Monday 22 September 2008

Day 15

This morning our builders arrived to start the process of transforming our loft into a bedroom and a shower room. Help! Three builders on the premises and we're out of tea and biscuits. The Clipper tea I thought was waste free is in fact encased in a clear plastic wrapping round the cardboard box. So I ended up with 180 bags of Tetley tea in a shiny paper bag which I think I may be able to recycle in our black bin. It's the first time I've bought non-fair trade tea in a long time and I'm feeling rather guilty. I'd no time to make biscuits so I resorted to a plastic wrapped packet of McVities Digestives.

A friend came round with her children. She very kindly bought me a packet of chocolate coated biscuits from Aldi. They're delicious but come in two layers of plastic. And her son's carton of juice, which can be recycled, came with a plastic straw encased in a plastic sheath, which can't. Does waste acquired from other people count?

And so to today's bin:
  • plastic wrapping from Aldi spaghetti
  • 4 more plastic windows from envelopes
  • plastic inner wrapper from dried tarragon - another organic product letting itself down!
  • 2 plastic inner wrappers from Ecover washing tablets - ditto above. We usually refill our washing liquids (for dishes and clothes) at Fresh and Wild. However it has just closed. Our alternative refill site is Windmill Hill City Farm, but the shop there was closed last week so we're using up what's in the cupboard.
  • 2 plastic lids from shampoo/body wash bottles. These belong to my younger daughter. I have switched to solid shampoo from Lush and will look for a solid alternative to shower gel when I've finished using what's still in the cupboard.
  • plastic seal from sunflower oil bottle
  • 2 miscellaneous plastic lids
  • plastic sheath from carton drink's straw - I don't know where the straw went!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Gai,

Nambarri teabags are card only boxes. Are they available down South? To check if a card box has a plastic inner wrap, I squeeze the box testing for the telltale rustling.

For coffee, I am considering taking off the lid after a purchase and leaving only the jar top seal. The lid can then be left at the customer service desk with minimal fuss. I would just say there is 1 at home which is reused.

just Gai said...

I haven't come across Nambarri teabags John, but I shall keep an eye open for them.

I don't drink much coffee. When I do it's from a cafetiere or stove top expresso maker. Most ground coffee comes in plastic/foil bags but when it we buy it freshly ground at our local deli it's packed in a paper bag.