Sustainable September 2017 - Day Fifteen

SEPTEMBER 15 (FRIDAY)

FOOD & STORAGE - GET RID OF PLASTIC WRAP

Welcome back everyone,

This year for Sustainable September I am focusing on 'Making life a little kinder for our planet and all those who live here'. One way I am doing that is reducing the amount of plastic I use. So that means finding alternatives.

Sustainable September Day Fifteen: Get rid of Plastic Wrap.

There are a few ways to go about this. Like I did last night with a family members dinner plate. I just upturned a second plate to use as protection instead of using plastic wrap.



I recommend this when you are heating stuff in the microwave too... although be careful when cooking in the microwave, because... it is HOT!!! Steam can burn just as badly as direct heat... so always be careful when using heat.

You can simply use reusable containers too. we have a whole heap of reusable plastic containers. Yes I know I have spent a lot of this month already talking about how bad plastic is for the environment. I do believe I can do better in the future. But there is no point in me throwing away reusable plastics to replace with glass yet. My main problem is with single use plastics but I am still minimising other plastic that I'm brining into the house. I will continue to use my already well used reusable plastic containers until they die, then replace with glass only when I need to. Throwing away something that is useful to become 'more eco-friendly' seems a bit backward. However, when the plastic reusables we have do break or become unhealthy (some reusable plastics we have start bubbling at the bottom) then we recycle it and then, and only then do we buy a more environmentally friendly option.

One of the other alternatives to plastic wrap I have started personally using recently, and LOVE, is Bees Wax Wraps.

What are Bees Wax wraps? They are fabrics (cotton, linen or silk) that have been cut and coated in liquid beeswax, then dried. They can then be used like you would use Plastic Wrap, but instead of the plastic wrap automatically sticking to itself, the warmth of your hands helps the wax soften so that it adheres to itself. this makes it so much easier to use.

I bought two smallish Bees Wax wraps from Undisposed, a local company promoting reusable eco-friendly items like my cutlery set (which i also got from them). I love them. I would have photographed them to show you, however they have recently gone missing. I used them all the time when I was house sitting but I'm not sure what happened to them since. I suspect one of my eager cleaning housemates may have disposed of them thinking they were rubbish... but i am yet to know for sure (so i hope they can forgive me if i find them later somewhere else).

You can purchase Beeswax wraps from a range of places. I know the local bulk foods shop I go to regularly, and love, The Wasteless Pantry sells them too.

You can wrap almost anything in them... like this...

You can also use the Beeswax wraps like oragami in a way! The following video shows you how to make a sandwich pouch from Beeswax wraps. 

The only thing that is not postitive about Bees Wax wraps is that they cannot be used in the microwave (hence me giving you the ideas for using upturned plates). The wax melts and causes problems in the mircowave if you use them in there... hence not recommended. But apart from that... they are so easy to use. 

ACTIVITY: Make your own Beeswax wraps.

 

I hope you have a wonderful day. 

Sending lots of love, and big hugs to you all, 

Love Daena 

Ps. I don't get any kickbacks or money from the places that I recommend here. I recommend them because they bring value to my life and I really enjoy their products and services. Just so you know! 😘❤ X

Sustainable September 2017 - Day Eight

SEPTEMBER 8 (FRIDAY)

TINY CHANGES - CUTLERY

How are you doing? I have been doing my best to REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE.

I got some more work done on my chair today at my Upholstery class. Because i am REUSING this chair & a lot of its bits as best i can by REDUCING the amount of stuff going to landfill. Because chairs like mine often end up chucked away rather than RECYCLED.

For those of you who know nothing about 'my chair', it was a wingback chair i picked up from the side of the road over a year ago. I have been dismantling it for ages, and only now am i building it back up.  

Sustainable September Day Eight - Bring your own cutlery instead of using disposable ones.

Why cutlery?

If you have been following sustainable September for the last few years you will know... this one if fairly new to me. I didn't think I was using disposable cutlery all that often... but it turns out I was.

"Worldcentric.org estimates 40 billion plastic utensils are used every year in just the United States. The majority of these are thrown out after just one use and end up in landfills and waterways." (Eating our way out of the plastic waste dilemma from Plasticstoday.com ). For more information check out the link. Learning statistics can be scary. 

So last month I decided to invest in a premade cutlery pouch from a local-to-me eco friendly supplier called Undisposed to reduce the waste I was already accumalating.

I now have a cutlery pouch that I always carry with me in my handbag.



I add a metal straw to it because it works well inside the kit. I use it regularly. The biggest problem I have is remembering to take it out and wash it regularly (not just after it's used, it's in my handbag after all) and also washing the fabric kit it goes in. Thankfully bamboo has a wonderful antibacterial quality.




The kit in the photos used to have bamboo chopsticks too, however i accidentally put them through the diswasher rather than handwash them and they kind of died. So i need to get some more.

I love that they are bamboo because it means that i can chuck them in the compost once i finish with them (like i sadly had to do with two broken chopsticks).

ACTIVITY: Upcycle your old or preused plastic cutlery into something that will last longer. Check out these christmas themed candle holders.

Like always, I put a disclaimer on videos like this that upcycle. There is no point going out and buying these things if it means you have to chuck away parts that you would have never bought in the first place. This is for those times when you have a whole heap of left over things that you would prefer get used instead of thrown in the bin. It is not perfect... im sure there are lots of ideas you could come up with and if not check out Pinterest!

I love Pinterest. It is dangerous though. So make sure you set some time up to have a look... or you'll find yourself down the rabbit hole 3 hours later with 15 new recipes for your friends who are vegans, the newest looks in Capsule wardobes, 100 ways to turn woodern pallets into everything under the sun, a whole new way of baking cakes so they look like rainbows, and 45 quick sewing patterns. Pinterest is like that... dangerous to the unprepared! But so wonderful for creative people like me.

Anyway, i hope this finds you all well,
Love Daena xx