Thursday 2 October 2008

Day 25

Another waste free day. Hooray!

I ate out with friends but I cooked dinner for the rest of my family. I bought my chicken breasts from my excellent local butcher, Bob Wherlock, who wrapped them in paper and placed them directly in my plastic container. If you're a bit embarrassed about asking your butcher to do this, as I was at the outset, please don't be. Chances are he'll be more than happy to oblige and I've found the request invariably leads to some very interesting conversations.

While most of my waste is food related there are, of course, many other kinds. Bathrooms are full of it. Plastic bottles can be recycled but not always the lids, which are often made of a different plastic. So I've opted for solid shampoo from Lush which comes simply wrapped in paper. They also sell solid deodorant which lasts for ever and solid bath and shower products. My local health shop, Health Unlimited, sells 'naked' soap in a variety of fragrances. Biodegradable feminine hygiene products are now widely available. Toothpaste is my only downfall. I believe that you can use baking soda and salt but I must confess that I have never tried either. However, for the purposes of this challenge I may give it a go tonight and let you know how I get on tomorrow.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well done on another successful day. It's great that you are enjoying the LUSH toiletries. I've not used them, but I've heard good things about them from others.

Wishing you another zero waste day!

mrs g x

Almost Mrs Average said...

Glad that things are going so well. I've been using the Lush shampoo and deodorant bars for a while and they're great. I'm really missing my shampoo bar at the moment though as it ran out this week. So I've got to get on with ordering some more.

Re toothpaste, if you can recycle aerosol cans locally, you could try the Aquafresh toothpaste which comes in an aluminium pump dispenser. I've switched to htat and it's lasted yonks. I've not fancied making my own toothpaste.

Not long to go. Keep making it fun ;-D

Anonymous said...

Hi Gai,

Well done with the containers and stuff from Lush. Choosing alternatives will impact on the waste plastic advocates.

just Gai said...

Thanks for the tip about the Aquafresh aerosol toothpaste. We can recyled aerosols so I shall ty it out once we get to the end of our current tube. I tried baking soda this morning. It was a bit salty but otherwise alright. My husband wondered about the lack of fluoride. Maybe I'll ask my dentist next time I've an appointment.

Anonymous said...

Having just found your blog, a week after the Zero waste week ended. You talk in this post about biodegrable sanitary products - how you considered re-usable ones? You can get washable pads or if you prefer internal protection, there is a menstrual cup called the Mooncup. I thought it sounded like a grim idea when I first look it up, but it's changed my life! Now periods are no problem at all. There is no risk of TSS and it works out much cheaper - costs around £18 to buy and will last for years and years. All you do is boil it between periods to sterilise it. No I don't work for the company, but it's just so great that I rave about it!