10 small resolutions for ethical living this year

[Bestbees]

Hi!

Have read the small steps thread with interested and would love some insight and ideas on haveinf 10 small resolutions for the new year. So far i have:

*use up all beauty products and only replace with good choices i.e. soap over showergel.

*no new clothes for me. Charity shops/ebay fine. I keep a small wardeobe anyway. Underwear/shoes exempt.

*increase use of veg box to once a week rather than twice

*take resuable bottle and cup out for coffees etc.

*meat from butcher (we only eat a small amount as is. We currently normally only eat reduced waitrose meat/fish as assumed this was decent. Would happily take comments on that).

Things i am thinking about include o ly biying kids clothes second hand (4 year old boys twins) and using milk man for glass bottles. Biggest issue here is cost really. We can afford it but DH not keen on extra costs.

Thanks for any ideas. Happy fpr anyone to join in and post theirs too!!

[newsfromnowhere]

Clary, you can certainly recycle your tins and cans - they can be made into new tins and cans as well as other products. Have a look here: www.recyclenow.com/recycling-knowledge/how-is-it-recycled/cans

[chainedtothedesk]

Thanks for great thread. And thanks for the link Lost will take a look.

[OhHolyJesus]

Love this thread - thanks for the tips, especially the dishwasher detergent and cleaning recipes. Going to try.

In addition to ideas suggested up thread in trying solid deodorant and shampoo bars from Lish but this website has loads of cool stuff I thought.

Www.ingreens.co.uk

[ClaryFray]

I'm new to the ethical lifestyle, it's something I considered a while ago but seemed to hard. However new year, New me, so today I have been into Sainsbury's and bought some items. Very little packaging, I opted for loose mushrooms instead of a big pot. 6 large ones for 40p!!! I was amazed! Checked all rosiest for recyclable info, and bought sauces in glass jars. I can keep the jars to store things in.

Considering moving to tea leaves, from tea bags. But will wait til the bags run out first. Gives me some time to acquire strainers.

Just confused about metal cans, can I recycle them. I'd upcycle them into plant pots but it's not really great for me, as I have little room for plants.

[TwoTeaTessie]

There are freecycle groups on Facebook where people offer beauty products that have hardly been used, you could try them

[babybobobear]

I'm having a clear out and have loads of hair stuff that I don't use and never will such as heat protection sprays, mousse, hair spray etc etc also loads of make up and lotions does anyone know what I can do with them? Seems such a waste to throw away and charity shops won't take stuff like that will they. Some of them have never or hardly been used. I don't think they're even able to be recycled as they're full of product?

[Bestbees]

Absolutely loving all the ideas and plans!

We use our breadmaker which reducing packaging and dodge ingredients.

Anyone read the AIBU thread on plastic reduction? Some interesting points raised re: plastic recycling versus for example food waste. Would love the commenter to help us here so will try and find their name and tag them. But i will continue to reduce food waste personally. (Rare in this house anyway)

[Fishcalledlola]

Great thread OP. I made a loaf yesterday, had all the ingredients in the cupboard. I may never buy bread in a plastic bag again.
Ive stopped buying face wash with microbeads and am using one with crushed walnut shells.
I have always loved drinking straws, I don't know why?? Will definitely stop.
Off to look for veg boxes now

[PickAChew]

Sweetkitty, I weigh up the impact of my tumble dryer against that of musty, ruined clothes, mouldy walls and damp plaster that needs replacing.

[PickAChew]

Re: palm oil, it can be hard to do unless really determined but, if you need to buy sliced bread (in plastic wrap, I know, but sometimes the bread you can buy from your local shop outweighs the bread bought 5 miles away, environmentally, if you need nothing else), Hovis is palm oil free.

[sweetkitty]

I've stopped using cotton wool and make up removal wipes, got a cloth thing instead.

Doing veganuary but will probably stay almost vegan. Chocolate was my downfall last year.

We live in Scotland and have 4 DC so tumble drier on daily at the minute am looking at ways of refusing this.

[Lostmyemailaddress]

Some like lavender and tea tree you can get at boots but I buy most of mine online.
www.pagandreams.co.uk/Oils-Shop has a good selection but you can also get them pretty cheap on EBay.

[chainedtothedesk]

Lostmyemailaddress - where do you buy essential oil for your spray? (Sorry if that's a daft question but have never seen it in the shops!)

[Saxophonedelight]

I love this and would like to start living more ethically. What beginner baby steps would you recommend for someone completely new to this?

Also for those of you that have switched to glass Tupperware - what would you recommend getting? Is there a range of sizes or sets that you've got that you can recommend and do you find it easy to cart around to work for example?

[newsfromnowhere]

What a great thread. Thank you all for your ideas and suggestions.

Ethical Consumer rates Sodasan as the most eco-friendly and ethical dishwasher detergent: en.sodasan.com/dishwasher-detergent.html. Am going to ask my local health food shop if they stock it. Am also going to continue buying my Ecover washing up liquid from there in bulk – I have a 5l bottle that I take to the shop and they refill it for me. Saves a little money and some plastic waste.

This year my resolutions are

1. To keep up last year's resolutions e.g. at the end of 2016 I vowed not to buy from Amazon, who put small independent bookshops out of business and employ cunning ruses to reduce their tax liability, and I will continue with this. I also decided not to buy single use straws and food products that provide them e.g. innocent smoothies. And I swapped to bar soap, which I love and makes me happy every time I have a shower!
   

1. To be more active in pressing companies to change their ways and reduce plastic waste. I have found that Twitter and emailing is quite effective and I usually get a reply (although it's often some old flannel about how everything is 'recyclable'...which is simply not true in the case of plastic).
   

1. I will avoid single use plastic whenever possible (but I know this is almost impossible) and will try to purchase food products packaged in paper/card and glass. I am buying loose produce rather than packaged fruit veg and taking it home in cotton food bags. I don’t drink take away coffee but have given DP and DD reusable coffee cups for Christmas. As my Tupperware dies off/gets lost I will replace it with glass/metal containers.
   

1. I am trying to buy foods produced in the UK, organically if possible.
   

1. I eat at least one vegan meal every day but can't go completely veggie as a family as youngest DD is a committed carnivore.
   

1. Give up tea bags that contain plastic/polypropylene (Bye bye Yorkshire Tea ) and start using leaf tea.
   

1. I have just invested in unbleached organic cotton face cloths and washable bamboo cleansing pads so no more cotton wool and cotton wool pads.
   

1. I am not going to buy products containing palm oil.
   

1. I am only going to drive the car on the weekend. Walking and public transport everywhere else.
   

1o. Take out a subscription to Ethical Consumer magazine.

Phew! Sorry that was so long.

[TwigTheWonderKid]

I'm going to try this simple dishwasher recipe though there seem to be others out there with more ingredients which might be better.

[babybobobear]

@Equimum thanks I will give them a try then!

[Bestbees]

Thank you lost, will try that when we run out.

Equimum we use Riverford too.

Trying not to use tumble drier or wash too often! Will change sheets tomo but wait until good drying day to wash rather than bu ging in machine to try.

[Equimum]

babaybobo, I think there are a few advantages of veg boxes. They are usually organic, so less pesticides, chemicals etc used in growing. They also use minimal packaging and very little plastic. Boxes/ brown paper bags are taken back and reused as much as possible. Also can reduce fuel consumption, as a can delivering round a town will use less fuel that each individual customer nipping out. We previously tried a local company that used mostly their own produce, as we thought this would be good from a Food Miles perspective. For us, though, this wasn’t great as it also meant very limited variety. I appreciate trying to eat within season, but obviously one farm cannot grow a huge variety even if what’s in season. We are now using Riverford, as they are not (to my knwoledge) owned by a large company, as Abel & Cole now is, and we found it better value for money in the past.

[Lostmyemailaddress]

No problem :)

[BarrysnotLyons]

Thank you

[Lostmyemailaddress]

1 cup soda crystals 1/2 salt 1/2 citric acid and it says you can add 10-20 drops of lemon essential oil. It's to be stored in an air tight container.

[BarrysnotLyons]

Yes please Lost.

[Lostmyemailaddress]

Barry I've got 1but it's a powder and you use 1 tbsp per load from my friends book but I haven't tried it as I don't have a dishwasher I can post it if you'd like ?

[HappyHedgehog247]

I massively reduced my dairy consumption last year. It works on multiple Angles- less plastic but also less farms with cows and also didn't feel good from an ethical point of view. Discovered lovely Pukka herbal teas instead.