Zero Waste Week 2014 - Day 5

With today's Zero Waste Week email being all about food waste I just had to zone in on the kitchen today.

A topic that could fill a book - it sure can.  After writing a section on food waste in my book 101 Ways to Live Cleaner and Greener for Free, I felt I wanted to concentrate  my next book on just the subject of food waste as there are so many things we can do to make more of our food.  I'm hard at work on it and I hope it will be finished before the end of the year.   If you have a top tip for reducing food waste that you'd like to share in my book, please do message me in the comments and I'll be in touch.

Needless to say, with researching and writing about reducing food waste I've become pretty nifty at using up every scrap.  I started my book, coincidentally, on the first day of Zero Waste Week 2013 which, as you may know was all about how to reduce our food waste.  I learnt lots from the tips that the Zero Wasters shared that week and I've been gathering tips and trying out recipes ever since.

So, today I had a CORN lunch, having first picked out what is going to go into tonight's bean casserole dinner. There was some tomato and onion pasta sauce and I picked out the cucumber and apple pieces from a bit of last night's salad - the rest is peppers, spring onion, carrot and celery all of which can go into the casserole.  What was left looked like the makings of a couscous lunch - it had been pork filet in a tomato sauce, and it turned into a tasty couscous sauce.

After lunch, before returning to the delights of explaining anaerobic digestion in a fun and exciting way for teenagers, I decided to blitz the kitchen clear out. One thing that has been driving me mad lately is that my collection of plastic pots (two drawers full when none are in use) was a mess of pots and lids but never the right pot with the right lid.  So I emptied out both drawers and sorted the pots and lids putting together the ones that matched.  I put a few margarine and ice cream tubs into the recycling as they didn't have the right lids and a few pot-less lids went in too.  The rest are now neatly stacked in their wicker drawers and harmony is restored at least to that quarter the Pitt kitchen.

The other area of the kitchen that bothered me was the kitchen dumping ground - a wooden trolley.  I had no idea what was there, but the general rule was that if it didn't have a place, that's where it ended up.  But my kitchen, in theory, has a place for everything.  Which could only mean one thing, if it was on the bottom of the trolley, it wasn't needed.

Before :(

Most of what was on the trolley went into either the recycling boxes, or one of two pots in the garage for odd bits of scrap metal and odd bits of hard plastic, neither of which we can put in our recycling boxes.  The scrap metal pot gets emptied occasionally at the local recycling and reuse centre when we are passing or have something else to take there.  The bits of hard plastic just accumulate as nowhere takes hard plastic in this area.  But the pot is an ice cream tub and it isn't yet full, so I'm happy for it to sit there in the garage for now.  I will say though, there has been more than one occasion that the 'hard plastics pot' has been raided for a gizmo - or at least a piece of plastic that can be used to make or fix a gizmo.

A couple of glass jars went into the dish washer and will be added to the slowly building jar collection which we'll use for making jam and chutney in the coming months.

Sadly, my lovely cast iron cook pan that has been broken for many years is awaiting a trip to the WEEE recycling so it can be taken apart to begin a new life.

And here's the result of my whirl wind sort out session…

After :)

How long will it last?  I estimate somewhere between 10 minutes and 10 days, but for now, I'm feeling good about myself and a few resources are on their way to find a new purpose.

There was nothing added to the charity shop bag, so I picked out these from various shelves and cupboards… I've never used them, but maybe someone else will?

Off to the charity shop

Oh yes, here's my attempt at mending my jeans - I'm not quite sure why I decide on pink embroidery thread, but oh well, the main objective of no more bum on show is achieved!

Zero Waste Week 2014 - Day 4

I loved yesterday's Zero Waste Week email all about textiles.  In 2013 I challenged myself to a year of buying only 2nd hand clothes and I loved it.  I have had a couple of high street items bought for me as presents this year, but I have to say that my clothes shopping habits have been changed permanently.

I have made a couple of visits to charity shops when something has caught my eye in the window but I haven't had any desire to 'go shopping'.  Truth be told, I think I got a little carried away last year with my 2nd hand chic, and probably bought more 'new to me' clothes than I normally would in a year, so I'm still enjoying my relatively new outfits.

But, one thing I have to face up to is the plain fact that my jeans (I have two pairs) are worn out. Both pairs have several holes in them.  I always find it hard to find just the right pair of jeans, so I think that might be a challenge to replace with second hand.  So, inspired by yesterday's Zero Waste Week email, I've decided I'm going to extend the life of my jeans by patching them up with some nice floral fabric.

Jeans in need of attention

I acquired some fabric at Low Carbon Oxford for making bunting. It was an old sheet, I think. So I'm going to cut out some more triangles for the bunting and use the off-cuts to patch my jeans.  I'm not feeling brave enough to get out my little-used sewing machine (used to be Mum's), so I'm planing to hand stick the patches.

As for my big clear out...with yesterday's email being all about textiles, I decided that I'd make today's clear out zone my bedroom.  This Salvation Army bag arrived on the doorstep yesterday, so first thing this morning I decided I'd fill it with a few things in my wardrobe that I hadn't worn in a long time.  It took me less than 5 minutes.

A timely arrival

Ready to go!

As for today's email, I'm one of the lucky ones who can put Tetra Paks in my curb side collection box, so it is very easy to recycle them and I wash and squash - well, swill a bit really, but I like the rhyme of wash and squash!  Before Tetra Paks were recyclable I actually avoided using them.  Now I embrace them and I watch the developments with interest.  Before long they will probably be made from entirely renewable sources.

Inspired by the 'feeling crafty' section of today's email, I thought about my yet to be disposed of incandescent lightbulbs.  I had a vague recollection about seeing ways to upcycle them, so a little Google searching came up with this: http://www.pinterest.com/ariaism/lightbulbs-upcycled-recycled/ There's got to be a project in there for me!

There's good news on the broken smoke alarm - it only needed a new battery.  The saddle and bridle have also been re-homed.  The collection of dolls from Day One is gracing the window of our fantastic community shop - they look like they are about to start baking in a Victorian kitchen. (And I confess I came very close to buying that mixing bowl. I managed to remind myself I have three already).

Lastly, I pulled these smoked glass lampshades out of my attic last year when we attempted a clear out. They are from a 1960s style chandelier, which we took to the WEEE recycling.  But I thought these were a prime candidates for some creative up cycling.  Somehow, though, they managed to get hidden again, but now they are on Freegle and they too are about to be re-homed.

Here's a taste from Low Carbon Oxford 2014 - you might spot me in one of my workshops and cutting up lovely fabric for bunting!

Zero Waste Week 2014 - Day 3

Day Three of the big clear out…

So far, so good. It's onto the landing - another dumping ground.  First stop is an old games chest.  Well, to be honest, until this morning when I lifted the lid for the first time in ages, I'd forgotten it was an old games chest.

I'm not sure how or why we missed this out last year, but it is not going to escape this time!  All the games were complete, but some required a little taping of the box corners.  Then it was swiftly into the charity shop bag.

Next, this lovely puzzle.  It was sitting on top of the toy chest, and has been there for more than a year! The annoying thing was, I didn't know if it was complete or not, and the outside of the box didn't say how many pieces should be there.  The really annoying thing was… I remember 'doing' the puzzle last year to find out if it was complete, but I have no recollection of whether it was all there or not - I'm not making that mistake again!  I've done the puzzle - isn't it lovely :) and I've mended the box and now it is in the charity shop bag, ready to go.  Someone will love it, I'm sure!

Next is this little corner of shame.  Everything from old light bulb to broken (I presume) smoke alarm is hidden behind this curtain.  This might be a challenge.  I don't know of anywhere that recycles old light bulbs, for instance.  The local collection point clearly says 'low energy bulbs only'.  I'll need to do a little research.

I've had a few suggestions for my saddle and bridle…including The Blue Cross, Riding for the Disabled, local riding schools and even up-cycling the saddle into a stool!  I'll need to make a few phone calls at some point today.  I've also listed it on reyooz.com and on freegle, so maybe it will find a new home.

The makings of a cool stool?

Zero Waste Week 2014 - Day 2

Day Two of my big clear out….

Today it is time to tackle the utility room… ahh! I knew this would be a tough one, so I had a little look before breakfast to get an idea of what I'd be up against.

This room gets treated as a bit of a dumping ground.  Does anyone else have that problem?

We went to a lot of effort last year to tidy it up and sort everything out and we tried to get rid of the stuff we never used. We came to the realisation that Mr Pitt is a bit of an Imelda Marcos, but we persuaded him to part with three bags of shoes and as a result the shelves are are lot more organised.

However, I still found a nice stash of textiles of various sorts, particularly odd socks awaiting attention on top of the washing machine.

 I managed to rescue a few pairs of socks and I've added the rest of the odd socks to the rag bag.

This pile of jackets needed attention too.  How many sets of gardening clothes does one need, after all? I washed the jackets and decided three of them were only fit for the rag bag, but the others are now dried and hung back up ready for chilly days in the garden.  Among these, I found my favourite fleece jacket, which had been abandoned  after getting covered in burdock.  As this week is all about giving things attention, I decided to invest the time picking out the burs from the fabric.  The only solution!

It took me about about 15 minutes, but the jacket is now good as new and back in my wardrobe.

The one thing I'm left with now is this saddle.  It needs a clean (and I'm going to try to bring myself to do that this evening), but once it is cleaned, what can I do with it?  Does anyone have any ideas how to part with an old saddle?  Could be a tall order!

Onto the the daily email all about swapping disposables for reusables.  I have to say, I'm not one who is going to be swapping to reusable toilet roll, lovely as it looks.  I have a septic tank, and just like a compost heap it needs 'brown' and 'green' contributions to keep it healthy.  The 'brown' contribution is, in fact, the toilet roll,  and the 'green' contributions,well that's the … you know!

However, I am going to play swapsies!  Firstly, I'm going for reusable sanitary pads.  I've already given them a try, so today I've ordered everything I need from Made by Gituce.  Previously I burnt our sanitary pads in the wood-burner, so it is not going to reduce my landfill.  But it is far better to reuse than to burn resources and for a little outlay today, I reckon I'll be making savings within a year.

The next thing I'm going to work on is razors, as that's something that does end up in our landfill bin at the end of the year.  I'm still undecided as to what exactly to get. Can anyone suggest an alternative to disposable razors that work well for teenage girls?

Oh yes!  The crisps didn't happen last night after all, but they did happen today, and they are going down very nicely right now!

Junior Daughter was first taster and the conversation went like this:

Me: "So, are they alright?"
JD: "They're lush!"
Me:"Really?"
JD:"Anything home made always tastes better."
Me:"Why is that?"
JD: "I don't know, but I think it must be the little spoonful of love that you added."

Homemade crisps

Zero Waste Week 2014 - Day 1

I've been looking forward to Zero Waste Week and seeing through my pledge.  I found that I've been thinking about it on and off for the last few weeks, making mental notes about what I'll need to tackle and wondering what I'm going to part with.

As you've probably guessed, I love this year's Zero Waste Week theme of 'One More Thing'.  I wrote a whole book of things we can all do to reduce waste, but there's always one more thing.  There's always room for improvement  and this week, I'm going to try to do just that.

My Zero Waste Week pledge - my 'One More Thing' to reduce waste -

…is to go through each room and pick out at least three things that we no longer use, but can't give away as they are because they need some kind of attention.  I'm pretty rubbish at mending stuff.  I have good intentions, and I never just throw something away.  But I do find that I procrastinate instead of just dealing with broken things straight away.  So, I'm going to use this week, to try to develop my mending skills and try to kick the habit of letting things build up in the hope that I'll sort them out one day!

In addition to that I'm going to join in with the Zero Waste Week daily emails and find something more each day that I can be doing to reduce my use of resources.

So, what am I mending today?

I decided that I'd start in the spare bedroom as I know that there's lots of stuff in there, hidden in drawers and under the bed and there's at least one box that is full of stuff with bits missing, so I thought it would be easy to pick out three things we could part with and get off to a flying start.

First up, I decided to take the plunge and address these lovely ladies…

They have been long neglected atop the spare room wardrobe.  They get a very occasional dust, but they are really a bit sad and unloved.  I brought them down from their perch to investigate whether they could be cleaned up to be given away, and found that the clothes were removable and washable.   They've been through the wash, and are now out on the line and hopefully they haven't shrunk.  If I can dress them up again, then they will go to the charity shop, to see if they can find a new home.

Next up, hanging on some wall hooks I found a stash of unwanted jewellery, which I've add to my collection of broken beads, ribbons, single earrings and cufflinks, buttons, jewellery boxes and old watches, which I collect up for the charity, Against Breast Cancer.  A lovely lady, Laura Hounam, who I've blogged about before, takes these bits and pieces and turns them into wonderfully desirable and modern jewellery that she sells at craft fairs and exhibitions to raise money for the charity.

Third up is a dressing gown, that has somehow escaped the charity bag for all these years.  That's gone into the washing and will be added to the charity shop clothes bag that I've started up.

That wasn't so hard!  But I'm still left with the box of toys and games from last year's clear out.  I've decided to keep this, in the hope that as I go through each room, I might find the missing pieces.  If not, then I'll have to have a re-think at the end of the week!

Onto my Zero waste week daily email that awaited me this morning!  It's all about plastic, with lots of suggestions for how to reduce the amount of single use plastic we all use.  Plastic is one of those things that because there are so many different types, some local councils choose not to offer a collection service.  Pretty much all plastic can be recycled and the myth that it all gets shipped to China and landfilled is very far from the truth.  There are many companies who recycle plastic here in the UK.  I know that, because I've visited several of them!

But despite the fact that most plastics can be recycled and I live in area that does take almost all of it in the kerbside collection boxes, it is still something that I try to cut down on.

I always keep a few plastic bags in my various handbags and rucksacks.  We keep plastic bags in the boot of each car, so that we are not caught out shopping without a bag.  We buy most fruit and veg loose, and if not, then again we reuse the bags and put them back in with our shopping bags when we unpack the shopping.  We take our egg boxes to the butchers to refill with local eggs and we also take our own plastic containers for our meat purchases.  We use various tupperware pots for packed lunches.

So, I've I hopped over onto the blog post to see what 'One More Thing' we could do to reduce the amount of plastic recycling we end up with and here's the plan…

The plastic packaged thing we don't seem to be able to do without in our family is crisps.  The problem with crisp packets is that they are made from mixed materials which apparently makes them too difficult or costly to recycle.  So the only way to avoid this waste is to do without them or make our own.  I have a gadget that will cut slices of root vegetables very finely, so this evening I'm going to give it a whirl.  Anyone got any tips for DIY crisp making?

Zero Waste Week

Last September I took part in Zero Waste Week.  The theme last year was Food Waste and it was particularly timely for me as I was about to start work on my next book, which is to be all about food waste and how to reduce it.

Over the last few years my family and I have been making efforts to reduce our food waste and I thought that I was pretty good at making the most of the food we buy.   Having written about reducing food waste for my book, 101 Ways to Live Cleaner and Greener for Free, I was pretty well versed on the standard waste reduction tricks of planning meals, shopping locally and making good use of leftovers.

But I knew just by looking at how packed full of food my fridge was on day one of Zero Waste Week 2013, that there was room for improvement.

I decided that I was going to set myself the task of emptying my fridge and it was pretty successful too. I bought nothing all week, yet we ate really well and had a great time preparing our food.  But did we learn anything and has it had a lasting effect?

OH YES!

The whole family have been vigilant ever since about what we buy, what needs to be eaten up first and how we can make best use of everything.  I haven't actually measured my food spending, but I feel we spend around 25 to 30% less on food than we used to.

It will soon be time for this year's Zero Waste Week which runs from 1st to 7th September and although it has a new focus this year, I'm planning to have a fridge clear out again, to see how things compare to last year and to hopefully come up with a few more use it up recipes for my next book, which a year later is finally taking shape.

The theme for Zero Waste Week 2014 is 'One More Thing' - what one more thing could you do to reduce your waste this year?  I'm looking forward to finding out what ideas other people come up with, but my own 'One More Thing' is this…

This time last summer, I had a huge clear out and managed to send 80 bags of 'stuff' to my local community shop, to reuse programmes or to recycling.  Along with a fair quantity of shoes and clothes we parted with lots of books, toys and games that I hope are now entertaining other families.  The one thing that I didn't do, though, was to mend anything so I built up an accumulation of things I didn't know what to do with because they were broken.

So this year, I'm going to have another clear out, taking a room each day of Zero Waste Week, aiming to part with at least 3 things we no longer need and dealing with anything that's broken or needs a good clean up.  I'm going to try to repair or repurpose the broken things - with the help of all those other people who are joining the Zero Waste Week challenge.  Like last year, when ideas from other people helped me use up my jars from the fridge, I'm hoping to call on other people's expertise to get better at mending.

To join in, you can sign up on the Zero Waste Week web page, here.

#BikeIt

According to Sustrans, one third of UK households own two or more cars.  Despite all my efforts at low carbon living, my household is part of that third.  At the start of the year we had three cars between 4 drivers.  When Junior Daughter became driver number 5 in February, I can quite understand that she wanted to have her own car.  Senior Daughter, away at uni at the time, was already planning to get her own car this summer to see her through her work placement year.  I couldn't contemplate the thought of adding yet another car to the household.  So I decided to give my car to Junior Daughter and try to manage without one (in rural Oxfordshire).

There are 28.5 million cars in the UK and the average car owner produces over two tonnes of CO2 each year.  We have long been careful to minimise our journeys.  We lift share, we combine missions like shopping with getting to school/work.  We use public transport when we can.  Even so,  I'm pretty sure we are contributing that average 2 tonnes of CO2 output.

So since February, Junior Daughter, has been driving herself to school and I have been trying to get around by bus/train and on foot.

This has been mostly possible, but I haven't yet developed the bus time table awareness for the infrequent buses that get me to within a twenty-minute walk from home.

To get to my nearest town which has excellent (if a little pricey) onward bus connections to Oxford I have a twenty minute walk in the wrong direction to get to an hourly 25 minute bus ride.

I knew I needed to get on my bike!

And now I have.  Inspired by National Bike Week, last week I rummaged around at the back of the garage and got out my bike.  I haven't been on my bike for a few years, I think!  The tyres were flat, it was a little rusty in places and it was home to a few spiders, but it seemed otherwise in reasonable working order - meaning the brakes and gears seemed to function.

I found these handy maintenance tips on the Bike Week website:
http://bikeweek.org.uk/top-10-bike-maintenance-tips/

Here's my first couple of #BikeIt weeks.

Wednesday - letters to post, poorly grandma to visit (combined with helping uncle to eat up a joint of pork as grandma is off her food).  Total miles 4.

Thursday - a little further this time.  A trip to a local school to talk about what they'd like me to do as guest speaker at their certificate evening.  Total miles 10.

Dilemma of what to wear!  My main aim was not to arrive hot and sticky, so I cycled in a cotton dress and pumps and had a little crumple proof jacket and posh shoes in my rucksack.  I gave myself plenty of time so I could cycle slowly - still way less time than it would take by bus - and it all worked perfectly smoothly.

Friday - Senior daughter needed to get to work and was inspired to go by bike - my bike, because hers is tucked away at the back of the garage and probably needs attention.  My mission was therefore to be on foot, but as it involved buying 2 dozen eggs for cricket tea, maybe that was for the best. Total miles me 4, Senior Daughter 4. We both got a bit wet!

Sunday - An afternoon party 60 miles away in the wrong direction for public transport - Not going to happen by bike!  But I did manage to make the most of my car journey as I gave someone else a lift and arranged to fill the boot of the car with stuff from Senior Daughter's house that she is shortly moving out of.

Tuesday - I got a lift to Oxford to judge an up cycling competition.  I then had a twenty minute yomp to my next meeting which I managed to change the venue of so it was achievable without a car.  Mr Pitt and Junior Daughter then picked me up on their way to JD's summer school (at Eton College!!).  We took a slight detour on the way back, with the added advantage of it being a less traffic laden route, so we could check out the cycle path to/from our nearest station.

Wednesday - I get on to Google to check out train tickets as I had a meeting in Birmingham the next day. The first bus out from my village doesn't get me to Oxford in time to get to my meeting by 9.30am.
It is 10 miles to the Station.  I think about trying out the route and timing it instead of going for a run.  I think I can do it and I'm encouraged that there's a bike path for some of the way. But then I realise how much the train ticket from Long Hanborough to Birmingham is going to cost me.  It is £77 for a return ticket and then on top of that, I'd have to pay for a taxi the other end.  Way too expensive!

Thursday - Yes sadly I was back in a borrowed car, and I picked up a colleague on the way (so that's 2 train fares worth of car journey).  But I feel disappointed.

Monday - I decide to stay at my desk rather than cycle to a meeting about local transport issues.  I follow the meeting on Twitter thanks to timely Tweets by Kate from Sustainability Witney group.

Tuesday - I get on my bike to cycle to the Certificate Evening, in the hope of inspiring my audience to think in a more circular economy way.  I feel I'm in a room full of future achievers and doers and so I talk to them about the idea of putting the environment at the centre of all their wonderful ideas and creations in order to be achievers and doers in a sustainable future. I cycle home in the rain with a warm heart and a lovely bunch of flowers poking out of the back of my rucksack, much to the amusement of the various faster cyclists who overtake me.  By the time I arrive home, the rain has dried and the exercise has done nothing but create an appetite for more exercise so I go for a short run in the fading sunshine.

Wednesday - Back on my bike to meet up with the local community action groups (CAGs) and Sustainable Witney.  We clearly have too many great things to talk about and the light is going as I leave so I say my goodbyes in a hurry and peddle home.  I didn't know I could peddle that fast.  I must find some lights for my bike as it is only going to get easier to get caught out at dusk.


Today I was back in my car to do an Eco-Schools Assessment in another corner of the county.  Crossing Oxfordshire is not an easy task by public transport and I wasn't quite ready for the 60 mile round trip by bile.  I can dream though!

So far I've made 5 short journeys by bike and 4 long journeys by car, but only one of the long journeys was on my own.  I'm glad I've managed bit of peddle power and it certainly feels like the way forward.

Charlotte's Tip from The Marlborough School version of
 101 Ways to Live Cleaner and Greener for Free