Craft Stainless Steel Double Handle…
£5.50		Tea Ball Infuser 2″ 18/8 Stainless Steel.
£0.71		Tea Ball/Strainer Mesh Tea Infuser Tea filt…
£1.52 – £2.19
Kitchen Craft Le'Xpress Tea Strainer, Stainless SteelStainless Steel Spoon Tea Leaves Herb Mesh Ball Infuser Filter Squeeze Strainer2 Cup Glass Tea Pot with Infuser
Kitchen Craft Le’Xpress Tea Strainer, Stai…
£1.65		Stainless Steel Spoon Tea Leaves Herb Mesh …
£1.60		2 Cup Glass Tea Pot with Infuser
£21.63
Glass Stainless Steel Loose Tea Leaf Teapot With Infuser 750ml/500ml --- Size:LVonShef Modern Stainless Steel 600ml Glass Infusion Tea Pot Loose Tea Leaf Coffee InfuserSabichi 750 ml Glass Teapot with Infuser
Glass Stainless Steel Loose Tea Leaf Teapot…VonShef Modern Stainless Steel 600ml Glass …
£4.99		Sabichi 750 ml Glass Teapot with Infuser
VonShef Satin Polish Stainless Steel Tea Pot with Infuser. Available in sizes Small, Medium & LargeDesigner White Ceramic Tumbler Brewing System
VonShef Satin Polish Stainless Steel Tea Po…
£6.99		Designer White Ceramic Tumbler Brewing System
£15.00

.

And before you go…

If you have found the #plasticfree information useful, please consider supporting us. It all goes to financing the project (read more here) or

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

SaveSaveSaveSave

  • N.B.
    lines changes, products get removed. For more information why not ask the Plastic Is Rubbish FB group for updates. They are a great source of tidbits, personal experience and the latest news. Why not join them and share the plastic free love x
Join our Facebook group here

Flowers to collect

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade, 3.1 Special days & Parties Tagged 2 Comments

Because they are grown locally and packed on site, I bet you could get these UK grown flowers plastic free if you asked! Why would you want to buy UK flowers? Read more…

Organic Blooms If you love cut flowers, and care about where they come from and how they are grown, then a stunning bouquet of British cut flowers from Organic Blooms could be just what you’ve been looking for!
Organic Blooms is a Social Enterprise based just outside of Bristol. CLICK AND COLLECT Bouquets Available now

Champernhayes Flowers & Foliage is based in rural West Dorset where I grow and sell cut flowers and foliage. I love to forage from local hedgerows. I arrange flowers for weddings and events, as well as selling wholesale and to local businesses. My speciality is in scented woody ornamentals and foliage stems. I have an established perennial cutting garden and a newly fenced field which will be planted up in the autumn of 2014.

Or

These don’t have web pages but  are up on twitter.

Yorkshire Petals @Yorkshirepetals

Glorious home grown English country flowers offering varieties of bunches that are not available in most florists or supermarkets.

Elaine Parkinson @FelicityFarm

Growing and designing beautiful seasonal blooms for weddings, events and gift bouquets on our farm in Chorley

 

post

composting as one…

by Posted in 3.1 Composting, 3.6 Good to know Tagged 8 Comments

Disposing Of Biodegradable Waste

Composting accelerates the natural process of biodegrading or rotting down organic waste material into a rich soil or compost. Its the only sustainable way to deal with our waste… we love it.

It sounds complex, and  many  treat it as some kind of arcane science, but basically you pile your biological waste into a compost bin, keep it warm and it rots down naturally into a rich soil or compost. I do it without much effort. If it took much effort I wouldn’t! With the right bins you can turn all your scraps into plant food, or, if you don’t need plant food, dispose of your waste ecologically.

Great Reasons to Compost

  • You can use your compost bin  for garden litter which saves on boring trips to the tip.
  • You can dispose of your own kitchen waste which it gobbles up by the bucket load.
  • You can keep biodegradable waste out of landfill. Why? Well, biodegradable waste does not do well in the unnatural conditions of landfill. It bubbles away producing methane which adds to the greenhouse effect.
  • And so, composting reduces your carbon footprint  by diverting biodegradable waste from landfill.
  • It is  a practical investment for the future. The Uk government is committed to reducing the amount of biodegradable waste in landfill by 50%, by the year 2020. As 30% of UK domestic waste is organic this will affect us all. Setting up a home composting system is just getting ahead of the game.
  • Cuts our dependance on waste collection services by taking responsibility for our own waste.
  • Cut bin liners. No need  to wrap my mushy waste as it all goes straight in the compost bin. Read living without bin liners  for more information.

How It Works

All natural (as oppose to synthetic) materials do eventually biodegrade or rot. Here’s how long it takes for some commonly used products to biodegrade, when they are scattered about as litter:

Paper ~ 2-5 months
Cotton rags ~ 1-5 month
Natural fiber rope ~ 3-14 months
Orange peel ~6 months
Wool socks ~1 to 5 years
Leather shoes ~25 to 40 years
Tin cans ~ 50 to 100 years
Composting speeds up that process and results in a lovely rich soil additive that can be spread on the garden to feed the plants and micro beasties.  
It is also a way of managing your own waste. If every bit of trash was compostable you could get out of that destructive relationship with your landfill bin.

Useful composting information

Biodegradable –Biodegradable products break down through a naturally occurring microorganism, such as fungi or bacteria over a period of time. More about biodegrading here

Compostable – To be classed compostable, items must biodegrade within a certain amount of time, the resulting biomass must be free of toxins, able to sustain plant life and be used as an organic fertilizer or soil additive.

Composting Standards For a man-made product to be legally sold as compostable, it has to meet rigorous composting standards

How to Compost?

So you are now hot to rot but which bin to go with?

A heap…
You can compost in a heap which is just as it sounds. You heap your compostables up and leave them to rot down. However composting works quicker when there is heat. To create heat you need to contain your heap. It needs enclosing.

Build a wooden bin…
These bins are not fully sealed. Animals (rats and mice) can get in so you need to be careful what you put on them. No meat dairy or cooked food. You can quickly and cheaply  build a compost bin out of scrap wood or pallets. Or you can buy wooden frames ready made.

Plastic Ready Made Bins
The next option is to buy a ready made plastic bin.
Basic Bin I got my first bin from the council. It didn’t work for me.. rats invaded my bin and refused to leave. Other people manage though. Rats can get in these bins because they are not fully sealed.

Enclosed Systems I use an enclosed system called the Green Johanna to compost everything. Yes its plastic but you can compost meat, dairy, cooked food and  NO RATS. Highly Reccomended!

Underground Systems If you just want to get rid of your waste rather than use the resulting compost,  you  could try an underground composting system. You put your rubbish in and the ground eats it. One such is  the green cone that just eats your biodegradable rubbish. Underground  bins can also be used to compost your pet poop .

Composting Indoors

Electrical Units
This is a nifty little electric composting unit that you can keep indoors in a kitchen cupboard

Other Ways

Bokashi Bins are not strictly composting but pickling. Great to  use in conjunction with worm bins.

Worm bins – a bin of worms that eat your rubbish.

Read all about these bins here……

Bokashi Bins

Because I love all things compost, I invested in a Bokashi kit - two bins with taps and bokashi bran ...
Read More

Carpark composting

It's a compost bin... in a car park.... next to the other rubbish bins. How cool. How French! ...
Read More

Compost Bin – underground

You can put ALL your food waste into your Green Cone including meat, fish, bones, dairy products, vegetables and fruit. There ...
Read More

Compost Bin basic – cheap but rats!

I’ve had my compost bin for 14 months now and I am very pleased with it. I use it for ...
Read More

Compost bin in a kitchen cupboard

I am lucky enough to have a garden where I can keep  my compost bin. However if you don't have ...
Read More

Compost Bin the Green Johanna

I started composting with a simple black bin, the economy discounted version from the council. I chucked the food in ...
Read More

Dog poop disposal

This is something I really hate …. plastic bags of dog @*%! hanging from the bushes. But then plastic bags ...
Read More

Worm Bins

Composting is a great way to dispose of kitchen waste and reduce your carbon footprint, but what if you don’t ...
Read More

Plastic and Composting 

Buy

There are plenty of links in the posts  links above to the suppliers

If you can’t do that then I have put together and Amazon catalogue. Yes I know..

 

 

Biard Eco Recycled Platic Environmentally Friendly Bokashi Composting Bucket Bin to help Compost Household / Kitchen / Food Waste Blackwall Twin Pack Bokashi Bin Bokashi Bran 3kg
Biard Eco Recycled Platic Environmentally F… £27.99 Blackwall Twin Pack Bokashi Bin £36.00 Bokashi Bran 3kg £16.50
Green Johanna Hot Composter Hatch for Blackwall Compost Converter Wooden Composter Large
Green Johanna Hot Composter £104.00 Hatch for Blackwall Compost Converter £7.50 Wooden Composter Large £34.99
Wooden Compost Bin 328L in BeeHive Style 337 FSC Classic Single Wooden Compost Bin FSC Classic Triple Wooden Compost Bin
Wooden Compost Bin 328L in BeeHive Style 337 £54.95 FSC Classic Single Wooden Compost Bin £84.99 FSC Classic Triple Wooden Compost Bin £209.99

 
Amazon is a very dirty word at the moment and I thought long and hard before suggesting them.  Heres why I went ahead….. No we are not entirely happy with Amazons recent history. However, we have always found their service to be good and their packaging usually compostable.

If you buy a product via this link we do get an affiliation fee for this. This is not why we do it.

https://wp.me/s4gI1n-9595

Sung to the tune of… can you guess…. on the count of three

Imagine no incineration
No chimneys towering high
no clouds of toxic ashes
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Composting today…

Imagine there’s no black bins – it isn’t hard to do
Nothing to burn or landfill
so no methane too
Imagine all the people
composting in peace

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will compost as one

Imagine no recycling
I wonder if you can
No more single use dipsosables
only products with a long lifespan
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will compost as one

See our composting posts here

post

Ribbons & Ties

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade Tagged , , 1 Comment

Of course one way to get the most out of your wrapping paper is to reuse it. In which case you done want it torn off. Walk away from the sticky tape and tie your brown paper packages up with  string which can also be reused.

Or real silk ribbons hand hand died in Scotland using natural dies made from plants grown in the garden WANT SOME!!!!!! Not bought any myself but I bet you could get them in plastic free packaging if you asked. They seems a very nice business.

A bit from the website

I have started to produce hand dyed ribbon using the plants and flowers grown at Mill Pond Flower Farm. We are very fortunate in having a wide variety of mostly native trees and plants with the addition of flowers grown for sale. This gives a great store of material that can be used in dying fabrics and can give a range of colours. The effect of using natural dyes is to give a softness and depth of colour that changes with the light, blending effortlessly with other fabrics and hues.

Buy here

More Ties

Other kinds of decorative, non synthetic, ties can be found on Amazon.  Amazon is a very dirty word at the moment and I thought long and hard before I did it. Heres why I went ahead…..

Daffodil Yellow 100% Cotton Twine - 10 metres cut length by Cranberry Card Company Jute Ribbon 2''X10yd-Red Linen Ribbon, 1 in. x 5 yd., Rustic Wedding, Natural, Package of 12
Daffodil Yellow 100% Cotton Twine – 10 metr…
£2.95		 Jute Ribbon 2”X10yd-Red
£30.05		 Linen Ribbon, 1 in. x 5 yd., Rustic Wedding…
£62.12
Burlap Ribbon, 2 inches x 10 yards, Rustic, Vintage, Wedding Jute Ribbon Toffee 7/8 Inch by 10 Yard Roll Sold By The Yard Jute Ribbon Brown 7/8 Inch by 10 Yard Roll Sold By The Yard
Burlap Ribbon, 2 inches x 10 yards, Rustic,…
£35.77		 Jute Ribbon Toffee 7/8 Inch by 10 Yard Roll…
£3.59		 Jute Ribbon Brown 7/8 Inch by 10 Yard Roll …
£3.59
38mm Brown Self Adhesive Picture Frame Backing Tape 50m Roll 60 gsm Eco 15 Luxury 5 Metre French Grey White Heart 100% Cotton Gift Wrap Ribbon Silk ribbon Shibori Katrina x10cm
38mm Brown Self Adhesive Picture Frame Back… Luxury 5 Metre French Grey White Heart 100%…
£1.50		 Silk ribbon Shibori Katrina x10cm
post

Chain Base

by Posted in 6 archive 9 Comments

About

Latest Plastic News

They also have the a range of plastic free products. Find them in our facebook gallery here

Other Products

From Louises database

Louises Data Base?
Louise Bayfields   “POSTIVE PRODUCTS LIST (UK) a list of High Street and Supermar-ket products that have no packaging or in some way help reduce packaging.”

The List
The original PDF will be updated as  Louise shops around so do check back there for updates. 
Remember not all stores stock all products. It might be wise to check ahead if you are making a special visit.
Once again thank you  Louise for such a fantastic resource!

Shopping Tips

If you want to buy loose, you will need to take your own reusable packaging – produce bags, tupperware even compostable disposables. You can find them here.

Sneaky Plastics

The plastic free freak should remember that
metal lids to glass jars are of course plastic lined .
Tin and cans including those for cosmetics are also plastic lined
Paper and foil wraps will be plastic lined.
Find other sneaky plastics here….

Choose Well
If you really can’t do without it and you have a choice a plastic wrapped products, choose to buy the one in simple plastics that can easily be recycled

More

see all our supermarket info HERE.
Find out more about the individual products here via the food index
Other places to buy unpackaged food are listed here

N.B.

lines changes, products get removed. For more information why not ask the Plastic Is Rubbish FB group for updates. They are a great source of tidbits, personal experience and the latest news. Why not join them and share the plastic free love x

And before you go…

If you have found the #plasticfree information useful, please consider supporting us. It all goes to financing the project.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

post

Mothers Day

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade, 3.1 Special days & Parties Tagged ,

Flowers and chocolates  are a traditional choice for such days and always welcome. Especially when you choose a few plastic free, more eco options.

Sweets

Flowers

Gifts
What mum doesn’t love a garden? Or Monty Don? Or Waitrose? Then check this…  while looking for some plastic free secateurs I came across these from Japan. At 80.00 they are outside my price range but they look lovely, are recommended by Monty Don, come in a box (less plastic packaging) and are sold by Waitrose.

“Rated one of the best performing secateurs by BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, with a score of 17/20 (January 2015).These slim-handled secateurs, forged from a single piece of high carbon steel, are a popular choice for female gardeners as they fit smaller hands perfectly.”
What can I say!
If you cant afford that there are some other (cheaper) options here, recommended by me.
And a lot more garden related gifts here.

But what if …
I am stereotyping your mum? what if she hates the gardening, has hands the size of shovel, wants to wipe the grin off that smug buggers face and only shops in Lidles? You could try these plastic free delights that can double as gifts.

Argh last minute Valentine day fixes….

Forgot !?! Quick, go get this free down load and print out the coupon book. Serve with a deep soulful look ...
Read More

Knickers

Time to buy new panties, knickers, bloomers, draws, step-ins – call them what you will. I am a simple woman ...
Read More

Body Butter

One of the joys of living plastic free is that you have all kinds of useful base ingredients in the ...
Read More

Secateurs

The  cutters of I use are from Joseph Bently I bought this set from TK Max– steel and wood tools with minimal ...
Read More

Wrappings & Cards
Gift got you need to wrap it. You can find plastic free gift wrapping options and cards here.

post

Compost Bin – underground

by Posted in 3.1 Composting Tagged 2 Comments

You can put ALL your food waste into your Green Cone including meat, fish, bones, dairy products, vegetables and fruit. There are so many good reasons to compost not least because you can dispense with bin liners.

“The waste is digested rather than composted and is primarily reduced to water. This nutrient rich water enters the soil under the base of the digestion unit. There is no need to turn waste over like in a traditional composter.

For anyone who does not have the time to compost, the Green Cone is the ultimate waste food disposal solution. Most Green Cones produce so little residue that they will need cleaning only once every few years.

Features
Composts ALL food waste
Completely natural process
No need to turn waste over”

Composting at it’s easiest, though perhaps not it’s most attractive!

You can buy them from Even Greener who claim that

  • 4. CREDENTIALS Most of our products are made in the UK in our own factory.
  • 5. GREEN MANUFACTURE Most of our compost bins and water butts are made from recycled plastic using renewable energy.
  • 6. PRICE GUARANTEE Find it cheaper elsewhere and we will refund the difference.*
  • 7. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED Not 100% delighted? Return your goods within 30 days for a full refund.**

 

See more composting posts here