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!!

[londonfeather]

I’m really going to try and cut down on the amount of items that I buy with tons of packaging - starting by going back to veg deliveries, much better.

[Bestbees]

Day one: convinced Dh to up veg box delivery on trial. Had fish and chips on the beach but brought home rubbish to recycle. Took our own water bottle. Left overs for tea 😁

[BornInALighthouse]

Don't have 10 but this year I'll plant only things we will actually use in the allotment and switch to reusable wipes.

[Lostmyemailaddress]

Instead of making loads of resolutions we are making 1 a week as it seems less daunting that way.
Today we are going to be making homemade cleaning sprays. A friend has been doing it for past few months so has lent me a book she got them from. So today we are going to be making a surface spray and try it after we have made bread.
Things we already do are use reusable nappies, wipes, sanitary towels, straws, water bottles, sandwich wraps and bamboo kitchen towels.
The towels are really good I only really ever used kitchen roll for draining fat from food and they was really easily.
I take mesh bags when I go shopping for fruit and veg and paper bags for things like porridge oats and suet which I get from the weigh and buy shop.
Dry things on the line or airers as much as possible.
We have a timer for showers and everyone aims to be showered in less then 5 mins, easiest way to do it is to turn the shower off while shampooing and scrubbing.
We meal plan and only buy what we need.
All lights are turned off when the last person leaves the room.
Dd1 has recently decided to go veggie so I'm doing that with her but she's starting as pescatarian first and everyone is having 1 vegetarian meal a week but we also trying to eat only what's in season.
We are switching to bamboo tooth brushes once ours need replacing and looking into eco friendly hairbrushes and combs when our current ones need replacing.
I don't drive so we walk most places and only take public transport if absolutely necessary.

[Equimum]

We are:

1. reverting to getting fruit and veg via a box scheme
   
2. buying dried beans & pulses instead of tinned - I am assuming this involves reduced packaging volume for volume, but happy to be corrected if anyone has an opinion? (Would go to a scoop place, but don’t have any near us)
   
3. generally trying to reduce packaging, take bags out etc.
   
4. I am going to try to use re-usable sanitary protection. I tried a Monncup before having kids, but think I need to try again, and will also order some washable pads.
   
   I also just want to add, that we made some successful changes last year, so hope it’s okay to use this space to celebrate progress so far:
   
5. moved over to organic, farm assured dairy products
   
6. switched all bath and shower products to more natural, vegan products, and now only use natural soap bars instead of shower gel. Still looking for a shampoo bar that we get on with.

[babybobobear]

Loving all this, a lot of people mentioning veg boxes, I'm new to all this so what's the benefit of these please?

[babybobobear]

Also can you recommend where to get them from? Or does it just depend on where you live?

[IToldYouIWasFreaky]

I'm going to get some reusable straws. I have a box of plastic ones which I will use up first...seems silly not to!

I also need to get a reusable coffee cup.

I also plan to buy fewer but better quality clothes, in the hope that they will last longer.

[mamapants]

I've bought bamboo toothbrushes for me. And electric toothbrush for boys, not ideal but replacing the heads is less waste than the whole toothbrush I think.
And I want to start using my reusable pads and cups. Got a store of normal ones though and I always reach for them first.
Remembering to take drinks on days out rather than buying bottles is a big one.
Less food waste.
Buying less stuff, trying a no spend January or as little as possible anyway.
Switching to soap and shampoo soap but again have a store to use up- Xmas presents etc.
Just bought a big 5litre eco washing up liquid which will probably last forever as we mostly use dishwasher.
Any recommendations for dishwasher tablets/ powder much appreciated and washing powder too? They are next on my list for replacement.

[mamapants]

And also I buy meat trays for the dog for a weekly treat but going to switch to tins as better for recycling but are more expensive as always! Hate all the plastic waste but so hard to avoid without spending a fortune.
My children drink a lot of juice which comes in plastic, we've started watering it down to last longer. Thinking of buying some glass bottles but it's about five times the price.

[Bestbees]

Day two: left overs for lunch. Rinsing and reusing same mug all day as i often use a new one each time for no good reason.

Lots of great little ideas here. Will look at bamboo brushes. I have got a shop that does cleaning stuff refills so will do that. Going to use up current stash of dishwasher tabs then go for powder as can use less.

[mamapants]

Have you found dishwasher powder bestbees I can't seem to find any. Hate the tablets all individually wrapped in plastic but I guess that's what means they can be in a cardboard box rather than a plastic tub.
Someone mentioned making your own surface spray - what are you using to do this?

[Lostmyemailaddress]

We used 1 part white vinegar and 1 part water and some sweet orange essential oil. It's worked really well used it like I would normally use bought spray and the only difference that's been noticed is my dc like the smell of this one

[Twofishfingers]

For me it's just to be careful at point of purchase. Not get pears in those silly plastic containers. Get loose mushrooms. Get refills at local health store for washing up liquid and cleaning products. Meat and fish over the counter so they are not in plastic containers. More veg meals, less meat and fish.

Just bought ecoegg for washing clothes.

No straws or disposable cups, cellophane.

[BarrysnotLyons]

Do people rate the Ecoegg?
Any good recipes for dishwasher tablets?
I have changed all my other products to home made.
I would like to grow more of my own veg and get an extra freezer to keep homegrown food for the winter months and be able to prepare and keep more.
Change my remaining liquid soaps to bars.
Take my water bottle with me instead of buying bottles. Get caught occasionally with 3 small dc.
Cut down the crap the dc get for Xmas.

[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.

[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 ?

[BarrysnotLyons]

Yes please Lost.

[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]

Thank you

[Lostmyemailaddress]

No problem :)

[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.

[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.

[babybobobear]

@Equimum thanks I will give them a try then!

[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.