I'm Still Here

It's been a while since I last blogged here, or anywhere for that matter. Life has, as it does from time to time, got in the way.

I haven't, however, given up on my zero waste mission and have continued to weigh my weekly landfill rubbish. It's averaged around 300g per week, which is above my target of 100g and leaves much room for improvement.

The chief obstacle to zero waste is lack of forward planning. If I work out what we are to eat in the coming week and plan my shopping trips carefully I end up buying less packaged food and producing more homemade meals. It's the days I have no idea what we are going to have for tea that I end up in Tescos buying ready meals.

So I'm going to be more organised.

The Clean Bin Project

If you haven't heard of this remarkable trio then pop over to their blog right now and see what they've been up to these past 7 months. I'm afraid they put my feeble efforts to shame.

Week 7 - Plastic Basics Packets

By basics I mean the sort of food I buy week in week out and which I could not conceivably live without ie sugar, pasta, rice, couscous, porridge oats, noodles, pulses etc. With a bit of effort I can avoid buying biscuits and cakes and ready made meals and I can ask shopkeepers to pack meat and olives etc into my own containers, but I can hardly do the same with any of the staples mentioned above. The annoying thing is that I cannot for the life of me work out why any of them cannot be packed in paper bags or cardboard boxes. Flour and some sugars and Quaker porridge oats are readily available in paper bags and Lidl sells rice in cardboard boxes. So why isn't it standard practice with the rest? I can feel an email to a supermarket formulating in my head. Watch this space!

PS Now that our local deli has installed self service hoppers I can buy some of my staples loose, but this facility is not available to the vast majority of shoppers.

Weekly Weigh-In = 495g (including a plastic light switch and bulb weighing 150g, and 6 free Yakult bottles from the milkman at 60g). If these are discounted the total is reduced to 285g, which is still well over my target of 100g. All I can say in my defence is that we did seem to finish a number of the packets mentioned above this week!

Week 6 - Coffee Packets

I have to confess to being a bit of a coffee snob. I love coffee but it has to be the real thing. None of that instant rubbish. Normally we drink cafetiere coffee but for breakfast at the weekend we use a stove top percolator to make strong dark coffee which we dilute with warm foamy milk. The problem with coffee is that most of it comes in mixed material packets with plastic widgets designed to preserve its freshness. Not very environmentally friendly. However, our local deli sells coffee beans, freshly ground to your own specifications, in brown paper bags. And it's organic and fair trade!

Isn't it amazing how many waste-related issues can be solved by shopping local?

Weekly Weigh-In = 230g

This is, unfortunately, up on last week. I baked a cheesecake to take to an NCT reunion and was left with two cream cheese and one double cream container. Reminder to self to chase up Recresco's promise to have more wide ranging plastic recycling facilities in the future.

Week 5 - Plastic Wrapped Bakery Products

During the week we breakfast on toast or cereal, with the occasional boiled egg. At the weekends we like to treat ourselves to something more exciting - invariably croissants. The trouble with the croissants from our local Tesco Metro is that they are encased in plastic. They sit in a preformed plastic tray which is then placed in a plastic bag, neither of which is recyclable in our area and are destined for the landfill. However, one of our local bakeries sells loose croissants and the deli sells almond ones which are wickedly delicious. Unfortunately both of them are further away, but the extra distance might help to work off some of those calories!

When I'm feeling energetic I make pancakes which the girls devour with crispy bacon and maple syrup. I remember attempting croissants once, but also remember them failing to live up to my expectations.

I've been trying to cut down on shop bought bakery items and bake my own, which are not only less wasteful but also better for us. The girls take a biscuit or a cake to school with them in their bento lunchboxes every morning and always need a snack when they come home in the afternoon. I try to go for recipes containing oats or fruit, with a bit of chocolate thrown in. Flapjacks are a perennial favourite and this week I made tiffin which is ridiculously easy and doesn't even require cooking, if you don't count heating a few ingredients in a pan.

If anyone has any good recipes to share I'd love to hear from you.

Perhaps someone could also let me know what the rules are regarding the posting of recipes. Is it alright to do so if you acknowledge the source?

Weekly Weigh-In = 165g

I'm very pleased with this and hope I can keep it up.

Week 4 - Meat Packaging

One of the secrets of reducing waste is forward planning, as I have learnt to my cost these past few weeks. My local butcher closes on Monday afternoons and all day Wednesday so, if I want to buy mince or sausages on these days I'm forced to visit my local supermarket, where they are sold in plastic containers or plastic wrappers. The same applies to cold meat. The butcher and deli sell it loose but local supermarkets don't. This week I had to buy chicken in Tescos. Last week it was salami.

This week I'm going to plan my menus in advance so that I don't get caught out.


Weekly Weigh-In = 360g

This is an improvement on last week but 70g more than my current best. I must take this more seriously.

Week 3 - Plastic Spouts

Since Bristol introduced recycling facilities for Tetrapak containers I have been taking regular bagfuls of juice and milk cartons to our nearest bin in the Bedminter Asda car park. It's a positive step and I welcome it.

However, before I can recycle my cartons, I have to remove the plastic spouts and/or lids, which are not recyclable and which I fear may contaminate the recycling process.

I remember when containers were made of treated cardboard and nothing else. You snipped the corner with a pair of scissors to form a spout and poured yourself a drink. If this was done carefully there was no mess and the whole container could be recycled.

While preparing for last year's Zero Waste Week Challenge I discovered that Sainsbury's Basics fruit juice comes in spout-free cartons. I shall have to seek them out again.

Weekly Weigh-In = 345 g + a broken gas lighter weighing 95 g making a total of 440 g.
This is well up on last week's 290 g. We are still throwing out a lot of Christmas waste. I'm hoping that as this peters out my levels will go down again.

PS To encourage members of my family to consider what they are throwing away I have removed the waste basket from the living room. I think it's helping.