Little ways in which you help the environment and/or reduce waste

[GunpowderGelatine]

I thought we could have a thread where we share the small low-effort ways in which we can make changes and reduce waste.

• we have a good waste digester. Smarter than a regular compost bin as it takes all food waste even bones. Got it at a discount at £30 and I love it, it gives me really lovely compost too and we literally have no food waste going in the black bin

• I buy as much second hand as possible, if the kids need new clothes I look for bundles on Facebook, I only really buy new shoes or specific clothing like costumes for book day. Most things are like new when given a good clean anyway.

• I've stopped buying DVDs and subscribed to Netlifx, and if I do get a specific DVD I go to CeX and get it second hand

• i refuse to buy anything with unnecessary packaging, like fruit and veg (I only buy it loose)

• use less bath water and limit the number of baths we take

• I wash everything at 30, if it's stained I'll go to 40 with a bit of Vanish on it and if it's smelly I use a white wine vinegar solution on it before I wash it

• I only use eco friendly cleaning products (this has helped with our allergies massively too, no more sneezing after wiping the tops down)

We switched to tinned cat food rather than sachets. Tins go in the recycling.

Use less, especially with cleaning, washing, toiletries. Don't wash towels after one use or clothes other than underwear after one wear.

Lots of people on here say they use what appears to be astonishingly large amounts of bleach, shower gel, cleaning products etc. Such as multiple bottles of bleach per week, or a bottle of shower gel per person a week. Don't be that person.

You really don't need anywhere near that much and most of that product is going to be uselessly rinsed away and produces a waste plastic bottle.

I'm ashamed to say that I've only truly woken up to the terrible damage we're doing to the planet recently. Looking back, I've been incredibly selfish so I've got some making-up to do.

I'm using washable bamboo cloths to remove makeup instead of disposable facial wipes

I NEVER use plastic bags anymore - I keep a shopping bag in my handbag at all times

I don't buy bottled water anymore

I eat less meat (I'd love to go vegan but I dislike most vegetables so this would be extremely difficult and not practical) and the meat I do eat is local and ethical

I just try to make better choices in everyday life.

I've switched back to bars of soap instead of dispensing soap.
I compost green/brown waste for the garden. I 've stopped buying fruit and veg in Aldi as it is overpackaged.

I'm going to try those shampoo bars as well that have no packaging and last forever. Hoping they are good as my hair is crap!

Reusable sanpro and reusable nappies and wipes. Reusable wipes for mucky toddler/baby hands and faces too, and i also use them in the place of kitchen roll now (obviously the bum wipes are completely separate from the hand/face/surface wipes!)

I've started getting solid and packaging free shampoo/conditioner/shower gel from Lush, they're actually pretty great, although expensive.

Massively cut down on cleaning products. An ecloth and some water is more than adequate for most things. I've actually massively cut down on cleaning since DS came along

Agree, second hand buying, i got all DDs third birthday presents off eBay for a fraction of the cost of new.

Walking instead of using the car for short journeys.

Stopped buying products with palm oil in. We're a pescatarian family but moving more towards veggie, with some vegan meals. Switched to oat milk for everything except in cups of tea.

Really cut down on buying things in packaging, avoid single use plastic/paper as much as possible.

A couple more things that i can't remember. I know it's a drop in the ocean in the grand scheme of things, but i need to make these changes to feel like I'm doing something.

Oh, and i joined the Greenpeace political lobbying network.

Oh, and toilet roll from Who Gives A Crap!

And switched to Bulb for renewable electricity (they were cheapest too)

Eat mostly veggie.
Soap bars. Ecloths for cleaning, and soapy water not sprays.
Bleach very small amounts in loo only and kitchen sink.
Avoid palm oils.
Make 50% bread, use bread plastic bags for picking up dog poo.
Walk as much as I can.
Much less flying than before.
Compost.

What I need to improve on is veggies/grapes/apples etc coming in plastic boxes/bags (I get carrier bag free food delivery).

I agree about people buying copious amounts of cleaning products. We just have Ecover spray (don't use kitchen roll either only towels to wipe down) and bleach which last at least 2 weeks, down the loo and in the shower now and again. What do people do with so much bleach?!

But a bottle of bleach in 2 weeks is still a lot. What are you doing with so much bleach?

@BarbaraofSevillle the toilets (we have 3) whenever there's skid marks on (yuk) and the shower once a week. I also occasionally bleach the kitchen bin if it stinks. But you're right we could do better!

Quite a lot of these here, we save plastic bags/packaging that would have gone in the black bin (we reduce as well but we also save them).
Mailing bags I keep to send out things I'm selling on Ebay.
Bubble wrap and padded envelopes I save in a box and put them on Facebay for free occasionally.
Carrier bags go to a local wholefood store that collects them to pass on.
The carrier bag recycling place takes frozen food bags (but I try to buy stuff loose/make our own potato wedges); the small plastic pack things that come with fragile stuff; and other odd things like bread bags (though mainly I make my own).

We never use bleach: we use Splosh toilet cleaner (refillable, we used to use Ecover) and we do have a spray can to spray inside the nappy bucket

Use a desk top instead of buying smart phone or tablet I would just break.
No car- I'm in London at the moment wish me luck in keeping that up if we move out!
Wrapping sandwiches in greaseproof paper fixed with rubber band.
Found that being short of money is best thing for making me realise I can manage without to be honest.

@zzzzz we started getting milk delivered in glass bottles, have a look on www.findmeamilkman.net to find a local milkman

We switched to a renewable energy supplier called Tonic. We also use old cut up rags instead of kitchen roll and use green cane toilet roll, which I think may be better then who gives a crap as they are not individually wrapped. Also natural deodorant co for deodorant... I follow someone call smallsuistainablesteps on Instagram who is good. Oh and also use splosh. Still more to do and hopefully get some more quick switches here.

Some good tips on this thread that I plan to adopt. Hadn't considered tinned cat food Vs sachets.

We get milk delivered in glass bottles, use soap bars rather than shower gel/ hand wash.

I've started doing quite a few of the suggestions here.

I can't use most shampoo bars, as they often contain SLS (Lush, I'm looking at you) whereas normal hand soap is fine (but not so good for my hair and scalp).

I'm looking into those plastic frozen food bags. If I open carefully at the top, and then wash out when empty, I can recycle the plastic into crocheted mats, etc, which can then go to a charity for handing out to homeless people for rough sleeping. I need a bigger hook, so that's on the list.

I'm also going to cut down on cotton pad use, along with DD. I've got some cotton that I can crochet into little pads for washing and reusing. I'm also going to crochet covers for my floor mop (has a rectangular head, a cover can sit over this) that can then be washed and reused. I've some balls of wool I was given that I can't really use so the covers, etc will use this up.

I do use washable sanpro, and while DD was hesitant, she's now looking into the different types of cups/pads. As she likes sewing, she's also looking into patterns for pads to make ones of the right thickness for her.

Each time I use something in the house, I'm making notes on whether it's fine to use, or if I can source or make an eco-alternative. It's not an overnight job, but slowly and steadily our household is working to be more sustainable and eco friendly.

I don't do a lot to be honest, as it's all done for us here in Sweden. I separate for recycling and take it myself, and we've had household composting for a long time. They make biogas to power the buses here. One thing I've done for ages in the UK (it's irrelevant here as they don't use them) is cut up the plastic rings you get round a 4 pack of beer etc so it doesn't end up round the neck of some creature. Same goes for bits of string or thread, if it's not chopped up it's gummed up with tape or something.

One of the worst for plastics over use is the free kids toys in burger king and mcdonalds. Can't wait to see the back of that trash.

palomapear
We switched to tinned cat food rather than sachets. Tins go in the recycling.

I tried that but cats disapproved - even though it looks pretty much the same to me (but then I don’t have a refined cat’s palate)

BUT!!! There is now a pet food pouch recycling scheme! I found it following the new Walkers crisp packet recycling announcement & luckily we have a centre near us. I’ll see if I can find a link.

(Our centre is also taking randomnesses like toothpaste tubes & pringles packets, I’m dead chuffed )

I also recently discovered that soft plastic food packaging, eg from produce & frozen veg (the stretchy kind you can poke your finger through), can go into supermarket carrier bag recycling.

Also these Swedish kitchen “dishcloths” are genius. They do a much better job of cleaning, & particularly drying, surfaces than most other types, last for ages, & can go in the compost when they’re dead.

Gorgeous designs too.

www.jangneus.com/dishcloths.php

This is the Walkers crisp packet recycling page. Scroll down & there’s a map with all the centres on.

I found ours take petfood pouches etc when I went to their own FB page.

www.walkers.co.uk/recycle