Sustainable September 2017 - Day Seventeen

SEPTEMBER 17 (SUNDAY)

FOOD & STORAGE - BEVERAGES

Welcome back to Sustainable September 2017.

Today is the last day of this weeks theme of Foods and Storage! When i post tomorrow we are moving on to another theme... which is all about Cleaning. It sounds boring i know... but it will be all about learning how to do wastefree cleaning. Or at least reduced waste cleaning. But for the last one of this weeks theme i have managed to pile a whole heap of ideas into one.

Note: I appologise if its a bit all over the place, this is the second time i have written this post. The first time i had a glitch and lost everything. So here is to take two.

Sustainable September Day Seventeen - find alternative wastefree (or reduced waste) Beverages. 

Soft drinks - If you have a taste for the sweet nectar of soft drinks finding wasteless options is a wonderful environmentally friendly idea. And if you cant find 100% waste free options finding reduced waste options is a wonderful improvement. Apart from going completely soft drink free and surviving on water alone... the best option I've found for soft drinks is a Soda Stream (There are also generic brands of this system available however i have a soda stream so only know about this machine).

These days the most exciting soft drink I, personally, have is Soda Water with fresh lime pieces (so refreshing). But instead of buying the single use plastic bottles of soda water, we bought a Soda Stream so that we could make our own drinks. Now I can get soda water any time I want! Yay! The reusable bottles are plastic (so not perfect) and must be replaced every two years. Whilst the gas bottles are returned and exchanged so that they can be refilled for others in the future (yay! sustainable!). 

My sister (who drinks Diet Cola) and I (soda water), had a couple of drinks so I could show you all how my soda machine works. You can add concentrated syrup which is basically flavouring that comes insmall bottles that can give you about 7-9 Litres of flavoured soda. I like it because it significantly reduces the amount of single use plastics that would come into our house. 

Coffee pods - by now most of you know that I don't drink coffee. But I have heard about the amount of waste coffee pods causes and the damage it does to the environment. I even wrote about coffee pod waste for the last few years so here are the links... 2015 and 2016. These links will help you understand all the information about why coffee pods are less than okay for the environment. 

These days there are lots of coffee pod machines on the market. The coffee pods are a disaster for the environment. However, there are other options to throwing the pods in the bin. One is to recycle them (assuming you are using recyclable coffee pods like Nespresso). A second alternative is to buy reusable metal coffee pods like this one... 

This is what it looks like with its little reusable lid.


This is what it looks like without its little lid on. Its very cute.

I took these photos whilst at the Wasteless Pantry. It looks like an amazing product which only improves with any quality coffee you can fill these little pods with. I don't have a coffee maker with or without pods and I don't drink coffee... So if you have one and use one of these I would love to hear what you think! Good or bad!

Loose Leaf Tea - Better than t-bags is loose leaf teas when it comes to reducing waste. I am a tea lover! I have heaps of loose leaf teas and a tea strainer that I use daily. Even as I write this I am drinking a cup of my favourite decaf tea that I also have in the photo below. 

That is my tea strainer with a Red Green Vanilla tea from T2 (a Roobois with vanilla). It's super yummy and I'm not even sure if it even comes in t-bags. Last year I wrote all about the problems with tea bags so I'll link that HERE. Needless to say loose leaf teas are better and can be easily composted, whilst many t-bags contain plastic so are not compostable.

If you want to buy without even the packaging from places like T2, bulk stores like The Wasteless Pantry have tea that you can purchase package free. I have been eyeing off their Chocolate Roobois tea. If i didnt already have half a cupboard of teas to work my way through, I would definetly get some.

But that least me on to another idea from last year.

Kettle filling - An idea of how to save money, energy and water is to only heat your kettle with just as much you actually need. This can be as simple as filling the mugs you want to use with cold water and then pouring that water into the kettle so you fill it with only how much water you use. I did a blog post on this last year also. You can check that out HERE. 

ACTIVITY: Upcycle old drinking containers.

For ideas on what to do with old beverage containers check out this short video of 4 ideas of what to do with milk containers.

For several more ideas and hacks... check out this awesome collection of 25 ideas of what to do with a range of drinking containers (usually soda/cola/pop/soft drink bottles).

This is a reminder to use what you have in your house already for this, instead of going out and purchasing more to make these crafts/hacks. I say this because any plastic item that is in an altered state (like it has been cut up) often cannot be recycled. So if you do choose to use these ideas think about how you can use the WHOLE bottle not just a part of it, because the left over bits will end up in landfill.

I hope this finds you all well.
Daena x

Sustainable September 2016 - Day Eight

Hello Sustainable September-ers. 

How is it going? Simple ideas seem to be the go. Didn't you just love the "Forest Man" video? So good. 

I talked about replacing tissues for Handkerchiefs today. When I packed my bag to come to Canberra, Australia, I packed as many handkerchiefs as I did underpants. Having been sick I wanted to be prepared for anything. And so far I am please I did. We used a couple as napkins after I managed to spill a whole bunch of stuff everywhere on a picnic. I've used them to blow my nose after reading too many beautiful stories about kindness (my favourite reason to cry). I have even used them to wipe the sweat off my fave after going for a run! Yay. Go me. 

I thought I would show you one of my favourite handkerchiefs. 

 

It used to belong to my dad. His initials are embroidered on it. Every time I use it I think of my dad. He was an amazing and environmentally minded man, so it seems so appropriate that I share it with you all this month. 

I also love how handkerchiefs are making a come back. Has anyone seen the movie "The Intern" with Robert DeNiro and Anne Hathaway? Well amazingly handkerchiefs play a pretty cool role in that movie. Bringing them back into fashion. 

So today is another K.I.S.S. Principal. Remember it's Keep It Simple Sweetheart. We don't have any stupid people here!

Sustainable September Day Eight: use a metal or glass straw instead of a plastic one. 

A few days ago we watched clips from the Zero Waste front liners. One of them pointed out the stupidity of straws. Something that you use once and then goes in the bin because it's useless after one use which may only be seconds. Then these pieces of plastic end up in the bellies and noses of someone of our most precious wildlife. Hopefully you all remember the video from last year of the turtle with the straw stuck in its nasal passage. It was seriously heartbreaking and more than a little gross. 

For Christmas last year I bought my family 10 metal straws between six of us. I usually keep 2 on me, in my handbag. One for me and one for whoever I am with. Usually mum and I. It works well. But often we really don't need to use straws at all.  

I know there exceptions for using straws. Some people have to for face or teeth surgery. I couldn't have done without a straw when I had my wisdom teeth out. Then there are the elderly (like my dad used) because all their food is liquid. And it helps regulate how much they consume in one hit, stopping them from choking. Dads nursing home has special cups with built in straws so he didn't need to use throw away ones. 

When you think about it, most places you would use straws are related to soft drink or cocktails. 

If you think about the straws from fast food venues, they use those stupid plastic caps for the straw to go through too. That is more plastic going to landfill and it even has the potential to end up in the ocean and stomachs of wildlife. Mind you, even if you swap out the straw for a metal or glass one, then you are still making a huge difference. Make sure you tell them no straw when you order your drink/meal. 

If you think about cocktails or soft drinks from restaurants, you need to talk to the bartender before they make the drink because if they have already been added to the drink they won't use it again, they will just throw it without it ever having been used. Which is a stupid tragedy all of itself. 

Asking for no straw is something that takes a bit of time to get used to but once you do, it's just like any other habit, it happens naturally. 

Kindness idea: purchase a glass or metal straw for a friend. 

I decided this was a good kindness for me after last year. I ended up saving them to give as Christmas gifts. My niece and nephew love using the metal straws I bought them. They particularly love to drink their smoothies or milkshakes through them. Best thing about the metal ones is that they won't break if dropped, which is the best option for kids. 

The glass straws are very pretty and you can SEE how clean they are. Usually all reusable straws come with a cleaning brush so it's easy to clean. It's also cool to see the water/juice/cocktails/milkshake/soft drink go through the glass straws. 

Front lines: all I can say is... This kid is awesome! I just love how kids are the ones fighting for the small changes that will make big differences in the long run. 

This interview is even better with more statistics.

Well done Milo! Now we just need to get something like this off the ground here in Australia! 

I hope this finds you all well. 

Love Daena X