Greaseproof paper/ waxed paper

18 May 2015 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 House, Office & Garden, 4.9 Useful to know Tagged 3.0 sneaky plastic, 3.2 house, 3.2.2 Kitchen, 4 About The Alternatives, 5 Content Veiw 13 Comments

There are two types of paper used for cooking and food preparations
greaseproof bakery paper;
waxed paper.

The terms are used interchangably but they are actually different products.

Greaseproof Paper also known as parchment paper is used in baking and cooking. It provides a heat-resistant, non-stick surface to bake on.
It is also used to pack greasy foods like butter.
It used to be made by beating the paper fibres. Now it may have a plastic or chemical coating.

Waxed Paper
Not to be confused with waxed paper. They may look the same but are different products. Waxed paper actually has wax on it. This too creates a non stick surface but for obvious reasons cannot be used at high temperatures so cannot be used for baking.
Waxed paper was often used for wrapping food.
In many cases it has now been replaced with plastic laminated paper. It looks like waxed paper but isn’t.

History
Greaseproof paper was first developed as a replacement for parchment by the engineer Otto Munthe Tobiesen in 1894
During the paper making process, the paper pulp is beaten hard so the fibres bond more firmly. This results in a paper of high density with a small number of pores. It is now less absorbant making it reisistant to grease, fat and oil.
Natural greaseproof paper does not have any chemical treatments or coatings. It can be recycled, composted or burnt.

Waxed Paper was made by coating paper with wax.

The New Papers
Since those innocent days various different types of greaseproof/waxed paper have emerged. These no longer rely on the way the paper has been made but rather are treated, coated or laminated papers. They do not get their grease resistance from denser fibers but from various additives. However they look just like the originals.
They fall into into two types; paper for packaging and paper for cooking.

The treatments for “greaseproof” paper include
Plastic lamination
Chemical
Silicone coating

Packaging

Greaseproof paper and waxed paper were often used for packaging and the names used interchangeably.

They were used in the food industry for many things including wrapping food such as butter and making nonstick containers for microwave food.

However the original papers and cards have been replaced with plastic coated alternatives.

Two common forms of treatment are
Lamination
Chemically treated

laminated
Where the function of the product is merely to stop grease leaking through the product like for instance a butter wrap the paper may be coated with a thin layer of plastic. This is often the case with food packaging where a product wants to maintain an old time look. Don’t be fooled by those charming greaseproof paper bags and butchers wraps on the deli counter. Check them very carefully.
Obviously this kind of greaseproof paper cannot be used for cooking as the plastic will melt and burn.
Read more about laminated paper here

Chemically Treated
Perfluorochemicals (PFCs) are a family of man-made chemicals? They are used
as a surface coating for paper and cardboard they make them water and grease resistant and so suitable for packaging processed foods.
They do not break down easily and can last in the enironment for years.
They have been found in both soil and water.
When they enter the food chain they are retained in animal tissue leading to a process called biomagnification, meaning that they are passed on up the foodchain from animal to animal and because they are stored in the body for years the amount increases exponentially as they travel up the food chain.

You can read more about them here

Greaseproof Paper For Cooking

This type can be used for both cooking and packaging. But is usually used for cooking. It is also called parchment paper.

Silicone Coated
To give parchment paper a really non stick quality some companies are coating it with silicone. Silicone is a kind of synthetic rubber. You can read more about that here .
Sierra say of its silicone coated paper “The baking paper’s silicone coating prevents food products from sticking to the paper or cooking pan. Silicone is an ideal release agent due to its pliability, natural lack of toxins, high insulationability, and heat resistant capability.”

Quilon Coating
This is (I think) a Teflon product also used to give parchment papers a non stick quality. I know very little about it other than that some are claiming it is toxic. I am currently researching it. All input welcomed.

Uncoated Papers

Are they even available? If You Care claimed to provide genuine greaseproof paper products. But while the paper may be green and unbleached, the non stick quality comes from a coating of silicone. They claim their paper is compostable but silicone certainly isn’t biodegradable.
“Experts from the University of Maryland Extension Home and Garden Information Center said, “We would not recommend composting the parchment paper,” but acknowledged that they could not cite specific studies on the topic”

https://livegreen.recyclebank.com/because-you-asked-can-i-recycle-parchment-paper

never used to talk about the silicone coating on their greaseproof paper which makes me wonder was it always there or is it new? And if it is new, is it to replace the toxic Quilon coating (that I never knew about either). If the former, are all parchment papers coated with something and we just never realised?

Buy….More to think about

Reasearch is ongoing and any input is greatly welcomed.
Beyond Gourmet and Regency wraps have been mentioned as being only parchment paper but have not as yet answered my emails. Neither have If You Care.

So far I have been unable to find a verified, uncoated paper for cooking so I won’t use any.

I buy butter that comes wrapped in paper which I just have to hope is genuine parchment paper. I have my doubts but it is the best I can do.

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 (read more here) or

Seed – harvested

24 March 2015 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 House, Office & Garden Tagged 3.1.6 Garden

This one means planning ahead and the packaging may not be plastic free – you will have to check with the company BUT it means years and years of plastic free seed ahead of you. Basically you grow the plant, harvest some but let others go to seed. You then collect the seeds, store them then use them again next year to grow more food, more seed! How good is that?

You can buy real seeds from this company. They have a great selection including veges, herbs and flowers.

The following bits of info were copied directly from their website real seeds

Seed You Can Save Yourself

One of the main aims of the company – written into its deeds – is to educate and encourage home seed saving. All our varieties are real, open-pollinated seed (non-hybrid), so you can save your own seed for the future, using instructions we supply. We have written freely-copyable seed-saving guides, and we sell a more detailed seed-saving book at a subsidised price. There’s really no need to buy new seed every year – you can just save your own.

Hybrid (“F1”) seed is the result of a cross between two different , but heavily inbred parents. Seed you save from these plants will either be sterile or a give a whole mix of shapes and types, usually producing a poor crop.

Only the seed company knows what the parents are, thus only they can produce that particular variety. If you want to grow it, you have no other source – good for the seed companies but not for you! Small growers should be able to keep their own seeds, selecting each year the best plants most suitable for their own land and conditions.

Yes, there are a few exceptions, but in general, the hybrid seed business has been a public relations victory over the small grower. For example, you will soon see more and more hybrid leek seed offered to you. This is because the supermarkets have set incredibly rigid limits on leek size, and the only way to achieve this is through hybridising two inbred varieties, so all leek seed production is switching to hybrids.

You will be told that these new leeks are ‘more uniform’, ‘straighter’ and so on. But what about flavour and adaptability? People seem to forget that we want to eat & enjoy these things – food is not just a commodity!

Despite common urban myths, there is no magic about hybrids. So-called “hybrid vigour” is the simple fact that good hybrid seed is better than bad real seed, and that sadly much of the real seed you get now has been badly maintained. But good real seed – which admittedly requires time, care and patience to produce and maintain – must, by virtue of the genetics of these things, be just as good, and in fact much more adaptable to different soils.

The key here is that it takes less manpower to make the hybrid seed, so the wholesale seed growers are much happier to let the old varieties fade away.

Friends who compost…

23 March 2015 by Plastic Is Rubbish 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.

Seeds

14 March 2015 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 House, Office & Garden Tagged 3.1.6 Garden 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

composting as one…

25 February 2015 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Composting, 3.6 Good to know Tagged 4.8 The Rest 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.

Here are some instructions on how to build a compost bin
Here is a ready made wooden bins

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! ...
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Compost Bin – underground

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

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

Composting is a great way to dispose of kitchen waste and reduce your carbon footprint, but what if you don’t ...
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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 F… £27.99	Blackwall Twin Pack Bokashi Bin £36.00	Bokashi Bran 3kg £16.50

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 £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

Compost Bin – underground

15 February 2015 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Composting Tagged 5 Content Veiw 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

Bokashi Bins

14 February 2015 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Composting Tagged 5 Content Veiw 4 Comments

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

Lots of articles you read will say that you can use a bokashi bin to make compost. NO YOU CAN NOT. At least not in the sense that word is usually used. You can use it to make pickled, partially-dehydrated, fermented waste. However the resulting material still needs to be aged in soil or a compost bin before it can be used on the garden.

This is a two stage process.

BUT you can use the bokashi process to store a lot of food waste for weeks in a small bucket before further composting it. So what’s is the point of that?

It makes a green waste collection service viable.
Bokashi juice it is claimed makes a great house plant feed though some dispute that.
Reduces trips to the compost bin if your bin is on your allottment say.
It is a good way to start the decomposition process

How it works

The bokashi bin is a Japanese system that pickles your waste.

You put the waste in a bin ( can be anything including meat)
press it down hard and sprinkle with bacteria (bokashi) laced bran.
The bacteria begin to pickle your waste.
As it does so the waste begins to ooze juice. This you drain off. This juice can be used as a liquid feed.
Once the bucket is full you leave it to stand.
You can fit two weeks waste of two people (who cook fresh everyday) into one bucket.

What to do with your pickled waste?

You can feed it to the worms in your worm bin. Bokashi is claimed to help in a limited space worm composting system. Compressing food waste means you can fit so much more in your worm bin and because it is part broken down, they deal with it more quickly.
You can put it on the compost heap again benefitting from reduced space requirements and increased composting times
You can dig it into the soil but you need to bury it deep to avoid attracting hungry animals who will dig it back up again. Personally I cannot see the point in that!

Not tried this you can also bury your fermented food waste in an enclosed bin or box. Best to use a bin that has at least a 20 gal capacity. Start by adding 1″ of soil to bottom of bin. Next, add your fermented food waste. Add some more soil on top of that and mix it in with the food waste. Pour 3″-4″ inches of soil on top of food waste, soil mixture and pack it down. Cover the bin. Food waste should be completely broken down and ready to plant in 4-5 weeks. You can continue to stack additional fermented waste on top until your bin is full. Plant your favorite veggies directly in bin when food waste has been completely broken down.
here are links to people who do this in the U.K. “You add the pickled veg to the bottom of a pot or mix it in with the compost. You then need to let it settle for a couple of weeks, but then you can grow in it. The pickled veg rots down very quickly once in the soil. Basically, bokashi vastly accelerates the decomposition process – so although you don’t get ready made compost out of it, it is well on its way. Personally I prefer to use worm compost, but bokashi is a useful alternative.”

I can testify that bokashi bins work really well for storing waste but because my compost bin is so great,(it can compost anything and is rat proof), and is close by ( just at the end of our very small garden) I don’t really have much use for my Bokashi bin.

I do use it very cold winters when the daily trip to the bin is just too horrid.

I thought I was getting a good deal with the liquid feed but this article suggest otherwise. “The majority of nutrients in food scraps is contained in large molecules like protein, DNA, carbohydrates, fats, oils etc. Since bokashi does not break down the food scraps these nutrients are still bound up in large molecules at the end of the bokashi process. That is why an apple still looks like an apple at the end of the process. The nutrients will not get released until the future composting process is completed.”

Interesting stuff as is this. Bokashi in way more detail

Buy

You can buy bokashi bins from Even Greener who claim that

4. CREDENTIALS Most of our products are made in the UK in our own factory. Including these bins.
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.**

Make

If you are handy you can apparently make everything yourself including bokashi bran. I have never tried but seen online links.

Cleaning products – refill system

25 January 2015 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Cleaning Up, 3.1 Disposables & Reusables, 3.1 House, Office & Garden, 3.6 Businesses & social enterprises Tagged 3.1.2 refill, 3.6 #P-fU.K. Directory, 5 Content Veiw 2 Comments

Planet Earth offers a range of household cleaning products with a unique refill and reuse system.

It works and has been scientifically tested to be as good as the leading brand.

It’s an eco winner: To make a bottle of eco2life cleaner, fill a spray bottle about half full of ordinary tap water, simply add one ‘small wonder’ refill to the spray bottle and top up with cold tap water. Replace the trigger, give it a quick shake – you’re all set to go.

There is no lugging of ‘water’ back and forth, requiring less production, less energy, less packaging

Our spray trigger is designed for a long life and our spray bottles are reusable.

Vegetarian Society Approved.

It’s made in the UK and of course it’s made from naturally derived readily biodegradable aquatic safe ingredients with fully recyclable packaging.

Planet Earth eco2life ‘The brilliantly simple refill system’!

Please note

This post was written by the contributor. It is not a Plastic Is Rubbish review, does not represent my personal opinions and I may not have used this product or service. Instead it is a PfU.K. Directory submission.

The Pf U.K. Directory is…?

…a directory of UK-based groups, organisations businesses and individuals who are responding to the problems presented by the misuse of plastic. That does not mean anti-plastic necessarily but certainly plastic-problem aware.

In 2014 I hope to feature 12 UK-based initiatives featuring refuseniks, trash slashers, businesses and the rest.

The DIRECTORY is to promote their work not mine. Read more here…

Got a project?
It is very easy to get a project featured. Each contributor submits a short synopsis of their project, focussing on the plastic aware element and I post it. You can read the submission guidelines here.

Office & Electronics

21 January 2015 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 House, Office & Garden Tagged 3.1.6 Office, 3.2.3 Buy On Line 6 Comments

Posts with links to suppliers

Envelopes

One years worth of junk mail for one person in the US equals about 2 feet. Most of these letters ...
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Highlighter pencils – wooden

Replace nasty, plastic, highlighter pens with fantastic fluero pencils from Stabilo. According to their website the STABILO GREENlighter proves that ...
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Rubber – PVC free

I didn't know that PVC was found in rubbers but here you go .... from the blurb.... PVC-free thermoplastic rubber ...
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Pencils & pencil sharpeners

The ultimate in plastic free writing but they will fade with time Pencils A really great plastic-free,note taker.... Can be bought ...
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Pen Ink refillable

Here is a one of the worlds finest inventions as radical in its time as the computer has been in ...
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On Line Stores

Check out my Pinterest board with some links to suppliers. I sourced some similar looking stuff on Amazon below

Recycled Paper Cylinder Style USB Flash Drive (DC-M80): 758958 The cylinder style body of this USB drive is constructed from recycled paper making it an eco-friendly, green product.

Recycled Paper Cylinder Style USB Flash Drive (DC-M80) allwrappedupgiftshowcase.comEdit

Fujitsu Wooden Laptop – The Ultimate Plastic free office item!

Wooden calculator any one?

Amazon Catalogue

While we would urge you to shop local, I have put together an Amazon shop.


Artis Handmade Bamboo Wooden PC Wireless Ke… £19.99	Handcrafted Wireless Bamboo Keyboard – Eco-… £21.99	16GB Wooden Leaf USB Flash Drive (Brown) £3.65

16GB Personalised Samsung Flashitall Eco Wo… £20.00	16 GB USB FLASH DRIVE BRACELET Wristband (L… £14.99	8GB Samsung Flashitall USB 3.0 Super Speed … £15.00

iPad Stand Holder, Desk Tidy Organiser Disp…	Adjustable iPAD Holder / Stand Desktop Orga…	Pro-Tec Pure Bamboo Universal Desktop Table… £9.99


Rexel Odyssey Personal Heavy Duty Stapler S… £21.07	Zenith 130001 Plier Stapler Grey Metal Alum… £27.18	Silverline Steel Rule £1.67 – £14.39

2pc Steel Rule Set, P5170 £1.99	LYRA DOUBLE HOLE WOODEN PENCIL SHARPENER £3.99	5 Star Pencil Sharpener Pocket-sized Metal … £1.36

STAEDTLER SINGLE HOLE METAL PENCIL SHARPENE… £1.55	Stabilo Greenlighter Highlighter Pencil FSC… £14.26	KOH-I-NOOR Highlighter Pencils – Assorted C… £5.00


Stabilo 6007/3 – GREENlighter Bright Colour… £4.57	Exclusive Desktop Tape Dispenser The ProfiL… £34.90 wood & metal tape dispenser – be sure to use paper tape.	Rexel Bamboo Letter Tray Natural (100% Recy… £16.03

Desk Letter Rack, Paper Tray, Magazines Hol… £14.69	Umbra Aquala Bathtub Caddy Natural £43.47	Artis Large Chunky Handmade Crafted Bamboo … £14.99

Rexel Bamboo Magazine Rack Natural (100% Re… £14.99	Herlitz max.file Nature A4 8cm Lever Arch F… £13.99	Fancy wooden Mini Stapler £13.90


Thinksound ts02 8mm High Definition Passive… £39.99 Making smarter choices thinksound headphones are designed with features to reduce its overall environmental impact: Wood…	EiioX Latest Design Fashion Bamboo Cube Min… £13.59	Red LED Wood Wooden Digital Alarm Clock DC … £15.00

Buckets – metal

17 December 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Cleaning Up, 3.1 House, Office & Garden Tagged 5 Content Veiw 2 Comments

Unlike cheaper plastic models, metal, industrial strength, hardworking galvanised products will give you years of service. We work in the building & landscaping trade and use these in preference to anything else. Had them for years and they are still going strong.

Not just hard workers but the rugged materials and genuine old school design make them a thing of beauty. Wether sitting in the corner of the kitchen or out in the garden they look as good as they work.

I have found them in 3 sizes

27cm Galvanised Bucket
29cm Galvanised Bucket
31cm Galvanised Bucket

Buckets in the garden?
Not just for swabbing down the decking but they make attractive planters for herbs. Practical too as they are much lighter then pottery plant pots and,of course, much nicer than plastic.

How to make a bucket planter – drill some holes in the bottom and fill with soil.

Buy

You can find them in hardware stores and online.

Amazon Link – you can read our online policy here

13 Litre Galvanised Bucket
£7.06

Cleaning Liquid Refills

14 December 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Cleaning Up, 3.1 Disposables & Reusables, 3.1 House, Office & Garden Tagged 3.1.2 refill, 3.2.3 Buy On Line, 3.2.6 Plasticfree Packaging, 5 Content Veiw 7 Comments

ECOVER do all of these products and you can get your plastic bottle refilled. To find where Ecover have a refill station check the postcode search on their site

TOILET CLEANER
LAUNDRY LIQUID,
FABRIC SOFTENER,
MULTISURFACE CLEANER,
Washing up liquid (other options here)

You can find more about liquid cleaners here including how to make your own

If you cant get to a refill station try getting a refill by post….

What better to kick off your spring clean than these water soluable cleaning products in biodegradable packaging?

Regular price£10.99

Easy to use; water-soluble sachets
Made using plant-derived, sustainably sourced ingredients
RSPO Certified Sustainable Palm Oil
100% Plastic-free
Plastic-free packaging & FSC Certified paper
Made in the UK – so extremely low carbon footprint
Made by Iron & Velvet

And here’s a review…. Not by me

“We have tested them all ourselves and were taken back by how much you get out of each sachet when mixed with water. They do a great job of tackling grease and grime PLUS, they are made right here in the UK, in the West Midlands, so they have a super low carbon footprint to boot!

This pack contains surface cleaners for both the bathroom and the kitchen, which break down fats, oils, greases, watermarks and limescale. These surface cleaners do not contain antibacterial ingredients; however, we do also sell the anti-bacterial versions of these cleaners here if you would prefer them.”

You can buy them here

More On Cleaning

You can buy refills from Ecover for most cleaning liquid products in shops. You can also get refills by post from splosh. Or make your own #plasticfree cleaning products. can be found here.

All plasticfree Cleaning up aids from mechanical (brushes to you) to chemical (squeezy) cleaners, both ready bought and homemade, can be found here.

Splosh

This is an online refill service. A new way to buy your home cleaning, laundry and health & beauty essentials.
You buy the starter pack which includes a range of bottles and concentrate product. You water down the product and fill the bottles. Thereafter you buy more concentrate on line and refill your bottles as needed.

Some products come in soluble pods which you drop into water; others in plastic pouches which can be sent back to be refilled or recycled. While the refillable plastic pouches obviously are plastic (duh) the soluble pods sound useful.

They supply a wide range of products. But “currently the surface cleaners and hand washes come in water soluble sachets and the rest come in pouches.”

Splosh also claim that the postal packaging for the starter kit and refills is also plastic free. Though according to some reviews they come with some plastic.

Here’s their mission statement. “Plastic waste is an environmental disaster and we’re committed to reducing it to zero. For each product we’ve designed a refilling system that takes plastic out of the waste stream. For example our pouches can be sent back for refilling and, at the end of their life, we manage their reprocessing into other products”

You can read more about how it works and order products here HERE
If anyone out there has used this product please let me know.

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.

Screws & Fittings

19 November 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 House, Office & Garden Tagged 3.1 Building & Decorating, 3.2 house

Wilkinsons are selling screws, washers and other stuff loose and unpacked. You will need to take your own bags as the ones provided are of course plastic. More plastic free products from Wilcos can be found here.

The hardware store on Todmorden market sells hooks and other bits and bobs loose.

Packaging

Greaseproof Paper For Cooking

Uncoated Papers

Buy….More to think about

N.B.

And before you go…

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Plastic free heritage seed

Vital Seeds

Seedcell

Seeds In Tins

Wildflower Seed Grenades

The Plastic Free Garden

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How It Works

Useful composting information

How to Compost?

Composting Indoors

Other Ways

Plastic and Composting

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Please note

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Amazon Catalogue

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More On Cleaning

Splosh

Why This Post Is ….

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