The Nut Shop

19 November 2010 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged 3.1.3 dried fruit and nuts, 3.1.3 herbs & spices & seasonings, 3.1.3 Loose Food, 3.2.2 West Yorkshire

Strolling round the delightful Gotham City like splendour that is Leeds Market I came across the NUT SHO P the most fantastic stall where all manner of cake related stuff from hundreds and thousands to candied peel and silvered almonds are all sold LOOOSE.

Raisons and dried fruit

Candied Peel

Nuts

Spices

Decorative things and sprinkles

AND cocoa!!!!

You can see a photo record of some of their loose products here

Packaging

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.

Leeds Market

You can find stalls selling loose

sweets

meat and fish

veg

Don’t live in Leeds?

Loose Food

As the plastic movement grows more shops are selling naked food; stuff that that normally comes plastic packaged ie rice, Some sell pasta. Heres a list of towns with shops selling loose food.

Buy Online

But loose food shops are still few and far between, Don’t despair. It is possible to buy food online loose and plasticfree. You can even use your own cotton produce bags for some things. READ MORE HERE.

Packaging

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.

Supermarkets & Chainstores
Because sometimes we have to shop there and yes you can get plastic free and zero waste stuff. Read our supermarket reviews here.

Better Plastic
Many products like dried fruit come packaged in lovely looking, printed, laminated plastic film. Or to put it more simply several layers of plastic each with different properties stuck together. Because they consist of different plastics bonded together it is difficult to know what they are and how to treat them and separating the films is tricky and so very expensive. Films therefore often don’t get recycled but burnt or landfilled.
Simple polythene bags are easy to recycle. You can read more about that here.
Check the recycling info on the package to find out more.

Feel guilty buying plastic packed food? So do we but sometimes you have to so we apply the special treats rule. read more about the three levels of plastic free food

See all our food posts via the food index

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.

Metal Lids With Plastic Linings

17 November 2010 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 1.2 Plastic The Product Tagged 1.3.2 pvc, 3.0 sneaky plastic, 5 Content Veiw

Back in the early days of the boycott I didn’t think of glass jars as an issue – after all they weren’t plastic so it wasn’t a problem. Of course it was you numbskull.

Look at the lids – that white sticky stuff – the seal? That’s plastic that is…

Googling around and I found this from the containers and packaging site

“Plastisol liners are one method that helps seal metal closures onto containers. Plastisol is a PVC gasket that is used in metal continuous thread and lug (sometimes called twist) closures. It is normally applied to metal lids in a ring shape on the inside of the lid at the point where it will match up with the landing of the bottle.

Plastisol material starts out as a solid. After being heated properly, Plastisol becomes liquidus and forms around the landing of the container that is being sealed. When the material cools it begins to cure, or solidifies, which then creates a tight vacuum seal.”

PVC? Not sure I like that idea.There’s lots more information here on the poison that is PVC. And despite the industry claiming it is perfectly safe, research is being done into alternatives. Why you might ask – and so do I. Answers? I have none but”The environmentalist group Greenpeace has advocated the global phase-out of PVC because they claim dioxin is produced as a byproduct of vinyl chloride manufacture and from incineration of waste PVC in domestic garbage.”

Dioxin is one of the most carcinogenic substances known.
Check out dioxins and why you dont want to be burning plastic for more.

One alternative could be this from k-online

The development of PVC-free compounds for lug-type twist closures and the corresponding production processes took place before the background of the 4th Amendment 2007/19/ EC of the Plastics Directive 2002/72/EC, which no longer permits the use of some phthalates as plasticisers in PVC-based seals of closures that come into contact with food. This marked an end to the exceptions with which EU and national authorities made allowances for the industry’s difficulties in finding solutions to the migration problems. Accordingly, manufacturers of metal lug closures, food producers, bottlers and retailers are under a great deal of pressure to bring products to market that are environmentally friendly, user-friendly and, above all, comply with statutory regulations.

This TPE is free of plasticisers and PVC and is useable with a wide range of lug-type twist caps (from 38 to 82 mm in diameter). Besides those properties that are indispensible in a sealant – good processability, pasturisability, compliance with the law – this new PVC-free compound ensures compliance with the valid migration thresholds even for oily foods with longer shelf-lives (e.g., antipasti). This was confirmed * in multiple individual tests. Thus vacuum twist seals with sealant compounds by Actega DS are the preferred solution for low-migration food storage and help food industry customers keep their products from becoming entangled in the problems associated with unhealthy packaging. Moreover, the new product also addressed the need to maintain a reliable vacuum until the closure is first opened and user-friendly resealability.

So I try not to use jars.

Look here for other sneaky plastic.

Juice and juicers

5 November 2010 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged 3.1.3 drinks, 3.2.4 cook book, 4 plastic2cut plastic, 4 Reviews, 4.1 plastic we use

I can easily avoid juice screw top lids, and plastic lined tetra packs, by making my own juice.

Now I have been putting this off for a while because I thought it would take a lot of labour and time . Don’t like the first and don’t have enough of the latter. But I have heard so much good about fresh juice and juicing recently I began to think it might be worth it.

And our tree is covered with apples no good for eating but if I juice them then maybe. Well at worst I could make cider surely??

So I bought a Philips Juicer and though there was some plastic wrapping most of the protective gubbins was cardboard. Result.

Better still it is really easy to use and clean. No peeling no seeding chuck the fruit in.

Since then I have been juicing everything – really I mean everything. Both fruit and veg are quickly reduced liquid and its great for using up things – bit of pepper, some dried up ginger, half a lemon and a soggy tomato – in they go along with the broccoli stems and sour allotment apples. I know it sounds gross but so far it has all tasted good.

Totally recommend this product

PLASTIC ALERT

Of course the juicer has plastic elements but we don’t boycott all plastics. We think that there are some valid uses for the product ( gasp!! yes I know…you can read our reasons here). The juicer fits into the

Plastic products that reduce the use of plastic disposables

Pan Scrub Luffas

1 November 2010 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Cleaning Up, 3.1 House, Office & Garden Tagged 3.1.1 pan scrub, 3.2.2 West Yorkshire, 5 Content Veiw 4 Comments

The slightly rough texture of the luffa makes it ideal for gentle scouring.

The luffa, also spelled loofah, is the fruit of either L. aegyptiaca and L. acutangula. It looks rather like a cucumber. If harvested young it can be eaten but if left to mature it becomes very fibrous.

These fibrous fruits can be dried out then used for anything from exfoliating the skin or cleaning the dishes. Not the same one obviously. And so you can find loofahs for sale in anywhere from chemists to cookery shops.

I bought a monster Loofah in T.K. Max for peanuts. I use it the slough my leathery old skin

Mean while Michael’s rather more expensive and much smaller Original Luffa Scouring Pads Micheal’s can be bought from Half Moon Oraganics in Huddersfield or on line at the ethical superstore. are used to wash the dishes

They ” are ethically and sustainably grown on Michael’s family farm in the Phillippines (luffas are plants grown on land).
Bought directly from the farm at a fair price, your purchase supports less privileged families and prevents environmental degradation.
Michael’s Luffas become flexible and supple in water and are durable and tough enough for all but the hardest baked on food (soak it first). They are gentle enough for cleaning non-stick surfaces, fruit and vegetables (and also your body).

Well not by me at that price – I just cut the end off my monster loofah and used that.

Grow Your Own

When I need a new one I am going to try and grow one.

You can find more pot scouring options here

Exfoliating here

Water steriliser – SteriPEN

15 October 2010 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.2 Travel Tagged 3 water, 3.1 Backpack 8 Comments

Its easy to give up bottled water in England but what of when you are abroad? in countries where the water is not so reliable? India for example.

I have travelled a lot in India and over the years have seen plastic pollution rise to horrific levels. A lot of that plastic rubbish is empty drinking water bottles many of them discarded by tourists. I refuse to drink bottled water because I don’t want to add to the plastic pollution.

But you might also want to consider this; some of the drinking water bottles in India, claiming to contain purified water have been refilled with tap water. There are recurring reports about this and it seems to be a fairly common scam. Empty water bottles are collected, refilled with tap water (if you are lucky), and the cap glued back on. To quote from but one source, “You cannot rely on the bottled water available in public places in India, because of the rampant refilling of used bottled water bottles by the racketeers in India.”

So what to do? The steri pen is my solution to that particular problem. Stick the sticky bit in a liter of water – switch on and 90 seconds later the water is safe to drink. Works by UV light.UV light destroys virtually all viruses, bacteria and protozoa. It weighs next to nothing and is tiny.

It kills

Viruses

A virus is a small infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of other organisms.

Hepatitis

Bacteria

Bacteria are microscopic living organisms, usually one-celled, that can be found everywhere.

Campylobacter
Cholera –
Escherichia coli –E coli
Legionella –
Salmonella
Shigella

Protozoa

Protozoan parasites live in the cells and tissues of other living creatures. Protozoans can cause problems, from targeting the central nervous system to diarrhea.

Cryptosporidium
Giardia

It Does Not Filter Water

This is not a filtration system. It does not remove other contaminants such as heavy metals, salts, chlorine or physical dirt. You have to find clear water. I usually use it on tap water or fresh water.

Effective?

I have used it the world over to sterilise tap water and river water. I had no tummy troubles at all – which was rather a shame as I was depending on a bout of Delhi Belly to help with my weight loss programme.

Charging It Solar, Battery or USB?

You can choose from solar, battery operated or USB rechargeable Steripens. I have tried them all. The solar charger was way to slow and I quickly had to find an alternative. However that was some time ago and things might have improved. The battery powered was the only option available to me when I bought my first PEN. The batteries (CR123) can sometimes be hard to find abroad though of course it very much depends on where you are. On the plus side the batteries do last a long time ( longer than a charge), but they do present disposal problems and it is not always possible to find a safe place to bin them.

This time I went for the rechargeable Freedom PEN which can be charged via a USB port. I am pleased with it. It holds the charge for days though that obviously depends on how much water you sterilise.

Other Benefits

On a long trip it soon pays for itself and then goes on to save you a considerable sum

You never run out of water. You may not be able to buy water or boil it. That’s the time you are glad you got a SteriPEN.

It doesn’t change the taste of the water – which is not always a plus point!

You will need a water bottle with a wide neck to accommodate the width of the PEN as it needs to be submerged in water.

It will do 1 or 1/2 a litre of water at a time. Get a bottle that is one or the other. We found half a litre of water each was as much as we needed to carry. With a PEN we can always sterilise more when needed.

For more information visit the steriPEN site and check out great reviews of the product here and here.

Find out all about refill points, filters and other water related information here.

Buy

You can buy a SteriPEN in the UK at shops, on line and of course Amazon.

Travel Plasticfree

Here’s the rest of our plastic free travel stuff and useful tips

Rubber Gloves

14 October 2010 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Cleaning Up, 3.1 House, Office & Garden Tagged 3.2.2 West Yorkshire, 5 Content Veiw 3 Comments

There comes a time in every girls life when waterproof hand protection is necessary (just don’t ask), and I found myself searching for plastic-free rubber gloves in a hurry.

At first I did not succeed. In fact I was so unsuccessful I had to buy two pairs of rubber gloves in non recyclable plastic packaging URK!! That is a particularly bad plastic crime. But then lo ….the sun came out and shone on Holmefirth Health Shop where they sell these little beauties.

Greentips Household Gloves
Product Information:
Pair of Latex Gloves made from Fairtrade natural rubber. Medium size green colour, flock lined with fairtrade and sustainability sourced logos.
Flock lining and extra weight ensures long life for these gloves. Boxed in recycled CARDBOARD packaging.

So when I have finished my unpleasantly moist tasks and have no further need of them it is claimed they can go onto the compost heap. Though, despite what others say, I have my doubts as to wether latex actually is compostable!

I cannot find an online supplier. The closest I can get is Fairtrade gloves from Big Green Smile – but the packaging appears to be plastic…. BOOOOO! A well thought out product spoilt?

You can buy something similar but much tougher for even nastier jobs from Ethical Superstore

Tin Cans, Plastic Liners & Health

8 October 2010 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 1.4 Additives Fact Sheets Tagged 1.2 BPA, 1.2 Chemicals, 3.0 sneaky plastic, 5 Content Veiw 15 Comments

So you think, no that you’ve given up plastic but at least you can buy stuff in tins. At least I did for a while. But sadly for me no most tins are plastic lined either with a polymer (plastic) coating or epoxy resin (also plastic) And this is tru for food, drink and even cosmetics.

Linings

Drinks
Aluminium drinks cans have a polymer plastic lining. It’s there to stop acids in the beverage from corroding the metal which is not good for the can or the flavor of the contents. If you don’t believe me, Check out this experiment, as done by Steve Spangler,

Food
Nearly all tin cans are plastic lined with epoxy resin.
Epoxy resins, are used because of their “exceptional combination of toughness, adhesion, formability and chemical resistance. These coatings make it possible for food products to maintain their quality and taste, while extending shelf life.
In tins the liner can be white or yellow or transparent in which case it is undetectable. In most cases it is best to assume that your can has a plastic liner.
It helps to prevent canned foods from becoming tainted or spoiled by bacterial contamination.

Read more “Metal food and beverage cans have a thin coating on the interior surface, which is essential to prevent corrosion of the can and contamination of food and beverages with dissolved metals UK FSA, 2002).”

Cosmetics
Tins used to store cosmetics are also lined with epoxy resin this time to prevent corrosion.

Recycling

You might wish to know that when the can is recycled, the liner is burnt off.

History

“The History of the Liner – Technicians at the American Can Company, even before Prohibition, began toying with the idea of putting beer in a can. As early as 1929, Anheuser-Busch and Pabst experimented with the canning process. Schlitzeven proposed a can design that looked like a small barrel.

The major problem the early researchers were confronted with, however, was not strength, but the can’s liner. Several years and most of the early research funds were spent to solve this perplexing problem. Beer has a strong affinity for metal, causing precipitated salts and a foul taste. The brewers called the condition “metal turbidity”.

The American Can Company produced the flat or punch top can in 1934. The lining was made from a Union Carbide product called “Vinylite”, a plastic product which was trademarked “keglined” on September 25, 1934.”

Bad for you?

You might not want to know that the lining contains Bisphenol A (BPA) a chemical building block that is used to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins.
So what?? To cut a long story short it would seem that BPA is toxic and does leach from plastic liners into the food.

The Bisphenol A Organisation argues that it is in such small amounts as to be negligible.

Based on the results of the SPI study, the estimated dietary intake of BPA from can coatings is less than 0.00011 milligrams per kilogram body weight per day. Stated another way, an average adult consumer would have to ingest more than 230 kilograms (or about 500 pounds) of canned food and beverages every day for an entire lifetime to exceed the safe level of BPA set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

It is true that several scientific panels including the European Union’s Scientific Committee on Food, the National Toxicology Program and the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis have concluded that the claims that low doses of BPA affect human health have not (yet ), been substantiated. While accepting that animal testing has produced adverse results, they can find no concrete evidence that humans will react the same way.

BUT BPA is now considered by many to be a hormone disruptor, a chemical that alters the body’s normal hormonal activity. There are many counter claims on the internet and in the media that BPA is lethal. You can read all the arguments here

Why use BPA at all you might ask ? Here’s some information from the bishenol-a.org

It must also be noted that despite claims that BPA is as safe as safe, research is ongoing into alternatives. And maybe they have found one. According to Food Production Daily

“Researchers in the United States have developed a chemical derived from sugar with the potential to replace bisphenol A (BPA) in a number of products, including the lining of food cans. The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) said Professor Michael Jaffe had received a US patent for an epoxy resin based on isosorbide diglycidyl ether that could make consumer products safer.

“The patent will enable us to create a family of isosorbide-based epoxy resins that have the potential to replace bisphenol A in a number of products including food can linings”, Jaffe told FoodProductionDaily.com.

Note the statement by Food Production Daily that this will make consumer products safer. And I hardly need say that the creators of this new product are clear in their statements that BPA is not a good thing.

Hmmm – the choice is yours. As for me I boycott nearly all tins and cans – tonic, tomatoes, coconut milk, tomato puree and baked beans are the exceptions. I don’t like the plastic or the BPA.

BPA Exposure ‘Much Higher’ Than Believed & Proposed BPA Ban (crunchydomesticgoddess.com)
New Health Canada and FDA Studies Support BPA Safety (eon.businesswire.com)
Global Epoxy Resins Market to Reach 1.93 Million Tons by 2015, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. (prweb.com)e boycott here

You can find more reports, studies and media scares on BPA here

And how to make epoxy resin here

Tea Bags Plastic Free

13 September 2010 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink 2 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.
Firstly is your bag made from paper? Are you sure? Because when you think about it if it really was made from paper why doesn’t it go all soggy when you submerge it in boiling water?

Well it could be because the actual bag that you thought was paper, does in fact contain oil derived, non- biodegradable plastic and so are only between 70-80% biodegradable.
Then there is the sealing. Wikipedia claims “Heat-sealed tea bag paper usually has a heat-sealable thermoplastic” coating. You can read more HERE.
OR the paper may have been treated with Epichlorohydrin to make it stronger
And those bags are so white because they have been bleached with chlorine.
You can read more HERE.

Plastic Free Tea Bags

The technology is out there to make plastic free teabags that are not coated with Epichlorohydrin.
Teabags can be made from
PLA—polylactic acid, a compostable alternative, can be used to make silky bags.
manila hemp cellulose fibres can be used to make paper bags
You can get paper bags that have not been treated with epichlorohydrin that have been made from oxygen washed fibers with no polluting whiteners used.

For example these from Twinings Few things in life are as fresh and delicious tasting as loose leaf tea – or as simple and convenient as the teabag. The good news is, our pyramid shaped silk teabags let you enjoy the best of both worlds. We call them silky pyramids – althoughf the bag is in fact made from a manmade, biodegradable fabric. Looking through the prism-shaped mesh, you can see the beautiful whole dried leaves of tea or colourful buds, where they’ve got just the right amount of room to swirl about in the hot water and release their flavour.You can read more here.
Or Pukka herbs whose tea bag paper is made of a special blend of natural abaca (a type of banana) and plant cellulose fibres.

Sounds good right. Hold your horses… sadly plastic free tea bags doesn’t mean plastic free tea. TWinings pyramid envelopes are made from PET 12um / Polyethylene EVOH 60um which unfortunately is not recyclable. And pukka plastic free tea bags come in tea sachets (envelopes) that have a Polyethylene lamination.

Plastic Free Teabags (usually in plastic packaging)

Twinings silky teabags are made from PLA but come plastic packed
Tea Pig plastic free teabags but plastic in the packaging
Pukka herbs use natural abaca but teabag envelopes are plastic lined.
These I dont know about the packaging.
Tetley Black & Green tea uses Perflo paper bags, which are free of epichlorohydrin.
Numi Tea: manila hemp cellulose, and free of epichlorohydrin. The tags are made from 100%
recycled material and soy-based inks.
Rishi Tea: PLA silky bag
EDEN Organic: oxygen washed manila fibers sealed with 100% cotton string.
Organic Stash: 100% cellulose fibers
Two Leaves Organic Teas: biodegradable cornstarch based nylon,
Organic Tazo
Organic Traditional Medicinals: unbleached bags made from abacá ( Manila hemp)
Organic Yogi Teas: Manila hemp (abaca) fibers and wood pulp, oxygen bleached.
Thanks to Clean Plate for the following information. Visit their website for more.
NB while thebags may be free from, the packaging may contain plastic.

Pg tips have brought compostable teabags. Though I have yet to find them in the U.K.

MESSAGE FROM PG TIPS

Our new tea bags are completely biodegradable and will break into its natural parts down under the right environmental conditions. The best place for your tea bag once you’ve finished making your cup of PG tips is in your food waste bin. The UK’s climate means that the process of the tea bag breaking down in your compost can take some time, so if you want a quicker result you should follow WRAPs guidance: “There are several ways to get rid of your used tea bags. If you have a food waste collection scheme in your area, you can put your used tea bags in there. While the new PG tips tea bags are fully biodegradable and will eventually break down in your home compost, it can take a long time to break down, so you may want to sieve out the leftover part of the bag and discard it or dig in with the compost.

N.B. I think they are still wrapped in plastic.

They also do loose tea that is completely plastic free. Read more about loose tea, strainers and other gubbins, here.

Plastic Tea Bags In Compostable Packaging

And yet in a strange twist of fate you can get conventional tea bags that contain plastic in compostable packaging.
Twinings pack their conventional teabags ( have a plastic content) in compostable packaging. Their Everyday teabag line in the UK comes in a cardboard box with no cellophane. Inside the bags are packed in sealed bags of Innovia’s Natureflex NM material. This is a shiny foil like “plastic” that is certified compostable. Read more here.
I have composted in my own compost bin.

Clipper teabags have dumped the cellophane though the teabags are still packed in plastic bags inside the box.

Loose Tea

if none of the above suit you could always try The only alternative is loose tea. Initially this might seem like a lot of faff. First you will need to source some loose tea. You can find that here

One Cup

But how to steep them? 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 use to make your own 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

How to make a pot of tea here

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!

Find other sneaky plastics here….

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave

Washing Soda

24 August 2010 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Cleaning Up, 3.1 General & Homemade Tagged 3.1 general, 4 raw materials, 5 Content Veiw

Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda, soda ash and soda crystals)

is the water-soluble sodium salt of carbonic acid.

It is alkaline.

Pure sodium carbonate is a white, doorless powder with a strongly alkaline taste.

Washing Soda or Sodium carbonate (also known as soda ash and soda crystals) has a chemical formula of Na2CO3.

Pure sodium carbonate is a white, doorless powder with a strongly alkaline taste.

It has been used for centuries.

History

Soda ash was called so because it was originally extracted from the ashes of plants growing in sodium-rich soils, such as vegetation from the Middle East, kelp from Scotland and seaweed from Spain.

It also occurs naturally as a residue. “When seasonal lakes evaporate, they leave a huge chunk of mineral deposits behind. These deposits are good sources of sodium carbonate. Other dry lakes and wells are also good sources of the same. It is also believed to have been erupted from volcanoes. Large deposits of sodium carbonate are found in Africa and North America.”

From

While it can be made from the ashes of plants or occur naturally as a residue most is now via one of these heavily industrialised processes:

The Solvay Process Uses limestone, salt and ammonia to transform salt (sodium chloride).

Mining – Trona ore is mined, then heated until it turns into soda ash also known as washing soda. Bicarbonate of soda is obtained along the way. Read more.

Baking Soda V Washing Soda

Baking Soda’s PH is not as alkaline as washing soda, so it doesn’t cause skin irritation and you don’t need gloves to handle them. It is not as harsh as washing soda but neither is it as effective a cleaner. It is also half as effective at softening water.

You can turn bicarb back into washing soda by baking it so that breaks back down into water steam, carbon dioxide and washing soda. I have never done this but by all acounts need to cook your bicarb in the oven for half an hour at 400 F (or 200 C).

Uses

Water Softener
Methods for softening hard water involve the removal of calcium ions and magnesium ions from the water.

This can be done by adding sodium carbonate to the water.
“The water is softened because it no longer contains dissolved calcium ions and magnesium ions. It will form lather more easily with soap.However, the calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate precipitates to form limescale. As well as being unsightly on your taps, it can also clog up pipes in heating systems (causing them to break down). This makes treatment with sodium carbonate suitable for softening water only in certain circumstances – such as softening water for hand washing clothes.”
washing Soda is alkaline which means it will work well with organic soils ( dirt). Alkaline emulsify grease. Fatty acids are normally insoluble which is why they cannot be cleaned using water alone. The alkaline breaks down fat making them dispersable in water. Read more here

For the same reason it can help remove wax from floors
helps in better absorption of dye
reduces the acidic effects of chlorine in swimming pools.
an excellent descaling agent
A powdered form of dishwasher detergent can be made with washing soda and Borax
For more uses and a rather cheery info graphic visit Dripak.

Dripak sell washing soda – in plastic bags. Here’s some of their blurb

All-natural Dri-Pak Soda Crystals are bio-degradable and contain no phosphates, enzymes or bleach. Soda Crystals are an alkaline “washing soda”. The main uses of Soda Crystals are to dissolve grease, soften water, loosen dirt and reduce acidity. You can safely combine Soda Crystals with other natural ingredients like baking soda and soap flakes for even more cleaning power. Soda Crystals, along with Soap Flakes, have a long history. They were the primary cleaning products in use at the turn of the twentieth century.

Buy

Dripak sell washing soda – in plastic bags.

Borax, washing soda, bicarbonate or all three. What should you use for your cleaning needs? A comparison HERE
See all out #plasticfree cleaning aids HERE

Technical Data

Technical grade

Sodium carbonate, also known as soda ash, is a white, anhydrous and hygroscopic powder with a purity. There are two forms of sodium carbonate available, light soda and dense soda (granular). Sodium carbonate has a melting point of 851C, it decomposes when heated and therefore a boiling point can not be determined. Sodium carbonate is an inorganic salt and therefore the vapour pressure can be considered negligible. It is soluble in water and solubility increases with temperature. The average particle size diameter (d50) of light sodium carbonate is in the range of 90 to 150 µm and of dense sodium carbonate is in the range of 250 to 500 µm. Sodium carbonate is a strong alkaline compound. The pKa of CO3 2- is 10.33, which means that at a pH of 10.33 both carbonate and bicarbonate are present in equal amounts.

Click here to view MSDS

Stuffing

18 August 2010 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged 3.1.5 Christmas, 3.2.4 cook book 2 Comments

You can’t have a roast bird without stuffing. I have tried long and hard to find plastic free ready-made but it eludes me so now I make my own… heres how…

First I got the recipes and they all call for breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs what? How? Where do I get plastic free crumbs from?Any smart buggers out there can keep their sarcastic comments to themselves.

Google time later and I can tell you its easy – stale bread + food processor or cheese grater and they can be kept in the freezer so you always have some on hand.

Actually what I did is put some not really stale wholemeal bread buns, plastic free from the bakers, in the oven, dried them out and crumbled them up.

Ok now its time for that really good stuffing.

This is a recipe

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 dollop of olive oil

Some fresh sage, finely chopped – from the garden

80g/3oz fresh white breadcrumbs

salt

pepper

1 egg, beaten – bought in a cardboard box refilled at the cheese stall, Huddersfield Market

I had no scales so I guessed the amounts. Fried the onions, used an egg, some oil and added an egg to bind it all together. Shoved it in the oven at god knows what heat. Served with bird….. and it was really good.

I will never buying stuffing again.

For more try the plastic free cook book here

Envelopes

16 August 2010 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 House, Office & Garden Tagged 3.1.6 Office, 3.2.5 composting & compostables, 5 Content Veiw

One years worth of junk mail for one person in the US equals about 2 feet. Most of these letters are credit card offers says Dan MacFarlane Which leads me on to my mail and the envelopes in particular. It’s those horrid little windows that are the bloody awful icing on the stale cake of junk mail.

In today’s market, four types of window coverings are used

1. Polystyrene: a plastic film designed specifically for the needs of high-speed envelope production;
2. Cellulose based films, such as: glassine and acetate films;
3. PLA: a new film derived from corn; and
4. Other plastic films used for specific, non-standard applications.

But who can tell the difference – not me. And even if they could you know they are not going to be recycled.

Envelopes with windows are no good for Plastic Free Freaks – especially when all they contain is rubbish.

While I might not be able to ban every envelope from my life I can stop a lot coming through my door.

I have converted to paperless billing for all my services.
On the rare times I have to send a letter I only use windowless envelopes.
The war on junk mail is being waged.

Ways To Stop Junk Mail

Thankfully I have this wonderful man with his infinitely detailed website, (listing all the ways you can stop junk mail), to help me. You can read about him below or go straight to his website here

Compostable envelopes

Envelope makers! You could try this for your window envelopes

“Low scratch, compostable film specifically formulated for use in envelope windows. Meets USPS readability standards for window envelope film. Tinted with a light green hue.”

Find other plastic free office supplies and electronics, here.

Diary of a Junk Mail Campaigner

My blog (‘Diary of a Junk Mail Campaigner’) deals with anything I feel people should know about junk mail. It explains – usually at length – how people can reduce unsolicited mail and why stamping out junk mail is not as easy as signing up to the Mailing Preference Service. It investigates whether of not self-regulation by the direct marketing industry can make junk mail more sustainable and exposes the endless stream of junk mail research (invariably showing that direct mail is valued and welcomed by 110% of the population) for what it is; junk research. Occasionally there’s something ‘fun’ on the blog – interesting junk mail art, a video, or just a nice story – but in general the blog is dead boring. As a source for information about junk mail it’s unrivalled though…”

The same description could apply to the website (www.stopjunkmail.org.uk). The aim is to provide detailed and independent information about reducing junk mail. Being a web designer I’m very aware that for instance the Guide to Stamping Out Junk Mail is far too long – few people have a long enough attention span to read through it all. But then the aim is not to entertain people and there are already plenty of websites with short (but incomplete) guides to reducing junk mail. In an attempt to provide the information in a more compact format I set up the website www.junkbuster.org.uk a while ago.

It’s build around the Junk Buster application which people can use to contact up to six opt-out services in one go. I like to describe it as a one-point-stop for reducing junk mail. As for achievements, since the launch of Junk Buster many people have become aware that it’s possible to opt-out of receiving paper directories (people can opt out of the Yellow Pages, Thomson Local Directory and BT Phone Book via the application). None of the directories tell the public that they have this option but after Junk Buster was featured in the Telegraph, Daily Mail and Independent in March things started to change; the Data Publishers Association has now for the first time acknowledged that people can opt out. 192.com is actively campaigning for a central opt-in scheme for directories and I reckon they may achieve their goal.

Another achievement is that Royal Mail is no longer secretive about how many (few!) people register with its Door-to-Door Opt-Out (which stops unaddressed mail delivered by the postman). In 2008 a Royal Mail Manager accidentally told me the figure was less than 0.5% of all UK households. The figure became public knowledge and just a couple of months ago the company publicly confirmed that the figure is currently 0.7%. At the same time the Direct Marketing Association confirmed that only 0.0006% (!!) of households is registered with its Your Choice Scheme. Having these figures out in the open is important because it undermines the industry’s argument that stopping junk mail is easy – if opt-out rates are so negligible something is clearly not working…

Finally, I spent much of my time giving people advice on how to solve their junk mail misery. In a way the campaign is about tackling the junk mail problem, one piece of junk mail at a time. I guess it will keep me occupied for some time to come .

Beach Clean Ups

14 August 2010 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.7 Other Solutions Tagged 2.2 Marine Plastic

Big Spring Beach Clean

Surfers Against Sewage & Ecover Call For Volunteers To Help Clean Beaches & Dramatically Increase Marine Plastic Recycling
Ecover join our call for community volunteers to join the Big Spring Beach Clean this April (3rd – 9th April) to help clean up beaches nationwide and recycle over 50,000 plastic bottles as part of their Ocean Plastic Bottle Project.

The Big Spring Beach Clean has fast become the biggest and boldest beach clean project in the UK, with tens of thousands of volunteers participating around the UK coastline over the last 5 years.

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