Happy international day of peace! What a perfect day to do a random act of kindness? Let me know what you actually do. :)
It has been a busy week. I hope you are all going well. And if not I hope kindness finds you right where you are.
Yesterday was all about giving the plastic wrap/cling wrap the flick. I am yet to make some of my own "cling wrap" but I look forward to doing it in the future.
Today is again about food. Because really no one can survive without it. And it's of course delicious! 😁
Sustainable September Day TwentyTwo: buy in bulk.
When I am talking about bulk I am not talking about buying thiry bags of crisps. Or even buying lots of packets of stuff you will probably never use. No. I am talking about buying as much as you can in large quantities so that you reduce the amount of waste you usually buy. This means buying larger amounts of food, drinks and environmentally friendly cleaning products so that only one (preferable reusable) container can be used.
For example: we buy 2kg Greek yogurt instead of several small packets. We decant some into small reusable containers for the kids lunches instead of buying the prepackaged single use plastic yogurt tubs. For the same weight in yoghurt we could get a small rubbish bin full of individual serves or we could get one bucket that can be reused and recycled. We use them for everything from chicken buckets (we chuck our chicken friendly scraps in them) to making collection Tins (I painted a whole bunch for a fundraising event and cut money sizes slits in the lids and they were awesome). They have been used for kids games at scouts and used to store Guinea pig food. Now we are also using the buckets to store the yoghurt mum is learning to make so they're going back to their first use again.
We also buy rice in 5kg cotton bags. We love this little zipper rice bags because they get reused as laundry bags. They are a wonderful size. Because they have a zip too they make it much easier to tote stuff around. I know mum has used these cotton rice bags to take her current knitting work in project when we go out and about. I have also used these bags to cut in half and make two smaller bags for small amounts of stuff too. They are pretty cool. Also because they are made of cotton when they eventually die they can be thrown into the compost bin.
So part of buying in bulk (for me) is that I find uses for the packaging after I've finished with the product. I buy glass instead of plastic jars. I but metal instead of plastic. I buy reusable containers instead of single use ones. I look at the idea of reusing it as I am actually putting things in my trolley. There are not always products in reusable or sustainable packages but when this comes around I have to ask myself, is this really something I need? Or just something I want?
Front Lines: bulk buying stores.
I go to bulk buy stores and take my own containers to put the food straight into. We have a few bulk foods places nearly that you can buy stuff package-less from. It's awesome. My closest bulk goods store is The Wasteless Pantry. It is owned by a couple of local women. And I love it. They too love the book by Bea Johnson about "The Zero Waste Home". And the ideas in Bea Johnsons book have been adapted into the philosophy of the store. It's wonderful.
Check out their video of how to go to a bulk goods store.
Or check our this American video about bulk buying from a bulk buying store.
Kindness idea: make up a treat with your bulk goods and give it to a new neighbour, a colleague, a friend who needs a perk up or a family member who needs to be reminded that you love them!
It could be cookies, fresh bread, a tea mix, something delicious and good for your tastebuds.
Hope you are all doing well! Sending love to anyone who needs it today. And to those who don't.
Love Daena xx
No comments:
Post a Comment