Showing posts with label Recycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recycling. Show all posts
5/28/14
Labels:
Budget shopping
,
Clothes swapping
,
Freecycling
,
frugality
,
Recycling
,
Secondhand goods
,
Swapping
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Decluttering: The Joys of Fluid Ownership
Do you cling to possessions? I have in the past, but I’m
getting better at letting them go.
Moving house is a great way of shedding the fixation with stuff that so many of us suffer from. This is because you end up forgetting half the things you
actually own and it’s a nice surprise when you start opening the boxes at the
new place – it’s like opening presents.
My recent move from my shabby old deco flat was so rushed that
I ended up giving things away, donating them or just putting them on the hard
rubbish pile. There just wasn’t time for a garage sale.
When I got to my new place – a first floor sixties flat in a
bayside suburb – I still had too much stuff. Luckily I now have time to downsize
at my own pace. I will sell some of these things, and if they don’t sell, I’ll
give them away as gifts or donate them.
But my attitude to stuff has changed. I am much more willing
to get rid of things I have no room for. I want objects to be functional and if
they don’t play their part I will part with them. My huge vintage radio, which has
never done a day’s work in its entire time with me, has recently gone to a new
owner who may even be able to get it working again.
My thirties standard lamp didn’t survive the move intact,
and the other day I put it on the hard rubbish pile outside the flats with
hardly a twinge of regret – it’s gone already! I’ll eventually buy a lamp that can be adjusted so that the light is close enough to read by – something I couldn't do with the standard lamp.
This relaxed attitude to things is what the freecycling movement
is all about. It’s about embracing an alternative way of looking at goods – ownership
isn’t permanent any more. You use something until you simply have no use for
it, and then you pass it on to someone else. It’s not so much collective
ownership as fluid ownership.
I freecycled my old cream couch before the move and I
offered some things for freecycling that didn’t get taken – time was partly the
problem. Embracing freecycling completely would probably mean rarely having to make
any major purchases – you give stuff away you don’t need, and get stuff for
free when you need it (people on my freecycle list post ‘WANTED’ ads as well
as offers). But I cannot, at this point, be a complete freecycler. I want to
sell some of my old stuff rather than give it away – it took me so long to
collect! If it doesn’t sell easily then I’ll gracefully let go of it by other
means.
Different ways of freecycling
Sometimes there are things that are just too sentimental to
give up completely, even if you have no room for them. One option is to lend
them to trusted family members on a long term basis (a written agreement might
be helpful here). It’s still fluid ownership, but you know that in a few years’
time you can reclaim your stuff if your circumstances change.
Fluid ownership is a great principle when it comes to
clothes. Swap meets are wonderful for getting rid of clothes that are still
wearable but that you are simply sick of. We all need novelty and if you are
fashion conscious, endless rotation of your existing clothes won’t be enough.
At a swap meet everyone comes home with something new, yet no new resources
have been used to produce your ‘new’ items.
When it comes to clothes, roommates often practise fluid
ownership as second nature. Thrift stores are also a way of practising fluid
ownership – we sometimes donate things just because we’re sick of them, and
hopefully find things that other people have donated for the same reason.
In whatever form you practise fluid ownership, my belief is
that it produces good karma when it comes to stuff. When you give stuff away
freely or at a reasonable price, you are more likely to get bargains or
freebies back again when you need them.
Do you practise fluid ownership and if so how?
Until next time!
1/12/14
Labels:
Buying green
,
Compacting
,
frugality
,
Manufacturing
,
Recycling
,
Supermarket shopping
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A Rant about Packaging
A few weeks ago I went to buy a
simple torch from the supermarket. It wasn’t until I got the thing home that I
realised how overpackaged it was. The torch was attached to a large, hard plastic
backing – by three rings of plastic (as shown in the pic above). It also came with a completely superfluous
hessian holder that can be attached to a belt.
Is there anything more irritating
than the overuse of packaging in consumer goods? In the absence of effective
regulation, packaging is wasteful in the extreme. How many acres of forests are
lost each year, how much superfluous hard and soft plastic is produced in order
to make run-of-the-mill goods seem exciting and sexy?
The Australian Conservation Foundation wants the Australian Government to set up a federal agency with powers to ensure that packaging is ‘kept to the minimum required for the preservation, labelling, safe handling, and economical usage of goods’. This is a great idea, but such a body would also need to require manufacturers to choose the most sustainable options for their (minimalist) packaging.
The government could offer assistance that made it financially viable for companies to do this. This would have the flow-on effect of encouraging companies to produce environmentally responsible packaging materials - fostering innovation and new green industries and jobs, possibly selling to global markets.
The Australian Conservation Foundation wants the Australian Government to set up a federal agency with powers to ensure that packaging is ‘kept to the minimum required for the preservation, labelling, safe handling, and economical usage of goods’. This is a great idea, but such a body would also need to require manufacturers to choose the most sustainable options for their (minimalist) packaging.
The government could offer assistance that made it financially viable for companies to do this. This would have the flow-on effect of encouraging companies to produce environmentally responsible packaging materials - fostering innovation and new green industries and jobs, possibly selling to global markets.
Manufacturers view packaging as
being vital to their branding – the ideas and emotions they want consumers to
associate with their product. Yet if they were forced to reduce it, they might
think up more imaginative ways of appealing to their customers – indeed, a
reduction in packaging would actually appeal to many customers anyway,
contributing to a green image that had some substance to it.
New uses for old packaging
Another item I’ve been looking for is a sustainable pencil case – I looked on Etsy and the Australian version of Etsy, Handmade – and found some lovely examples, such as this cute knitted pencil case.
But then I decided I didn’t
really need to buy a pencil case at all, because I just used a
plastic holder that had inexplicably arrived with a recycled toothbrush I
ordered over the internet (pictured below). What was the use of producing a toothbrush from
recycled plastic, I asked the manufacturer at the time in an email, when it is accompanied
by unnecessary packaging? So I have at last found a use for this plastic
container, which I couldn’t bring myself to throw away at the time. (Another
option would have been to use a wallet from an op shop.)
Plastic recycling has come a long
way, but manufacturers seem to be using this as an excuse to keep producing
more of it – in its produce section, Woolworths now provides small plastic bags
that are a pleasing grass-green hue with the comforting message that they are
produced from ‘at least 30 per cent recycled plastic’. Why don’t they encourage
customers to bring their own mini-plastic bags for fruit, vegetables and nuts?
Wikipedia describes greenwashing
as ‘a form of spin in which green PR or green marketing is deceptively used to promote the perception that an organisation’s products, aims and/or policies are environmentally friendly’. Superfluous
packaging often appears in examples of greenwashing. For example, Scotch tape
has produced what it cannily calls (perhaps to avoid accusations of
greenwashing) a ‘greener’ rather than a ‘green’ tape. But this greener tape
comes with its very own mini plastic dispenser, encouraging buyers to purchase
a new dispenser every time they buy tape.
I don’t want to discourage readers from trying to buy green. I originally planned to write a blog entry on green stationery items for kids going back to school. It is worth shopping around for more eco-friendly items from online stores such as BuyEcoGreen, and Officeworks now stocks many more green stationery options that it used to. But until we have tough Australia-wide laws on packaging, the waste-a-thon of cardboard and plastic production will continue.
If you enjoyed this article, pleas share using the social media buttons on the left.
I don’t want to discourage readers from trying to buy green. I originally planned to write a blog entry on green stationery items for kids going back to school. It is worth shopping around for more eco-friendly items from online stores such as BuyEcoGreen, and Officeworks now stocks many more green stationery options that it used to. But until we have tough Australia-wide laws on packaging, the waste-a-thon of cardboard and plastic production will continue.
If you enjoyed this article, pleas share using the social media buttons on the left.
7/18/13
Labels:
Going green
,
Recycling
When I first investigated going green, I truly believed I knew it all. Boy, was I wrong. Since the last time I’d investigated recycling back in the nineties (I know, I know), there’d been a transformation in the services available. There are now hundreds of social enterprises, and government and private programs, recycling everything from tin foil to computer keyboards.
There are also programs that collect and dispose of toxic items in the most environmentally responsible way possible.
You’d never know this if you relied on the mainstream media alone. Sadly, they aren’t that interested in recycling. A lot of interesting developments are going on behind the scenes, but unless you search them out on the internet, you probably won’t hear about them.
Even local councils, who offer many recycling services, don’t always do a great job of promoting them.
The following is a list of items that are recyclable in my local area, Malvern, in Melbourne, Victoria. It’s mainly meant as inspiration for you to seek out services in your area, because recycling services tend to be localised, often at the local government level. However, a few of the services listed here are Melbourne or Victoria-wide.
A great place to start if you’re in Australia and want to search out recycling services in your area is the Recycling Near You website.
Of course, these kinds of recycling services are no substitute for government action. As well as doing our bit, let’s tell our MPs that the excessive packaging and over-reliance on plastic has to stop, and that recycling toxic items like batteries must be mandatory (as it is in Europe).
Recycling is better than throwing out, but in the case of plastic especially, it’s equally important to try to use less in the first place, and there are some tips for doing that here.
The list below isn’t exhaustive. This website provides information on items that can and can't be recycled throughout the UK, and it runs the gamut from spectacles to eggshells. Also, I haven't included paper and cardboard because unless you've been living on Mars you will know about these.
Another option is Batteryback™, a free service run by the Victorian Government that recycles old and used household batteries. The batteries can be dropped off at some Bunnings, Coles, Michaels Camera and Officeworks stores. The list of stores can be found here.
The list of batteries they recycle is impressive, and includes batteries for:
Local councils differ in the extent to which they allow you to put plastic in the recycling bin. I’m lucky in that my local council recycles plastic, but I had no idea the kinds of hard plastic I could throw in my recycling bin. I knew I could recycle yoghurt containers, but apart from that I was pretty ignorant. In fact, I can put in my recycling bin:
If your local council doesn't enable plastic curbside recycling, pressure them to provide it!
Read More
What Can I Recycle? An Inspirational List
There are also programs that collect and dispose of toxic items in the most environmentally responsible way possible.
You’d never know this if you relied on the mainstream media alone. Sadly, they aren’t that interested in recycling. A lot of interesting developments are going on behind the scenes, but unless you search them out on the internet, you probably won’t hear about them.
Even local councils, who offer many recycling services, don’t always do a great job of promoting them.
The following is a list of items that are recyclable in my local area, Malvern, in Melbourne, Victoria. It’s mainly meant as inspiration for you to seek out services in your area, because recycling services tend to be localised, often at the local government level. However, a few of the services listed here are Melbourne or Victoria-wide.
A great place to start if you’re in Australia and want to search out recycling services in your area is the Recycling Near You website.
Of course, these kinds of recycling services are no substitute for government action. As well as doing our bit, let’s tell our MPs that the excessive packaging and over-reliance on plastic has to stop, and that recycling toxic items like batteries must be mandatory (as it is in Europe).
Recycling is better than throwing out, but in the case of plastic especially, it’s equally important to try to use less in the first place, and there are some tips for doing that here.
The list below isn’t exhaustive. This website provides information on items that can and can't be recycled throughout the UK, and it runs the gamut from spectacles to eggshells. Also, I haven't included paper and cardboard because unless you've been living on Mars you will know about these.
Batteries
My local council, Stonnington, runs a battery recycling service. Malvern Library has a box on the loans counter where you can deposit batteries for recycling.Another option is Batteryback™, a free service run by the Victorian Government that recycles old and used household batteries. The batteries can be dropped off at some Bunnings, Coles, Michaels Camera and Officeworks stores. The list of stores can be found here.
The list of batteries they recycle is impressive, and includes batteries for:
- mobile phones
- video cameras
- digital cameras
- hearing aids
- cordless phones
- portable electric shavers
- cordless power tools
- laptop computers
- palm pilots
- remote controlled toys
- portable video games
- portable disc players.
Hard plastic
- pen cases and lids (not the ink tube)
- takeaway containers
- plastic bottles for household items – eg, cooking oil, shampoo, vinegar – including the lids
- bits of hard plastic that often come with groceries, eg the plastic clipper used to secure plastic bags on bread.
If your local council doesn't enable plastic curbside recycling, pressure them to provide it!
Floppy disks
I managed to find somewhere in Melbourne that would recycle my obsolete pile of floppy disks! I had to search around a bit, and as the group I found were a volunteer outfit I happily gave them a donation of five dollars. They are Computerbank, based in Victoria Street, West Melbourne, a not-for-profit group that refurbishes donated computers for low-income people, students and community groups. If you have a laptop you’re ready to let go of, speak to them first.Plastic bags
Most of us know that supermarkets recycle plastic bags but this is still worth a mention. My local Coles and Woolworths have bins in which you can place plastic bags for recycling. You can recycle supermarket plastic bags and the heavier store bags, packaging film (eg plastic packaging for paper towels, toilet paper and junk mail), as well as drycleaning plastic. However, cling wrap, compostable bags and prepackaged food bags, including frozen food bags and prewashed salad bags, normally can’t be included. Remember to ensure the bags are clean before you put them in.
If you like to shop at supermarkets other than Coles and Woolworths, individual IGA stores seem to do their own thing when it comes to recycling, so you may need to contact your local store to see what they offer; my nearest store, Ashburton, doesn’t provide the option of recycling plastic bags.
(While ALDI doesn’t appear to offer plastic bag recycling, it’s only fair to mention that they are the only supermarket not providing free, single-use plastic bags to customers.)
Food markets may also have their own sustainable plastic bags policies. Victoria Market, for instance, is phasing out free, single-use plastic bags. Alternatives include biodegradable bags, ‘green bags’ designed for multiple use and paper bags.
My local council offers its residents free recycling of whitegoods, TVs PCs etc, if dropped off at the waste transfer station (or ‘tip’ as we used to call it!).
Borondoora Council, a few suburbs away from me, runs a free e-waste recycling service at its Riversdale Recycling and Waste Centre (they wouldn’t take my floppy disks, hence the previous search). Items that can be dropped off for recycling free of charge, for non-residents as well as residents, are:
My local Officeworks store has a drop-off bin for recycling old mobile phones and printer cartridges.
Cansmart is an Australia-wide industry body that promotes the recycling of steel. This page has a guide for preparing tins to place in the recycling bin.
Victorians can take their household chemical products to a Detox your Home drop-off point at a permanent site or through the mobile service. The Detox your Home mobile drop-off service accepts a wide range of household chemical products; check the webpages for details. However, I rang the information number and they couldn’t tell me which hazardous chemical products are actually recycled.
Pharmaceutical drugs Pills and medicines that have been sitting in the cupboard too long pose a potential risk to children, and can cause harm to the environment if flushed down the toilet or poured down the sink. The Return Unwanted Medicines (RUM) project enables consumers in Australia to take their unwanted medicines to their local pharmacy for safe disposal in an environmentally responsible way.
Until next time!
If you like to shop at supermarkets other than Coles and Woolworths, individual IGA stores seem to do their own thing when it comes to recycling, so you may need to contact your local store to see what they offer; my nearest store, Ashburton, doesn’t provide the option of recycling plastic bags.
(While ALDI doesn’t appear to offer plastic bag recycling, it’s only fair to mention that they are the only supermarket not providing free, single-use plastic bags to customers.)
Food markets may also have their own sustainable plastic bags policies. Victoria Market, for instance, is phasing out free, single-use plastic bags. Alternatives include biodegradable bags, ‘green bags’ designed for multiple use and paper bags.
Computers, televisions, printers and computer parts
When it comes to e-waste, there are a number of options available to me.My local council offers its residents free recycling of whitegoods, TVs PCs etc, if dropped off at the waste transfer station (or ‘tip’ as we used to call it!).
Borondoora Council, a few suburbs away from me, runs a free e-waste recycling service at its Riversdale Recycling and Waste Centre (they wouldn’t take my floppy disks, hence the previous search). Items that can be dropped off for recycling free of charge, for non-residents as well as residents, are:
- televisions
- personal computers
- laptops, notebooks, palmtops and tablets
- computer monitors
- computer parts: hard drives, motherboards, cables, internal power supplies, DVD and CD drives
- computer peripherals: mice, keyboards, joysticks, game-pads, scanners, web cameras
- printers and scanners.
- game consoles
- video and DVD players
- radios/stereos
- power tools
- kitchen and household appliances
- whitegoods
- universal power supplies.
Printer cartridges, mobile phones, light globes, car batteries and car parts, scrap metal
Stonnington Council specifies that light globes can’t be put in the recycling bin. However, the waste transfer station does recycle light globes and fluoro tubes free of charge if you live in Stonnington. They also provide free recycling of car batteries, automotive oil, scrap metal, car parts and mobile phones and batteries if you drop them off at the transfer station. Contact your local council to see what they offer.My local Officeworks store has a drop-off bin for recycling old mobile phones and printer cartridges.
Garden waste
My local council offers the option of hiring a green waste bin, emptied every two weeks, for around seventy dollars a year. They will also provide free recycling of garden waste, including tree branches, that is dropped off at the transfer station.Cans, tins and aluminium foil
Some local councils, mine included, offer curbside recycling of aluminium, aerosol and steel cans and tins, as well as aluminium foil. Contact your local council to see if they do.Cansmart is an Australia-wide industry body that promotes the recycling of steel. This page has a guide for preparing tins to place in the recycling bin.
Chemical and hazardous waste
Detox your Home is a free service for householders to dispose of potentially dangerous household chemical products safely and easily without harming the environment. It’s run by Sustainability Victoria in partnership with local governments.Victorians can take their household chemical products to a Detox your Home drop-off point at a permanent site or through the mobile service. The Detox your Home mobile drop-off service accepts a wide range of household chemical products; check the webpages for details. However, I rang the information number and they couldn’t tell me which hazardous chemical products are actually recycled.
Pharmaceutical drugs Pills and medicines that have been sitting in the cupboard too long pose a potential risk to children, and can cause harm to the environment if flushed down the toilet or poured down the sink. The Return Unwanted Medicines (RUM) project enables consumers in Australia to take their unwanted medicines to their local pharmacy for safe disposal in an environmentally responsible way.
Until next time!
2/5/12
Labels:
Buying green
,
Ethical shopping
,
Recycling
The other day I found the plastic top of a takeaway coffee that had blown into my front yard.
As I picked it up I thought of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which I’d just been reading about. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a floating soup of 100 million tons of garbage, 90 per cent of which is plastic, in the North Pacific. It’s impossible to estimate the area accurately; one study found it to be twice the size of Hawaii. In 2010, similar patches of decomposed plastic debris were found in the North Atlantic and in the Indian Ocean.
While navies and commercial shopping are partly responsible, it’s estimated that perhaps 80 per cent of marine plastic originated on land as litter and industrial waste. Some of it has been dumped on the beach and in rivers or streams, and some has been blown away from landfill, or while being transported to landfill. Water bottles and plastic bags are the most familiar part of the problem – for example, US citizens consume an estimated 50 billion bottles of water per annum, and the annual figure for the globe is around 200 billion bottles – but the plastics in the garbage patches range from pocket combs, tampon applicators and toothbrushes to fishing nets, detergent bottles and toys.
Bits of this waterlogged mass of rubbish end up in the stomachs or around the necks of birds, turtles, whales, seals and other sea creatures, many of which die slow and horrible deaths from starvation, strangulation or suffocation. It’s likely that over 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and hundreds of thousands of sea birds die each year due to marine debris, including plastic. Scientific American describes some of the effects on sea life of coming into contact with plastic: ‘fur seals entangled by nylon nets, sea otters choking on polyethylene six-pack rings, and plastic bags or toys stuck in the guts of sea turtles’. More information about marine debris and what’s being done to clean it up can be found on the NOAA website.
Large pieces of plastic debris are just one aspect of the problem. Estimates for the time it takes various kinds of plastics to decompose range from 20 to 1000 years. They don’t biodegrade – get broken down by microbes – in any reasonable amount of time, but they do photodegrade, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces. Much of the plastic in the ocean consists of tiny fragments that are less than 1 cm in size, some of them microscopic. These fragments release toxic chemicals into the ocean and into the food chain. Tiny marine organisms ingest the particles and these organisms are then eaten by fish, which in turn are eaten by humans.
A problem like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch can seem overwhelming; individual actions aren’t ever going to solve it on their own. It would take government action and regulation on a global scale to simply stop the situation getting worse, by legislating for less use and greater recycling of plastics, for example. In the meantime, though, it’s surprisingly easy to cut down on your own consumption of plastic, and there are plenty of resources if you want to advocate for tougher regulations.
Below are some simple ways to reduce the use of plastic in your life, reuse it where possible, and recycle the plastic you can’t reuse. (There are also some more ‘hard core’ suggestions.)
* Put plastic containers in your recycling bin. There are many different types of plastics, and not all can be recycled. In the US, UK and Australia, local authorities usually allow some kinds of hard plastic such as drink bottles in their curbside recycling services, but the types of plastics they recycle will vary – check the website of your local authority. A Plastics Identification Code (used internationally) is stamped on plastic containers to indicate their type. According to Clean Up Australia, most local councils here recycle plastics labelled 1, 2, and 3, but many are now extending their recycling programs to include plastics labelled 4 to 7. Clean the containers before you put them in the bin.
* Recycle your plastic bags at recycling drop-off points in your area. Plastic bag recycling stations are now increasingly common. As well as supermarket plastic bags and the heavier store bags, packaging film is normally recyclable at these stations (eg plastic packaging for paper towels, toilet paper and junk mail), as well as drycleaning plastic. Cling wrap, compostable bags and prepackaged food bags, including frozen food bags and prewashed salad bags, normally can’t be included. It’s important that you only put in clean bags.
If you’re in the USA you can locate plastic bag recycling stations in your area at plasticbagrecycling.org or www.earth911.com. In the UK, some supermarkets offer plastic bag recycling; find a station near you at RecycleNow. In Australia you can drop your plastic bags off at your local supermarket.
* Wash and recycle dirty plastic bags rather than throwing them out. The thought of washing a plastic bag is a put-off for some. It’s not hard – turn the bag inside out and give it a quick rinse under the tap, wiping it as you go. Dry your bags on the line or on a clothes rack, using pegs to attach them. Plastic bags with meaty or fishy residue can be washed in hot, soapy water.
* Use your spare plastic bags around the house. Here are some great ideas for making use of spare plastic bags.
* Compost your unused food scraps. You’ll generate less rubbish and therefore need to use fewer plastic bags for household waste. Many options for outdoor and indoor compost bins are now available.
* Don’t assume that so-called ‘biodegradable’ and ‘degradable’ plastic bags are the answer. These bags may cause more problems than they solve. Oxo-degradable bags, for example, contain toxic metals that may not biodegrade at all. Even fully compostable bags require light and heat in order to biodegrade efficiently, which they won’t get if they end up in landfill or the ocean. They can also cause harm if they are included in plastic bag recycling systems.
* Buy fewer plastic toys. Consider reducing the number of plastic toys you buy for your children. Join a toy library, and buy eco-friendly toys where possible. Here’s a good article on eco-friendly dolls.
* Don’t buy exfoliants that include plastic. Unbelievably, minute granules of plastic are now used in some exfoliants! These can end up in the water supply and make their way to the oceans. Don’t buy exfoliants that include ‘micro-fine’ polyethylene granules, polyethylene ‘micro-spheres’, polyethylene ‘beads’, or just plain polyethylene.
* Stop buying plastic water bottles. Plastic water bottles can be reused several times as long as they haven’t been heated and you wash them with soap and water and allow them to dry before refilling. Better still, buy an aluminium drink container. It’s worth paying more for a good-quality bottle – a couple of years ago I bought a cheap aluminium water bottle that leaked water into my bag from the get-go.
* Buy a reusable takeaway coffee container. Look forward to your daily hit of takeaway coffee? Bring your own reusable takeaway coffee cup to the cafe.
* Reuse bubble wrap. If you receive something in the mail packed with bubble wrap, store it and reuse it as packaging in your own parcels.
* Reuse straws. Wash straws or better still, buy a non-throwaway straw. Alternatives include aluminium and glass straws.
* Stop using plastic film for keeping food fresh. Other options for covering food in the fridge include silicon lids, or simply putting a dinner or bread plate over a container of food. Use wax paper for wrapping sandwiches.
* Reuse plastic food containers. Buy your dips from delis and market stalls that serve the dip from bulk containers, and bring your own containers. (You can also buy slices of unwrapped cheese from deli counters.) When you buy takeaway food, bring your own used takeaway container. Used dip and takeaway containers are great for storing food in the freezer. There are dozens of uses for margarine and yoghurt containers; here’s a good list.
Extreme plastic reduction
* Recycle your toothbrush. Once you start becoming aware of how much plastic is needlessly thrown away, even tossing a toothbrush in the bin may start to feel wrong. Alternatives include a company that turns your used toothbrush into picnic tables, one that offers a toothbrush with replaceable heads, and sustainable toothbrushes made from bamboo, wood and cellulose. Some of these ideas can be found here.
* Use your own plastic containers for liquid goods. Buy your liquid goods such as shampoo and conditioner in bulk at food co-ops, health food stores, or speciality bulk stores, and bring your own used shampoo bottles to store them in.
* Buy your dry goods loose, and bring your own plastic bags to carry them. You can find grains, flours, nuts, seeds and pulses at produce and farmers markets, as well as food co-ops and health food stores.
* Bring your own plastic bag when buying meat and fish. Wash your used plastic bags and take them with you for wrapping meat and fish when you go to the butchers, fishmonger or supermarket.
* Use newspaper to wrap wet or smelly rubbish that you can’t compost. I remember my parents doing this when I was young, before plastic bags were widely used for rubbish in Australia.
Suggestions for taking action
* Pressure your local authority to widen the scope of its plastics recycling, eg by recycling plastic food containers if it doesn't already.
* Organise for your town or city to become plastic bag free.
* Pressure your state or federal environment minister to create stronger regulations for the use and recycling of plastic in manufacturing and packaging.
Organisations
These organisations and websites aim to decrease the use of plastics and stop them polluting our environment.
USA
Plastic Pollution Coalition Berkeley California
Australia
Planet Ark
Clean Up Australia
UK
Waste Watch
WRAP
RecycleNow
Help with a plastic-free lifestyle
Life without Plastic
Ethically sourced alternatives to plastic products
Plastic Manners
The blog of a woman who decided to try to live without plastic
Until next time!
Read More
Plastic Not So Fantastic - Tips for Using Less Plastic
As I picked it up I thought of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which I’d just been reading about. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a floating soup of 100 million tons of garbage, 90 per cent of which is plastic, in the North Pacific. It’s impossible to estimate the area accurately; one study found it to be twice the size of Hawaii. In 2010, similar patches of decomposed plastic debris were found in the North Atlantic and in the Indian Ocean.
While navies and commercial shopping are partly responsible, it’s estimated that perhaps 80 per cent of marine plastic originated on land as litter and industrial waste. Some of it has been dumped on the beach and in rivers or streams, and some has been blown away from landfill, or while being transported to landfill. Water bottles and plastic bags are the most familiar part of the problem – for example, US citizens consume an estimated 50 billion bottles of water per annum, and the annual figure for the globe is around 200 billion bottles – but the plastics in the garbage patches range from pocket combs, tampon applicators and toothbrushes to fishing nets, detergent bottles and toys.
Bits of this waterlogged mass of rubbish end up in the stomachs or around the necks of birds, turtles, whales, seals and other sea creatures, many of which die slow and horrible deaths from starvation, strangulation or suffocation. It’s likely that over 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and hundreds of thousands of sea birds die each year due to marine debris, including plastic. Scientific American describes some of the effects on sea life of coming into contact with plastic: ‘fur seals entangled by nylon nets, sea otters choking on polyethylene six-pack rings, and plastic bags or toys stuck in the guts of sea turtles’. More information about marine debris and what’s being done to clean it up can be found on the NOAA website.
Large pieces of plastic debris are just one aspect of the problem. Estimates for the time it takes various kinds of plastics to decompose range from 20 to 1000 years. They don’t biodegrade – get broken down by microbes – in any reasonable amount of time, but they do photodegrade, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces. Much of the plastic in the ocean consists of tiny fragments that are less than 1 cm in size, some of them microscopic. These fragments release toxic chemicals into the ocean and into the food chain. Tiny marine organisms ingest the particles and these organisms are then eaten by fish, which in turn are eaten by humans.
A problem like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch can seem overwhelming; individual actions aren’t ever going to solve it on their own. It would take government action and regulation on a global scale to simply stop the situation getting worse, by legislating for less use and greater recycling of plastics, for example. In the meantime, though, it’s surprisingly easy to cut down on your own consumption of plastic, and there are plenty of resources if you want to advocate for tougher regulations.
Below are some simple ways to reduce the use of plastic in your life, reuse it where possible, and recycle the plastic you can’t reuse. (There are also some more ‘hard core’ suggestions.)
* Put plastic containers in your recycling bin. There are many different types of plastics, and not all can be recycled. In the US, UK and Australia, local authorities usually allow some kinds of hard plastic such as drink bottles in their curbside recycling services, but the types of plastics they recycle will vary – check the website of your local authority. A Plastics Identification Code (used internationally) is stamped on plastic containers to indicate their type. According to Clean Up Australia, most local councils here recycle plastics labelled 1, 2, and 3, but many are now extending their recycling programs to include plastics labelled 4 to 7. Clean the containers before you put them in the bin.
* Recycle your plastic bags at recycling drop-off points in your area. Plastic bag recycling stations are now increasingly common. As well as supermarket plastic bags and the heavier store bags, packaging film is normally recyclable at these stations (eg plastic packaging for paper towels, toilet paper and junk mail), as well as drycleaning plastic. Cling wrap, compostable bags and prepackaged food bags, including frozen food bags and prewashed salad bags, normally can’t be included. It’s important that you only put in clean bags.
If you’re in the USA you can locate plastic bag recycling stations in your area at plasticbagrecycling.org or www.earth911.com. In the UK, some supermarkets offer plastic bag recycling; find a station near you at RecycleNow. In Australia you can drop your plastic bags off at your local supermarket.
* Wash and recycle dirty plastic bags rather than throwing them out. The thought of washing a plastic bag is a put-off for some. It’s not hard – turn the bag inside out and give it a quick rinse under the tap, wiping it as you go. Dry your bags on the line or on a clothes rack, using pegs to attach them. Plastic bags with meaty or fishy residue can be washed in hot, soapy water.
* Use your spare plastic bags around the house. Here are some great ideas for making use of spare plastic bags.
* Compost your unused food scraps. You’ll generate less rubbish and therefore need to use fewer plastic bags for household waste. Many options for outdoor and indoor compost bins are now available.
* Don’t assume that so-called ‘biodegradable’ and ‘degradable’ plastic bags are the answer. These bags may cause more problems than they solve. Oxo-degradable bags, for example, contain toxic metals that may not biodegrade at all. Even fully compostable bags require light and heat in order to biodegrade efficiently, which they won’t get if they end up in landfill or the ocean. They can also cause harm if they are included in plastic bag recycling systems.
* Buy fewer plastic toys. Consider reducing the number of plastic toys you buy for your children. Join a toy library, and buy eco-friendly toys where possible. Here’s a good article on eco-friendly dolls.
* Don’t buy exfoliants that include plastic. Unbelievably, minute granules of plastic are now used in some exfoliants! These can end up in the water supply and make their way to the oceans. Don’t buy exfoliants that include ‘micro-fine’ polyethylene granules, polyethylene ‘micro-spheres’, polyethylene ‘beads’, or just plain polyethylene.
* Stop buying plastic water bottles. Plastic water bottles can be reused several times as long as they haven’t been heated and you wash them with soap and water and allow them to dry before refilling. Better still, buy an aluminium drink container. It’s worth paying more for a good-quality bottle – a couple of years ago I bought a cheap aluminium water bottle that leaked water into my bag from the get-go.
* Buy a reusable takeaway coffee container. Look forward to your daily hit of takeaway coffee? Bring your own reusable takeaway coffee cup to the cafe.
* Reuse bubble wrap. If you receive something in the mail packed with bubble wrap, store it and reuse it as packaging in your own parcels.
* Reuse straws. Wash straws or better still, buy a non-throwaway straw. Alternatives include aluminium and glass straws.
* Stop using plastic film for keeping food fresh. Other options for covering food in the fridge include silicon lids, or simply putting a dinner or bread plate over a container of food. Use wax paper for wrapping sandwiches.
* Reuse plastic food containers. Buy your dips from delis and market stalls that serve the dip from bulk containers, and bring your own containers. (You can also buy slices of unwrapped cheese from deli counters.) When you buy takeaway food, bring your own used takeaway container. Used dip and takeaway containers are great for storing food in the freezer. There are dozens of uses for margarine and yoghurt containers; here’s a good list.
Extreme plastic reduction
* Recycle your toothbrush. Once you start becoming aware of how much plastic is needlessly thrown away, even tossing a toothbrush in the bin may start to feel wrong. Alternatives include a company that turns your used toothbrush into picnic tables, one that offers a toothbrush with replaceable heads, and sustainable toothbrushes made from bamboo, wood and cellulose. Some of these ideas can be found here.
* Use your own plastic containers for liquid goods. Buy your liquid goods such as shampoo and conditioner in bulk at food co-ops, health food stores, or speciality bulk stores, and bring your own used shampoo bottles to store them in.
* Buy your dry goods loose, and bring your own plastic bags to carry them. You can find grains, flours, nuts, seeds and pulses at produce and farmers markets, as well as food co-ops and health food stores.
* Bring your own plastic bag when buying meat and fish. Wash your used plastic bags and take them with you for wrapping meat and fish when you go to the butchers, fishmonger or supermarket.
* Use newspaper to wrap wet or smelly rubbish that you can’t compost. I remember my parents doing this when I was young, before plastic bags were widely used for rubbish in Australia.
Suggestions for taking action
* Pressure your local authority to widen the scope of its plastics recycling, eg by recycling plastic food containers if it doesn't already.
* Organise for your town or city to become plastic bag free.
* Pressure your state or federal environment minister to create stronger regulations for the use and recycling of plastic in manufacturing and packaging.
Organisations
These organisations and websites aim to decrease the use of plastics and stop them polluting our environment.
USA
Plastic Pollution Coalition Berkeley California
Australia
Planet Ark
Clean Up Australia
UK
Waste Watch
WRAP
RecycleNow
Help with a plastic-free lifestyle
Life without Plastic
Ethically sourced alternatives to plastic products
Plastic Manners
The blog of a woman who decided to try to live without plastic
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like How to Carry Out Your Green and Ethical New Year's Resolutions and Book Review: Greeniology 2020 by Tanya Ha.
1/19/12
Labels:
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Fashion
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Saving money
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Swapping
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Sublime Swapping - Giving a New Lease of Life to Fashion and Just About Everything Else
21 January is World Swap Day! It's the perfect time to look at all the many ways you can experience the delights and money-saving benefits of swapping, whether on or off line.
An estimated $43 billion worth of stuff is stashed away across Australia alone. Swapping goods is a growing trend, as more and more consumers seek a second life for their unwanted goods while reducing both their carbon footprint and their budgets.
So popular is swapping that, along with lending, bartering, gifting and sharing, it’s been recognised as a key part of a growing trend – collaborative consumption, a sea change in not only what we consume, but how we consume.
But it's in the area of fashion that swapping is really hitting its stride. Clothes-swapping events take place regularly in cities across the globe, and international websites devoted to the online thread swap make it easy to swap your clothes with other budget fashionistas.
Sartorial swapping
We get sick of our clothes, no matter how much we love them. Swapping is a wonderful way to experience the novelty that new clothes offer without damaging your wallet or adding to the world’s landfills or your carbon footprint. It’s also great for items that you’ll only need for a certain amount of time, like children’s clothes.
In Australia, the Clothing Exchange runs regular swap meets in all states except Tasmania, while details of UK events can be found on the Swishing website. The Swapaholics team host regular fashion-swapping events in the USA. The Swapaholics website includes a list of swapping groups across the US and internationally, and the team maintain a directory of swapping events across the world at http://events.swap.com.
Many options are available if you'd prefer to do your swapping via the internet. swapstyle.com is an international website for swapping fashion items that includes a forum. Thread Swap is an Australian website that enables you to swap your unwanted clothing for credits that you then use to ‘buy’ clothes online. Swapkidsclothes.com.au is an Australian service that allows members to exchange unwanted children’s clothes for points that can then be used to select clothes from the range; there are many similar websites for swapping children’s clothes.
Other items
The types of non-clothes items that can be swapped are limited only by your imagination. Sites that enable you to swap all kinds of items easily and safely include SwapAce.com, Swap.com and Swap Australia. The UK boasts a book-swapping site, ReadItSwapIt. The Australian trading site Gumtree has a ‘Freebies’ section, as well as a section where people offer to swap goods for specific items – one user offered a three-month-old queen-sized mattress in return for ‘something interesting’.
Republic of Everyone, an Australian green marketing company, has created The Great Gift SwApp, an app that allows users to swap their unwanted presents for something they really want. This app is built in Facebook, so you need to have a Facebook account to use it.
Hold your own swap party
Swapping with your friends is a great way to enjoy the benefits of swapping! Swap unwanted clothes and other goods with one or two friends with similar tastes, or even hold your own event. Holding a swap party at home is an easy and fun way to make good use of all those unwanted goods cluttering up your cupboards. Fashion, baby clothes, gifts, and surplus food are just some of the things you can swap at a swap party.
The freedom of freecycling
Swapping with your friends is a great way to enjoy the benefits of swapping! Swap unwanted clothes and other goods with one or two friends with similar tastes, or even hold your own event. Holding a swap party at home is an easy and fun way to make good use of all those unwanted goods cluttering up your cupboards. Fashion, baby clothes, gifts, and surplus food are just some of the things you can swap at a swap party.
The freedom of freecycling
Freecycling is a similar idea to swapping without the expectation of getting something in return, in the short term at least. The Freecycle Network is a worldwide network of groups whose members offer each other free goods that they no longer need themselves – there may be a group based in your town or city. The ReUseIt Network is based on a similar idea, but also offers an online chat group, support to set up local groups and an emphasis on conservation and recycling. (Check websites for information on your nearest Freecycle or ReUseIt group.) Ziilch is a website that enables people to give away items they no longer need.d and find free stuff
The fun of connecting locally
Ever wished your next door neighbour had a brushcutter you could borrow? The popularity of websites that connect people living near each other who want to borrow, lend or rent goods is also growing. Open Shed is an Australian website that enables owners of appliances and other goods to rent them out to people living in their local area. Streetbank is a UK website that allows users to borrow and lend goods in their local area and get to know their neighbours. Share Some Sugar is a US website that encourages neighbours to connect in order to lend, borrow or rent goods from each other. There are many websites like this; do a Google search to find sites that operate in your local area. Some of these sites are profit making, some aren't - check out the terms and conditions on the website.
Hope you enjoy your swapping adventures.
Until next time!
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like Buried Treasure, Hidden Duds - What Lurks in Your Wardrobe?
1/10/12
Labels:
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Carbon footprint
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How to Carry Out Your Green and Ethical New Year's Resolutions
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| Picture: sheknows.com |
Now that 2012's finally arrived, many of us are trying to put our new year's resolutions into practice. Some of you may have resolved to make the switch to ethical shopping this year, or perhaps you're planning to overhaul your entire lifestyle and go green.
Making wholesale changes in shopping and lifestyle habits is a challenge. At first shopping ethically may be more time consuming, not to mention confusing, than conventional shopping. Facing the array of choices in the egg department of your local supermarket, from accredited free range to grain-fed and barn laid, could make your head spin.
Luckily there’s plenty of support and information out there. The internet is bursting with websites, blogs and forums that offer valuable guidance. Here are some great tips to help you make the switch, whether you’re planning to change the way you shop or want to make your entire lifestyle more sustainable.
* Give yourself time to adjust. If you try to make too many changes at once you may become discouraged. Start with the easiest changes and make progressively more challenging adjustments as your confidence grows. Two small shopping examples: Revlon is one of the larger cosmetics companies that doesn't test its products on animals; Bardot, Veronica Maine and Cue are Australian fashion brands that, while they lack green credentials, have been accredited by Ethical Clothing Australia. Easy green changes to make straight away include putting a 'no junk mail' sign on your mailbox, arranging to hire a green waste bin from your local council, and investigating whether your energy company provides green energy.
* Set goals. This is a great way to motivate yourself. Goals should be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. Reward yourself for achieving your goals.
* Set goals. This is a great way to motivate yourself. Goals should be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. Reward yourself for achieving your goals.
* Plan ahead. Expect things to take longer, especially at first. If you’ve decided to start riding your bike to work, it may take a while to figure out the quickest way and to get your morning routine sorted; if you’ve decided to catch public transport to the food market, you’ll probably need to allocate more time. You may also have to put some thought into how you’ll shop, eg remembering to bring along your own carry bags, or buying equipment like panniers or a shopping trolley.
* Deal with setbacks. If you lapse by doing or buying something that goes against your principles, it’s not the end of the world. Making major changes takes time, and setbacks are part of the process. Forgive yourself and move on!
* Connect with others. Reaching out to likeminded people is a great way to motivate yourself to shop and live differently. Start a blog on your shopping/sustainability journey, a Facebook page on your favourite green or ethical cause, or a Twitter account. Humans are social creatures; it’s amazing how telling other people about the changes you’ve made, or would like to make, can motivate you. If you’d rather connect in the real world, join a green group, start your own, or enlist a friend who wants to make similar changes so you can encourage each other.
* The phrase think globally, act locally may be a cliche but it still holds. When deciding which websites and news sources to keep up with, it’s a good idea to choose a combination of those with international and general information on green and ethical issues, and those that focus on your country, state or local area.
* Research ethical and green claims using credible sources. It’s a great thing to read labels when you buy, but it’s not enough. You may need to research the various labels to ensure that the goods you’re interested in aren’t simply an example of ‘greenwash’. It’s probably safest to take a sceptical view of corporations and to use credible sources to check green and ethical claims. The recent watering down of fair trade requirements by Fair Trade USA illustrates that if you want to be an aware consumer you need to stay informed of what companies and accreditation bodies are doing.
* Ask your favourite brands to make the changes you want. If enough people put pressure on mainstream brands to adopt ethical practices and sustainable or organic lines, they would be forced to do so. You could email brands you’ve stopped using for ethical reasons to let them know why you no longer buy their products, for instance.
* Shop locally where possible. Slow Food is a movement that encourages people to support small, local food producers and to adopt a seasonal diet (see website for more information). You can support some of its principles by buying your food at food markets, farmers’ markets, co-ops, organic grocery stores and local greengrocers as an alternative to the supermarket. Don’t confine your local shopping to food; you might be amazed at what your neighbourhood shopping strip has to offer.
* Connect with people in your local area. Many great local sustainability initiatives fly under the radar. Google a search for websites with information about sustainability in your local area or city. Is there a freecycling group in your neighbourhood, community garden, tool-sharing service or even a group that meets regularly to cook and share a meal? Sustainable Melbourne is an example of a website with regular updates of local initiatives.
* Check out local recycling options. Perhaps you’ve assumed that the only option for recycling in your area is putting out the council recycling bin once a week? You might be surprised at how many other options there are for recycling goods like mobile phones, batteries, printer cartridges, and even whitegoods and paint tins. Search local government and sustainability websites for more information, or google ‘recycling’ for your local area.
* Don’t pike out if you’re a renter. These days there are many resources available for adopting a greener lifestyle if you don’t own your own home. For example, Green Renters is a Melbourne-based not-for-profit group that provides advice on sustainable living for renters.
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like Ten Green Books for Your Christmas Stocking and Be an Ethical, Frugal Fashionista: How to Shop Ethical When You're on a Budget.
12/11/11
Labels:
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Sustainable design
The Little Veggie Patch: How to Grow Food in Small Spaces
The complete A-Z of edible plants provides vital information on more than 40 vegetables (and fruit trees), including planting information, maintenance advice, best companions and when to harvest. There are hilarious tips and stories, and the family activities scattered throughout the book will get the kids involved.
Publishing details here.
Greeniology 2020: Greener Living Today, and in the Future
Tanya Ha
Ha moves from the straightforward kind of green advice to more complex and technical areas while still writing in an accessible, conversational way. Thus, there’s information on the ingredients to avoid in cleaning products, as well as how to make your own; but you’ll also find detailed specifications for different kinds of lights and light fittings; what and how to recycle; the costs and carbon emissions of various hot water systems, cooling systems and heating systems; and environmental ratings for new homes.
The book also covers what to consider when installing a rainwater tank, and the role of building orientation when designing a green home. Home-based renewable electricity sources are explained, and windows, floors, decking, insulation, cooking ranges and fridges all get a look-in.
Interspersed throughout are Ha’s answers to detailed questions sent in by readers, and there is space at the end of each chapter for readers to create weekly, monthly and longer term green goals.
A full review can be found here.
Publishing details here.
Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All
Oran B. Hesterman
Oran B. Hesterman shows how the dysfunction of the modern food system came about and defines the new principles and concrete steps required to restructure it. Along the way, he introduces people and organisations across the country who are already doing this work in creative ways, from bringing fresh food to inner cities to fighting for farm workers’ rights and putting cows back on the pastures. He also provides a wealth of practical information for readers who want to get more involved.
Publishing details here.
Foraging is a fast-growing global phenomenon that is fun, environmentally friendly and thrifty. This UK book takes a fresh look at foraging, and encourages you to look closer to home than the fields and hedgerows of the countryside, from the weeds in your garden to the trees in your street.
Fowler showcases her favourite edibles with a plant directory that includes photographic identification, detailed descriptions, and tips on how to grow and eat the plants, including recipes. The book also features innovative ideas for eating your local landscape, from community gardens in Todmorden, UK, to Edimental (edible ornamentals) gardens in Norway.
Gifts for relatives and friends are included, together with games and toys that can be made and then played with again and again. From painted stones and a friendship bracelet to a simple dolls’ house and a driftwood boat, children will love the projects in this engaging book.
The Transition Companion: Making Your Community More Resilient In Uncertain Times
In 2008, the bestselling Transition Handbook suggested a model for a community-led response to peak oil and climate change. Since then, the Transition idea has gone viral around the world, from Italian villages and Brazilian favelas to universities and London neighbourhoods. In contrast to the ever-worsening stream of information about climate change, the economy and resource depletion, Transition focuses on solutions; on community-scale responses; and on meeting new people and having fun.
The Transition Companion picks up the story three years later, drawing from the experience of one of the most fascinating experiments under way in the world today. It tells inspiring tales of communities working for a future where local economies are valued and nurtured, where lower energy use is seen as a benefit, and where enterprise, creativity and the building of resilience have become cornerstones of a new economy.
Publishing details here.
Naked Fashion: The New Sustainable Fashion Revolution
Safia Minney
Safia Minney is founder and CEO of fair trade and sustainable fashion label People Tree, an award-winning social business. She has been awarded Outstanding Social Entrepreneur by the World Economic Forum.
In Naked Fashion, Minney invites you to join the growing movement of consumers, entrepreneurs, and creative professionals who are using their purchasing power, talents, and experience to make fashion more sustainable. Designers, photographers, models, illustrators, actors and journalists from all over the world, including Emma Watson, Summer Rayne Oakes and Vivienne Westwood, talk about what they are doing differently to make fashion more sustainable. And there’s information on all aspects of sustainable fashion – fair trade and environment, styling and modelling, upcycling and slow fashion, and how we can change the high street. The book includes an ethical brand directory, and stunning visuals throughout.
Upcycling: Create Beautiful Things with the Stuff You Already Have
Renowned environmental lifestyle expert and Today Show regular Danny Seo shares 100 of his most inspiring projects for creative transformation. Neglected items around your house can be the source for exciting craft possibilities! Turn your old leather belts into a cool doormat (or even a briefcase); worn-out paperbacks into gorgeous bud vases; tennis balls into a quaint country swing; chopsticks into a handsome trivet, and many more.
With full-colour photos throughout to guide and inspire, Danny shows that it’s easy to be crafty, and fun to be budget- and eco-conscious.
The New Organic Gardener: The Ultimate Guide to Organic Gardening in Australia
Tim Marshall runs a consulting and training business for organic farmers and is regarded by many as Australia’s foremost organic certification expert. His passion for gardening infuses every part of this book. He guides you through the principles of organic gardening, and explains the reasons behind these principles.
Marshall believes that organic gardening is much more than simply throwing a bit of mulch onto your garden beds. A true organic gardener adopts a holistic approach, starting with the most precious organic element of all: the soil.
The book is full of practical information about applying organic methods for a large range of vegetables and herbs as well as flowers, trees (including fruit trees), shrubs and even a traditional lawn.
The New Organic Gardener also investigates the role of new science and manufacturing in explaining how organic gardening works. It provides readers with options for ‘off the shelf’ products to make organic gardening easier, safer and more precise.
Beautifully designed and illustrated, and drawing on Tim’s vast experience in organic gardening, this book is a comprehensive reference that features all the latest, most-up-to date thinking balanced with tried and true methods.
Publishing details here.
Consumer Republic: Using Brands to Get What You Want, Make Corporations Behave, and Maybe Even Save the World
Bruce Philp believes that consumers have much more power than they realise. An industry insider – he has worked in branding and advertising for almost three decades – he argues that companies spend millions on creating and sustaining brands, but a brand is actually a fragile thing because consumers have the power to make it worthless.
Using fascinating case studies, Philp dismantles the simplistic predator–prey narrative behind the anti-brand movement, confronts us with our real role in the system, and inspires us to make every dollar we spend count. He wants consumers to buy less but demand better, make meaningful choices instead of just easy ones, and speak up when they’re happy and when they’re not. Pin every one of these acts to a brand, he believes, and corporations will be forced to cooperate in making our way of life sustainable. Abandon brands, and we’ll surrender our marketplace to scoundrels.
The Inspired Shopper: A Unique Guide to Fabulously Successful Shopping
Increasing numbers of us want to buy quality goods, shop ethically, save money, and stop cluttering our homes with things we don’t need. But how do we actually put this into practice? When we do buy, how do we know that what we’re buying is something that we really need? And how do we know whether it’s right for us?
The Inspired Shopper is an introduction to the art of slow shopping. It shows you how to find goods you truly want and need by shopping mindfully. It reveals techniques for uncannily spotting bargains, finding goods that ‘fit’ you, and developing helpful new shopping habits. It’s great for overspenders, underspenders, budget and frugal shoppers, and may also be helpful for recovering compulsive shoppers.
With information on thrifting, buying ethical fashion on the cheap, eBay, sustainable shopping, buying household goods and big-ticket items, and even how to buy a house intuitively, The Inspired Shopper will show you how to transform your shopping life and become the relaxed, confident and efficient shopper you always wanted to be.
Publishing details here.
Until next time!
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Ten (Really 11) Green Books for Your Christmas Stocking
Are you still hunting around for suitable gifts? Perhaps you’ve decided that 2012 is the year you're going to live more sustainably? Below is a list of ten recently published books for your Christmas stocking that can help you go green, consume wisely and live simply (well, really 11 if you count the last one!).
I've included links to the original publisher website, but most of the books will be available from a variety of online and bricks-and-mortar bookstores.
The Little Veggie Patch: How to Grow Food in Small Spaces
Fabian Capomolla and Mat Pember
Fabian Capomolla and Mat Pember run a successful business installing edible gardens: in polystyrene boxes on balconies, in crates for the backyard, or by creating no-dig, raised garden beds. After years of helping clients set up spaces to grow their own fruit and vegetables they believe anyone can create their own little edible garden, in almost any area.
This lively guide provides comprehensive information on soil, climate, watering, composting, worm farms, saving and sowing seeds, and raised garden beds and crates – each section includes an illustrated step-by-step activity to help you create your own little veggie patch. The complete A-Z of edible plants provides vital information on more than 40 vegetables (and fruit trees), including planting information, maintenance advice, best companions and when to harvest. There are hilarious tips and stories, and the family activities scattered throughout the book will get the kids involved.
Publishing details here.
Greeniology 2020: Greener Living Today, and in the Future
Tanya Ha
Tanya Ha is Australia’s foremost mainstream advocate for the benefits of going green. Greeniology 2020 is a reference book that covers going green in Australia in all major aspects of a modern lifestyle. It combines practical tips and Ha’s trademark accessible style with scientific rigour.
There is information on green cleaning, health and beauty, sustainable food and fashion, saving water, saving energy, cultivating a green garden, buying a greener car, and green building and renovating. There’s also a chapter on healthy homes and indoor air quality that is particularly useful for those with allergies, one on how to go green at work, and one on how to have a green baby.
There is information on green cleaning, health and beauty, sustainable food and fashion, saving water, saving energy, cultivating a green garden, buying a greener car, and green building and renovating. There’s also a chapter on healthy homes and indoor air quality that is particularly useful for those with allergies, one on how to go green at work, and one on how to have a green baby.
Ha moves from the straightforward kind of green advice to more complex and technical areas while still writing in an accessible, conversational way. Thus, there’s information on the ingredients to avoid in cleaning products, as well as how to make your own; but you’ll also find detailed specifications for different kinds of lights and light fittings; what and how to recycle; the costs and carbon emissions of various hot water systems, cooling systems and heating systems; and environmental ratings for new homes.
The book also covers what to consider when installing a rainwater tank, and the role of building orientation when designing a green home. Home-based renewable electricity sources are explained, and windows, floors, decking, insulation, cooking ranges and fridges all get a look-in.
Interspersed throughout are Ha’s answers to detailed questions sent in by readers, and there is space at the end of each chapter for readers to create weekly, monthly and longer term green goals.
A full review can be found here.
Publishing details here.
Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All
Oran B. Hesterman
A host of books and films in recent years have documented the dangers of our current food system, from chemical run-off to soaring rates of diet-related illness and inhumane treatment of workers and animals. But advice on what to do about it largely begins and ends with the advice to eat local or eat organic. Fair Food is an enlightening and inspiring US guide to changing not only what we eat, but how food is grown, packaged, delivered, marketed, and sold.
Oran B. Hesterman shows how the dysfunction of the modern food system came about and defines the new principles and concrete steps required to restructure it. Along the way, he introduces people and organisations across the country who are already doing this work in creative ways, from bringing fresh food to inner cities to fighting for farm workers’ rights and putting cows back on the pastures. He also provides a wealth of practical information for readers who want to get more involved.
Publishing details here.
The Thrifty Forager
Alys Fowler
Foraging is a fast-growing global phenomenon that is fun, environmentally friendly and thrifty. This UK book takes a fresh look at foraging, and encourages you to look closer to home than the fields and hedgerows of the countryside, from the weeds in your garden to the trees in your street.
Fowler showcases her favourite edibles with a plant directory that includes photographic identification, detailed descriptions, and tips on how to grow and eat the plants, including recipes. The book also features innovative ideas for eating your local landscape, from community gardens in Todmorden, UK, to Edimental (edible ornamentals) gardens in Norway.
Publishing details here.
Green Crafts for Children: 35 Step-By-Step Projects Using Natural, Recycled, and Found Materials
Emma Hardy
Kids love to make their own toys, games, gifts and ornaments. If they can use recycled materials, so much the better for them and the planet! None of Emma Hardy’s projects in this book use any special materials. Instead, they all rely on items that are likely to be in the cupboard, can be found around the house or garden, or collected on walks in the park or at the beach. There are recipes for salt dough and methods for easy felting, plus ways to imaginatively use old gift-wrapping paper and worn-out clothes, as well as pine cones, tree bark, shells and other natural bits and bobs.
Gifts for relatives and friends are included, together with games and toys that can be made and then played with again and again. From painted stones and a friendship bracelet to a simple dolls’ house and a driftwood boat, children will love the projects in this engaging book.
Publishing details here.
Rob Hopkins
In 2008, the bestselling Transition Handbook suggested a model for a community-led response to peak oil and climate change. Since then, the Transition idea has gone viral around the world, from Italian villages and Brazilian favelas to universities and London neighbourhoods. In contrast to the ever-worsening stream of information about climate change, the economy and resource depletion, Transition focuses on solutions; on community-scale responses; and on meeting new people and having fun.
The Transition Companion picks up the story three years later, drawing from the experience of one of the most fascinating experiments under way in the world today. It tells inspiring tales of communities working for a future where local economies are valued and nurtured, where lower energy use is seen as a benefit, and where enterprise, creativity and the building of resilience have become cornerstones of a new economy.
Publishing details here.
Naked Fashion: The New Sustainable Fashion Revolution
Safia Minney
Safia Minney is founder and CEO of fair trade and sustainable fashion label People Tree, an award-winning social business. She has been awarded Outstanding Social Entrepreneur by the World Economic Forum.
In Naked Fashion, Minney invites you to join the growing movement of consumers, entrepreneurs, and creative professionals who are using their purchasing power, talents, and experience to make fashion more sustainable. Designers, photographers, models, illustrators, actors and journalists from all over the world, including Emma Watson, Summer Rayne Oakes and Vivienne Westwood, talk about what they are doing differently to make fashion more sustainable. And there’s information on all aspects of sustainable fashion – fair trade and environment, styling and modelling, upcycling and slow fashion, and how we can change the high street. The book includes an ethical brand directory, and stunning visuals throughout.
Publishing details here.
Upcycling: Create Beautiful Things with the Stuff You Already Have
Danny Seo
Renowned environmental lifestyle expert and Today Show regular Danny Seo shares 100 of his most inspiring projects for creative transformation. Neglected items around your house can be the source for exciting craft possibilities! Turn your old leather belts into a cool doormat (or even a briefcase); worn-out paperbacks into gorgeous bud vases; tennis balls into a quaint country swing; chopsticks into a handsome trivet, and many more.
With full-colour photos throughout to guide and inspire, Danny shows that it’s easy to be crafty, and fun to be budget- and eco-conscious.
Publishing details here.
The New Organic Gardener: The Ultimate Guide to Organic Gardening in Australia
Tim Marshall
Tim Marshall runs a consulting and training business for organic farmers and is regarded by many as Australia’s foremost organic certification expert. His passion for gardening infuses every part of this book. He guides you through the principles of organic gardening, and explains the reasons behind these principles.
Marshall believes that organic gardening is much more than simply throwing a bit of mulch onto your garden beds. A true organic gardener adopts a holistic approach, starting with the most precious organic element of all: the soil.
The book is full of practical information about applying organic methods for a large range of vegetables and herbs as well as flowers, trees (including fruit trees), shrubs and even a traditional lawn.
The New Organic Gardener also investigates the role of new science and manufacturing in explaining how organic gardening works. It provides readers with options for ‘off the shelf’ products to make organic gardening easier, safer and more precise.
Beautifully designed and illustrated, and drawing on Tim’s vast experience in organic gardening, this book is a comprehensive reference that features all the latest, most-up-to date thinking balanced with tried and true methods.
Publishing details here.
Consumer Republic: Using Brands to Get What You Want, Make Corporations Behave, and Maybe Even Save the World
Bruce Philp
Using fascinating case studies, Philp dismantles the simplistic predator–prey narrative behind the anti-brand movement, confronts us with our real role in the system, and inspires us to make every dollar we spend count. He wants consumers to buy less but demand better, make meaningful choices instead of just easy ones, and speak up when they’re happy and when they’re not. Pin every one of these acts to a brand, he believes, and corporations will be forced to cooperate in making our way of life sustainable. Abandon brands, and we’ll surrender our marketplace to scoundrels.
Oh alright:
The Inspired Shopper: A Unique Guide to Fabulously Successful Shopping
Catherine Magree
This scintillating ebook, available through Amazon and shamelessly promoted on this blog by its author, will help you decide whether or not you need to buy the other ones!
Increasing numbers of us want to buy quality goods, shop ethically, save money, and stop cluttering our homes with things we don’t need. But how do we actually put this into practice? When we do buy, how do we know that what we’re buying is something that we really need? And how do we know whether it’s right for us?
The Inspired Shopper is an introduction to the art of slow shopping. It shows you how to find goods you truly want and need by shopping mindfully. It reveals techniques for uncannily spotting bargains, finding goods that ‘fit’ you, and developing helpful new shopping habits. It’s great for overspenders, underspenders, budget and frugal shoppers, and may also be helpful for recovering compulsive shoppers.
With information on thrifting, buying ethical fashion on the cheap, eBay, sustainable shopping, buying household goods and big-ticket items, and even how to buy a house intuitively, The Inspired Shopper will show you how to transform your shopping life and become the relaxed, confident and efficient shopper you always wanted to be.
Publishing details here.
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like Yuletide Thrift: Tips for a Sustainable and Frugal Christmas.
9/26/11
Labels:
Carbon footprint
,
Recycling
,
Sustainable design
In its 26-year history the Fringe Furniture Exhibition has proven to be an accurate barometer of emerging talent, trends and ideas in interior design and architecture.
So much so that it now has iconic status as a central part of Melbourne's annual Fringe Festival, a showcase of innovative and cutting-edge art across a range of genres.
The theme of this year's exhibition, 'Dancing in the dark', fittingly deals with the elephant in the room when it comes to the future of design, and indeed Life As We Know It - sustainability. Forty-five up-and-coming furniture designers have responded to what seems like an overwhelming environmental challenge with a tiny 'dance step' towards a greener future. Their work is showing in an industrially themed space fittingly located in the picturesque Abbotsford Convent.
There were plenty of enthusiastic visitors when I popped along last Saturday afternoon. Some of the works opted for a homely aesthetic that privileged function over form. But a number of works delighted the eye as well as the conscience.
David Davenport's square table with diagonal legs, made from recycled Australian hardwoods, was an example of classic elegance melded with contemporary design. Christopher Shaw's 'Maeva' cabinet, made from Sydney bluegum, and Ryan Straford's 'Red Hill' seat, made from oak wine barrels, both used shape and texture to create warmly pleasing furniture. MacGregor Knox's 'Rosa' (pictured below) a bold curvilinear lounge chair made from salvaged sequoia wood and reclaimed soft urethene, created visual impact through exaggerated form.
The lightshades in particular shone - pun intended. Who knew recycled champagne bottles could be so attractive? Ashley Allen, that's who. Then there was Sally-Anne Mill's flamboyant chandelier collection, 'Spring collection II', made from salvaged springs. This collection deservedly won the Best Design Addressing the 2011 Fringe Furniture Theme award, as well as the Lighting Design award.
But the highlight for me was the collection of 'Mr.Cooper' pendant lights by Kate Stokes (pictured above). Inspired by the old tin can telephone, the lights are made from spun copper and combine modern simplicity with a charming retro feel.
The exhibition is on at the Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St Collingwood, in the Industrial School building in the Sacred Heart Courtyard. It runs until 8 October, from Thursday to Sunday, from 11 am to 5 pm. Entry is free.
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this post, you might like Kylie Kwong Partners with Oxfam to Bring Fairtrade Design to Your Table.
Read More
Furnishing the Future: Fringe Furniture Exhibition Showcases New Design from Old Materials
In its 26-year history the Fringe Furniture Exhibition has proven to be an accurate barometer of emerging talent, trends and ideas in interior design and architecture.
So much so that it now has iconic status as a central part of Melbourne's annual Fringe Festival, a showcase of innovative and cutting-edge art across a range of genres.
The theme of this year's exhibition, 'Dancing in the dark', fittingly deals with the elephant in the room when it comes to the future of design, and indeed Life As We Know It - sustainability. Forty-five up-and-coming furniture designers have responded to what seems like an overwhelming environmental challenge with a tiny 'dance step' towards a greener future. Their work is showing in an industrially themed space fittingly located in the picturesque Abbotsford Convent.
There were plenty of enthusiastic visitors when I popped along last Saturday afternoon. Some of the works opted for a homely aesthetic that privileged function over form. But a number of works delighted the eye as well as the conscience.
David Davenport's square table with diagonal legs, made from recycled Australian hardwoods, was an example of classic elegance melded with contemporary design. Christopher Shaw's 'Maeva' cabinet, made from Sydney bluegum, and Ryan Straford's 'Red Hill' seat, made from oak wine barrels, both used shape and texture to create warmly pleasing furniture. MacGregor Knox's 'Rosa' (pictured below) a bold curvilinear lounge chair made from salvaged sequoia wood and reclaimed soft urethene, created visual impact through exaggerated form.
The lightshades in particular shone - pun intended. Who knew recycled champagne bottles could be so attractive? Ashley Allen, that's who. Then there was Sally-Anne Mill's flamboyant chandelier collection, 'Spring collection II', made from salvaged springs. This collection deservedly won the Best Design Addressing the 2011 Fringe Furniture Theme award, as well as the Lighting Design award.
But the highlight for me was the collection of 'Mr.Cooper' pendant lights by Kate Stokes (pictured above). Inspired by the old tin can telephone, the lights are made from spun copper and combine modern simplicity with a charming retro feel.
The exhibition is on at the Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St Collingwood, in the Industrial School building in the Sacred Heart Courtyard. It runs until 8 October, from Thursday to Sunday, from 11 am to 5 pm. Entry is free.
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this post, you might like Kylie Kwong Partners with Oxfam to Bring Fairtrade Design to Your Table.
9/11/11
Labels:
Budget shopping
,
frugality
,
Recycling
Want to spruce up your garden but trying to save money? Here are some great tips for developing your garden without the need to hire Jamie Drury!
Cheap and cheerful plants
* Choose hardy plants that are suited to local conditions.
* Use plant cuttings – politely ask for them when visiting friends and family. Choose plants that transplant easily, such as cactuses. (In my experience, cactus cuttings don’t even need root powder to take.)
* To help cuttings grow roots in the soil, most of the time you will need root powder. This is available from the hardware store, but you might also want to make your own. Here’s a method for making your own root powder.
* School fetes are often great places to get cheap plants, as the stock has to be cleared on the day. Large nurseries often hold sales or discount days - if there's one near you, sign up for their mailing list to be notified of future sales. Farmers markets sometimes sell plants at reasonable prices.
* Some op (thrift) shops sell cheap plants. My local op shop has an amazing volunteer who paints tin buckets and plants cactuses in them before covering the top of the soil with decorative pebbles. Of course, you might want to do this yourself.
Perfect pebbles and ornaments
* If you want to decorate your garden with pebbles and rocks and are buying in bulk, it’s cheaper to buy them in bulk from a landscape supplier rather than a hardware store. (Try to ensure they have been ethically sourced, and don’t pick them up yourself from natural environments.)
Pots with punch
* Do you have friends or family members with a garden shed or garage full of junk? Offer to help clean it out in exchange for thrifty finds – it’s almost guaranteed there’ll be some pots and garden ornaments you can take home with you.
* Recycle household items, including furniture, to make planters; suitable items are only limited by your imagination. Here are some great ‘out there’ ideas for making planters from recycled materials. The comments in this article about making your own pots from tin cans include additional recycling ideas.
* The main thing to do when making any kind of container for a plant is to provide a drainage hole for the plant. In the case of glass you may have to use a drill. Here's how to drill a hole in a bottle.
* Restaurants are a great source of recycled materials for making planters – as well as throwing out tin cans, they may also be able to supply vegetable packaging (useful for seedlings) and glass containers.
* If you’d rather buy pots, haunt garage (yard) sales for cheap pots, or buy them in bulk from out-of-town pot suppliers, which are often cheaper.
Great garden furniture and ornaments
* Use local council hard rubbish pick-ups and garage or yard sales to find garden ornaments, furniture, and shelving for outdoor pot plants.
Fantastic fertiliser
* Water-soluble nitrogen of conventional fertilisers is a huge contributor to water pollution. The internet has heaps of information about making your own more environmentally friendly fertiliser. There are some great ideas in this article, and some more in this one.
* Compost makes great fertilizer – this site provides very detailed information about making compost.
Marvellous mulch
* Make your own mulch from lawn clippings and dried leaves. If you’d rather buy mulch, landscape suppliers offer mulch in bulk. Another good source is tree removal companies, which often sell prime mulch at bulk prices. Some local councils supply free mulch that can be picked up from transfer stations.
Happy herbs
Grow your own herbs on the cheap. Herbs can be produced from cuttings; this article shows you how. Some brave souls have been known to use fresh herbs bought from the supermarket to propagate their own.
Don’t be a Wally with water!
* Keep a bucket in your shower to catch the flow, and use the water on your outdoor plants. Also use the rinse water from handwashing of clothes. Some people catch the water from running the kitchen tap and recycle it in the garden.
If you’re serious about growing a gorgeously frugal garden, there are plenty of blogs that provide forums and advice. A good one is Frugal Gardening.
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this post, you might like How to be Frugal When Your Friends Aren't.
Read More
Green Fingers: Gorgeous Gardens on the Cheap
Want to spruce up your garden but trying to save money? Here are some great tips for developing your garden without the need to hire Jamie Drury!
Cheap and cheerful plants
* Choose hardy plants that are suited to local conditions.
* Use plant cuttings – politely ask for them when visiting friends and family. Choose plants that transplant easily, such as cactuses. (In my experience, cactus cuttings don’t even need root powder to take.)
* To help cuttings grow roots in the soil, most of the time you will need root powder. This is available from the hardware store, but you might also want to make your own. Here’s a method for making your own root powder.
* School fetes are often great places to get cheap plants, as the stock has to be cleared on the day. Large nurseries often hold sales or discount days - if there's one near you, sign up for their mailing list to be notified of future sales. Farmers markets sometimes sell plants at reasonable prices.
* Some op (thrift) shops sell cheap plants. My local op shop has an amazing volunteer who paints tin buckets and plants cactuses in them before covering the top of the soil with decorative pebbles. Of course, you might want to do this yourself.
Perfect pebbles and ornaments
* If you want to decorate your garden with pebbles and rocks and are buying in bulk, it’s cheaper to buy them in bulk from a landscape supplier rather than a hardware store. (Try to ensure they have been ethically sourced, and don’t pick them up yourself from natural environments.)
Pots with punch
* Do you have friends or family members with a garden shed or garage full of junk? Offer to help clean it out in exchange for thrifty finds – it’s almost guaranteed there’ll be some pots and garden ornaments you can take home with you.
* Recycle household items, including furniture, to make planters; suitable items are only limited by your imagination. Here are some great ‘out there’ ideas for making planters from recycled materials. The comments in this article about making your own pots from tin cans include additional recycling ideas.
* The main thing to do when making any kind of container for a plant is to provide a drainage hole for the plant. In the case of glass you may have to use a drill. Here's how to drill a hole in a bottle.
* Restaurants are a great source of recycled materials for making planters – as well as throwing out tin cans, they may also be able to supply vegetable packaging (useful for seedlings) and glass containers.
* If you’d rather buy pots, haunt garage (yard) sales for cheap pots, or buy them in bulk from out-of-town pot suppliers, which are often cheaper.
Great garden furniture and ornaments
* Use local council hard rubbish pick-ups and garage or yard sales to find garden ornaments, furniture, and shelving for outdoor pot plants.
Fantastic fertiliser
* Water-soluble nitrogen of conventional fertilisers is a huge contributor to water pollution. The internet has heaps of information about making your own more environmentally friendly fertiliser. There are some great ideas in this article, and some more in this one.
* Compost makes great fertilizer – this site provides very detailed information about making compost.
Marvellous mulch
* Make your own mulch from lawn clippings and dried leaves. If you’d rather buy mulch, landscape suppliers offer mulch in bulk. Another good source is tree removal companies, which often sell prime mulch at bulk prices. Some local councils supply free mulch that can be picked up from transfer stations.
Happy herbs
Grow your own herbs on the cheap. Herbs can be produced from cuttings; this article shows you how. Some brave souls have been known to use fresh herbs bought from the supermarket to propagate their own.
Don’t be a Wally with water!
* Keep a bucket in your shower to catch the flow, and use the water on your outdoor plants. Also use the rinse water from handwashing of clothes. Some people catch the water from running the kitchen tap and recycle it in the garden.
If you’re serious about growing a gorgeously frugal garden, there are plenty of blogs that provide forums and advice. A good one is Frugal Gardening.
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this post, you might like How to be Frugal When Your Friends Aren't.
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