Eco-things this week #5

What have I been up to Eco-wise this week?  Not a huge amount but here's a few things that occurred to me and some products I saw that have good eco-credentials plus some ideas and campaigns to support

• Reusing a Neighbour's waste!!! Someone a few roads from me left 2 old compost bins (and a bird feeder) out the front of their house on the verge.  I have wanted a compost bucket for a while but been rubbish about actually doing anything about it so I was so excited to see them!  I headed out down the street as soon as we got home. I checked for certain they were free by knocking and asking.  CBC and I came back and picked it up later. It fits beautifully in a space by our summerhouse/shed.  Excited to make use of someone else's rubbish!

• Checking the bin! On Tuesday, I went into the Staff room and was just about to put my tea bag into the new  fresh bin bag when I noticed that someone had put 4 tubs of yoghurt sealed with their cardboard sleeve round them and a 12 egg-box plastic box with 2 eggs in it in the bin plus a huge glass coffee jar.  There was nothing else in the bin. Firstly, I was perplexed by someone putting 'out of date' food straight into the bin, packaging and all rather than cleaning and recycling. But what annoyed me more was, when I got them out the bin, intending to empty, wash and recycle them, I discovered the yoghurts only went out of date on Sunday and the eggs on Friday.  So I put the yoghurts in the fridge and the eggs too.  I ate a yoghurt for lunch- it was fine.  I brought home the other two for me and CBC to eat.  Do you know how to check if eggs are bad or good? Well, my method is to carefully drop the egg into a cup/jug of water.  If they float, tey are bad, if they sink to the bottom and remain on the bottom, they are good. Both eggs, of course, were fine, so I used them, along with 3 other eggs I had at home, to make Courgette and Bok choi fritters for dinner. They were battery hen eggs, which I would never usually buy, but since that hen had a horrible life anyway, it seems even worse to put the eggs in the bin.    With the coffee jar (which seemed full of coffee sludge), I put water in it and I have left it in the garden to pour over the earth under the rose bush. 
• Took out several cans and bottles from the bin at work and washed them up to recycle. On about 5 days in a row...Honestly, nobody cares!!!!!

• I detest Amazon.  They are the scourge of our High Streets and they are TOO big!  The amount of packaging they produce compared to shopping on our High Street alone is a big incentive for me to avoid them, the destruction they have wreaked in our High Street but the worse of all - the fact they DO NOT pay the correct amount of tax. I have not shopped with them for years!!!!  I signed this 38 Degrees campaign petition. Send this email to your friends and get them to sign it.

• Find out if your MP supports Plastic Free rivers by putting your postcode in! Then email then if they aren't!  https://plasticfreerivers.org.uk/
• Urge Burger King to sign up to a No DeForestation supply chain here: https://actions.sumofus.org/a/burger-king-end-deforestation-in-your-supply-chain-now/?akid=56873.10909212.1CWWZW&rd=1&source=fwd&t=14

• Went prepared to our friends' house for a Barbecue and party (we were asked to bring chairs with us which is in itself a good idea- why get worried and buy additional garden furniture when friends can happily bring their own!?) by taking some of our own travel cups (and my cutlery) but happily, they just got us to use all their regular plates, cutlery and glasses!
• Fished out the 20 or so paper cups from the staff moderation meeting I wasn't at and cleaned them up to bring home for recycling.
• I love it when a wish comes true!!! I was on the train home on Wednesday night and I had had a typically voice heavy Wednesday (bellowing the note names over the top of 30 7-years overblowing their recorders for 3 hours plus Singing assembly and choir and recording myself singing the Circle of Life and I Can't wait to be King for practice recordings for our drama production and was kicking myself for forgetting to fill up my water bottle for the train.  As I got off the train, I thought, "I wish that S station would let you fill up your water bottles with water.  As I arrived at Platform 4 for my second train, I decided to walk along the left-hand side along platform 3 to reach the far end of the platform rather than along Platform 3 and then I saw this...

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Having an evening of natural cleaning makes. Starting with these toilet bombs... 8oz of bicarbonate of soda, 2.5oz of citric acid and then 40-60 drops (in total) of your fave essential oils. These are tea tree and lavender. Add 1/2 a tsp of water at a time until its just damp then squish into ice cube trays and leave over night to dry. If you follow @the_organised_mum like we do then these are perfect for using as part of your daily clean as you just drop them in the loo and leave them! #quickclean #sustainableliving #sustainablelivingonabudget #zerowastejourney #chemicalfreehome #toxicfreecleaning #teamtomm #plasticfree #goingzerowaste #naturallygreeneriscleaner #essentialoils

A post shared by Sustainable living (@sustainablelivingonabudget) on Apr 12, 2019 at 12:47pm PDT

I love the idea of sprouting new veg from old bottoms of veg...
https://foodrevolution.org/blog/reduce-food-waste-regrow-from-scraps/
https://www.buzzfeed.com/arielknutson/vegetables-that-magically-regrow-themselves

• Oooh, pens made out of grass????

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**PRE-ORDER NOW** This absolutely amazing range of products from A Good Company will blow your mind! I am too excited to be offering such a magical eco alternative that will be delivered to me with ZERO plastic packaging, which is part of their company policy (it wasn't a special allowance for me)! . . First up from the range is something you have all been asking me about FOR THE PAST YEAR... This Natural Grass Pen is one of a kind and I am SO SO SO excited to be stocking it as it's the first pen I have found that is really an amazing alternative to 'normal plastic pens'. . . WHY? You see, most of the pens out there are terrible for the environment, made from the worst kind of plastics. A Good Company spent half a year designing and developing their Natural Grass Pen, which is made using only natural meadow grass, recycled BPA-free plastics and you can buy refills on my site to cut down on waste! . . I support products made using recycled plastics and are designed to be bought and used for years! The fact that these pens are created using 80% wheat grass and 20% recycled BPA-free plastic (we need to start finding uses for the plastic already on the planet) to create a pen that you keep and refill when empty is amazing! . . GRASS PEN FEATURES > Meadow grass and BPA-free plastics > Can be refilled - refills available on my site too! > The price is per item not a bundle of four > Biogas and waste heat drives the factory > Size : 15 cm > Factory: The Natural Pen Factory . . A Good Company have alllll the maths, figures and facts available for anyone that wants to really get down to the nitty gritty of each product and that transparency is what I love! . . 📷 @agoodcom . . PENS, NOTEPADS & REFILLS ALL AVAILABLE NOW @ WWW.PLASTICFREEDOM.CO.UK

A post shared by PLASTIC FREEDOM™️ (@plasticfreedom_) on Apr 25, 2019 at 11:11am PDT

• STRAWS:

Some people really like to moan about paper straws and their going soggy (er- answer- are you 2, are you in a hospital, do you really need a straw???) and think it is silly to carry around a stainless steel straw, so how about these Wheat straws in a party pack from PLastic Freedom? £11.99 for a box of 250 if you really must!

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**NEW PARTY PACKS** Making the switch to reusable straws is amazing when you're out and about or to have a selection for when a small group of friends come round but what do you do when it comes to parties? . . Kids parties and parties with more than a small group would be crazy expensive to kit everyone out with a reusable stainless steel straw. That's why I LOVE Just Straw party packs - they come with x250 wheat straws that are PERFECT for those wanting to throw a plastic free party! . . These are all natural, eco-friendly wheat drinking straws; making them the most natural and sustainable drinking straw yet. Made from nothing but natural wheat straw stems, they are 100% home compostable and will break down back into the earth in months! . . Also they do not go soggy like paper straws and because they are totally natural, each straw is an individual, and diameters may vary between 3 - 6mm. They also come in eco-friendly, recyclable kraft cardboard packaging! . . FEATURES > 21.5cm length > For both hot & cold drinks > Won't go soggy > Trimmable to size with sharp scissors > 100% biodegradable and compostable > Sterilised and hygienic > Tasteless > 100% organic > Pesticide free > Sustainable and renewable > Disposable > No nasties: allergy-free, gluten-free > Vegan friendly > Non-toxic and plastic-free > Plastic-free packaging > Food safe . . LETS PARTY @ WWW.PLASTICFREEDOM.CO.UK

A post shared by PLASTIC FREEDOM™️ (@plasticfreedom_) on Mar 26, 2019 at 4:00am PDT

• One thing that I know drives MANY people mad is when you go to an area of utter beauty and see poo bags left on the side of the path from dog owners. I saw loads of this on the Dovedale river, a beautiful area in the Peak District last week.  SO many bags of poo left on the path, grass, hanging on branches or stuffed into hollow trees.  Why not buy compostable/biodegradable ones to use instead!?

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**NEW COMPOSTABLE POO BAGS** Who knew poo bags could be so exciting, well in my world they are just that! These Certified EN13432 compostable poo bags have been on my wishlist to stock for a LONG time but I just hadn't found a brand I could fully get behind until FETCH•IT got in touch! . . Did you know that a lot of biodegradable poo bags are actually made of plastic and biodegradable just means they can break down into smaller pieces? Well these poo bags are certified compostable and can even be home composted (keep reading to find out more about that)! . . Just imagine how many plastic poo bags there must be out there in the world - hanging on trees, overflowing in park bins and already in landfill - it's such a simple thing to switch to compostable poo bags so if you know someone with a pooch PLEASE tag them below as they may not even know they are an option! . . WHY I LOVE FETCHIT > Certified EN13432 which means they are 100% compostable and degrade into natural elements > They’re extra thick, split and leak proof thanks to our special star seal. > Handy pack to store them in by your door so you don't forget to take them out > No plastic in sight! . . ABOUT FETCHIT Kiki designed Fetchit poo bags after being unable to find any companies that truly cared about creating a compostable poo bag to tackle the plastic problem! She's from Manchester and local to me so she dropped them off to my unit with Coco, her adorable pooch, and told me all about how they are planning to reduce packaging to make them even better in the future! . . ABOUT HOME COMPOSTING DOG POO Home composting dog poo is totally fine to do an actually great for your flower beds! However if you plan on using the compost for vegetables then do not home compost your dog poo in the same bin as this is not good for humans to use to grow food. . Please note that if your pooch has worms or any other condition then you should not put it in your home compost bin. . . IN STOCK NOW @ WWW.PLASTICFREEDOM.CO.UK

A post shared by PLASTIC FREEDOM™️ (@plasticfreedom_) on May 17, 2019 at 1:56pm PDT

• Apparently Glastonbury is going plastic bottle free:

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MORE GOOD NEWS FROM GLASTONBURY⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ As well as banning plastic bottles from the festival, there will also be an arena at @glastofest will be made from plastic that has been found on beaches, streets and in parks 🙌⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The 'Gas Tower' dance arena in the Shangri-La area will be created using waste collected in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. The Gas Tower is a 360-degree arena that will feature artists and electronic DJs including Subfocus and Bicep.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The project will need 10 tonnes of plastic with the first beach cleans to contribute happening on 11 May. The gathered rubbish will then be processed by Exeter City Council before being recycled into materials to build the stage.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The scheme is being run by @keepbritaintidy and the @orcasoundproject, in collaboration with Shangri-La Glastonbury.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The creative director of Shangri-La Kaye Dunnings called it an "important, pioneering project" and "a total game-changer."⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Glastonbury attracts around 175,000 people, which means a huge, huge amount of people becoming aware of the plastic problem we are ALL currently facing!!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Source: BBC News⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Photo credit: Glastonbury Festival⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #BuyLessBuyOnce #SlowSustainableHome #SmallSustainableSteps #Zerowaste #ecoliving #SmallChangeBigDifference #circulareconomy #ecofriendlyliving #ecoliving #sustainableliving #sustainability #breakfreefromplastics #enviromentalist #reusablebottle #ecocup #plasticfree #plasticpollution #savetheplanet #lovecoffeehatecups #reusablenotdisposable #oceanconservation #reuseorrefuse #singleusesucks #plasticpollutes #pointlesspackaging #plasticpackaging #glastonbury2019 #zerowastelife #glastofest #glastonbury

A post shared by Global WAKEcup* (@globalwakecup) on Jun 3, 2019 at 10:00am PDT

What Eco-successes or fails have you had this week or great products or ideas have you learnt about?