Plastic and Toms

A post on a Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a fabulous week!

Plastic [plastik]. noun. 
A synthetic material made from a wide range of organic polymers such as polyethylene, PVC, nylon, etc., that can be moulded into shape while soft, and then set into a rigid or slightly elastic form.

Once thought to be an incredible invention, plastic is now seen as an environmental pest. Because plastic photo-degrades instead of biodegrades, every single piece of plastic ever created is still on this planet. Plastic breaks down into smaller molecules, or polymers, much like a plastic dust, which then continues to pollute the ocean, the land, the wildlife, and us.

Some truths about plastic:

• Chemicals, such as BPA, which are added to plastics can be absorbed by the human body. Many of these chemicals are endocrine disruptors which are believed to be contributing to a number of health problems
• Plastic is the largest source of ocean litter, making up 60-90%. This is often ingested by marine animals and kills approximately 100,000 mammals and 1,000,000 sea birds each year
• Eight percent of world wide oil production is used to manufacture plastic
• It takes 17 million barrels of oil each year to make water bottles for the U.S. market. That's enough oil to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year
• Plastic doesn't get recycled, it is down-cycled into lower quality products which will eventually become waste. Compare this to glass which is 100% recyclable forever

Plastic seems to be in almost everything. Cars, fridges, clothing, cooking utensils, face wash, cigarettes, toothbrushes, and food containers. So what do we do?

Firstly, be aware. Learn. Never stop learning.

Once you start learning about the effects of plastic it is hard to forget and near impossible to dull the desire to know more. The continued ease of ignorance seems to be the biggest barrier to people actually making changes, because they think it's too hard. But what they don't realise is that it will actually be harder in the future to deal with the catastrophic effects on the planet if we don't start changing our ways now.

There are simple things that anyone can do to reduce plastic consumption and start opening your minds to living with less plastic.

• Buy a reusable drink bottle, stainless steel is best. Awesome ones available online here
• Buy or make your own reusable produce bags and shopping bags. Here is a link on how to make reusable shopping bags out of old t-shirts
• Say no to straws
• Buy food from bulk bins and re-fill household cleaners in bulk at stores such as Bin Inn and Commonsense Organics
• Reuse glass containers and jars instead of storing food in plastic containers
• Take your own container when you get takeaways
• Use matches instead of disposable plastic lighters or invest in a refillable metal one
• Use cloth diapers
• Buy a moon cup instead of sanitary pads or tampons

When Josh and I started our rubbish free challenge we found some items were particularly tricky to buy without rubbish. Luckily for us we made a great discovery at our local Commonsense Organics store a couple of weeks ago. We had been withholding from buying a few items due to them being wrapped in what we thought was plastic. Turns out that they package bulk items in a cellulose plastic which is compostable! Yay for buying more herbs, spices and nuts!Unfortunately this type of packaging can be quite fragile so it is important to transfer the items to a jar or other container when you get home or otherwise risk losing half of your dried thyme ;)

It just goes to show that there are alternatives available and hopefully these options become more common.


On a slightly different note, I bought some new work shoes a few weeks ago. Toms.

Toms was started in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie. He created a company that matches each pair of shoes purchased with a pair of shoes for a child in need. This then expanded in 2011 to Toms eye wear where a purchase of their glasses helps to restore sight to a person in need. They have recently released their new initiative, Toms roasting co., with every bag of coffee purchased they provide one week of clean water to a person in need.

Not only does this company offer amazing charity, they also have a range of eco-friendly shoes. Because I need to wear black shoes for work I opted for their black and white earthwise women's vegan classic. They are made with vegan materiels; 77% hemp and 23% recycled plastic. Not only are they good for the environment and they help a child in need, they are so super comfortable which is important when you're a nurse and on your feet all day!! It's a win win for everyone!


I leave you tonight with a quote that I love and we all need to remember:

When you throw it away, think. There is no away.

Time flys... 3 months!

Wow, over two months since my last post!!

A lot of great and interesting things have happened in this time so I'll have to share them with you over the next few weeks to avoid writing a short novel about it all now!

At our two month mark we had created another jars worth of new rubbish and had a few additions to the old rubbish pile. 

You'll notice in the picture above that we have finally used up the last of our aluminium chlorohydrate and  chemical laden deodorant (yay!) and are both now using new anti-stink products that are a lot better for us :) Although they aren't antiperspirant's (so we do still get sweaty) we don't smell! My one is in the little clear container and it is a mineral salt stick which you wet before applying under your arms (or can be used on stinky feet!). Josh's deodorant (not that he uses it very often) is a body spray made of water and potassium alum (different to aluminum chlorohydrate in the way that it is naturally occurring and it is thought that the molecules are too big to be absorbed by human bodies). Unfortunately they aren't in fully recyclable containers but we have heard that applying coconut oil under your arms is an effective anti-stink method so we'll be giving that a try at some stage. 

This last month has generated the least amount of rubbish so far! 47g! I'm over the moon, but there is still room for improvement.

Probably one of the most exciting things that has happened since my last post is our discovery and new-found love of organic butchers, Moreish. They have a store in Palmerston North, and as far as butchers go  it has to be the nicest butcher's shop to spend time in. The staff are so welcoming and helpful, and they offer super delicious home made organic goodies, such as scrumptious pies! But probably the best thing about Moreish is that they not only offer tasty happy meat, they allow people to bring their own containers to reduce packaging. They do delivery's as well but we choose to drive up to the store and pick ours up, coinciding it with a nice lunch or dinner out. We buy about 6 weeks worth of meat for ourselves and friends and family at a time to reduce transport costs and emissions. Check out their website here for more information about where their great meats come from and to explore their online shop.

A little update on bathroom products:

Our homemade toothpaste is going well and we no longer find that it tastes bad. The only change we have made to the recipe is adding manuka oil drops as it boasts antibacterial properties and prevents plaque build up. 

My Jeymar shampoo bar lasted me for 3 months! I have just bought a second one and can't believe that $6.20 worth of hair product has lasted me this long! I also only wash my hair about twice a week now (sometimes once if I only have a short week at work) compared with washing it daily when I was using "normal" shampoo and conditioner.

Ladies, get a mooncup. Seriously life-changing. And so so so much healthier for you and the environment. Click the link to get more information about why you should invest in one of these beauties, and for a bit of a laugh (along with some informative facts) watch the YouTube clip below ;)

I'm glad to be back people! Keep an eye out next Monday for another post! x

Four Weeks!

We have made it to the end of week four!!

It's been a busy couple of weeks, which is why there was no post last week, but a lot of great things have been created and discovered which I can share with you now :)

Tonight I got all of our rubbish together from the past four weeks, separated it into old and new rubbish and weighed it. We are very happy with the results!

This picture shows our old rubbish total for the past four weeks (rubbish that we already had but hadn't used up the products). A grand total of 112g!

The main culprit of the "old" rubbish is foil packets from tea bags. I have none left now, and oh I do love a nice cup of tea! Thankfully I have mountains of herbal teas to work my way through and am hoping to give some loose leaf English Breakfast style teas a go (organic and rubbish free!).

And this picture shows our total of new rubbish we have collected over the last four weeks! 61g! And there is still room left in that jar!

Considering that the average New Zealand household throws away 8kg of rubbish per person per week (75% of which could be composted or recycled) I think we're doing rather well. Any guess at what the main rubbish item is in our "new" rubbish? You got it, chocolate wrappers. I can't seem to keep myself away from the stuff! Also included were some foil tops off cream, foil wrap from butter (we've found organic butter in wax paper now), and rubbish from a present gifted to us from a friend.

Another exciting thing that has happened is I made some reusable natural cling wrap. Unfortunately I didn't have any organic cotton fabric to use but I did make use of some scraps that I had in my sewing room.

The cling wrap is made by melting beeswax (sorry, it's not vegan) and dipping fabric (tight weave works best) into the wax, making sure to cover all of it before holding it up to dry (about 30 seconds). The wrap can then be easily wrapped around bowls by warming the wax with your hands, and creates an almost air tight seal to keep your food fresh and prevents the odour from the food escaping and making everything else smell and taste like curry or whatever it was you decided to cook. To clean you simply wash in cold water with a light scrubbing brush and leave to air dry. For obvious reasons the wrap can not be heated in the microwave or oven (the wax will melt), but can be used to wrap biscuits or sandwiches in instead of plastic cling wrap. I got the instructions on how to make it from this website.

Another eco-friendly household item I made was toothpaste. It's made of coconut oil, baking soda and peppermint essential oil. 

It tastes awful. 

But, I'm hoping it's an acquired taste and it really does make your teeth feel super clean! 

 I managed to drop the baking soda...

and smash the container.. 

I also made a natural face mask this week (I won't be posting photos of this :p) made from banana, honey and ground oats. Despite the fact that it made my skin feel healthy and radiant, I felt like some kind of banana/oat/honey faced monster and I literally couldn't stop laughing at how ridiculous I looked, all the while hoping no one was going to turn up at the door! 

Work place recycling is finally kicking off and I hope to have it fully up and running in a couple of weeks (I'm counting on the fact that my boss is going to approve it!). I've noticed quite a big increase in the volume of items being recycled and hear stories of how other people are reminding others to recycle and not to throw recyclable items into the bin ;) It's also nice to hear how my encouragement (some would call it pestering) is influencing people at home and outside of work to think about the impact on the environment and to make more conscious decisions. 

My goals for the next few weeks are to find some second hand items I need to buy for my upcoming overseas adventures and also to try out a neat prototype sent to me by go bamboo man Mick. More information on that coming..

If you have any spare time and want something inspirational to watch I highly recommend these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsTQ04BOeCo&app=desktop

http://vimeo.com/15346778

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwg6ei2V6-4#t=239

Have a wonderful week!

Week Two

More rubbish has been added to the bucket, but again it is mostly "old" rubbish. One of the biggest culprits of new rubbish is chocolate wrappers.. especially those mini-individually-wrapped-so-bad-for-the-environment-but-taste-so-good-and-I-don't-feel-guilty-about-eating-10-at-once chocolate wrappers... I know I should buy fair trade, organic, high percentage cocoa, wrapped only in paper type of chocolate like this.... it is delicious by the way!

That shall be a new goal for this week ;) (how great to have goal around chocolate that doesn't involve not eating it!)

I thought I'd talk about the environmentally friendly products that we're using in the bathroom and wanting to implement seeing as I touched briefly on a couple of them last week.

Last week I mentioned about the shampoo bar that I am using, the photo below is what it looks like :) The brand is Jeymar and the bar is made using olive, coconut, palm, castor and almond oils and well as pure essential oils and they are made in Malborough, New Zealand.

I also mentioned about the bamboo products that we're loving! I am using a go bamboo toothbrush which is made of natural bamboo and the bristles are made of nylon 4 - yes this is 100% biodegradable as luckily specific bacteria like to eat it so it can be put into a compost bin without any worry. I've found the toothbrushes to be fantastic at cleaning my teeth! The go bamboo website are currently doing competitions for the best customised toothbrushes to tell who's is who's, and also for the most creative post teeth brushing use of your bamboo toothbrush.

We also use the go bamboo cotton buds and clothes pegs which are fantastic! Once again, here's the link to the website for more information about these products.

While it might seem like an insignificant change swapping over your toothbrush or your cotton tips to natural biodegradable options it really can make a difference. 30 million toothbrushes are sent to landfills in Australia each year, and cotton buds and plastic clothes pegs are among many items found inside the stomachs of dead albatrosses and other marine life following mistaking the items for food. Be sure you understand the conditions that the products biodegrade in, as simply throwing a biodegradable plastic bag into the rubbish bin thinking it will break down in the land fill is not quite accurate.. Due to a lack of oxygen in land fills organic waste (your limp lettuce you tossed in the trash) produces methane gas while it breaks down which is in fact more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide. So-called biodegradable products also need oxygen to decompose and therefore it is not uncommon for these items to be perfectly intact after years in a land fill, even newspapers have been found to still be readable after 50 years in a rubbish dump.

Toothpaste is an area I haven't had to delve into yet as we still have almost a full tube to get through. I have read however, that baking soda can be used to clean teeth as well as coconut oil. Our organic store offers some natural options which I will look into, especially the packaging.

For soap/body wash we are currently reaching the last bit of our ecostore body wash (which smells incredible and is so nice on your skin) and we will use bars of natural soaps once this is finished to try and further minimise our plastic consumption - these are available un-packaged at commonsense organics. Coconut oil is a great moisturiser and a little goes a very long way! In fact we use coconut oil for so many different uses in our home, it is such a versatile product! I use it as a night time facial moisturiser, an all over body moisturiser, we use it predominantly as our cooking oil, and it can be used as a nice massage oil.  Have a look at this great website for more uses and benefits of coconut oil.

Luckily for me, my aunty makes my organic skin care products such as cleanser, toner and day moisturiser (packaged in glass bottles, not plastic) but I found it difficult to find honest "natural" products in common stores. There are an increased number of products claiming to be organic and natural and it can be simply overwhelming to try and choose one! The website safecosmetics.org gives great information about ingredients in common skin care products and lists "safe" brands to use - for you and the environment. I am currently using both Antipodes and Living Nature make up products which I am loving!

We buy toilet paper made from 100% recycled paper which comes wrapped in paper instead of plastic. There are people who use family cloth as an alternative to toilet paper but we aren't quite ready to swap those products over just yet...

Feminine hygiene products is an area I have researched but am yet to make the big swap over to a moon cup or similar option... 

I can't think if I have left anything out? If I have I'll let you know next week or feel free to ask me a question! :)

Work recycling was phenomenal this week with a whopping 27.2kg! Admittedly, 22kg of this was old policies and documents which had been updated and the old copies needed to be disposed of, but fantastic that they can now be recycled into new products instead of dumped in the land fill! I have meetings this week with recycling companies to see what they can offer our workplace in terms of a recycling service :)

Have a great week!

Week One

We have come to the end of week one and haven't done as well as I had anticipated.

We have had to add a few pieces of rubbish into the bucket including an empty packet of LSA, foil bag from tea, and some left over goodies from mum's visit (peanut slab and two Kapiti ice cream wrappers). Annoyingly, Josh bought a box of organic pasta and unknown to him it had a plastic liner inside, so into the bucket it went. A few other bits and pieces went in, but I am happy to report that none of it was "new" rubbish, all just stuff we're using up.

As I mentioned in the first post we are slowly swapping our products over to eco-friendly options when the old ones run out and we are also trying to cut down on products that come in plastic, recyclable or not. I've been learning a lot about recycling and downcycling as we have been preparing for this challenge and through doing the recycling at my work. There's a great YouTube video that discusses the life cycle of plastic bottles and how unfortunately plastic always eventually ends up in landfills as it loses clarity and strength making it un-recyclable, unlike glass and metals which can be recycled again and again. With this in mind, when possible we are consciously avoiding all plastic when buying items, brown paper bags and stainless steel containers have become our new best friends (which we re-use of course).

Last week I bought a shampoo bar from Commonsense Organics in Paraparaumu which is made of all natural ingredients and comes in a paper sleeve. I was dubious about using it as I had heard a lot of negative things about them like it would make my hair greasy, or it would make my hair "squeaky clean" and dry. I gave it a go and I can honestly say it was nice! I didn't have to use conditioner after and my hair was still tangle free and soft, this will definitely be a product I will keep using (I can't remember the brand but will find out next week and let you know).

I have also bought bamboo cotton tips and toothbrushes which can be put into our compost bin to decompose - both products can be purchased from New World supermarkets and organic stores. For more information on the bamboo products click here

For food this week we were lucky enough to have a voucher in our Entertainment Book for organicboxes where we got two mixed fruit and vegetable boxes for the price of one. We went halves with Hope and got this delicious box of fresh organic fruits and vegetables delivered to our door.

The boxes usually cost $60 each including delivery/pickup and come with a selection of fruit and vegetables to last two people for one week. They got delivered to our house in a polystyrene box, wrapped in burlap with ice packs to keep them cool and fresh. Then I phoned the courier company and got the box picked up so it could be re-used again. I didn't figure out weights of the items so I can't accurately compare it to how much we would spend on the same items if we were shopping at our local organic store but I will do this when our next box arrives to see if it is better value or not.

Despite the fact that this weeks rubbish count was higher than we hoped for, we have learnt a lot and are discovering new products that are available to help the earth :) I hope you find the links useful and inspiring!

Work recycling was the lowest count so far, with just under 3kg. It didn't even fill up my two recycling bins today! This means that there'll be more encouragement at work this week with reminding people of what can be recycled ;)

Day One

And so it has begun...

Day one of the rubbish free challenge today and already I have 4 items to add to the bucket... Two are foil wrappers from Easter eggs which were given to me, another is a piece of tape from a blanket my mum bought Josh and I, and the last is the annoying plastic wrapper my organic coconut oil came wrapped in....

Day One Rubbish :(

Easter proved to be not too difficult to manage rubbish free.  I went to the supermarkets and other big stores and was so disheartened to see the large amounts of foil and plastic wrapped chocolates that were available. I only found two different types of chocolates that were in cardboard which could be recycled. I did my Easter shopping at the chocolate factory in Paraparaumu as well as buying some loose chocolates from Butlers (in a paper bag). I ended up getting some neat little bunnies as well as other goodies from the chocolate shop and they went down a treat, not to mention the benefits of supporting a local business :)

My mum is over visiting from Australia this week and she is taking to the eco-friendly lifestyle with some enthusiasm. I am pointing out now that any rubbish she collects during her stay she is taking with her to dispose of elsewhere so as not to interfere with our rubbish total. We are planning to go for a bush walk tomorrow and we have some sewing to do over the next few days which should be nice :)

Work recycling was another success this week with a total of 4.2kg worth of recycling not ending up in the landfill!


Well that's it from me tonight, will update again next Monday to let you all know how the first week has gone.

The Rules

So it's been a busy week trying to get our house ready for the challenge to begin.

I had the dilemma of deciding whether or not any of the plastic or non-recyclable materials we currently have before the challenge contributes to our total at the end of the 6 months - e.g. a bag of rice we already have in our pantry but will use within the next 6 months. To try and make it as fair of a challenge as possible I have bought glass and metal storage containers and transferred our open packets of food or baking ingredients into them, any unopened products I have donated to the food bank. In future I will buy these items in bulk or in recyclable containers or we will go without. Anything I haven't been able to transfer over or use before next Monday and we use it in the next 6 months will be counted in our total rubbish. 

I would like to point out that we are also trying to buy organic food as much as possible and I am unable to find any organic meat that is packaged in anything recyclable and our local butcher doesn't sell organic meat. I don't generally eat meat and Josh is happy with 4-5 vegetarian meals a week but we will continue to buy organic meat that is unfortunately packaged in plastic until I can find another alternative. If suitable, the packaging will be cleaned and put into our bucket, otherwise it will be put into landfill.

Whilst we won't personally be buying non-recyclable products, if someone gives us something wrapped in something we can't re-use or recycle, we won't be rude and not accept it! We will also add this to our bucket. In saying this, I won't persuade or ask people to buy us these things as a way of cheating!

Medical rubbish is another area we are willing to not cut back on i.e. pill packets and plasters. Also our cats are not required to adhere to the rules of the challenge as I feel that de-fleaing them monthly is necessary and due to the fact that I have a cat who gets beaten up too often I will still use throwaway gauze to clean him up. Their cat food however does come in recyclable tins and I have just found one brand of cat biscuits with a recyclable box (Purina) and biscuits are also available in bulk at a wonderful new store in Paraparaumu I have discovered called Bin Inn - see their Facebook page here

Any rubbish that we get in the next 6 months will be cleaned and stored in a bucket and I will post regular photos to show you (hopefully) how little rubbish we actually have! The challenge will officially begin next Monday, the 21st of April, as this will give us enough time to ensure that everything is ready! I will do weekly posts, generally on a Monday, to update you all and share some handy tips.

Work recycling out for curbside collection today

On another note,  yesterday I emptied four days worth of recycling out of the bin at work and got 12.6kg worth! That is a huge improvement and I'm so happy! I've noticed that my eco-friendly ways are starting to wear off on my co-workers and a few are telling me of ways they have improved at home :)