'Reduce, Reuse & Recycle' - help with the 'Reduce' part please

[justkeepswimming]

We recycle everything we can in our recycling bin.
We compost everything we can in our compost bins.
We reuse everything we can think of/Freecycle stuff/pass it on to friends.

But we still feel that we throw away too much rubbish (2 black sacks a week, though they are not full, just our kitchen bin gets full so we empty it halfway through the week, so prob just over 1 full sack).
Dh and I were talking and he said we need to work on the Reducing part.

So, helpful tips on how and where to reduce our rubbish please

Extra info:
We have 2 LOs in nappies, ds1 (2yrs) is in disposables (sorry, hangs head in shame!) but ds2 (5mo) is in half and half disposable/washables.

We tried dishwasher liquid instead of tablets but DH didn't think it worked properly.

I think most of our rubbish is that sort of plastic wrap that most food comes wrapped in (ie cucumbers, pack of breadsticks, just for examples from lunchtime today!).

Look forward to getting some really useful tips, tia.

Dishwasher powder in a big cannister is better.

Farm shops generally sell stuff without packaging or leave it at the checkout at the supermarket.

You could think about growing some of your own food - get the kids involved.

Hi our council has just started letting us put plastic into recycling and I am amazed at how much there is every fortnight. (Milk bottles, margarine tubs cucumber plastic etc). There is hardly anything left in our main bin now. I just didnt realise how much of our waste was plastic. Our bin used to be full to overflowing every week.

Def go to farm shops/markets/bulk buy shops and buy unpackaged food.
Buy non perishables in as big a pack as you can - this reduces packaging waste. We buy washing liquid/conditioner etc at an CountryWide store now as they do catering packs.
If you can, choose brands that you can refill the containers such as Ecover
Buy yogurt in a big tub and pour out into bowls rather than individual tubs.
Buy more washable nappies (I can do you a great deal )
use reusable wipes, real hankies, and dishcloths

wmmc - thanks, will look out for powder later ( if i get my ac in gear today!)
just planted some tomato plants yesterday in fact! plus have a mulberry bush in garden. dh has visions of growing raspberries
what else is easy to grow?
not sure about a local farm shop, will have to ask around but haven't heard talk of one.

psycho - have been tempted by those boxes before but the ides of not knowing what's coming till it's here then it's 500 asparagus spears puts me off!
we use the compost for everything we can, also was looking at something like a green cone (?) that you can put meat and bones in, i think???
i have a (free ) breadmaker but so far have not made bread that we really like, too heavy and stodgy...

dh was also saying that it's all very well to recycle but we have 3 or 4 big bags of recycling a week and if rumours are true that it doesn't get recycled then we are still producing too much rubbish.
i have been on at him to squash stuff more before putting in the bin so that might help...

plus, having read the cling film thread on here, think that will be my next line of attack!

any more tips out there>

x-posted!

you see i've a thing about bars of soap
much prefer the gel stuff.

i read about a shop (london i think) where you could take back the containers for loads of products and get them filled up, really wish we could do that more.
then we could just have a big handwash thing and go and get it filled up every now and then.

loads of health food shops do the refills for ecover or you can buy 5 litre bottles and refill the same bottle yourself so 2 bottles instead of 10 or so.

Agree with you about reducing rather than just recycling. My New Years Resolution was to have a milkman rather than use plastic bottles and this has dramatically reduced our plastic recycling. Obviously dearer but I love the convenience of it.

most health food shops will refill household stuff-such as washing liquid.and shampoos.
i agree about farmers market-we have new one opening near by soon im so excited.and i cant actually cook!which is where most of our waste comes from

whoops xpost with DartmoorMama

bamboo - oooh milkman, hadn't thought of that!
wonder when he comes, i know i have seen him on our road.

was never worth it when just the 2 of us, we hardly used milk, but seem to get through lots with ds1!

dartmoormama - thanks, will look in town next time i'm there, tho i know dh & i were unconvinced by ecover in the past.
I have those washer ball things, but unconvinced by them too, maybe just need to try again?

psycho - will look in lush in town next time for the shampoo things, that sounds doable for me, thanks.

we use a local organic veg. box delivery service - I can check online what is coming earlier in the week and plan shopping list accordingly, and you can specify things you don't want, and things you don't need every week (we were inundated with potatoes! - now get them fortnightly) - they really are good, fresh, local, organic - minimum packaging!

I second the reusable wipes - dd has been in washable nappies since she was born, and we've found it no extra trouble to put the wipes in to wash with the nappies!

Agree - soap in shower instead of shower gel.

A lot of our rubbish is because I'm a sucker for kids individual mini packs of biscuits/chocolate etc for lunchboxes or an after school treat. I'm trying to get motivated to bake more but then I just end up eating it because its there .

thanks cheesesarnie
think we have a farmers market in town once a month, but really not sure if it's any better in terms of packaging, or local-ness of food?

psycho - will look at abel and cole again.

ok so far:

abel & cole for veg (fruit as well?)
shampoo bars from lush
dishwasher powder
(look out for what i can get refilled in health food shop)
no more cling film
maybe milkman (esp as milk bottles are huge!)
maybe grow some other stuff - will see how tomatoes do first, we aren't v green-fingered!

good list!

Greaseproof paper and elastic band (reuse the ones the post man kindly deposits all over the road) works as well as clingfilm for sarnies.

soap nuts are great for clothes washing and when they are done you can compost them. cheapest on ebay

our favourite bodycare brand is faith in nature, they do 5L refills too.

don't personally like the ecover laundry detergents but most of the rest is ok.

Oops - just realised i missed out some posters!

bluefox - we are allowed to put lots of plastics in the recycling but not sure about the cucumber wrap??
and still doesn't solve the reduce part if it all goes to china to be buried anyway

cmot - i have lots of washables thanks! just need to get more into the routine of using them. i use the washable wipes i got with them for ds1 for loads of things, esp in the kitchen for after meals, amazed how many normal wipes people use just after a snack or something.
we tend to but in big packs, as long as we can store it.
dh uses hankies, me no sorry, when i have a cold i want to throw it away!

happynappies - you sound so organised! i'm so not! will have to look to compare a local one with abel and cole.

bamboo - with you i'm a sucker for loads of 'stuff', silly little bits of cheese instead of just a big block, etc. but i AM trying to resist!

judessis - thanks

dartmoorm - are soap nuts like those washing balls?

no they are a dried soapy fruit. look a bit like a small round date. They produce a mild detergent.Its widely used in india for washing just about anything . I would agree eco balls are useless. I use them for everything including cloth nappies and can't say I have noticed a difference to normal detergent.

Rather than a Green Cone (which I understand needs looking after a lot), have you thought about Bokashi bins ? You can give them all your food waste (cooked, meat,dairy, bones etc), add this special bran and then leave for two weeks once sealed and it pickles it all, and you can then add it all to your regular compost bin. Works fantastically and means no smelly bins either.

Lush solid shampoo is ace - goes an awfully long way too. You can buy their stuff online.

Look in the yellow pages for farm shops.

Go to local fruit and veg/butchers shops - can usually do no packaging at all, or use the Onya weighing bags for loose fruit and veg. Ours have brown paper bags which go in the composter.

The cucumber wraps in Sainsburys can be recycled in their carrier bag recyclers but I can't imagine that making much impact on anyones rubbish amount! The Co-op stopped wrapping their cucumbers which is better.

if you can sew you could make some bags like the onya weighing bags, Just buy some coat net or similar. onya stuff is expensive for the size of the bags.