Weekly Weigh In 20

This weeks landfill bag weighed in at 311g.

This is higher than I had hoped but we did a carboot sale today and when we sorted through for things to sell we had some bits of broken plastic which have to be thrown out.

If I take out the carboot items the bag weighed in at 178g so would have been a good week.

Bin or No Bin

Over the past few weeks I have been deliberating as to whether or not to keep my 45ltr kitchen bin.

It is hardly ever used and even when it is I usually end up fishing out whatever has been put into it.

My plan/idea is to put a small lined box for using for landfill rubbish, and to also utilise the space previously used for the bin with either a butchers block type trolley or a folding table which can be brought out when extra work surface is needed.

This would mean 2 things I would have more work surface when it is needed, and the bin would not be there for just throwing things into.

It would also mean that the boys and Dave would have to think a bit more about where things go, as as good as they are some things get thrown into the bin without thinking; especially if it isn't a "normal" item.

Compacting my Recyclables

I have always crushed the cans etc which go into the kerbside recycling bin (boys jump on them usually); but papers just got tossed in there regardless, so I decided to look at a way of making it neater.

I use at least a couple of flour bags every week with baking my own bread and cakes etc; so I looked at these and decided that all small pieces of paper like labels from cans etc can be put inside one of these and then the whole bag put into the recycling bin.

I know this isn't a major thing but I thought about it when I was adding some foil the my foil ball, and thought that maybe if small bits of foil can clog the machine then probably paper will do the same; it also keeps it tidier inside the box I collect it in before putting into the recycling bin.

Europes Largest Wind Farm

Here is a link to an article I read on Green Pepper about Europes Largest Wind Farm.

Question - where do you think this could be?

http://green-pepper.org.uk/energy/europes-largest-onshore-wind-farm/


Bet you didn't think Scotland.

Weekly Weigh In 19

Sorry its a day late but I wasn't around at all yesterday.

This weeks landfill bag weighs in at 227g. This averages 274g over the last 19 weeks.

This is a little over my new target but does include a toothpaste tube and a couple of razor heads. (no amount of asking will get Dave to change to the type with the steel blades), so this is something we will have to live with, he does use the type which you only replace the head each time not the whole thing.

There was also some plastic meat trays but luckily here I can take those to HWRC so they haven't ended up in landfill.

All in all not too bad, and the boys are getting better at asking if not sure rather than just putting into the landfill box and then me fishing the item out.

Sainsburys Crisps

I had to do a shop yesterday, and as I was near Sainsburys went into there.

I noticed that all their own label crisps are now made solely with British potatoes.

This is something I had never thought about before, assuming that as we are a nation of farmers that crisps would be made from British potatoes.

Now though when I need to buy crisps I will purchase these as it ticks one of my boxes for my grocery shopping.

Weekly Weigh In 18

This week the landfill rubbish weighed in at 177g.

It seems to consist of bits of unidentified plastic and a few crisp packets from myself and Dave.

This is really good though as it is under my new target of 200g per week.

Crop Swappers

I have recently joined a new idea called Crop Swappers.

Basically it is an internet based group who can swap either items or skills, within their given area.

Here is a link to the post on My Zero Waste, which explains it all in more detail.

http://myzerowaste.com/2009/05/crop-swappers-rebuilding-communities-and-sharing-resources/

Weekly Weigh In 17

This weeks landfill weigh in is 210g.

It has the usual crisp packets, a couple of bits of cling film and a plastic cheese wrapper.
We ran out of cheese and my local shop only sells it in the plastic wrapper.

Add in a few other bits of plastic which can't be recycled anywhere, a toothpaste tube and some plastic sticked cotton buds.

There were also a few chicken bones which had been boiled up for stock following on from the roast dinner.

Considering that I had only reduced my target to 200g last week this is not bad at all.

Palm Oil and DeForestation

I have read an article in the Independant online today which really made me think again about which foods I'm going to buy.

I wholeheartedly support the Orangutan conservation and would love to go out to Indonesia to see the work there.

The article lists some of the everyday foods which use Palm Oil but is listed in the ingredients as Vegetable Oil.

It is the DeForestation of the Rain Forests to enable Palm growing which is killing out the Orangutan and other species and affecting the Eco-systems in South East Asia.

Here is the link to the article
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/how-britons-fuel-destruction-of-the-rainforest-1677096.html


Here is a snippet which lists the main household brands which use this crop:

Household names: Big brands and palm oil

Kellogg's (US) Uses palm oil in 50 products, mostly cereal bars but also cereals such as Special K and Crunchy Nut, where it binds together clusters. Does not buy sustainable palm oil.

Cadbury (UK) Pours palm oil into chocolate bars, including Cadbury Dairy Milk, where it is listed as vegetable oil. Uses 40,000 tonnes a year, none certified as sustainable.

Mars (US/UK) Uses palm oil in Mars Bars, Galaxy and Maltesers, where it is labelled "vegetable fat". Does not buy sustainable palm oil. Says it wants to.

Procter & Gamble (US) Makes Ariel, Daz and Fairy Liquid, where use of palm oil is suspected but unproven. Says it will have a sustainable supply by 2015.

Unilever (UK) World's biggest user of palm oil, which is found in Flora margarine, Pot Noodle, Comfort and Persil. Buys 1.6m tonnes a year – 4.2 per cent of global production. Acknowledging the damage to its reputation and the environment, Unilever set up the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.

Kraft (US) Says it does not use palm oil in Dairylea cheese but does in other products. Buys half a per cent of global supply. Says it will move to sustainable palm oil by 2015.

Heinz (US) Uses palm oil to fry potatoes for Aunt Bessie's Potatoes, which it makes under licence.

United Biscuits (UK) Uses palm oil across its range including McVitie's Digestives and McCoy's crisps. Says it is reducing quantities.

Nestle (Swiss) Palm oil in KitKat, Quality Street, Aero and other brands.

Premier Food (UK) Uses in Hovis, Mr Kipling Cakes, Bisto Gravy and Cadbury cakes (made under licence). Hopes to move to a certified sustainable supply by 2011.

Pepsico (US) Makes Walker's crisps. Has one of the best corporate policies, only using palm oil in Quaker Oat Granola and Nobby's Nuts. Intends to phase out use on those two products.