Reducing our green footprint has been an ongoing project for our family in 2018.
As I mentioned in last week’s post, we’ve made some big changes in an attempt to reduce the amount of waste we’re producing, but there’s also been quite a lot of fine tuning as well.
Here are some of the smaller changes we’ve made this year…you might want to grab a cuppa, because this ended up being a very long post…
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We’ve invested in rechargeable batteries again.
We tried this nearly 20 years ago, but the product wasn’t up to scratch back then – the batteries couldn’t be stored as they didn’t hold their charge well, and once in a device, they would run out very quickly.
Thankfully, battery technology has improved in leaps and bounds since then, and these new Panasonic rechargeables should hold 85% of their charge for up to a year. We bought ours at Costco…
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I use a lot of razor blades in my bread baking, so I thought I’d try resharpening them. After reading that you can sharpen disposable razors using old denim jeans as a strop, I made a nervous attempt while holding the naked blade in my fingers. It worked reasonably well, but I’m not sure it’s something I’d do regularly.
Instead, I’ve decided to go back to using a lame. This nifty little holder keeps my fingers away from the razor, which seems to extend its life, as the oil from my hands was causing the blade to corrode between bakes…
It has changed how my bread looks – I find it harder to produce intricate cuts with the lame, so I’ve reverted to just making a long slash down the middle of each loaf. On the up side, the resulting loaves are easier to slice and more useful for sandwiches…
Two things to mention: firstly, the blade has numbers on each corner (a product of the manufacturing process), so I’m able to use each one four times. This means that a single razor can power through a lot of loaves before it needs to be replaced. I’m annoyed at myself for not noticing the numbers sooner – my friend Joanna had to point them out to me…
Secondly, I tried the denim jeans sharpening trick on my trusty old (and irreplaceable) potato peeler. It was fiddly (you have to hold the blade at just the right angle) but it worked a treat!
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In my last post on waste reduction, I mentioned that I was trying to find a replacement for parchment paper to bake on. The parchment is silicone coated, so it’s non-recyclable, and as we don’t have a compost heap to add it to, it was all ending up (eventually) in the red bin.
Helen and Tanzles both left me comments (thank you!) suggesting that I try barbecue/teflon sheets as a replacement (I’m not a fan of the rubbery silicone liners). Serendipitously, we had a Magic Cooking Sheet in our cupboard – a gift from Bob the Builder. We don’t own an outdoor barbecue, so it had never actually been used. I cut it in half that very night and made up two batches of dough.
One-third of the loaves below were baked on parchment, the remainder on the barbecue sheets…and I was thrilled not to be able to tell the difference…
I found a couple more of these on sale at a local food service supplier for $11 each. You can also order them online directly from the company website. The sheets are made in Ireland and each 40cm x 30cm sheet can be cut in half to line two 30cm enamel roasters. They’re FDA-approved, reusable up to 2,500 times, and clean up easily in warm detergent. The only limitations are that they can’t go over an open flame, and they can’t be folded (I think they crack)…
If you can’t get hold of these, my lovely friend Kim in the UK has had great success using a Lakeland magic tray liner, which is available locally through the Good Guys website. There are also cheaper teflon sheets available on Ebay from China, although I can’t vouch for how well they will work.
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We’ve been studying all the consumption data in our appliance operating manuals to try and decipher the most efficient options. It’s not always the one you’d think – for example, in our Miele front loader washing machine, the “Wool” setting uses less water and energy than “Automatic/Quick Wash”…
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Everything continues to be cheerfully wrapped in beeswax cloths.
Last week, I was delighted to unwrap a cut avocado in perfect condition after 24 hours in the fridge (it probably helped that it wasn’t over ripe). The only tricky bit is trying to remember what’s inside all the little wrapped parcels in the crisper drawer…
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REDcycle in Victoria offer a great recycling service for soft plastics across Australia. We’ve been collecting plastic bags, clingfilm and other appropriate packaging, and depositing them weekly into dedicated bins outside Coles supermarkets.
They state on their website that they can’t take plastic packaging that has contained meat. When I emailed to ask if they would take the bags if I washed and dried them thoroughly first, this was their reply:
“If you are happy to prepare the chicken bags so that they are free of meat product and DRY, then yes, we are happy to accept them. The reason we usually ask that plastic which has contained meat be kept out of REDcycle bins is to avoid meat juices causing mould, which is an ongoing issue for us.”
So now I wash my meat bags in detergent and water, and hang them to dry before adding it to the recycling pile.
We’re also washing and reusing other plastic bags – this little green one held our entire season of snake beans, and we picked daily for almost a month! It’s now been washed and put away for another use…
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The compostable kitchen bin liners we found aren’t very strong, so we’re taking Leigh’s advice and wrapping any leftover scraps which can’t go into the Bokashi in newspaper and putting them straight in the red bin…
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One of the few things I was still using single-use plastic bags for was chocolate.
It was a tricky problem to solve – left unwrapped, tempered chocolate will soon scuff and lose its hard earned shine. Confectionery foil is hugely expensive, and cellophane is worse than plastic, as the latter is at least REDcycle-able. Parchment paper can’t be recycled and to be honest, it’s an expensive option and pretty boring as gift wrap; brown paper is thick and unattractive. I’d found nice origami paper at Daiso, but wasn’t sure how food-safe it was.
So I was delighted when Reverse Garbage were given these large, thin sheets of food-safe paper. If you look carefully, you can see the misprint that led to them all being discarded. I’m sure the Ze Pickle hamburger franchise weren’t happy to have “Ze Qickle” on their wrapping, but kudos to them (or their suppliers) for choosing a reuse option over recycling or landfill.
I paid just $5 for 1000 sheets, and each one is large enough to wrap a small loaf of bread…
And they work brilliantly! The chocolate stays pristine, and the quirky wrapping is unusual enough for gift giving. In addition, the paper is very thin, which means it should compost or recycle easily. As you can probably tell, I was pretty happy to find these…
I even wrapped our Friday loaves in them, just for fun (as opposed to putting the bread in paper bags)…
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Finally, a couple of photos of our worm farm for Johanna.
We’ve had one going for a few years now, and have just added a second one in the hope that we can convince the worms (or failing them, the soldier fly larvae) to eat our fermented Bokashi waste.
Here’s a photo of the top tray of our established one…
And a quick pic of the second tray – the worms bury themselves once exposed to light, so I had to be fast…
The worm juice is high in nitrogen, so it gets diluted down and sprayed on the plants as fertiliser (it’s particularly good for leafy greens). The castings are collected at regular intervals and used to create a potting mix, which eventually ends up in the garden. In combination with the poop provided by our chickens and our home-brewed comfrey tea, it provides most of the nutrients our veggie patch needs – we haven’t had to buy commercial fertiliser for quite a while now.
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A few more little tweaks – all our light bulbs are low energy long life ones, glass wok lids now cover my rising dough instead of plastic shower caps, and bowls being heated in the microwave are topped with a plate rather than a paper towel. We’re trying to be more aware of our electricity and water consumption, turning appliances off when not in use and avoiding small wash loads.
Actually, that’s probably the crux of it all – we’re trying to be more mindful of all our actions, and making a conscious effort to stop and think before automatically reaching for a paper towel, or turning on an appliance, or throwing a wrapper in the bin, or purchasing food in excess to what we can eat or store.
I’ve learnt so much from all of you already, thank you for coming on this journey with us! I’d be grateful for any other tips you might have for fine tuning our waste reduction plan!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
You are an inspiration!
You’re very kind! xx
The Teflon sheets last for years. Mine has a couple of tiny holes (probably because I put it straight onto the hotplate for cooking eggs) but it’s fine for bread.
The only downside of using the wool cycle on your washing machine is that you won’t get much agitation, which you’d need for properly dirty clothes. I’ve been trying to just not wash clothes as much – easier now I don’t have teenagers who toss clothes into the wash after one wear.
Who knew that razor blades were numbered? I learn something every day :)
We don’t have farm overalls to wash, so the wool wash is ok, but I can see it wouldn’t work on proper dirt. I think you’re right, we should all probably wash less. Thanks for the reassurance about the teflon sheets – good to know they’ll go the distance!
Numbers on razor blades – who knew!?
It’s always good to read these posts as it sometimes shows something I hadn’t thought of. My magic liners are still doing a sterling job (cut in half so I have a spare ready), and not retaining any flavour when i cook something other than bread on them. I’m so happy to have found this product.
The weather has warmed up here and I’m thrilling to drying laundry outdoors again. I need to check my worm bin to see how they’ve come through the winter and clear the drain hole.
Life’s good – and with everyone doing their bit it will remain so 😀.
You made me feel better, until recently I didn’t know razor blades had numbers either! Apparently it’s used in the manufacturing process to make sure all four blades get honed properly, but it’s perfect for us bakers who use just one tip at a time for slashing! Good to hear the Lakeland liners work so well! Enjoy the sunshine, lovely one. xx
I originally found those Teflon barbecue sheets in Bunnings, in the section selling things like tongs and charcoal, etc. I’ve had one for about 3 years, and it goes everywhere in the caravan with us, so when we use a campsite electric barbecue I don’t have to worry about how clean it is… It’s lasted really well, and I keep it rolled up which it doesn’t object to. I wonder if the Bokashi process makes the scraps a bit acidic, which the worms wouldn’t like. Might be worth sticking a soil testing strip in there if you have any, just to see what the pH is like. I like your paper recycling idea. I confess to carefully opening up the paper wrapping you get at supermarket deli counters and reusing it if it hasn’t been contaminated by the contents. And I find one of those little hanging frames with dangling pegs designed for drying one’s undies is the perfect way to dry washed plastics so they can be RedCycled.
Kate, I always wondered what to do with those undie dryers (apart from the obvious)! :) Pete is adding lime to the bokashi before adding to the worms, so acidity is an issue he’s keeping an eye on, it was more that the worms seem to prefer eating the raw veg scraps we keep separately for them. On a separate note, I’m so glad to hear your Bokashi is working well, after the effort it took to convince your hubby. Is he sold on the idea now? :)
I wouldn’t say ‘sold’ exactly, but he’s not objecting and is being very conscientious about helping to maintain it… The whole setup has been relegated to the garage because it does get a bit niffy in our rather hot climate and I keep an intermediate scraps container to take out there every day.
We do the same, we keep a scrap container in the kitchen that gets taken out daily.
Great post. I am always amazed at your energy and often feel exhausted just reading about your activities! I read a number of years ago that if we turned off all our appliances and did not use stand-byes on ovens, tvs etc we could save $300.00 a year on electricity with the corresponding saving of energy output. Imagine if 10 million households could save this amount every year!
Merle, that’s true! We’re all guilty of leaving stuff on for convenience – have to work harder on that! :)
Thanks for the pictures of your worm farm – good to hear how you are using the by products. I tend to just tip worm juice into our pot plants because I was told it is good for our citrus potted trees. I have just got to the stage where I need a second tray on the worm farm so will have to see how that works.
Great to see you are having success with the battery recharge – I tried that years ago and I think the charge went down quickly so it wasn’t really worth our while.
AT work the organisation has changed to 100% recycled paper. It seems so obvious but someone pointed out that the reason it had not had 100% recycled paper til recently was that it had worked out that the miles involved in buying paper that was recycled over seas was not as environmentally friendly as local paper that was not recycled. Now we can get Australian recycled paper so it is even better. But it was an interesting example for me of how complex it can be to try and do the best for the environment. Love seeing what you are doing and find it very inspirational. (But I have a long way to go)
Jo, it’s a very complicated thing actually, and it all needs a lot of thought. We went through the same decision making process with the Who Gives a Crap toilet paper, as I mentioned in this post:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2018/02/07/a-long-rambling-catch-up/
On top of our environmental concerns, there is ALWAYS the overlay of cost – sometimes our lives or our businesses just can’t sustain the most eco-friendly option. I think all we can do is to try the best we can. And as I just said to Laurie, we have a long way to go too!
Ooh, sorry, I meant to say something about the worm farm too! Pete always dilutes the worm juice before spraying it on the garden – do you use yours neat? If so, that’s good to know that the citrus don’t object. He doesn’t use the castings straight as potting mix, but combines it with other stuff (when I asked him, he said there’s a whole different formula there, I can find out more info from him if you like). This year we’ve made an effort to grow more comfrey (the whole side of the house is planted out with it now) – we steep it into a tea which helps supplement the nutrients provided by the chooks and the worms. So far so good! Anyway, all of this is Pete’s domain – I don’t do much in the garden. :)
As Earth Day is just around the corner, your post is not only very timely but also inspirational.
Thanks Laurie! Still a long way to go for us, but we’ll keep trying. :)
If we all lived as you do, the world would be a much better place.
I recently read that rinsing well and DRYING really well will greatly extend the life of razor blades. It has worked for me so far.
Oh that’s an excellent tip, thank you!
I love the stuff you find at Reverse Garbage Celia. Beautiful solutions for world problems, the chocolate wrapping paper is a winner and looks very professional. You are such an inspiration- I hope you keep these posts going so we can all learn new approaches and share some of our own.
As I may have mentioned before, the Bokashi system is too small for my needs and requires buying that special bag of mix to make it break down. They are ideal for those who live in small units but the waste needs to be buried to fully breakdown.( not sure about the worms and their needs but I think they just prefer whole scraps). I would need a Bokashi bin for every day of the week. For those who have space in their backyards, composting , done correctly, is very efficient. Your bin must be one cubic metre to work correctly. It needs to be in the sun. And you need to layer it correctly. I have a recipe here :
https://almostitalian.blog/2014/11/02/compost-recipe-and-garden-monthly-november-2014/
I keep four bins. When short of dry materials, I shred newspapers and other paper into the bin. Newspapers use vegetable dye in the ink so its quite safe. I often sit them on top of cardboard boxes, ( plastic masking tape removed), which also rot down nicely. ( check for nasty glues). It has been a joy to turn our poor soil into a garden of Eden and we are now almost self sufficient as a result of good compost.
Last night, after reading your post, I had a nightmare. I was in a supermarket buying up a basket of daily needs. I had taken all my own bags for everything yet nearly every item I purchased was packed in plastic or cellophane. And then I woke up and realised my nightmare was a fact of life. If there’s one hint I have for avoiding the accumulation of plastic, it’s avoiding supermarkets. That redCycled plastic often just sits in warehouses for years. And now that China is refusing Australian waste, this problem will increase.
I am no saint in the land of plastic- but plan to try harder.
Francesca, thank you for your insightful comment and also the link to your composting post. We don’t have room in our small backyard (plus, we don’t want rats too close to the house, already have them trying to get to the chook feed), but it sounds ideal for anyone with space. The small plastic compost bins don’t work at all for us – we’ve tried twice.
The point you make about recycling is very valid. As I’ve said before, I think we can fall into a trap telling ourselves that something is ok because it’s “recyclable”. Certainly, that’s a great option, but there’s a lot of energy involved in the process and we’re dependant on government or other agencies to do it for us. Much better to try not to bring stuff into the house in the first place, or to reuse in preference to putting it into the recycling bin. ESPECIALLY now that we can’t export our waste to overseas recycling centres! xx
Autumn and Rats go together. They do fancy the chook area here too.
Ps. I’m glad to know newspaper dye is safe. Thanks!
That post is so energising, Celia – it fills me with vim and zing to be really conscious about what we dispose of and how we live. We also had a Magic bbq sheet which i bought from our butcher sometime ago but have never used – i now have it tucked into the chair beside me … it shall be used:)
Jan, I don’t mean to sound like a pratt, but I’ve realised that when something seems big, the secret is to just start. Just one baby step at a time. It’s nice when it starts to feel like they’re adding up! And I love that you have an unused magic sheet too! Come to Sydney and I’ll spot you a roll of Ze Qickle wrap. 😂😘
…and i love ZeQickle chocolate! Doesn’t it make elegant and fun wrapping. We buy cheese from a lovely young French man who has a Fromage Yard stand at our local farmers’ market and i keep meaning to ask him if we can buy some of the wrapping he uses.
Wow! You’ll be living off the grid before you know it…
Ah that would be nice. Haven’t figured out how to do that yet. Pete says a geothermal pump in the backyard won’t work… 😂
What you’re doing is amazing and inspirational! Am going to try and sharpen my old potato peeler today in Spain!
Hahaha watch your fingers, lovely! 😆😘
Commendable actions, dear C.
What happens if you stretch your denim over a wooden block, stapling it tight underneath like an upholstered chair? I’ll make one anyway, to see how your potato peeler suggestion will work here in TTH kitchen.
I hope it works well! I found just holding the jeans with one hand while stropping with the other worked ok. x
[…] Jam and Lime Cordial) and her family have made made recycling a priority. Some of her recent blog posts have been chronicling their efforts and how they have had to fine tune them based upon […]
Well done Celia. I have included a link to this post for my Earth Day blog (equipsblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/22/happy-earth-day-april-22-2018/) Your family is an excellent example of what each of us could do, if we are willing to put forth the effort….
Thanks so much, Pat! xx
Thank you for the wonderful post. I love reading about what you are doing to minimize waste and also love reading the comments. Have you come up with any alternatives to using plastic to freeze things like meat? It’s something that has started to bug me a lot….we’ve minimize plastic in most other areas of our life but we always double bag meat in plastic before we freeze it to prevent freezer burn.
I didn’t know about the numbers on the razor blades either and I’ve been using a lame for a couple of years now!! I love learning all this new things from everyone else!
Tara
Tara, we thought about using glass, but it was too heavy for us to handle. We use thick plastic vac pack bags and a cheapie vacuum sealer, which stops most of the freezer burn. The bags are sturdy enough to wash, dry and reuse – we cut a small portion off the top to open them and use them for progressively smaller bits off meat until they’re too small, and then they’re washed and dried and put into the REDcycle bag. It’s not ideal, but I haven’t found an alternate solution – wrapping in paper or foil doesn’t work, nor does just storing in containers. Although we do store most other food in reusable plastic containers in the freezer, just not meat. We invested in a sturdy Rubbermaid set, which has been great.
You are so inspiring Celia.
The last time you posted I said you were making me fee guilty! BUT…that is a GOOD THING :) Keep working on us!
Your decisions are really wonderful and encourage me forward. I use a parchment “If You Care” that I believe is compostable. I must now check, as you have me questioning what I may have only assumed. I had a worm compost bin for many years but ended up having trouble keeping them alive in extreme heat. I’m looking at a more conventional compost bin again. You’ve added several points here that I will try to enforce, as well. It’s important to me to do all that I can. Small steps need to be incorporated before I add even more. It does take time, doesn’t it!
Ze Qickle chocolate wraps are very quirky indeed. We love reverse garbage. We were able to but a piece of clear acrylic and cut it to replace two small fixed louvres in our bathroom. After 17 years,the window is finally whole.