So here it is National Zero Waste Week. This year the theme is One More thing. Well I already reuse my bags at the supermarket, compost , own a Mooncup, used real nappies, breastfed, have a soda stream machine; Last year I looked at my recycling habits and this year I am shopping naked! That is that have pledged to do evening meals producing NO Recycling that cannot go in my compost (and obviously nothing in landfill). I have to admit I have had lots of warning to plan this but I really am an unorganised person. So with me you can discover how I get on this week with no planning whatsoever!
I have also been hugely inspired by Lulastic to go NO POO. There are lots of reasons to stop using shampoo and you can read all about them in her book. I had a bit of an incident in my ice bucket challenge with a banana (please do watch the video) and do admit to using a bit of shampoo to rectify it. Other than that I have been relying on eggs and brushing. Although I think people have thought that I have fleas or something when massaging my scalp in public!
It’s not too late to get involved with making your zero waste week pledge.
Here’s some ideas:
Save Energy: Only put enough water in the kettle for what you need. Turn things off when not in use – water, electricity at the source (kettle, tv, lights, cooker, washing machine, dishwasher and so on). Put on an extra layer rather than putting the heating on. Take a cool shower rather than putting the fan on. Or turn the heating down. Use a brush/broom instead of the vacuum on hard floors and down the stairs. Use a saucepan only big enough to fit what you need and use a lid. Use a washing line and airers rather than a tumble dryer.
Use Reusable items rather than disposable.
Water: Get a water saver for your toilet. Only flush after a poo (this one really isn’t for me sorry). Shower rather than bath. Or get your children to share a bath. Reuse water or get a rain catcher – or make one from an old plastic bottle with the children – to water plants etc.
Cycle, Scoot, or walk instead of using the car
Get out in your green gym – ie. your garden – by the time you’ve dug, pulled up weeds and turned the compost heap – you’ve built up some muscle and toned a few saggy bits.
I asked some of my favourite bloggers for their tips on reducing the amount going to landfill:
Nothing new, but – recycle, reuse, look for less packaging, give to charity shops/ jumble sales, sell at car boot and eBay, compost. Pets – Guinea pigs and hamsters like to play with toilet rolls, kitchen rolls, shoe boxes etc. Newspaper can be used for bedding for lots of pets..- Mum to Three World
Buy less stuff you don’t need. Buy loose where possible. Tupperware is a godsend. – Kids Days Out Reviews
I use freegle – Kids Chaos
I gave away all my cardboard boxes and bubble wrap from our house move on Freecycle. I also gave away a toddler car seat on there too – Bug Bird Bee
I think it’s just a question of being diligent about recycling, although there are lots of “reuse your mayo jar” craft type posts out there – Actually Mummy
Buy Less – Thrifty Home
Always think “When I say I am throwing something away, there is no such thing as away”. Freecycle for me. I might want it but somebody else will be able to use it. – Mummy Barrow
Reduce reuse recycle. People forget that there is a “reduce”, avoid unnecessary purchases in the first place…. Then reuse then recycling, recycling alone not always good enough, as it takes energy and creates more waste to recycle. Also buy recycled goods, if we don’t buy recycled goods then the recycled industry has longevity. Buy recycled loo paper etc. and compost. Reduces landfill and makes bins less smelly – Red Ted Art
I’ve found that buying a Yumbox has helped loads with not having litter from school lunches. I don’t buy little packets of things like raisins or snacks anymore, I bulk buy and then make Bento style lunches – DorkyMum.
I too go with reduce and I make a point of writing to companies that I think use excessive packaging and telling them so – and if it’s not too expensive to do so including the packaging! If enough people do it they’ll take notice. – Being Mrs C
Sign up to the mailing preference service to reduce junk mail http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/– Me and My Shadow
For further help on recycling
Other posts of interest –
Throwing away computers – Mummy Barrow
Why you should recycle – Mum of three World
This is not a sponsored post.
What a great collection of tips from the blogosphere – thanks for sharing hon and good luck with your pledge! x
Great collection of ideas!
My mum is famous for not throwing anything away, maybe after all these years, I do need to be a little bit more like my mum x
Fab suggestions! I am all for recycling, but admit to grumbling since our council bought in their new scheme – mostly because we live in a flat which means our small kitchen is cluttered with the 5 recycling bins we now have to have! We try to keep our waste to a minimum, but are not as successful as we could be, so will be trying out some of the tips here to help us in our mission!
Some fab ideas on this post Joy. Not for me either the idea of not flushing after a wee! Thankfully we have a recycling scheme that a couple of years ago also started including bottles. And we have a compost heap. We still have a way to go in our house for zero waste but we are gettign there slowly!
We are trying really hard too, I am decluttering at the moment, and trying to be really conscience of what I can repurpose, or send to charity. I am so bad at not using a lid on things when I cook, I’m definitely going to try that one even more. Great to have all of these ideas in one place!
Lots of great tips. We definitely produce too much waste, so I will make a concious effort of reducing it. A lot of it is packaging from shopping – it’s ridiculous actually.
LOVE this post!! Am so passionate about reducing waste!! I think people don’t realise quite how much rubbish there is in the world 🙁
Some awesome ideas! Not only do they help to reducing waste but also saving money!! Will be putting some of these into practice… not too sure about the mooncup though 😉 x
I’m feeling really bad about zero waste week so far this year as I’ve failed to make any real steps towards getting to zero. But then I sat down this afternoon and had a think about what I do throw away, and actually there seems a lot, but compared to the amount I recycle it’s actually quite small. What I’m therefore aiming to do for zero waste week is look at the items I do throw away and try to discover what I could use as alternatives, or how I could recycle more. One thing I’ve really discovered with being green is that you never stop learning!
I LOVE the idea of a green gym, I shall be using mine when the kids are back at school. xx
This is so inspiring! I can’t wait t join in with Zero Waste Week. Thanks for talking about No Poo! GOod luck with it all! x x x
*giggles* MOONCUP… you re much better at this recycling stuff than me. I am ashamed of my Red Bin, it is always full.
MOONCUP… *runs away*
I don’t think we do too badly as a family.All I’ve thrown out this week is cooked chicken bones.I’m in two minds on whether to get the composter that can uses cooked food.I think if we all wrote down what we threw away each day we’d me making an effort all the time.I know there have been several items I would of thrown out this week but they are now waiting to be upcycled.
Thank you for sharing! I will keep some ideas! Next month we will have a Zero Waste Week campaign at the university. We will focus on reducing land-based waste in order to protect the health of local marine environments.