Building My Blog

by Posted in 5 Blog Social Media & Map

But in January 2014   I upgraded from a free wordpress site (www.plasticisrubbish.wordpress.com) to a self hosted site – from now on known as the SHS- (www.plasticisrubbish.com) which I pay for. Mainly because I wanted to access exciting features like carousels and plugins. It took up a whole load of time and I had to learn about domains, hosting and buying a theme. I don’t really know what I am talking about but will share my experiences to help the computer noddies out.

This has had several consequences. I have to rent my .com name – that is plasticisrubbish.com.  This is called a domain. I rent it from Go Daddy who are very cheap but who I now realise are not the greenest company to do business with.

I also had to choose someone to host my blog. This is called hosting. There are all kinds of things you should take into account when choosing a host and I understand few of them. All I can say is that I am with Hostgator who I have found to be reliable and helpful.

The cost of hosting has fallen dramatically and there are a few reasons why you might want to go straight for a self hosted site.

Moving Sites – from a free WordPress to a hosted site

You can pay WordPress to move your site for you or you can do it yourself. I don’t have much money so I did it myself. It was very hard. I had to read a lot of information on the WordPress and Hostgator sites. It took a lot of man hours but I did it. I cant tell you how because I  DIDNT FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT I WAS DOING. It had something to do with a C- Panel and other things. I think it was worth it because despite the pain and crying jags  I do (sort of), understand a few more things about websites.

But still with WordPress?

I still have my wordpress.com site which I can access and I am not sure what I am meant to do with it. Do I delete it?

And Still Looks & Feels Like WordPress

My new site uses the WordPress structure. It is just like using the free WordPress site but there ate loads more features like themes and plugins.

Choosing A Theme

The advantage of a hosted site means that you get a large choice of funky themes. This is like a predesigned website that you can tweak to suit.  You can buy them on line. I am using Flagman. Then I had to  work out how to use the theme which meant watching my blog disintegrate into a blur of techno babble on a depressingly regular basis.

Later I got into designing logos and tackling the gimp graphic package.

It was a sharp learning curve but extremely addictive. Too addictive. I have to call it done.

Plugins & Widgets

WordPress also lets you add plugins and widgets. These are like little extra programs that do fun things like link your Instagram account and show your Tweets. Widgets can be used to make your blog look better.

Jetpack

Offers loads of plugins that you might find useful.

Post Shares and how mine didn’t carry over!

When I changed blogs my post shares didn’t come with me.  The url of each post had changed si some information did not carry over. I don’t know if this is still the case but if it matters to you it is worth considering from the start. As a consequence,  some very popular posts that had been shared many times now showed nothing.  I was mildly concerned our stats didn’t carry over. I say mildly because up until now I hadn’t really bothered about hits. Quite frankly it was enough to get posts posted without wondering who was reading them.  With the kind of crappy connections I had ( I wrote much of the blog while traveling in the blackest of backwaters), I didn’t have  time trying to see irrelevant stuff like who was sharing my posts. But this got me thinking.  What counts as a popular blog? Is it measured by hits, social media followers or interactions? More of this later. In the meantime you need to consider a redirect.

Redirects

You will need to redirect people from your old site to your new site. Any links to the old site will now be out of date. People using those links will have to be redirected to the new address. You will have to pay for this. Annually. One year I forgot and my visitor numbers plummeted. I am still paying – its about £24.00 a year

Google Ranking

It seems that my Google rank didn’t go with me either. If you look for me under wordpress.com I have a Google Rank BUT I have no google rank for the .com site.  I have no idea how that works or wether I will eventually end up with 2 Google rankings.

POPULARITY

Google ranking and post shares are all indications of how popular you are. The third is of course your stats.

Google Stats Versus WordPress Stats.

Oh dear what an addictive and dispiriting subject that can be. Your stats are of course about how many people visit your blog and it can become an obsession.

If you have a hosted.com WordPress site you can use Jetpack to do all sorts of things for you including monitor your site stats. Which it does very well  – but Jetpack is a huge program and if you don’t want to use all of its features it can slow your site down.

The other option is Google stats.  You have to insert the google code into your site which was a challenge – for met at least. I thought I had done this and Google were collecting my site stats but they always trailed behind my WordPress page /post view stats. One big reason I stuck with Jetpack.

Then I installed a plugin called Google Analytics Dashboard for WP which allows me to see my google stats on my wordpress dash board. This is a great program and I wish I had done this at first. Trouble is my google stats increased massively and now far outstrip my wordpress figures. I realised I was double counting so removed the plugin.

The other problem with Google is it is so complex. Jetpack is really easy to understand and the info you need is so easily accessible.

Sharing Is Caring

A quick trawl of the internet shows that most people seem to think that stats are as nothing compared to a loyal readership , well crafted content and popular posts. That’s me sorted! But how do you judge if a post and indeed a blog is popular.

Sharing posts is certainly one way to judge. But to do that you have to make it easy for people to share your posts.

You can see some figures here for what people consider counts as a successful blog,  how many page views and social media followers should you have.

Bounce Rates

The best explanation of bounce rates I have found is from Wikipedia

“Bounce rate (sometimes confused with exit rate)[1] is an Internet marketing term used in web traffic analysis. It represents the percentage of visitors who enter the site and then leave (“bounce”) rather than continuing on to view other pages within the same site.”

Apparently it is important because search engines like allow bounce rate.

“Bounce rate is a measure of the effectiveness of a website in encouraging visitors to continue with their visit. It is expressed as a percentage and represents the proportion of visits that end on the first page of the website that the visitor sees.[2]“

Many feel this is unfair as the bounce rate  doesn’t take into account how useful  that first page is. Take my blog for example – if some on is only looking for information on getting a milk delivery in glass bottle (find out here), they don’t need to look further than that page. Information obtained they leave the site happy but my bounce rate is poor. Ho hum! Never easy is it!

Security

Do you know you need to protect your blog from hackers?

Nope me neither. It never crossed my mind that any hacker would care about my burblings – but apparently they do.

Here a some very useful tips on making your blog more difficult to access

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bin liners

by Posted in 3.1 House, Office & Garden

 

We used to use hundreds but now I have given them up! So what do I keep my rubbish in then? I could use compostable bin liners made out of cornstarch or paper bags but why pay when you don’t have to? And we dont!

We boycott plastic, recycle, and compost – all of which means our kitchen bin is nearly empty. What rubbish we do create is mostly dry, at worst a bit sticky, so it can go straight into our kitchen bin.

The bin has one of those hard removable plastic liners that can be washed out after emptying – which helps if waste is a bit grubby.

We empty our kitchen bin straight into our black bin. You could use a degradable plastic liner in the wheelie bin if you really wanted to – or had to.  We don’t need to as, most of our rubbish is dry, and our council is sensible.

End result – we DONT NEED TO USE ANY KIND OF  BIN LINERS.

Originally we had a bin with a steel liner but it began to rust and was  hard to keep clean. So I changed to plastic. See we don’t hate it  (you can follow our plastic we use tag to see the plastic we indulge in).

Dont know which compost bin to buy, only got a tiny apartment, or have no  need for humus? Dont worry, you can still compost – try this range of interesting compost bins

W – Plastic Free Places that start with the letter W

by Posted in 3.2 Shops & Businesses Tagged

Watford
Vicky has this to say about  Bon Appetite in Watford “that had loose nuts and dried fruit. Can’t find the original post now but anyway finally remembered to see what it is called – Bon Appetit – on The Parade in Watford. Sells world foods in bulk ( mostly in plastic but large quantities ) , loose fruit and veg, large paper bags of flour, loose nuts, dried fruit and some fresh food counters where you may be able to take own containers ( haven’t tried).

Wimborne
Spill The Beans, Wimborne, Dorset. As they sell loose spices, dried fruit and nuts. Plus eCover refills, Faith in Nature and other solid soaps – all package free. HTH . From Liz Hodge http://spillthebeanswimborne.co.uk/

Winscombe
“There is a wonderful little shop called Scoop and Spice, in Winscombe (a little village) in North Somerset. I think it still also has another shop in Yatton (a commuter village in North Somerset). You can take your own containers, or they provide paper or plastic bags. They have all the basics (rice, pulses, nuts, herbs, muesli, oats, dried fruit, pasta) and coffee beans. They also do Ecover refills. And I was delighted to be able to buy dark chocolate coated brazil nuts (and other yummies) in a paper bag the other day! They also sell cardboard deodorant sticks, loose soaps, shampoo bars. They are increasing their range all the time and it is an absolutely amazing place, notwithstanding it is a small shop in a small village. It is family-owned and they are lovely people. Definitely worth supporting.”

Worcester
“Pack It In – Zero Waste Living in Worcester Pack It In – Zero Waste Living in Worcester
Pack It In
Unit 7,8,9
The Gallery
(The Old Market Hall)
The Shambles
Worcester
WR1 2RD”

XYZ
York

What Are Refill Stores?
Bulk buy or refill stores are places you can buy food loose.You take as much as you want/need from a larger container and you can usually use your own packaging.
Packaging
While these shops provide bags and they are almost always plastic ones. You will need to take your own plastic-free /reusable bags, tubs and bottles.

Tare

The weight of the container may make a difference at checkout. Some shops  subtract the tare weight but other don’t. The tare weight is the weight of the empty container.

Shops

Watford
Vicky has this to say about  Bon Appetite in Watford “that had loose nuts and dried fruit. Can’t find the original post now but anyway finally remembered to see what it is called – Bon Appetit – on The Parade in Watford. Sells world foods in bulk ( mostly in plastic but large quantities ) , loose fruit and veg, large paper bags of flour, loose nuts, dried fruit and some fresh food counters where you may be able to take own containers ( haven’t tried).

Wimborne
Spill The Beans, Wimborne, Dorset. As they sell loose spices, dried fruit and nuts. Plus eCover refills, Faith in Nature and other solid soaps – all package free. HTH . From Liz Hodge http://spillthebeanswimborne.co.uk/

XYZ
York

More

Find other loose food stores here

Find A Milk Delivery Service With Glass Bottles Here 

Supermarkets
Sometimes supermarkets can surprise you – check out the plastic-free and reduced packaging products here.

Help Me

Please add any shops you know of in the comments below and I will incorporate them into the post.
Links to reviews particularly welcome.
Dont have a blog? Love guest posts…

More

You can find a list of all other plastic free products over at the A to Z

More

You can find more loose food outlets here These shops provide bags and they are almost always plastic ones. You will need to take your own plastic-free /reusable bags. You can find a list of all plastic free products over at the A to Z

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How To Make Personal Care Products

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade, 3.2 How To...plastic-free

It is so easy to make your own personal care products and the advantages are huge;  you get to control what goes on your skin, be way more eco-friendly and save a whole load of cash. You can make almost anything the cosmetic companies sell but without the palm oil, dodgy chemicals and weird colors. Though you can have all those too if you want.

In the U.K.. you can buy some ingredients locally, (mainly coconut oil), but for most of them you will need to go online. And almost certainly they will come packed in plastic. BUT you will get so much product from one bag that this will represent a massive cut in your overall plastic waste creation.

Disclaimer
Be aware of the risks of listening to someone who
a) doesn’t have any training in this field,
b) most of what they know comes from Google,
That’s me I mean.

I am telling you of my own experiences for your information only. You should do a lot more research before proceeding. None of the following have been tested on anyone other than me, my husband and my mum.

Check out the links below for suppliers and recipes.

Antiseptics & Disinfectants

This post talks about Microbes Antiseptics Disinfectants Alcohol Bicarbonate Of Soda Vinegar Hydrogen  peroxide Soap Essential oils This is an area ...
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Body Butter

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

I read that Britains get through 15 million plastic bottles a day. How many? I find that utterly shocking. So ...
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Creams & Lotions – Recipes

The following information is for guidance only. None of the following recipes or tips have not been tested on anyone ...
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Exfoliate

Microbeads.... the newest way to exfoliate. These tiny particles, or microbeads, scrub away at the skin supposedly leaving it wonderfully ...
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Fake-bake plastic-free

Every year they, the fashionistas, say that pale is interesting - well up here in the windswept north of England ...
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Gels

Xanthan Gum Xanthan gum is a polysaccharide with many industrial uses, including as a common food additive. It is an ...
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Hair Gel and hairspray

I got these from green ladies blog I haven't tried them because I have no use for such things but ...
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Inhalers Homemade / Recycling

Now I would never suggest you don't take your plastic packed medication. If you need it you take it. But ...
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lip balm

Well looks like winter is finally here - again - and the need for a good lip balm has never ...
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Mosquito Repellent

It's that time of night when sitting on the balcony becomes a feat of endurance rather than a pleasure and ...
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Oils, lotions & creams Index

The following information is for guidance only. None of the following recipes or tips have not been tested on anyone ...
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Shampoo

Shampoo in a plastic bottle? Why bother when there are gentler, cheaper and plastic-free soap substitutes? Liquid Shampoo Soap Flake Shampoo ...
Read More

Sun Block Creams & Lotions

 The following information is for guidance only. None of the following recipes or tips have not been tested on anyone ...
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Toner – skin

I have long had the complexion of a teenager – all spots and grease. While in India this situation got ...
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Toothpaste, toothpowder, dentifrice homemade

Dentifrice - toothpaste or  toothpowder whichever, it  is basically an abrasive to clean and polish the teeth. Most brands come packed ...
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Using Essential OIls

This is a post in progress. As I learn so I will add to it. For now this is what ...
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Ingredients

An introduction to some of the stuff you need to make the above

More

And find out how to make lots more stuff HERE
Find all plastic free personal care products here…

Organic Textile Company

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade, 3.2 Shops & Businesses

I did buy from this store. They have a good range of fabric and they state that ” All our fabrics are good quality inexpensive organic, cotton fairly traded.
” Though they don’t actually have a fair-trade certificate you can see that they are commuted to the cause. There are  some nice personal details about the people they work with. I know who made my fabric,

They also  supply ready made products like aprons and tea towels for craft projects.

Know what you are sewing

The fabric descriptions are not so clear. There is nothing on the dies used. They make some suggestions for what to make but do not put in the fabric weight. If you are new to sewing it might be a good idea to use their sample service. I copied the following from their website.

For 50p/£1 you can choose your own – buy separately, denims, cord, velvet,etc You can buy all current woven organic cotton and bamboo samples for £20  around 200 samples. Jersey samples are extra, order set 4.

If you are in the UK and would like 2 small free samples …..
It would help us greatly if you send an SAE (self adressed stamped envelope) saying what you would like and we’ll be happy to send them to you.

I was too rushed to use this and just ordered what I thought would suit. The fabric was lovely and the service prompt. Reviews to follow.

Packaging NOT PLASTIC FREE

Sadly the packaging was plastic.

Due to the nature of what we send through the post it is not suitable for us to use paper packaging. We do reuse packaging that is from parcels that have been sent to us and we would be able to send out fabric using recycled packaging if it was requested by a customer.

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Huddersfield, Khadims

by Posted in 3.2 Shops & Businesses Tagged , , , , , 1 Comment

Here in lovely Huddersfield, we buy much of our stuff from Khadims, the Asian Supermarket on Blacker Road, including;

Loose unwrapped foods

  • Pistacheos  and walnuts
  • Ginger, garlic and chiles
  • Basmati rice  loose
  • They do a wide range of unwrapped fruit and veg including
  • Small UNWRAPPED cucumbers,
  • They also do halal meat unwrapped. Take a bio bag.
  • Metal pan scrubs.
  • The ever useful coconut oil and some weird vaseline  rip off in tins.

Take

You have to take your own cotton produce bags, scoop up as much as you need and they weigh it at the counter at the counter. Smashing.

 

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Biscuits homemade Christmas Tree Decorations

by Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink, 3.1 General & Homemade, 3.1 Special days & Parties Tagged , 3 Comments

Lidles biscuit cutter resized1 1While in Spain I visited Lidles and I came across a set of festive biscuit cutters in a cardboard box.  They might have them in the UK.

If not I have sourced some on Amazon for you but I can’t answer for the packaging!

Plastic-Free Biscuits

To see how to bake these biscuits go to the BBC Food website

And last time I looked you could still get icing sugar in a cardboard box. If not you can make it by grinding sugar in a spice grinder or food blender then adding cornflour. You can find full instructions here.

FOR INSPIRATION check out Pinterest where the  iced biscuits image was found.

Add a compostable tie and there you go – plastic free and edible christmas decorations. What’s not to love?

Find more lovely plastic-free Christmas ideas here….

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Yummy yummy hormone like chemicals

by Posted in 2.1 reports, stats and studies Tagged

leaching into your food………

The researchers bought more than 450 plastic items from stores including Walmart and Whole Foods. They chose products designed to come in contact with food — things like baby bottles, deli packaging and flexible bags, says George Bittner, one of the study’s authors and a professor of biology at the University of Texas, Austin.

Then CertiChem, a testing company founded by Bittner, chopped up pieces of each product and soaked them in either saltwater or alcohol to see what came out.

The testing showed that more than 70 percent of the products released chemicals that acted like estrogen. And that was before they exposed the stuff to real-world conditions: simulated sunlight, dishwashing and microwaving,

read more here

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Bad plastic – Introduction

by Posted in 1 ABOUT PLASTIC 16 Comments

Most plastics are oil derived and non biodegradable. Which means plastics last for decades, centuries possibly forever. We are using this everlasting product to make items that are used once and then discarded. Items that end up as litter.

This is an introduction to the darker side of plastic with links to more information on the following. Read on or jump to your subject of interest via the menu on the right.

Bad Plastic-  An Introduction

Over the past few years it has been growing on me an ever-increasing hatred of plastic. This may seem an unreasonable reaction to a product that is strong, lightweight and waterproof all at once, that houses my computer and stops the electricity from running out of my plugs. O.k. I don’t hate all plastic what I actually hate is the abuse of plastic. I hate the way this incredibly versatile product is used to make stupid trashy one use items that quickly become everlasting rubbish.

 What is plastic?

Most plastics (and we are talking millions of tons each year) are distilled from oil.

Ethane (one of main ingredients of plastic) can also be obtained from coal, gas and plants as well as oil.
Naptha and ethane derived plastic are non-biodegradable plastics.

There are (a very small percentage of) other plastics with different qualities but most plastics are oil derived and non biodegradable.

Read more here…

How much rubbish?

Because oil derived plastics are cheap, plentiful and versatile we use them for just about everything including one use throwaway objects and packaging. In the UK alone we generate 3 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, 56% of which is used packaging, three-quarters of which is from households. (waste on line)

We, all of us, are creating huge amounts of rubbish which is extremely expensive to dispose of.

Everlasting trash

Because most plastics  do not biodegrade plastic lasts for a long time  possibly for ever. It cannot be composted or left to rot where it is dropped or dumped like organic rubbish. Every bit of plastic rubbish has to be collected up and specially disposed of… and this isn’t easy.

Burning it at best adds to global warming, at worst can release extremely toxic chemicals. It has to be done with care.
Put it in landfills and it just sits there.
Recycling is not always an option and it comes at a cost

Read more here

 Plastic Litter

We use plastic for fast food packaging, sweet wrappers and disposable cups – things that are used for minutes before being discarded. Things that end up as litter… but because it is made out of plastic, has a  huge life span. We have created everlasting litter that is increasing exponentially with distressing consequences.

Planet trashed 

Perhaps the most obvious problem with plastic is our plastic trashed planet looks extremely ugly. Visit our gallery of world-wide plastic pollution to see the evidence.

Planet Damaged
This everlasting litter is not just a visual blight but dangerous too.Plastic pollution is damaging our world.

  • Drainage systems get blocked with plastic causing flooding,
  • layers of plastic trash choke grasslands and lakes
  • rivers and waterways get clogged with plastic debris.


Sea of rubbish 
Since the ocean is downstream, much of the plastic trash generated on land ends up there. ” It has been estimated that 6.4 million tons of debris end up in the world’s oceans every year and that some 60 to 80 percent of that debris, or 3.8 to 5 million tons, is improperly discarded plastic litter “. Encyclopedia Brittanica.  Marine debris, a polite term for mostly plastic trash, is already a huge and troubling problem.

  • Everyday tons of trash gets washed ashore and cleaning beaches is increasingly expensive.
  • 70 percent of discarded plastic sinks to the bottom, smothering the sea bed and the bottom feeders who live there.
  • Fish and sea birds ingest plastic which can kill them.
  • Read more here

 Micro pollution

Traditional plastics degrade rather than biodegrade, which means they simply break up and fall apart into smaller pieces. The plastic has not changed its structure as such – merely fragmented. And it seems the process can continue indefinitely. Particles of plastic of 20 microns in diameter (a width thinner than a human hair) have been identified.

Sources of micro plastics are
Degraded plastic – larger plastic products breaking down into smaller pieces
Cosmetic products that  contain tiny plastic beads which are washed off and washed out to sea.
Synthetic clothing that release thousands of plastic fibres every wash.
Read more here

Killer Plastic

Plastic in the environment presents a danger to animals in a number of ways.They eat plastic trash mistaking it for food which causes internal damage and blockages.Even if the plastic doesn’t kill them outright a diet of plastic is nutrition free. Animals that eat plastic are underdeveloped and underweight.The chemicals in plastic can poison them.Many get tangled in plastic twine and ghost fishing nets and starve to death.

Find details and reports here.

Plastic Poisons.

The first stage in plastic production, the polymerisation of raw material.
Then substances such as fillers and chemicals (sometimes called monomeric ingredients), are added to give color, texture and a whole range of other qualities.

Manufacturers are not obliged to reveal what they use in their plastic mixes. So while the polymers used in base plastics are mostly considered to be harmless, the potential toxicity of the additives is often unknown.

It is claimed that many of the additives used have not been passed as fit for human consumption and that more research needs to be done on the safe handling and ultimate disposal of these plastics.

More worrying still they leach from plastic into us.

Other plastics like PVC will, when burnt, release dioxin one of the most powerful carcinogens known.

Plastic particles attract persistent organic Pollutants (POPs). POPs are a small set of toxic chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods and accumulate in the fatty tissues of animals. Bottom feeders eat the plastic pellets and so the POPs enter the food chain.

Costs

To add insult turns out plastic isn’t even that cheap!

To conclude

So while plastic is a fantastic product with many wonderful applications, it has a dark side. Using to make one use disposable and short-life items that quickly end up as everlasting rubbish seems incredibly foolhardy. Which is why I cut unnecessary plastic from my life.

Plastic Costs A Lot

According to some "the environmental cost, including carbon pollution released during production [of plastic], is staggering ...
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Toothpaste With Added Plastic

What's in your commercial toothpaste? For starters ther may be plastic micro beads!Did you know ...
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Bring back real litter!

Since the introduction of plastic, litter has been hijacked and turned into something unsustainable. I want to ...
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Plastic Chemicals & Food

Plastic packed food is unappealing in many ways. For me the most immediate problem is ...
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Micro-plastics & pollution

Micro plastics are microscopic or very small pieces of plastic that can be found in ...
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Dirty Beaches, Polluted Sea

Most plastics are oil derived and non biodegradable. Which means plastics last for decades, centuries ...
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Chemicals & Additives In Plastic

The first stage in plastic production, the polymerisation of raw material. Then substances such as ...
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Everlasting Litter

Because plastic is so cheap we use it for just about everything. The world’s annual ...
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Wasting away – how much rubbish do we create?

Whats new in the bin - check back here for updated rubbish factoids. "Discarding many ...
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Plastic Trash By Country

Statistics can be wobbly and there will be discrepancies between reports but even bearing that ...
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Foil Card and Paper, Plastic lined

Paper & Card Paper and card are made from natural fibres and is biodegradable. Both ...
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Plastic kills and injures animals

Plastic in the environment presents a danger to animals in a number of ways. First ...
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Dioxins & Burning plastic

So, is it safe to burn plastic? Well most plastics don't  burn easily - it melts and ...
Read More

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Plastic we use Index

by Posted in 5 Blog Social Media & Map 6 Comments

You might not have expected to hear this over at a plastic boycott blog but there are a lot of plastic products I have no intention of giving up.
Using plastic to make one-use, throwaway objects that then become everlasting litter is dumb and I  hate it when plastic is used to make a product for which there is a viable, natural, longer-lasting, better wearing alternative such as metal mop buckets,  cotton shirts and wooden spade handles.
We boycott non-biodegradable plastics used to make throwaway and semi-disposable items. This includes

However there are still some plastics we use

There are some plastics I have no intention of giving up. My computer obviously. Just to be clear,  I don’t dislike plastic, I dislike the misuse of plastic. There are many good reasons to use plastic but it has to be used properly.

I use plastic products when

  • Plastic Is Best – the best material for the application and has been used to make long lasting high quality durable and essential products.
  • Plastic That Cuts Plastic – when using plastic reduces the use of plastic.
  • Greener plastics.
  • Weak Willed – there is no alternative and I am weak.
  • Medical plastics.

Plastic Is Best

Strong, durable, light weight, long-lasting and cheap, plastics are integral to the development and production of products that have changed the world for the better. Furthermore to replace all plastic products with” natural” alternatives would place a huge strain on the environment.

I use plastics when I think they are the best option but I have strict guidelines for how I use them. I will only use long-lasting, high-quality, durable products that are essential. Ideally they will be made from a safe and easily recyclable plastic that is clearly marked as such. Better still they will be made from recycled plastic.

And of course ones mans essential is another mans frippery. It’s an ongoing debate.

Check out the plastic we use here.

 

Plastic that cuts plastic

Making plastic free products where the ingredients come plastic packed or buying in bulk to cut packaging. Both of which represent a massive reduction in plastic consumption compared to buying ready made –you can read more about my plastic compromises here

Greener Plastics

I am happy to use certified compostable plastic  and use numerous PLA plastic products.

Weak Willed & Family Unity

There are some plastic wrapped foods and booze ( plastic lined tonic tins, plastic corks in wine) I cannot give up. But by continuing to campaign for real disposable packaging I am hoping that one day I will be able to eat these things guilt free. You can see the plastic food we eat here and the plastic booze (and some great alternatives), here.

Future Plastics

Rather than boycotting all plastics I believe we should be discussing
• How to produce greener plastics in a manner less damaging to the environment,
• What we choose to use plastic for
• How we harvest and reuse all the components, including plastic, at the end of a product’s life.

 

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Mincemeat Sweet

by Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged , 4 Comments

No more jars with their plastic-lined, metal lids for me! So what with Christmas coming  I need to make my own sweet mincemeat for my mince pies. So I did. I based my recipe loosely on a Delia recipe. Thank the lord for Leeds Market and the Nut Shop where I bought all my ingredients.Don’t live near Leeds. There are other places – Check out the loose food list here.

This is what you will need for the Delia Recipe

1 lb (450 g) Bramley apples, cored and chopped small (no need to peel them)
2 oz (50 g) whole almonds, cut into slivers
4 level teaspoons mixed ground spice
½ level teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ level teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
6 tablespoons brandy
8 oz (225 g) shredded suet
12 oz (350 g) raisins
8 oz (225 g) sultanas
8 oz (225 g) currants
8 oz (225 g) whole mixed candied peel, finely chopped
12 oz (350 g) soft dark brown sugar
grated zest and juice 2 oranges
grated zest and juice 2 lemons

This is what I am using for mine. Made one big jar which is as many pies as I want to make!
275g Windfall apples from the neighbour – great way to use up sour apples!
No nuts! Yuck!
120g Vegetarian suet from Weigh & Save Whitby
275g Raisins Nut Shop
65g Dried apricots Nut Shop
No Candied peel, but zest and ginger in my Wrinkled Balls of Christmas Fire
No All Spice
No Sugar I don’t think it needs it. Much as I love Delia I think she rather over sweetens!
Juice of one oranges from the green grocers
6 tablespoons Wrinkled Balls of Christmas Fire, ginger and lemon peel in vodka

You might want to follow the Delia recipe and cook this properly (needs leaving overnight and baking for 3 hours), or you can, at your own risk, do this….
Mix all the ingredients together leave overnight, put it in to bake at a time when you are using the oven anyway for as long as the oven is on maybe a bit longer  then leave it in the oven as it cools down. Spoon into old jam jars. Top with lard or vodka to keep fresh till needed. Can’t promise it won’t go off but not lost a jar yet. That said I don’t make this far in advance.
If you want it to look rather more fancy you could try these  reusable clip top kilner jars with rubber seals.

Find lots more plastic free recipes with the plastic free cook book  and more Christmas stuff here