Menstrual Pads – sanitary towels

by Posted in 3.1 Personal Tagged , , 1 Comment

There is no doubt that sanitory towels are plastic heavy. Yes you knew they came packed in plastic but did you know they were made of plastic? About 90% of the materials used to make sanitary pads and liners are plastic and include polyethylene, polypropylene and polyacrylate super absorbents. You can read more here

On the other hand reusable, washable sanitary towels might sound icky. Wait! For a great  write up (actually a series of great write-ups) on a range of towels read  Lucy Stableford-Grieve  over at the the wonderful Pie Patch blog. The info is under Muff Fluff – love it.

Now as she helpfully pointed out (and I completely forgot to mention), “not all cloth pads are plastic free. You’d have to go for all natural fabrics.

A crucial part in the construction of cloth pads is a moisture resistant backing material to avoid bleeding straight through it. The vast majority of cloth pads use synthetic fleece or waterproof PUL for this. There are a few makers who offer wool interlock as a backing option (Mama Kloth or Honour Your Flow are two, I believe).

Then there are the top & core fabrics. Plush/minky is a popular top fabric because of its wicking properties but it is entirely synthetic. I have cotton, cotton jersey, bamboo velour, & cotton velour in my stash. You’d have to go for organic cotton to be sure of avoiding plastic entirely.

BUT overall I am happy to compromise on this because eliminating disposables in itself makes such a huge difference to my household waste. And cloth pads can last many, many years before they come to the end of their life. But if you want to be truly plastic-free it’s worth considering.”

Buy 

I have never used these pads (being more than happy with my Mooncup), so cannot give a personal recommendations.  Though I know people who rave about them. Sadly no one who can be bothered writing me a guest post. And yes I will try guilt tripping. In the mean time if anyone else out there feels fancy guest posting?

I can send you back to Piepatch and Lucy Stableford-Grieve who seems to have spent her life in the saddle and reiewed almost every pad available! You may want to read her reviews before committing to buy.

Here is and example of a ready made pad made in England with a review by Eco Fluffy Mama

Make

Or the  ubergreen  who are handy with the needle canmake their own. You can  find a  pattern for home made sanitary towels with lots of useful info here and there are lots more on Pinterest

More

You can find more plastic free sanitary products here including the internal menstrual cup and some plastic free tampons.

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Menstrual internal protection reusable

by Posted in 3.1 Disposables & Reusables, 3.1 Personal Tagged , , , 3 Comments

Products to deal with menstruation are plastic heavy  ( see some stats). They are made from plastic, come wrapped in plastic, block drains and dirty the sea shore. You really don’t want that kind of rubbish inside you, your bin or your environment. The way to cut your trash is to get a menstrual cup.

Menstrual Cup

This is  little cup that you use internally. It collects the flow and is then emptied washed and reused. Before you squeal and scream read this series of posts by one of the best environemental writers around.

Really, try them, they are easy peasy and the slight inconvenience is more than compensated for by the increased comfort factor. They are far more pleasant  then other internal protection.

Some of the many advantages include

  • Never run out of protection
  • No need to take your bag to the loo with you
  • Great for travelling in wild and rugged places
  • No need to put of dirty, plastic sanitary items in the bin next to the loo.
  • Much more comfortable
  • Saves you loads of money
  • Don’t see your pantyliner out on the beach

Choose

I like Moon cups  – made from silicone check out the site for more info. You can buy Mooncups in shops including

English: Fleurcup menstrual cup (large size); ...

Boot’s. If you want to get them on line try Ethical Superstore or Amazon 

Rubber

Natural rubber cups are available from Australia.They are  called, rather dungeons and dragon like, The Keeper. It’s the  same principle as the Mooncup  but made of  natural rubber rather than silicone. They will ship,  see their website

Other Options

For those of you who cant face the thought of fiddling around, there are lots of alternatives here

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Toner – skin

by Posted in 3.1 Personal Tagged , ,
I have long had the complexion of a teenager – all spots and grease. While in India this situation got a whole lot worse. In desperation I made myself a face wash out of apple cider vinegar. I normally use this to make a conditioning rinse for my hair so I figured that’s what’s good for the clogged up hair might work for the blogged pores. It works – it really does.

Here’s my recipe

2 parts Apple Vinegar

3 parts water

1 drop of lavender oil for every 2 ml water

Shake well before use.

 

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Vinegar Apple – shop bought, live or home-made

by Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged

Apple Vinegar

Live Vinegar 

  • This still contains the mother Mother of vinegar a cloudy monstrous swamp  of acetic acid bacteria and cellulose. This is created during the fermentation process of alcohol into vinegar
  • The ‘mother’ is alive and is made up from bacteria, enzymes and living nutrients.
  • The presence of the mother shows that the vinegar has not been processed or filtered.
  • It is the mother that gives vinegar all its claimed health benefits.
  • You can also use it to make more vinegar

Make Vinegar

Making your own apple cider vinegar is a great way to use up apple peel, even cores, save you money and give you super-smug green points.

Here are a selection of recipes

One that looks perfect for van life

And here are lots of different recpies  and here is wikipedias recipe

Buy Vinegar

Tescos do an apple vinegar in a glass bottle with a metal screw top lid. Apart from the little plasticised disc in the lid they are as plastic free as you can get.

You could try health food shops for live vinegar.

Buy Live Vinegar On Line

I have not used live vinegar or bought from these suppliers. The information below is a guide only.

you can buy organic live vinegar in glass bottle from Bobbys Healthy Shop .

Our ACV has been produced using the same traditional methods for over 150 years. The apples are grown without the use of any chemicals, so no fertilisers or pesticides. It is completely organic and is produced to standards which easily surpass the requirements from the organic associations. We believe in true organic farming.

Amazon (Read about our relationship here )

Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar 946 ml Raw Health Organic Cider Vinegar Unpasteurised with Mother 500 ml (Pack of 6) Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic with 'Mother' - 1 Litre Natural Aged Raw Unfiltered
Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar 946 ml
£11.00		 Raw Health Organic Cider Vinegar Unpasteuri…
£13.74		 Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic with ‘Mother’ – 1…
£8.85
Biona Cider Vinegar with Mother 5000ml Dynamic Health Laboratories Organic Apple Cider Vinegar with Mother Pegasus Health Apple Cider Vinegar 5 L (Raw, unpasteurised and unfiltered)
Biona Cider Vinegar with Mother 5000ml
£14.36		 Dynamic Health Laboratories Organic Apple C…
£3.72 – £22.10		 Pegasus Health Apple Cider Vinegar 5 L (Raw…
£14.50

 

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Highlighter pencils – wooden

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

Replace nasty, plastic, highlighter pens with fantastic fluero pencils from Stabilo.

According to their website the  STABILO GREENlighter proves that luminosity and ecological awareness can go hand in hand.


highlighter pencil
» FSC-certified highlighter

» 3 neon colors: yellow, green and pink, suitable for a huge variety of paper.

» Thick lead, 5.5mm in diameter, for a broad stroke.

» Glides easily over the page to ensure consistent highlighting.

Hurrah for guilt free high lights.

BUY

As my highlighting needs are few I haven’t used these myself. It looks like you can buy in packs of 3,  in cardboard plastic free packaging.

You can buy them online from the Green Stationary Company. I don’t know what their inward packaging is like but with a name like that they will probably be open to plastic free requests. Do let me know if you what you find out.

 

Or from  Amazon  .

 

 

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Ingredients

by Posted in 3.6 Good to know Tagged

Lets learn about
Bentonite Clay
Xanthan Gum
Titanium Dioxide

Bentonite Clay

was first found in about 1890 near Fort Benton, Montana.
It is derived volcanic ash.
It consist of smectite minerals, usually montmorillonite
Montmorillonite is named after a deposit at Montmorillon, in Southern France.
Other smectite group minerals include hectorite, saponite, beidelite and nontronite.
The presence or not of these minerals affect the value of the clay and of course what it can be used for.

From Where

high-grade natural sodium bentonite is found in western United States in an area between the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming
The Tokat Resadiye region of Turkey.

Mixed sodium/calcium bentonite is mined in
Greece, Australia, India, Russia, and Ukraine.

calcium bentonite
U.S. Mississippi and Alabama.[2] Other major locations producing calcium bentonite include New Zealand, Germany, Greece, Turkey, India, and China.

Process

Bentonite deposits are usually extracted from quarries.
Extracted bentonite is solid.
It is crushed and, “if necessary, activated with the addition of soda ash (Na2CO3). Soda ash is also known as washing soda. You can read more about that here.
The crushed material is dried till the moisture content is around 15%

Depending on what it is going to be used for the bentonite may be
sieved resulting in granulesor
milled into powder
purified by removing the associated gangue minerals, or
treated with acids to produce acid-activated bentonite (bleaching earths),
treated with organics to produce organoclays.

Fun Facts
In 2011, the U.S. was the top producer of bentonite, with almost one-third world share, followed by China and Greece

Uses
Bentonite presents strong colloidal properties and its volume increases several times when coming into contact with water, creating a gelatinous and viscous fluid. The special properties of bentonite (hydration, swelling, water absorption, viscosity, thixotropy) make it a valuable material for a wide range of uses and applications.

Toothpowder
“The real benefit of bentonite clay is that it is abrasive enough to remove the plaque but not so much so that it will do damage to your enamel,” Graves says. Like charcoal, it may also help raise the pH of your mouth, making it more challenging for bacteria to grow.” Read the article HERE

It can also be used in face masks

Sources

Here & here

Xanthan Gum

Xanthan gum is a polysaccharide with many industrial uses, including as a common food additive. It is an effective thickening agent and stabilizer to prevent ingredients from separating. It can be produced from simple sugars using a fermentation process, and derives its name from the species of bacteria used, Xanthomonas campestris.

Wikipedia

It can be used in lieu of gelatine. Measure out half the amount of xanthan gum. ie  for i  2 tbsp. of gelatin, use 1 tbsp. of xanthan gum. For baked products, add around 1 tsp. for every cup of flour added.

Titanium Dioxide

also known as titanium(IV) oxide or titania, is the naturally occurring oxide of titanium, chemical formula TiO ₂.
When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6, or CI 77891.
Wikipedia

Formula: TiO2
: 4.23 g/cm³
Molar mass: 79.866 g/mol
Melting point: 1,843 °C
Density: 4.23
IUPAC ID: Titanium dioxide, Titanium(IV) oxide
It can be used in Sun Screens, Moisturisers, Powdered Make-up, Lip and Baby products and virtually any Skin Treatment product. Aromantic’s Microfine Titanium Dioxide is of the Rutile modification.

Titanium Dioxide, water soluble. This product is perfect for lightening colors or making a beautiful snowy white bar of soap. When used in CP to make white soap add to your base oils while heating and mix well prior to adding the lye water solution. Approved for use in cosmetics, including lip products. This material is also used in sunscreens.

Aromantic

I am currently experimenting with Titanium Dioxide

Microfine Titanium Dioxide

“Microfine Titanium Dioxide is accepted as a safe Sun Barrier all around the world. This is because it is inorganic and has a record of having no adverse reactions to it. This makes it ideal for products used on a daily basis.
It can be used in Sun Screens, Moisturisers, Powdered Make-up, Lip and Baby products and virtually any Skin Treatment product.
Adding 5% Microfine Titanium Dioxide to a product gives it a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of approximately 10 and protects against 90% UVA/UVB and UVC radiation. Adding 10% gives it a SPF of 15-20.
You can read more about this on the www.aromantic.co.uk website

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

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

India, Leh

by Posted in 3.2 Outside the U.K. 2 Comments

 

Plastic rubbish in and around Leh is a real problem. Plastic lasts for centuries, doesn’t rot and is inedible. Burning it at best smells bad and adds to the green house effect, at worst is lethal. In short plastic cannot be easily disposed of. Plastic waste requires special disposal facilities which Leh does not have. Most plastic trash ends up dumped in the mountains despoiling this beautiful and fragile environment. Every bit of plastic rubbish you create becomes part of that problem.

If you don’t want to leave a pile of everlasting trash behind you, here are some ways to reduce your rubbish

Water – don’t buy water in plastic bottles get your bottle refilled. Boiled, filtered water refills can be got from the Woman’s Alliance, Ladakh Ecological Development Group LEDeG, Dzomsa and some other places. You can pick up a map from LEDeG showing all of them or download it here.

Dzomsa. This shop refills your water bottle with boiled filtered water there by cutting out the plastic nasties. And if ever a place was cursed with plastic rubbish its Leh.
They have shops on Old Fort Road and Main Street and maybe one more (though they are not all open out of season). Refills cost 7 rupees so its a bargain.They also do dried apricots in paper bags.Image by Ajay Tallam

Biscuits – don’t buy bickies in plastic wrappers, the bakery on Main Bazaar Road sells a wide variety sweet and savory loose and they use paper bags.
Hair conditioner – try this vinegar rinse. Organic apple vinegar can be bought from Dzomsa. It comes in a glass bottle BUT it does have a plastic lid. Maybe you could ask about returning the bottles and lids to be reused? Let me know how you get on.

Toothpaste – those damn tubes get everywhere so you could try salt – can be bought in a paper bag from Dzomsa ( though it is reinforced with plastic sellotape). Or you could bring your own home made tooth powder.

Landry soap – unwrapped from Dzomsa – can according to the blurb be used to wash people as well. I am pretty sure you cold find this in the market if you looked.

Shampoo – using solid soap to wash your hair works and this handmade soap from the Organic Store comes plastic free.

Loo roll – it’s hard to find toilet paper that doesn’t come wrapped in plastic but Dzomsasell paper wrapped rolls.

You can down load an eco map of Leh showing the above locations here. It is part of Leh eco guide which you might find useful. It lists such things as green hotels and discusses the environmental issues facing Leh.

For info on a plastic free trek try here and if you need some plastic free treking snack these are good and ways to BACPACK plastic free here

 

 

 

 



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Rubber – PVC free

by Posted in 3.1 House, Office & Garden Tagged , , , , 2 Comments

I didn’t know that PVC was found in rubbers but here you go ….

from the blurb….

PVC-free thermoplastic rubber erasers, measuring 35x31x8mm, manufactured in the EU.
PVC has long been recognised as a particularly hazardous plastic – vinyl chloride itself being a known carcinogen threatening the liver, and the byproduct dioxins from manufacture and incineration can persist long in the environment and travel great distances; these are linked to immune system suppression, reproductive disorders and cancer.

Yowser – maybe you dont want that in your pencil case. You can read more about The PVC debate here

You can buy the PVC Free Rubber here

You can read more about pens & pencils here….

Look here for other sneaky plastic.

Find more  plastic free products here >>>A-Z<<< plastic free index.


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Pencils & pencil sharpeners

by Posted in 3.1 House, Office & Garden Tagged , , 2 Comments

The ultimate in plastic free writing but they will fade with time

Pencils

A really great plastic-free,note taker….

Can be bought loose in most art shops and stationers

Sharpener

If you are using a pencil, you will of course need pencil sharpener. I guess the boy scouts amongst you could use your sharp knives but I dont dib,dib,dib.

So I got me a metal pencil sharpener from the shop…. but I could have got one of these….

Sustainably-Sourced Wooden Pencil Sharpener
Only: £4.45
Cylindrical wooden double pencil sharpener with collection tray. Made from 100% sustainably-sourced wood in Germany. This sharpener has two different diameter cutters and is extremely strong and robust for frequent use.

You can find more up here on Amazon

You can read more about pens & pencils here….

Hair Gel and hairspray

by Posted in 3.1 Personal Tagged , , 2 Comments

I got these from green ladies blog

I haven’t tried them because I have no use for such things but I am ever thinking of you more glamorous types and your plastic free needs.

Homemade Hair Gel

By: Michigan State University

The Ingredients

* 1/2 to 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

* 1 cup warm water

The Instructions

Dissolve gelatin in 1 cup warm water. Keep refrigerated and use as you would a purchased gel.

NB  I have bought gelatin in paper sachets in the past but it is not a product I use often.  Would appreciate any up to date info on this…

Planet Safer Hairspray Recipe

Chop up a lemon or an orange and boil it on the stove in a couple of cups of water. Boil it down about halfway and then strain out any pulp and mix it in a spray bottle with about an eighth of a cup (1/8: that’s half of a 1/4 cup measure, if it makes it easier) of rubbing alcohol.

If you keep it in the fridge it will stay “good” longer – between 2-3 weeks.

Find more  plastic free products with the >>>A-Z<<< plastic free index

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Tea & Coffee Merchants

by Posted in 3.2 Shops & Businesses Tagged , 1 Comment

Here are some independent Tea & Coffe merchants. You may need to take your own bags

Leeds The Teapot has  coffee beans and leaf tea from all round the world. Really lovely stall in the food hall. Also makes coffee to drink. See what else the market has to offer, here.

Nottingham Coffe roasters. Will also post out plastic free and you can order on line 

Aberystwyth great tea and coffee shop

Huddersfield
Coffee Evolution fantastic

Lancaster
Lancaster tea merchants http://www.thecoffeehopper.com/
Leaminster Nitty Gritty Wholefoods  do loose spices and tea.

TodmordenLoose tea can also be found on Todmorden Market.

WHole Food Market used to sell Tea & Coffee beans and are happy for you to use your own bag. http://plasticisrubbish.com/2014/07/21/whole-foods-market-revisited/

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Soap

by Posted in 3.1 Cleaning Up, 3.1 General & Homemade, 3.1 Personal, 4 About The Alternatives Tagged , , , , 1 Comment

 Making Soap 

Basic soap is made from lye, oils or fats (animal or vegetable) and water.

Saponification
When these three are mixed together a chemical process called saponification takes place. The end result is soap

In the olden days soap makers used lye obtained from wood ashes. Find out how, here.

Modern day soap makers use Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), also known as lye and caustic soda. This is made from salt and is very caustic See how that is made here.

History

In the olden days making soap was a labour intensive process. There were plenty of animal fats but making lye took forever. And it wasn’t very reliable. Then in 1791 French chemist Le Blanc discovered how to make Soda Ash from salt. Soap got much easier and cheaper to make and the great unwashed could finally afford a bar in every home.

How does it work

Alkaline & Organic Soils

Soap 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

Soap & Germs

But folk were not just cleaner but safer too. Soap does actually kills germs but it does a good job of physically removing them. 

Whats in YOUR soap
Here are some of the things you might find in your soap.

Sodium tallowate  is from animal fat usually from cows.

Sodium lauryl sulfate (commonly known as SLS)  and Sodium laureth sulphate and sodium laurel sulphate also attract dirt so work in the same way as soap but they create more lather. This is the main reason they are added – to create lots of lovely lather.  They are a known skin irritant. Internet claims that they cause cancer are unproven.

Synthetic fragrance  – which may contain DEO a phthalate used as a solvent and fixative. Despite the general bad press about phthalates this one is considered safe.

Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil (PKO) are used in soap making  because they make the soap more bubbly and result in a harder bar. Palm oil –  comes from Malaysia and Indonesia. They have cut down hundreds of acres of rainforest to make way for huge plantations of palm oil. This has impacted adversely on the habitat of the orangutang  a now endangered species. You can find out more about it and why we minimise our use of palm oil, here .

Other considerations when buying soap might include does the company still do animal testing.

Is it a British company.

Soap Formats

Soap comes in various forms which in my experience are often interchangeable.

Bar Soap – hard. Everything from luxury cosmetic soaps to the increasingly rare dish wash bar.
Soap Flakes – thin slivers of soap that dissolve more easily
Liquid soap such as body wash, shampoo or washing up liquid.
Soap powders mostly for dishwashers and washing machines.

Homemade

You can make your own. Read this from Jen of Make Do And Mend Life

Here are some recipes for making Castille Soap

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.