We’re now entering the sixth month of our waste reduction plan, so it’s a good time to stop and take stock. Some of the changes we’ve made have stuck and become part of our everyday lives, but a few things haven’t worked as well as we’d hoped.
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Perhaps the biggest success to date has been in replacing single use dining and kitchen items with reusable ones. We haven’t used a paper serviette all year, and we’re still on the same roll of paper towels that we started a couple of months ago.
After five months of constant use, our cloth napkins are still going strong (albeit a bit stained), as are our knitted/crocheted dishcloths and waffle weave towels. Everyone enjoys using the napkins so much that I doubt we’d be allowed to go back to paper ones even if I wanted to! I was concerned about the extra washing involved, but our most recent electricity bill wasn’t any higher – in fact, it was a tiny bit lower, probably because we’ve been making an effort to use the ECO setting on the front loader. It also helps that the Japanese tenegui are so open weave that they line dry very quickly.
Surprisingly, all our utility bills are down this quarter – gas is down 16%, electricity just 3.2%, and water, somewhat unbelievably given the extra washing we’ve doing, is a whopping 17.6% less than the same period last year. We’ve put it down to being more conscientious about using the half-flush button on the toilet and the ECO setting on the dishwasher and washing machine – apparently the latter can save up to 30% on electricity and water compared to regular washes. We’ve also made an effort to use appliances less, preheat the oven for a shorter time, take shorter showers – all small things, but obviously they’ve added up over a three month period.
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The reusable teflon BBQ sheets have worked so well that I’m now using parchment paper less than once a fortnight. The thinner ones are brilliant under sourdough loaves and cookies, and the thicker ones are great for roasts and other savoury bakes. They’re easy to wash and store – the trick is to either lay them flat or roll them up, as folding them causes them to crack. I’m forever grateful to Helen and Tanzles for suggesting them…
I bought my thin sheets from Magic Cooking Sheet online but the thicker ones I found on ebay for just a few dollars each. I also saw some for sale at our local Bunnings in the barbecue section.
I made a holder for my bread liners using two toilet roll tubes and a scrap of recycled wrapping paper…
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You’re probably sick of me rabbiting on about the beeswax wraps (my friends certainly are) but honestly, they’re so good! Do have a go at making your own as they can be hideously expensive – our easy tutorial is here. Best of all, if they’re homemade, you can easily touch them up with a bit more wax if they start to get a bit thin.
My latest discovery? The wraps help prevent oxidisation. I wrapped diced potato and sweet potato for half an hour while I prepped other ingredients, and they stayed pristine…
They also stop ginger from going mouldy and slimy – this piece was in the fridge for over a week and a half and it still looked like new…
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We’ve reduced the amount of single-use plastic coming into the house, simply by taking our own mesh bags and furoshiki when shopping, and the difference has been noticeable and significant. But we’ve been unable to go completely plastic-free – how do I buy a box of Weetbix without a plastic bag in it? Or a whole chicken? What about medications, most of which come packaged in foil and plastic?
All we can do is try to handle whatever plastic we end up with as responsibly as possible, by reusing what we can and recycling or REDcycling what we can’t. And the continued effort really does make a difference – I peeked into our red bin last night as it went out and was delighted to see that there was still only one small bag in it.
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Speaking of which, the biodegradable bin liners haven’t worked as well as we’d hoped – they’re thin and flimsy and don’t cope well with the kitchen waste we still produce. We’re wrapping what we can in newspaper while we try and think of other options (the newspaper isn’t ideal with anything damp or soggy).
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The Bokashi bins have been a partial success – we now have two worm farms running, but neither of them will eat the fermented waste product. That’s partly because Big Boy and Small Man are now saving their green kitchen scraps, so there’s always more than enough vegetable leavings to feed both farms and given a choice, the worms won’t eat anything else. We’re still diligently filling the Bokashi bins though, and then burying the remains once they’ve broken down. It’s working ok, but it’s not perfect yet.
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Big Boy and Small Man both cart their KeepCups with them whenever they go out, and their lunches are always packaged in either a beeswax wrap or a reusable lunch box.
Small Man is a true eco-warrior – he pulled me up the other day when I was being lazy and went to throw a teabag into the bin (our teabags are made of paper, so we can remove the tag and string and Bokashi them). And it occurred to me that perhaps the most important benefit of our waste reduction plan was the example it was setting for our sons.
Thanks for joining us on this journey! I’ll keep you all posted on how we go and as always, I’d love any tips or advice you have to share – I’ve learnt so much from you already! ♥
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Here are the posts so far on our Waste Reduction Plan:
27 Jan 2018 A Waste Reduction Plan
2 Feb 2018 A Long, Rambling Catch Up
15 April 2018 Our Waste Reduction Plan – Progress Report
20 April 2018 Our Waste Reduction Plan – Fine Tuning
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Tips and tutorials for making your own eco-friendly products:
Mesh Bags (pattern at the end of the post)
Crocheted Acrylic Dish Scrubber
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Your family is amazing! Such a big difference in the the amount of utilities used. I am thinking about the beeswax wrappers. Are they not “waxy” or sticky from the beeswax? I have some teflon BBQ sheets. Are they healthy? I always thought teflon gave off a poisonous substance when heated. I’ve used mine a few times on the BBQ. I didn’t know they come in different thicknesses. I have some sheets that are brown that are reusable baking sheets. Not sure what the proper term is, but it is like reusable parchment paper, just a bit thicker and washable.
Manuela, I think you’ll find the brown sheets are either teflon or silicon. I’m not a huge fan of silicon as I find it very hard to keep clean. I believe the gas given off is in the production of teflon, not in the use, but who knows for sure…I figure I’m happy to use teflon frying pans and non-stick bakeware, so this really isn’t all that different. For what it’s worth, I don’t notice any smell from the sheets when they’re in use. The beeswax wrappers are a bit tacky to the touch, but that doesn’t seem to transfer any taste to the food. I wash them (probably a bit too often) in cool water with dishwashing detergent, and they’re quite easy to keep clean. I’ve rewaxed mine once so far, but they apparently should last longer – as I said, I probably wash them too much! Easy to make if you’ve got scrap fabric and beeswax sheets – I find sheeting fabric is the best weight to use. xx
Maybe I’ll give it a go after all. Thanks for clarifying that!
Using my mesh produce bags in the supermarket, I’ve had several people come up to me and ask where I got them, and a member of staff commenting that it was a great idea. I said I thought that they should consider selling them, for the benefit of people who didn’t want the flimsy plastic jobs and couldn’t make their own. You never know… They wear well, stretch to fit a variety of sizes and shapes, and come out pristine in the washing machine. Works for me!
Kate, they’re the bee’s knees, aren’t they? We love ours! We’ve brought home everything from oversized eggplants to loose lentils in ours. :)
They’re especially great for the pointy things that rip those flimsy plastic bags (I’m looking at you, sweet potatoes and pineapples) :-)
What are you using in place of paper towels Celia?
Wendy, I found an old waffle weave cotton bedspread in our linen cupboard, and I cut it up into squares. They work a treat! :)
Celia you are such an inspiration, thank you for all your tips. I deal with my vegetable scraps by digging a trench three feet deep in which I place any scraps, cover them with a thin layer of soil and repeat this exercise until the trench is full. I am then left with a perfect growing medium. I have noticed that, even after a few days, the scraps have been completely eaten by earthworms and the area in question is swarming with worms – a ready larder for my fishing grandson!
Thanks Merle, I’ll pass that on to Pete. Between the chickens and the worms, veggie scraps aren’t actually a problem, it’s all the other food scraps that we’re trying to put through the bokashi. I love the thought of your grandson fishing with your homegrown worms! :)
Love the waffle weave fabric alternatives for paper towel! And beewax wraps are the best! Meg:)
They really are, Meg! :)
Hi Celia,
I was reading an article (on the 9 news app about one use plastic bags) today and I wanted to share with you a link in which I thought that you may be interested: http://boomerangbags.org/be-involved/#Find-Community
I’ve been reading your blogs forever and your beautiful fabrics will be perfect for these!
Thanks for the link, Kelly, and for reading!
looks like you are doing well – I am interested in your experience with newspaper in the bin as I had wondered how this would go. I was really heartened to hear how manager at work ask everyone to think about sustainability with ordering and reusing recently because we go through so much equipment where I work – i wonder how your actions will ripple out into your boys lives – hopefully beyond the home!
Johanna, that’s the goal, I guess…to start them off in their own homes with a green mindset from the get-go! :)
Yay, eco warriors! You are an inspiration to me.
Thanks Laurie! xx
I love the beeswax wraps. And FYI – I keep my ginger in a (much reused) plastic bag; when I need it, I use a micro-grater and grate it while it’s still frozen. Works a charm and your ginger root never goes bad!
Thanks Sandy! I do that too, but a lot of Chinese dishes need julienned strips, which don’t work as well with frozen. So I was very happy to find out that the wraps worked so well!
An interesting and inspirational post.
Thanks Anne!
Another wonderful post and a reminder to us all to check the bin contents. My shopping life has changed since taking my lacy bags to the various fresh vegetable markets- everyone comments and wants to buy them.
I still swear by composting just about everything- I mention this again only for those who have enough space in their backyard. One square metre of space is all you need and in it all goes, kitchen scraps, waste paper, ash, bones, dry leaves, weeds( after soaking to kill seed) lawn clippings, manure from chicken cage. Careful layering is all you need to watch.
On the down side, I watch my plastic problem grow. While trying to choose things without plastic, too many products come this way. In my plastic bin today-one plastic bag for white rice flour, one diastatic malt,one 2 litre milk container,one raw caster sugar pkt, one express postal bag.Yes, most will supposedly be recycled but everyday I have plastic waste- enough to build my own road making plant!
So now I am looking at my plastic purchases more seriously and have come to understand that shopping in supermarkets means buying plastic.They can ban single use bags at the checkout, but what’s the point when just about everything sold along the aisles comes wrapped in plastic ( a quick flash back to Twin Peaks). I’m starting to think it’s a losing battle.
Fra, the problem is that until a viable alternative airtight option is invented, plastic bags will still be used to keep goods in saleable condition. Sure, glass and metal tins are options but they too create recycling problems and bulk and they are massively more expensive. I do think reducing the quantity of processed foods we buy helps, both our health and the plastic issue. If we’re not bringing packaged cakes and biscuits and snacks home, that makes a difference. Having said that, I still get caught out a lot – I wasn’t fast enough to stop the server at the gourmet salad bar from wrapping my plastic box in cling film before she gave it to me. It annoyed me no end, but I knew she’d just take it off and throw it out if I asked her to remove it, so I brought it home to redcycle. I *should* have taken my own container, but that’s one area that I always seem to drop the ball. Will have to try harder!
I don’t really buy packaged ready made foods, though having said this, the lovely flat rice noodles and slabs of Tofu from my local Asian market always comes plastic wrapped as do many sugars and organic raw ingredients from the supermarket. And yes, of course I am aware of the issues of tin and glass and the broader issue of keeping food safely sealed for sale. There are now some degradable plastic bags out there and it would be glorious to see things move this way in packaging.
On one of the waste shows, they mentioned that degradable plastic bags are a nightmare. The bags do breakdown, but they’re still plastic so all that happens is they turn into micro plastics which get into the food chain. There are plant based plastic bags coming, but as the bin liners we tried showed, they’re still a ways from being perfect. I think (hope) that this is going to be a major area for future research, because as you say, it’s almost impossible for us to buy everything plastic-free at this point in time.
Can I ask…do you put cooked meat products, sauces etc in your compost? And does it ever smell? Just wandering how close to our suburban fence lines we could put one…
I put everything in there that the chooks don’t eat. The layering is extremely important to keep the smell neutral and the vinegar flies away, Dry leaves, ash from the fireplace, shredded newspaper or shredded office paper and then a handful of manure- these things keep the mass hot and stops any problem with smell. Bins smaller than one cubic metre don’t work. Lovely to open the lid on a frosty winter’s day and see smoke rising. Happy winter Celia.
I forgot to mention Celia that most councils ( in Australia) will give you one free large cubic metre compost bin to all rate payers and many councils offer courses on composting.
Also thanks for the tip on the bad new placky bags- gee, you just can’t win!
Sounds like you’re actually having a lot of fun as well as saving money/waste!
It’s great how versatile your beeswax wraps are. I’ll get round to making them one day 😉.
They’re sooo good. I spent some time yesterday making up a pile of them to share with the neighbours! :)
Brilliant 😊
I very virtuously bought some bamboo plates and cutlery to eat a makeshift dinner when we spent our first night in our new home – it was only when i was stripping off the plastic wrapping that i had a “duh!” moment. What did we do before plastic – i do remember some shopping being wrapped in brown paper and tied with string when i was a child but i can’t see that making a come back. We also now have a septic system and bore water, and grey water helps to water the garden so i will have to be very conscious of what cleaning products i use – can i kill all the munching bacteria with vinegar and bi-carb(. I’ve been wanting to find Michael Mobbs book ‘Sustainable House’ to see what he does – but i’ve also signed the pledge on buying books so it’s either library or ebook. I’m sure there should be a Plastics Anonymous or Book Buyers’ Anonymous group for little sinners such as I to go and ‘fess up!
Jan, I didn’t mean to make anyone feel bad with this post, sorry! I think we can only do what we can with plastic at this point in time. The important thing is that we’re making an effort! xxx
Oh no – Celia – you didn’t make me feel bad. I just realised that i focussed on the bamboo and thought i could feed it to the worms when necessary – and completely overlooked that it was wrapped in plastic anyway! That was my ‘duh’ moment. I’m so used to seeing plastic that in fact i don’t see it.
I ran into the same problem buying stainless steel straws! :)
I’d never thought about tea bags. I think mine are not biodegradable but I can cut them open and put the tea in the Bokashi.
Your family is such an inspiration. Thanks for sharing with us. I admire your honesty on what works and what continues to need tweaking.
Celia, in one of your earlier answers you used the word “redcycle”. That was either mistype or you have answered your problem of recycling soft plastics. There is a company called Redcycle that collects soft plastic waste, these are listed on their website, including the plastic that cereal comes in. They have teamed with Woolworths and Coles who have bins in their stores for the collection of the plastics.
Carmen, no problem at all, thank you for your comment. REDcycle are awesome, but they run into the problem of getting people to buy their products, so there is only so much plastic they can recycle. A friend recently remarked that the plastic Redcycle collect can stay in storage for years. I don’t mean to sound negative, but companies like Redcycle, fabulous as they are, still aren’t the ideal solution. The plastics still remain in the environment, and when they DO get processed, a lot of energy is expended in the recycling process. We have to be very careful as a society not to view recycling as a “good” option – it should be our last option, after refusing and reusing, whenever we can. Having said that, it’s very hard to reuse a plastic bag that a chicken came in, or the insert from the Weetbix, sadly. Thanks again, and apologies if that sounded preachy!
Celia, please ignore my last post as on searching your website I can see that you are aware of the programme. My apologies.
Your Bokashi bin looks revolting! Perhaps the mark of a true eco friendly household :) Have you considered using loose tea instead of tea bags? It tastes better, is cheaper and easy to compost.
Am currently trying to knit a small hand towel with linen yarn but making very slow progress. I blame you entirely for putting the idea into my head.
The problem is I don’t drink regular tea, and the only herbal teas I like only come in bags! Can’t wait to see your knitted hand towel! :)
You mean you don’t grow your own tea? It will be a very long wait for the towel :(
Wow! Do YOU grow your own tea? I’m so impressed! ;-)
Well, this post went to Junk mail and it clearly is NOT! These posts are such a Good reminder of what we can do. thank you.
Don’t drink tea but in summer I like a brew from fresh bruised lemon grass. Good cold too. Some people like lemon balm, too tannin for me.
Loved your post. Visited a much promoted “Simple market” a few suburbs away prepared to fill reusable containers. Most of the organic fruit and veg, let alone everything else that was sold by weight or volume, was so expensive it was priced per hundred grams – including the detergents labelled “eco” or similar. These were without ingredients or any promise that they were low phosphate, low sodium, or greywater safe. Would have cost me 10 times as much as my usual detergents which allows me to reuse water.
Agree that buying in bulk minimises waste as does baking from scratch. I like Laucke flour and those 5kg and 12kg bags are GREAT for collecting kitchen waste which can go into the organic bin.
I thought I might pass on a tip from Gardening AUstralia for those without Bokoshi bins or worm farms. They took a lidded bucket, bore some 50c sized holes near the bottom, and buried in the garden leaving only a few cm out for the lid (might need weighting down to keep rodents out) then put in everything that you’d usually put in a worm farm – worms apparently come into the bucket.
Agree about degradable plastic bags. Hate them – when they litter the beach one can’t pick them up, they shatter! and apparently don’t degrade much when buried in landfill, needs the UV light.
BTW worst knockback recently was Qantas hostie who looked confused, said I could use my keepcup and proceeded to pour the coffee into a disposable cup then into my keepcup then threw the other away…. go figure.
I understand the Redcycle outdoor furniture is supposed to be very durable …. maybe we should nag councils to use it in parks etc; the fact that its there and visible might increase awareness about waste. And isn’t it used for roadfull as well? Fewer quarries, win.
Sorry, I go on. Should start a blog!
Well done Celia and family. I agree that it’s very important to get the younger generation involved and even excited about finding other ways to reduce waste in all its forms. I too have been actively reducing household waste for a few years now and also choose to remove any plastic lying around our local park when we take the dogs for their daily walk. I don’t worry about using gloves as that would mean more plastic but sometimes use one of those long handled reaching claws to remove ‘stuff’ from the creek. I just wash my hands thoroughly when I get home. Sometimes a fellow walker will comment on what I’m doing. My hope is that others might see what I’m doing and decide to do the same, or at least choose not to drop rubbish anywhere except the bin! I have crocheted some kitchen dishcloths from cotton but I actually prefer using the Aldi brand ‘green action bamboo non scratch cloths’. They only seem to sell them once a year so I stock up then, but they come in packs of three and are very cheap, like $3 for the set, and are biodegradable and come in brown card packaging. I’ve been using the same ones for at least two years now and they are only just starting to show some holes. They are naturally antibacterial, soft, easy to squeeze out and don’t get smelly quickly. I use them first as a face washer in the shower and then as they age they progress to kitchen cloths and then to floor wiping cloths and finally into the compost. I just put a ‘1’ on the tag with an oil based marker when they first go into use then add another ‘1’ as they age so I know which ones are which when they are washed. They wash and dry like a dream too! I also have started crocheting small round cotton pads to use with homemade make up remover which also go thru the wash to reuse over and over………….
I need to remind Anthony that the little worms in the farm don’t have mouths so it takes them a long time to eat a rockmelon or pumpkin skin, so chopping into smaller chunks can help. Thankfully we also have a compost as they don’t eat much in winter!
i got a sheet of beeswax wrap for Christmas last year and it is the best thing ever. It’s losing a bit of its zip so I’m going to look into making my own. They are so useful! Hugs, Maz.