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Hodmedods – British Grown Beans, Grains & Pulses

by Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink, 3.6 Businesses & social enterprises, 3.6 P-f U.K Directory Tagged , , , ,

Did you now you can get homegrown British beans, lentils (soon) and even Quinoa. Many of them organically grown….

Introducing Hodmedod’s

“We work with British farms to source a range of top quality ingredients and delicious foods. We’re particularly interested in searching out less well-known foods, like the fava bean – grown in Britain since the Iron Age but now almost forgotten – and black badger peas.
THE GREAT BRITISH BEANS PROJECT
We founded Hodmedod following the successful Great British Beans trial project to stimulate and assess demand for indigenous pulses.”

So far so fantastic but it gets better…

Plastic Free Packaging

“Many thanks for your enquiry.

Using recyclable packaging is something we feel very strongly about and we are avoiding plastic where we can. We are aiming for all plastic-free packaging.
So far all our 500g packs of dried pulses and grains are packed in compostable plant based cellophane.
At the moment we are still struggling to find a compostable sticker adhesive, but you can peel off the sticker and pop the rest in the compost.
most bulk bags are paper
our packaging puffs are compostable non-GM maize.

Unfortunately we are unable to offer this for our snack range which are packaged in impermeable packaging and resistant to break down from the oils within them and no biodegradable packaging we are aware of fulfils these stipulations.”

Heres the product range but do check the site as there may be more by now

Pulses & Beans
Yellow Peas split
Green Peas, Split
Fava Bean split and whole
Carlin / Yellow / Blue Peas,
Red Haricot Beans

Lentils coming soon

Quinoa
Wholegrain White Quinoa

Grains
Spelt,
Emmer,
Einkorn,
Naked Oats

Flaked & Puffed Grains
Quinoa Flakes,
Quinoa Puffs,
Naked Barley Flakes

Seeds
Camelina Seed

Buy from the Hodmedod’s website

More

Buy Local, Buy British
Check out other British based stores and products HERE

Other options for loose beans include

Wholefood Market a supermarket chain
Weigh & Save shops a UK franchise
And other loose food outlets as listed below

Loose Food A to Z
Find out if a shop near you sells bulk food loose. This is stuff that that normally comes plastic packaged ie rice, pasta and salt. And yes these shops do exist in the U.K. There’s just not many of them.
Heres alist of towns with shops selling loose food.


 Packaging

While these shops provide bags and they are almost always plastic ones. You will need to take your own plastic-free /reusable bags.

More Food

Check out the tasty food index to find lots of plastic-free GRUB yum yum!

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Laminated Cartons /Tetra Paks

by Posted in 1.2 Plastic The Product Tagged ,

They might look cardboard and many think they are even some kind of waxed paper but tetrapaks and the like are basically a thin plastic container reinforced with card.
Or rather laminated cartons composed of paper/card and layers of polythene.

Made How?
Cartons, are made up of paperboard (73%), plastic (22%) and aluminium foil (5%).
The board is made from wood pulp boiled at 160 degrees to remove the Lignin, a chemical compound and separate the fibres from the cellulose.
The fibres are washed and cleaned. Some are bleached white. The fibres are then used to make card with the white face on the outside. Any design work is printed onto the white bleached side.
Three layers of molten polythene are sprayed on the inside and a single layer on the outside. This will protect the future contents, such as orange juice and the design printed on the outside.

They Have A Recyclable Logo

Yes they can be recycled but it is a complex procedure and so not very cost effective. All the components have to be separated and then individually reused.

Laminated cartons cannot be included with normal paper recycling. Most local councils offer Tetrapak recycling as part of their kerbside collections. If not, they can usually be taken to your local recycling centre. To find out more visit www.tetrapakrecycling.co.uk which includes an interactive map showing which local councils offer kerbside collections or have collection facilities at recycling banks.

Recyclable Does Not Mean Recycled

Vital Statistics

Tetra Pak from Sweden are the best known. over 130 billion tetra paks are manufactured each year.
Tetra paks are used in over 150 countries, around the world.

Wikipedia claims that As of 2011, 20% of Tetra Pak cartons are recycled globally, with countries like Belgium, Germany, Spain and Norway showing local recycling rates of over 50%.

Tetra Versus PET aplastic bottle

From the Guardian

“A drastic difference also exists when evaluating the “water footprint” of plastic bottles and Tetra Pak cartons. It takes anywhere between 1 to 2 litres to manufacture a 500ml PET bottle. The water footprint for a 500ml Tetra Pak carton stands at 200 ml of water. Tetra Pak can argue that the trees from which the cartons are made come from managed farms, and furthermore, those trees absorb carbon dioxide during their lifespan. PET bottle promoters retort that the amount of fossil fuels consumed to make bottles is a sliver of the world’s supply, and the recycling process is energy efficient.”

More

You can find other sneaky plastics HERE

With thanks to The Technology Student

Read treehugger on Tetrapaks

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How To Buy Flowers Plastic Free

by Posted in 3.1 Special days & Parties, 3.2 How To...plastic-free Tagged , ,

You don’t even want to know how many plastic wrapped roses we are going to get through on this one Valentine’s day.Oh you do? According to the Flowers & Plants Association, “sales of all fresh flowers double on Valentine’s day, with over 9 million red roses being given in the UK. Worldwide, billions of roses – mostly red – are traded on this one day alone.”

This is closely followed by Mothers Day which the Flowers & Plants Association goes on to say, is the biggest event in the UK’s cut flower year with a sales increase of up to 40% on a normal day’s trading.

Not to mention weddings…

Lets think about the amount all those flowers  will create. All that plastic wrapping for a start. Now some people may tell you that flowers come cellophane wrapped and that cellophane is a plant based plastic and so biodegradable. Cellophane was indeed a plant based plastic. However as most piano keys are no longer made of ivory, most cellophane is now longer plant derived. The term cellophane has come to describe the petroleum based plastic product that looks and feels just like it. Many flowers come ready wrapped in plastic many florists use it.

And there’s more. Many flowers in the shops  have been imported and come with hundreds of air miles attached. Nearly 80% of the cut flowers we buy in the UK are imported from The Netherlands, Colombia and Kenya.

In his comprehensive book, How Bad are Bananas?, Mike Berners-Lee calculates the amount of greenhouse gases (CO2e) released in the growing and transportation of a single red rose. It works out at

  • 350g CO2e for a rose grown in Kenya and flown by air to the UK
  • 2.1kg CO2e for one grown in a heated greenhouse in The Netherlands

The Kenyan rose is the better environmental option, but the Kenyan flower trade has had a very bad press deservedly so. Pressure brought to bear has forced some changes but it still uses too much water, too many pesticides and pays dreadfully low wages.

There is an argument that the trade helps support Kenyan trade.There is another argument that says the Kenyans should be growing food to feed themselves rather than flowers to ship out in return for a barely living wage to buy expensive food….

There is no doubt that floral decorations are very lovely so here are some ways to lesson the impact….

Local Florists 

Walk away from the garage forecourt, go to a florist, buy unwrapped and insist it is wrapped in  paper. Best take your own paper just to be sure.

Try to stick with seasonal, U.K. grown flowers if possible. Here is a list of seasonal flowers.

All I could get was an Amaryllis that was neither seasonal or locally grown but was at least #plasticfree.

flower

U.K. Grown – collect

Here are a list of fantastic companies offering a greener option on locally grown cut flowers. The downside is you have to go and collect.

By Post
Not used this company but plan to do so. The flowers are lovely – see here.  And so is the delivery! Answer to a request for info… let me know how you get on plastic free lovers.there is no plastic in our packaging. The flowers are wrapped in craft paper and we use Rafia to tie them. Regards, Carolyn

Make some 
Test out your cutting and or  folding skills.

Grow Some

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Greetings cards

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

Cards  have been the bane of my life , (I mean greeting cards not gambling  – that’s all in the past), as many come wrapped in icky plastic. So what are the alternatives?

E-cards

I love my friends but I love the planet – what to do.  I know you can send e cards but that’s just mean. No cards = no mates in my shallow social circles….

Unwrapped Cards

Look harder….there are unwrapped cards available. The post office in Marsh, Huddersfield sells them loose, and our Tescos had a lot of  unwrapped cards… which surprised me. So, I heard, does Hallmark.

On Line – Amnesty

2018 Got my Christmas cards from Amnesty International. (www.amnesty.org) Lovely cards on sustainable cardboard and advertised as plastic free. By which they mean they have used a compostable plastic. They arrived in a crinkly plastic bag which looks like cellophane to me. There was no identifying label which was rather a shame.

They have others that aren’t so Yuletide.

Responsibly Made Cards

but if you can’t find what you want, try Etsy – art cards in compostable PLA cornstarch bags.
Check these out Bradford based company – Great Valentines day cards and plastic free  good loving.
Read the blurb….
100% RECYCLED WITH BIO-DEGRADABLE CLEAR BAG Printed on 100% recycled smooth white board. Each card comes with 100% recycled C6 brown craft paper envelope inside a clear bio-degradable bag. The bag is made from corn starch which is fully bio-degradable and compostable, breaking down to just CO2 and H2O – as green as you can get! Dig The Earth!

Print Your Own Cards
You can find downloadable art work for sale on Etsy or try Mrs Thriftes Free Printables Pinterest Page

Make Your Own Card 
Nice ….but sadly crafts are plasticky what with the glue,  felt tips, glitter and packaging.

More

Read more about plastic free presents, gift wrap , special days and parties right here

Composting Compostable Plastic

Many people say that bioplastics cannot be composted at home. They are wrong. I have composted cellophane in my own compost bin.You can read more about cellophane and composting compostable plastics over at the blog.#ukplasticfreeproducts

Plant derived and compostable, one of the first plastics made. Sounds great but comes with its own environmental impact. What is cellophane? Read more here.

Here are the PLA cornstarch and cellulose compostable plastic products I have composted in my back yard bin. They said it couldn’t be done Mwahahahaha! Read more here.

N.B.

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

And before you go…

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

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

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Melt & Press Recycled Plastic

by Posted in 1.51 Reusing & Recycling Plastic Tagged , 4 Comments

One of the most innovative plastic recycling companies I have come across is the Wales based Smileplastics. They make the most wonderful plastic sheeting out of old wellies, C.D.ds, banknotes and everything else.

Here’s how

“The material we buy often looks like multi-coloured cornflakes which we lay out by hand in our moulds and then press in our hydraulic presses. Through heat and thousands of tons, the material fuses and takes the shape of the mould before we cool it and take out a solid sheet of recycled plastic – our product.

Most of our sheets are made from 100% waste plastic – we don’t add any binding agents or resins, so it is simply the combination of heat and pressure that transforms the individual chunks or flakes into a complete board.”

These are not just recycled plastics but works of art with the main ingredient determining how the end product looks. The children’s rubber welly sheet is large blobs of colour and rubbery. The banknote features shredded banknote in clear plastic for the rolling in millions feel

The plastic sheets can be used for anything from furniture to work surfaces.

More on recycling here

Other ways to recycle and reuse plastic trash here

Recycling and  waste plastic – a discussion

 

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plastic recycling process

by Posted in 1.51 Reusing & Recycling Plastic Tagged 3 Comments

Some years ago I went to visit a plastic recycling plant near my home. Since then there have been many innovations  but this is how your basic mechanical ( as oppose to chemical) plastic recycling plant works.

Those of you who read my blog  may think I am anti plastic recycling – not at all. Infact only the other day I was down at the plastic recycling plant, Home of Lynwood Plastics, in Halifax for a visit.

Here they recycle plastic into amongst other things
buckets
paint trays
grasscrete (mesh to grow reinforced grass in)
plastic lumber (plastic planks that can be used in place of wood)

The plastic for recycling is mixed according to type. The number found on some plastic products indicates what kind of plastic it is.

Up to 5% of the mix can be unknown plastic

The plastic for recycling goes into a big grinding machine where it is broken down into plastic grains.

The grains are melted and the resulting black plastic goo is poured into moulds or formed into products.

The goo smells quite plasticky but not unduly so. The machine is closed but not sealed – you can open the door and look at the goo glooping into the mould.

They can pretty much recycle any kind of plastic – from wrappers to traffic cones – as long as they know what kind of plastic it is.

The plastic needs to be fairly clean but not completely so – they can recycle empty paint cans with dried paint inside or plant pots with dust in.

They get their plastic for recycling from businesses. It is not domestic waste.

However they could recycle food wrappers and yogurt pots if they were cleaned before hand. They don’t want festering food waste on the premises for obvious reasons.

Plastic can be recycled pretty much indefinitely.

Polystyrene can be compressed and recycled

It takes a lot of plastic wrappers to make one plank.

Black plastic products with a kind of marbled finish are recycled.

You can find out more about plastic recycling here.

 

 

Pot & Bottle Brushes

by Posted in 3.1 Cleaning Up Tagged , 8 Comments

There I was happily scouring away when I realised it was taking longer than usual to shift the burnt remnants at the bottom of the pan. When I checked out my little brush I found was well past its best. Its bristles were all flattened and splayed.

Off I trotted to buy a new head only to realise some time later I had been had! The beasts who made my pot brushes have replaced the organic bristles with plastic. When I  looked closely you will see my cute little brush is in fact part plastic. If you want to know more about bristles (and sneaky plastic imposters), you can read about them here.

This it seems is quite common with local brushes. Even when I have found a natural bristle brush, buying single replacements heads is not easy.

Redecker Brushes

If you are fully committed to a brush on a stick, there is the rather expensive  Redecker, a German company, who do brushes and head replacements such as this:

Large Natural Bristle Dish Washing Brush – Stiff Plant Fibre (Pack of 2) by Redecker from £5.90

  • Impressive cleaning power, made with natural materials
  • Stiff plant fibre bristles ideal for all dish washing purposes
  • Large 5cm diameter brush head (cleaning area approx. 7cm diameter )
  • Untreated beechwood handle with metal loop for hanging to dry
  • Replacement brush heads also available to purchase separately

You can buy all the above from Amazon and Ebay.

Buy Local (Bradford) scrubbers at saltaire

In Saltair, world heritage site, the mill has been converted into a lifestyle space. The ground floor is a gallery housing the work of Bradford boy made good, David Hockney. Upstairs there are some great cafes and lots of lovely, designer shops includingthe homeware shop that sells a wide range natural bristle brushes from pot cleaners to tradition scrubbing brushes.

More Kitchen Brushes

Redecker do a  natural bristle brush for just about every job. I went a bit mad and invested heavily.How strange the twists of fate. I never thought I would be the kind of woman to get excited about cleaning products – yet here I am reliving the 1950s, beaming about my new kitchen aids; but they dont just look good, they work well too.

The bottle brush is ideal for radiators while the pan scrubs – well they scrub. Not quite sure what the tickler on the left is for but my new Clean n Gleam persona will surely find a use for it.

Even better once these scrubbers are past their best then its into the wood bruning stove with them. For a moment they will warm us –  then their ashes will be scattered on the gooseberry bushes.

  • 1 x Redecker Natural Bristle Pot Brush pot brushes featured
  • Redecker Plant Fibre Bristle Dish Brush
  • Redecker Natural Fibre Sink Plug Hole Brush
  • Redecker Plant Fibre Bristle Dish Brush 4cm
  • Redecker Natural Fibre Bottle Brush With Cotton Ball Tip
  • Redecker Natural Fibre Bottle Brush With Wooden Handle
  • Redecker Natural Bristle Bottle / Flask Brush

 

 

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Dioxins & Burning plastic

by Posted in 2 BAD PLASTIC Tagged , , 81 Comments

So, is it safe to burn plastic? Well most plastics don’t  burn easily – it melts and bubbles.  It will burn eventually but you have to keep heating it. And, when you do set fire to plastic it gives off a terrible smell.

But is it bad for you? It could be lethal.

The smell according to the naked scientist could be anything. They say

“There are lots of different plastics, and they will give off lots of different vapours when they decompose.

It could be just a simple hydrocarbon, or it could contain cyanides, or PCB’s, or lots of other substances.  Without knowing what the plastic was …..it would be difficult to know what are the likely volatiles it would create…. volatiles given off from plastics in house fires are a major cause of death.”

So, to conclude, it depends on the plastic then. PLA plastic is it is claimed non toxic and safe to burn. Some oil based plastics like polythene are an efficient fuel and burns in the same way oil does. Not pleasant exactly but not exactly dangerous either. PCBs? – thats a dioxin and dioxins are nasty!

It’s a big NO if its a halogenated plastics, i.e one of those  made from chlorine or fluorine

Halogenated plastics include:
Chlorine based plastics:
Chlorinated polyethylene (CPE)
Chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC)
Chlorosulfonated polyethylene (CSPE)
Polychloroprene (CR or chloroprene rubber, marketed under the brand name of Neoprene)
PVC
Fluorine based plastics:
Fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP)

Burning these plastics can release dioxins. Dioxins are unintentionally, but unavoidably produced during the manufacture of materials containing chlorine, including PVC and other chlorinated plastic feedstocks.
Dioxin is a known human carcinogen and the most potent synthetic carcinogen ever tested in laboratory animals. A characterization by the National Institute of Standards and Technology of cancer causing potential evaluated dioxin as over 10,000 times more potent than the next highest chemical (diethanol amine), half a million times more than arsenic and a million or more times greater than all others.

The World Health Organisation said “Once dioxins have entered the environment or body, they are there to stay due to their uncanny ability to dissolve in fats and to their rock-solid chemical stability.”

That is because dioxins are classed as one of the persistant organic pollutants, POPs, also known as  as PBTs (Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic) or TOMPs (Toxic Organic Micro Pollutants.)
POPs are a small set of toxic chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods and accumulate in the fatty tissues of animals. They are extremely toxic and cause all manner of illnesses. You can find out more about POPS here

The Uk Government states on their website “Burning plastic, rubber or painted materials creates poisonous fumes and can have damaging health effects for people who have asthmatic or heart conditions. This is covered under the Environmental Protection Act 1990

And in America Burn barrels have this to say… “Burning trash in a 55 gallon drum or in just a pile, often in the backyard, is a common method of solid waste disposal in some rural areas. Surveys have revealed between 25 and 50 percent of rural residences and farms may do backyard burning. Backyard burning is by definition “uncontrolled” burning and results in very high levels of toxic chemicals emitted in the smoke. Compared to municipal incinerators it takes place at much lower temperatures, with virtually no combustion air control, and with none of the very expensive high-tech pollution filtering apparatus required before the incinerator stack. Very high levels of toxic chemicals and particulates are present in the smoke from open burning of waste. These may cause acute respiratory and other health problems in those breathing the smoke. Burning plastics can be especially problematic, with PVC plastic in particular contributing to high emissions of dioxin.

SO, IN CONCLUSION, don’t burn plastic on open fires unless you know exactly what it is made up of..Identifying plastic is not always possible so while there are some plastics that are supposed to be safe to burn, I won’t be burning any on my bonfire.

And If you have been sniffing burning plastic fumes and are now feeling worried,  find out what kind of plastic it was and then track down the Material Safety Data Sheet. This will tell you everything you need to know.

Is it safe to burn plastic in my local waste disposal plant incinerator?

It is claimed that all plastics can be burnt safely  in the modern industrial incinerators – but only those built to high specifications. Opinions vary wildly as to wether this is the case with environmentalists saying we are poisoning the very air that we breathe.

Many of these plants generate electricity from the heat produced so in effect the plastic is recycled.

The resulting ash from incineration plants has to be disposed of and so presnets yet another waste disposal challenge.

You can read more about incinerating plastics and waste to energy plants here

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Washing Up Liquid Soap

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

Soap Flakes

I did try to use soap flakes to wash up. I did not find it  pleasant. Yes it cleaned the pots but everything was so slippery that it was a stressful experience. If you want to try this I advise you to make a soap stew as it seems to take a while for the pure flakes to dissolve. You can also use the stew for washing your hair. You can find out more here.

Washing Up Liquid

Then I found that I can get my ECOVER washing up liquid bottle refilled  at Half Moon Health Foods 6 Half Moon Street , Huddersfield. If you are not local then Ecover have a postcode search on their site to find the nearest refill point:

So though the bottle is indeed plastic it can be reused many many times. I now have three bottles on the go – that allows for forgetting to take the empty into town, not once, not twice – but for weeks at a time. But I can proudly say I have thrown away no washing up bottles since.

Need More?

Try this… How to wash up plastic free

Other Products

You can also get refills for ECOVER –

TOILET CLEANER
LAUNDRY LIQUID,
FABRIC SOFTENER,
MULTISURFACE CLEANER,

 

 

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Carrier Bags reusable

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

Cotton string bags are fantastic. These are my best bags and I use them most of the time. They have many virtues including:

  • When empty, they fold up really small, but they can carry a ludicrous amount of shopping.
  • Their soft handles do not cut into my fingers.
  • They are fully biodegradable.
  • They are organic &  fair-trade
  • Long lasting

    • I bought mine from Organic Ally”

    She sells bags with either long or short handles.
    The short handles are great for supermarket runs, the long handled bags can be hung off your shoulder for more leisurely shopping – I don’t like them as much as the short.

    Bought in bulk i.e. numbers of 5 they are cheap – from around £4.00 a bag inc vat and shipping. You can mix and match bulk orders so you have a combination of short and long handled bags.

    Make Your Own?
    Or you could be uber-green and knit your own string bag – lovely bare foot person has posted a pattern for cotton yarn and a knitting machine.

    Fold Up Bags
    The only downside to string bags is that they are full of holes which means that they are see through and they do not fold up up as small as the opaque  nylon fold up bags

    onya bagI like Onya bags …..BUT they are made from a synthetic fibre RPET
    WHAT IS RPET?
    Post consumer bottles are collected from recycling plants and spun into yarn. From this yarn comes the fabric that makes Onya Bags.
    So, you might think, plastic bad…. but recycling good. Confusing
    Well yes – but I have bought them anyway. In fact I have other nylon fold up bags that are not made from bottles. They are very convenient if not quite as ideologically pure as the string bag!

    Why do I use them?
    Well man-made fabric is not only slightly more waterproof and opaque, it folds up really small. When packed up, these bags are the size of a golf ball, much lighter and come with a clip so they can be attached to your handbag or husband.
    I haven’t found a natural fibre bag that is as good at folding, weighs so little or dries as quickly.
    They can be carried round at all the times making them an ideal just- in -case bag for impulse purchases.
    Moreover because they dry so fast they don’t get mouldy. This makes them perfect for taking on holidays and backpacking trips where laundry facilities are not of the best and space is limited.
    Onyabags (UK)

    Onyabags also do, amongst other things, a messenger bag, a really handy fold up rucksack and mesh produce bags.

    If you live in the USA, Chico bags do a similar thing.

    More

    Find more bags and packaging HERE

     

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    Plastic codes and UK recycling

    by Posted in 1.51 Reusing & Recycling Plastic Tagged , 12 Comments

    Resin identification code 2 ♴ for high density...

    Plastic codes are the numbers you find on the base of your shampoo bottle and the like.

    They  identify the type of plastic used to make the product.

    Only the most common types of plastic are numbered – there are many more plastics than numbers and new plastics are being made all the time.

    This symbol DOES not mean the product has been recycled.

    For recycling purposes, (for now at least), it is essential to know which plastic is which.

    All plastics should be properly identified.

    Here are the current plastic codes and what they refer to.

    PET or PETE (Polyethylene terephthalate) plastic code 1
    Clear drinks bottles, food packaging such as fruit punnets, textile fibres (polyester).

    UK Collection Rates
    PET bottles are collected by 92% of councils. Recycled PET is generally used in fabrics such as fleece, strapping and carpets. New technology allows PET to be recycled into new food packaging.

    HDPE (High-density polyethylene) plastic code 2
    Milk bottles, shampoo and cleaning product bottles. HDPE bottles are collected by 92% of councils.They are recycled into garden furniture, litter bins and pipes.

    UK Collection Rates
    New technology allows HDPE to be recycled into new milk bottles.

    PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) plastic code 3
    Window frames, drainage pipes, shower curtains, clothing, toys, large squash bottles.

    UK Collection Rates
    Not generally collected from households for recycling. PVC use in packaging is in decline.

    LDPE (Low density polyethylene) plastic code 4
    Carrier bags, some bottles and containers, yokes holding four or six-packs of cans together, lining or laminating cardboard containers.
    Carrier bags are collected by some supermarkets and recycled into low-grade uses such as bin bags.

    UK Collection Rates
    Not generally collected from households for recycling. However, mixed plastic recycling is expected to be under way within five years.

    PP (Polypropylene) plastic code 5
    Soup pots, margarine tubs, most bottle tops, waterproof clothing, carrier bags.
    Not generally collected for household recycling, although it has good potential.

    UK Collection Rates
    However, mixed plastic recycling is expected to be under way within five years.

    PS (Polystyrene) plastic code 6
    Take away cups, yoghurt pots, cushioning of breakable objects in packaging.

    UK Collection Rates
    Not generally collected from households for recycling. Some commercial polystyrene is recycled.

    Everything else plastic code 7
    Other Includes acrylic glass (perspex), nylon and polycarbonate. Items made from a blend of plastics also fall into this category.

    UK Collection Rates

    Not currently collected

    The collection rates are taken from this BBC article

    To know more about the above plastics go to everything you ever wanted to know about plastic

    To find out where you can recycle each kind of plastic, contact your waste disposal authority, or check the internet. Some recycling plants will accept plastics from the public and are interested in bulk supply from anywhere.

    But better still don’t create any plastic trash…..

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    Pen Ink refillable

    by Posted in 3.1 Disposables & Reusables, 3.1 House, Office & Garden Tagged , , , , , 7 Comments

    Here is a one of the worlds finest inventions as radical in its time as the computer has been in ours treated as a throwaway piece of rubbish
    Not only am I ridding the world of plastic I am reinstating dignity to the much abused pen.

    Refillable Fountain Pen

    I have bought myself a fountain pen with refillable cartridge. Please note many pens use disposable plastic ink cartridges which defeats the object. DO CHECK!

    OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

    Fountain pen with reusable ink cartridge.

    The pen is from Parker and the body is made (mostly), of stainless steel.As is the nib.
    Yes the cartridge thing is plastic but it is reusable.
    I have been using this pen for a while now and I like it a lot.

    Bought the wrong pen?

    If you have got a disposable cartridge pen you may be able to buy a refillable cartridge.  For example this one for Parker Pens. You will need to Google the make of your pen to find out.

    Failing that Indestructables have a guide fro refilling throwaway cartridges. Looks time consuming and messy to me but it can be done!

    Ink

    The ink  comes in bottle but they do have  plastic lids. The bottles are  so cute I plan to up-cycle them when I get enough.
    I don’t actually do that much writting by hand so that might take some time.

    Plastic Alert

    Of course the pen  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).

    Buy

    I strongly recommend you buy from a shop. This pen is going to last you a long time! You need to get the feel of it. Besides which, pen shops are lovely.

    Though we try to link with business we know we cannot always do this. Then we try to find a similar product on Amazon.
    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.

    Parker Jotter Stainless Steel Chrome Trim Fountain Pen Medium Nib - Gift Boxed Parker Fountain Pen Refillable Ink Converter Parker Quink 57ml Ink Bottle Permanent - Black
    Parker Jotter Stainless Steel Chrome Trim F…
    £13.97    		 Parker Fountain Pen Refillable Ink Converter
    £3.87    		 Parker Quink 57ml Ink Bottle Permanent – Bl…
    £4.48

    Biodegradable Cornstarch Pen

    But I am bad with pens – years of abusing them can not be wiped out in a moment. Used to loosing them destroying them throwing them away without a backward glance means I am careless.

     

    In the meantime I don’t want to lose my expensive fountain pen so  I have bought some disposable pens – pens that biodegrade. You can read about them here.

    They were rubbish so now I  use a pencil…..

    Read more about pens & pencils here….