Welcome to Carbon Cutout and thank you for joining me! For many years I have been concerned about the damage we humans have been causing to our incredible and unique planet. Although I try to limit my impact, many of my choices have not, for various reasons, been the best for the environment. I’m sure many of us struggle in a similar way, simply because the bad habits have become the society’s norm; it takes a conscious effort to do otherwise. But this does not mean we sit back and do nothing, pretending that there’s no problem, or that our efforts are insignificant. It may feel like a drop in the ocean, but I have to remind myself that the ocean is just made up of many, many drops! So here are some thoughts, quotes, ideas, successes (I hope) and failures (probably).
I would love it if you would like to share your own experiences, inspiration, comments and, especially, humour!
The earth belongs to God! Everything in all the world is his! He is the one who pushed the oceans back to let dry land appear.
Psalm 24 v1-2
The sun looks like a drop in the ocean. But we know the impact it has on the earth! Our efforts may seem insignificant, but seen together with all those who care about creation, they make a HUGE difference!
As I’m intolerant to cows’ milk, I use non-dairy alternatives such as soya, almond and coconut. The tricky bit here has been that, while you can still get your milk delivered in bottles, even if the milkman does provide these alternatives, they are always in Tetra=pak style containers. These are made of paperboard encased in four layers of polyethylene and one of aluminium. The lid is made of plastic too. So although it has a recycle symbol on it, most places don’t recycle them and even if they do, it must be quite an energy inefficient process separating all the layers so they can be recycled. I’m intolerant of this too!
I thought I was going to have to do without, just having water on my cereal. But then someone suggested HOME-MADE OATMILK. So I thought I’d give it a go. It worked and what’s more it was easy!
Just soak 100g rolled oats in water, covered, for a few hours or overnight. Drain off the liquid, rinse and blend with 750ml water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, for a minute or so, until completely smooth. Strain through a muslin cloth. Add sugar and/or other flavourings to taste and dilute to the desired consistency. It will keep for a few days in the fridge. There are lots of variations out there, but this was based on the following website https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/oat-milk
And unlike shop bought non-dairy drinks, this has no added sugars (unless you add them yourself) or chemicals, it’s way cheaper, and oats can be bought in paper or cardboard wrapping.
It’s been a while since I added anything to this blog. COVID-19 has meant we were unable to go out – even shopping – for two weeks, so not buying plastic was easy. Writing about that was the tough part! At least we had a spell of good weather, just when we were beginning to believe an epic flood was God’s solution to the Coronavirus. It was even warm enough to get the barbecue out.
One thing I had already prepared was my own barbecue coals made from spent coffee grounds. It was the ideal opportunity to try them out. A kilo of coals was sufficient to grill food for five people, with heat left over for the obligatory s’mores. I used a few squirts of rubbing alcohol (it was all I could find) and some dried orange peel as firelighters. The food was cooked perfectly and didn’t taste or smell unusual. There was a stage before cooking when there was a lot of smoke, but it didn’t last long. Also, once the flames had died down it was hard to move the coals into position without them breaking apart, but they did the job none-the-less.
Newly-formed coals drying in the sun, looking rather like truffles – careful not to eat them!
“What does this have to do with plastic?” I hear you cry.
Well, the last few times I’ve bought barbecue coals, they have come ready impregnated with lighter fuel. To prevent evaporation, however, not only was the main bag plastic-lined, the individual bags that you light were part plastic too, which meant toxic fumes wafting around me and the food as it cooked!
So make your own coals! You avoid waste (most used coffee grounds end up in land fill or energy recovery), plastic wrapping, plastic fumes and it saves trees and money.
Here’s how to do it: collect used coffee grounds (ask a local café to save them for you) and spread them out in a warm place to dry. Mix one kilo of these with 100g cornflour, 30g powdered garden lime (calcium carbonate) and 6/7 cups very hot water. Form into coal size balls, taking care not to scald your hands on the hot mixture. Leave to dry for a few days (depending on temperature and humidity) and THAT’S IT – bring on the burgers and bangers!
We in developed nations have very little need for bottled water. People believe it’s better for them than tap water, but as I detailed in my earlier post “Bring a bottle,” this is really not the case. They are carried along by the hype. So I suppose this is why now, when everyone is concerned about COVID-19, that people are panic buying bottled water. We all have perfectly good tap water in our homes, at a tiny fraction of the price of the bottled equivalent. It will not transmit the virus. It will probably have less bacteria. It will have fewer plastic particles. Even if we are holed up in our homes for weeks, we will have plenty of water, especially if you’ve had anything like the amount of rain we’ve had in the UK in the last few months! It seems the herd mentality kicks in, so when people see others stockpiling, they do the same without thinking.
Schadenfreude:
Dasani,Coca-Cola‘s own brand of bottled water, seems to have become the pariah – people are avoiding it like Coronavirus, while every other brand has disappeared from the shelves. “I’d rather die than drink Dasani!” one tweet exclaimed. This is one occasion where I’ll permit myself a cheeky grin at another’s misfortune!
Are people finally seeing bottled water for what it really is? A drink for a scantily clad emperor, perhaps.
Let’s face it, plastic has become so commonplace because it’s amazing! It’s light, flexible, strong and, above all, cheap! Cling film is no exception. There’s really nothing else that can do the job in the same way. But does that mean we can’t live without it? Does that mean we have to go on using it once and then throwing it away where it will linger for hundreds of years posing a hazard to countless forms of life? I think you know my answer to that by now.
Buck the trend. According to industry predictions, cling film is still a good investment, as sales look set to increase significantly in the next ten years. There will be different factors influencing this, but I’m sure enough will be made to more than meet demand. This is where we little people can make a difference. Make sure the demand doesn’t come from you! Make sure you tell everyone possible how they can reduce their use of cling film and other plastics
So how do we avoid using cling film? It must be possible to do without it, since it’s only been around for 50 years. There are only two main things we use it for and there are perfectly good alternatives available these days:
Covering plates and bowls of uneaten food. Instead of using cling film and throwing it away as soon as you uncover the food, either you can transfer the food into one of your old plastic containers (we have loads of old containers of ice-cream, yoghurt, take-aways etc), or cover it in a resuable beeswax wrap. These are available from an increasing number of ethical retailers, but you can easily make them yourself from old fabric and beeswax. Here is one way: https://mommypotamus.com/diy-reusable-food-wrap/ It’s not as airtight as clingfilm, but that’s not normally essential. It will become worn after a while, but can be remade, with the addition of a little more wax.
Wrapping sandwiches and cakes. Like people did in the good old days, you could use old cake or biscuit tins. These will keep your packed lunch fresh for a few hours. Nowadays plastic tubs or purpose made plastic sandwich boxes do an even better job of holding in moisture and freshness (I know they’re plastic but at least you can use them again and again).
There’s cling film on the starboard bow – scrape it off, Jim!
I feel very fortunate to live in a village where we still have a proper butcher, greengrocer, baker and delicatessen. It’s great to be able to go shopping and know you’ll be served by someone who appreciates your business, thus is keen to give you good service.
In my plastic fast, they have been very helpful. The baker always provides paper bags (I know there’s also an environmental cost to these, as with every single decision we make, but at least paper biodegrades), and the greengrocer sells almost all fruit and veg unpackaged too, encouraging customers to bring their own bags.
At the butcher’s they tend to sell stuff either pre-packaged in plastic trays or else they wrap it for you. However, when my dutiful wife took used take-away and ice-cream tubs to help me maintain my plastic-free status, they were happy to allow their wares to leave the premises in such containers (once she’d paid for them of course!). I suppose it saves them money after all. They said that more people were doing this these days.
I’m daring to imagine that before long they and others like them will decide to do away with plastic packaging altogether. The more of us who jump on the bandwagon, the sooner that day will come. Even in supermarkets they usually have a meat/deli/cheese counter where you can decide how much you want.
It just means changing habits – have a few empty plastic tubs on hand, perhaps next to your shopping bags, so that you don’t forget to take them with you when you go. Growing up I was fortunate enough to be in a scout troop, as were my two sons many years later. Known for their emphasis on resourcefulness, the Scouts’ motto is “Be prepared,” which is perfect advice for anyone wanting to change from our wasteful lifestyle to a more planet-friendly one.
Today we went to Zero Joe’s shop in Windsor. They have everything!
In the food department, they have dry goods such as dried fruit, nuts, seeds, grains and pulses, breakfast cereals, pasta, flour and herbs and spices. I also got all the ingredients I needed for a home-made granola that I will shortly be needing. Soon to follow will be the recipe and verdict. They also stock a variety of oils and vinegars, and have a good selection of loose items in the freezer; the ready-to-bake pain-au-chocolat caught my eye! We tried the lentil and vegetable burgers for tea this evening and they were great!
Like Dan’s Refill Store, Zero Joe’s does refills of cleaning fluids and shampoos, conditioners and body lotions. They have kitchen cleaning items like brushes and cloths – all environmentally sound – and a whole array of other useful products like bamboo toothbrushes and tablets, deodorant, toilet paper made from recycled paper, plasters and lip balm.
They stock sturdy drinks bottles, reusable straws and several different kinds of shopping bag.
And all without a hint of plastic packaging!
I wish we’d had more time to look around, but it was a veritable Aladdin’s cave of planet friendly stuff.
If you live in or near Windsor, it is well worth a visit. If not, check out https://www.zerowastenear.me/ to find a similar kind of shop within your reach. As many of our own customers tell us, it has to be the way to go!
Today I bought a gift for my niece’s christening, so my dilemma has been about gift wrapping. In the UK, as in many countries around the world, we love to give gifts, and when we do we want to make them a surprise. So we wrap them up. How we do this is largely dictated by what’s available and also by our busy lifestyles.
Time for some statistics:
Every Christmas in the UK we use about 8000 tonnes of wrapping paper.
It takes 6 mature trees to make a single tonne.
That’s almost 50,000 trees, just for wrapping paper, just in the UK – every Christmas!
(Ahem… Excuse me shouting.)
To make matters worse, most of this ends up being incinerated or in landfill because it’s almost always contaminated, thus impossible to recycle. The main culprits are Sellotape (other tapes are available, and mostly just as bad), ribbons, metallic paint and glitter.
Today I piously bought a card, wrapping paper and tape, all made of clean, recycled paper, that will be recycled – that is if I and the recipient (okay, her parents) are careful enough. I even managed to get it without the obligatory cellophane wrapping. However, as most used gift-wrap is contaminated, it may well be chucked in the incinerator with the rest. Even if it does get recycled, the energy involved is still considerable. Wouldn’t our precious trees be better used for more important matters – like providing our increasing population with oxygen, and habitat and food for countless other life forms.
We used to laugh at old Aunty Joan, who would unwrap her gifts with the meticulous care of someone defusing an atomic bomb, only without the urgency! She used to peel the tape with her fingernails until it came away paper free. Then she would gingerly remove the wrapping paper, folding it up carefully for reuse before finally giving her attention to the gift. Okay, her reason was more economic than environmental, but she could teach us all a lesson. The deprivation of two world wars was undoubtedly the main motivation for her sense of thrift, but our society’s lack of thrift may ultimately cause even greater hardship.
As so often when talking about the environment, we hark back to the way things were done in years gone by and wonder why everyone changed their minds. Milk bottle delivery, deposits on soft drinks bottles, holidays in our own country, slaying woolly mammoths with spears… Historically, although there’s evidence that wrapping gifts was common in some ancient societies, disposable wrapping paper wasn’t used until the Victorian era, and then only by the rich. Paper was always seen as a valuable commodity until industrial processes cheapened it into something we even wipe our bums with. The ultimate snub to the incredible trees that grace our planet.
What if we rethought the whole process? How about using resilient, flexible materials in which to present our presents? For example, old clothing, bedding material or curtains? If everyone bought or made one set of wrapping materials that’s all we’d need. Either we ask for the wrapping back, or make it part of the gift, on the condition it be reused. If everyone did that, we’d create a wrapping circle. Like a cheap bottle of wine, it could get passed from person to person and might even end up with the mug who had it in the first place. Birthdays would be a time for replenishing our stock. At Christmas everyone can exchange gifts and wrapping.
Why not wrap gifts in reusable pieces of cloth?!
In this way we preserve the fun of the surprise and the creativity of the giver, while making good use of material that might otherwise be a pollutant. We also save ourselves a lot of money, as well as time wrapping and especially tidying up!
As an example, check out WRAGWRAP, who supply purpose made wrapping material, upcycled from plastic bottles. https://www.wragwrap.com/Let’s dare to be different and see if we can save some forests.
Happily a local dentist has been developing his own brand of plastic-free dental tablets and he’s asked us at Dan’s Refill Store to try them out.
Brand name unfinalised so omitted.
So here’s what you do: 1. Chew a tablet. 2. Wet your toothbrush. 3. Brush as normal. 4. Spit out but don’t rinse.
Verdict: They are a little on the expensive side, but have a great minty taste. My teeth certainly felt as clean as with the major brand toothpaste. They contain fluoride, but they don’t foam up as much. Actually I don’t mind not foaming at the mouth – makes a nice change! The other good thing is, that when customers are finished with a jar, they can bring it back, buy a new one, and the dentist will reuse the empty one.
There are other brands out there and it’s a growing market. Denttabs is one of the major players. You can also buy tubs of tooth powder. There are also a lot of recipes for making your own, and I think I might give that idea a try to.
I’m still using my old plastic toothbrush, but when I need to replace it, there are lots of options – bamboo seems to be the material of choice, although the bristles are still synthetic. ECO-BRU admit theirs are nylon, but BPA free and recyclable. Most brands have bamboo or panda in the name. You don’t need to be a Kung Fu master to use them though.
In a land-mark case, plastic pollution giants Coca-Cola, Nestle and Pepsi (and seven others) are being sued by Californian environment group Earth Island Institute. The aim is to hold them accountable for the damage their companies have caused to the eco-systems of the world. The prosecutors are trying to prove that the companies have produced their billions upon billions of bottles knowing that, although they have the ‘recycle’ logo on them, only five to ten per cent will actually end up being made into something new. Thus they have been misleading the public, making light of the problem, while the world’s oceans become a plastic soup. This should not be a hard case to prove, but no doubt these big boys have a lot of influential people on board and may yet wriggle out of it. But at least it gives more publicity and momentum to the cause. Join me in boycotting as many of their products as you can. Check the labels for who’s actually behind the drinks.
I did a talk for a scout group yesterday about the problems of plastic. In researching it I discovered something – all aluminium food and drink cans, have a plastic lining inside. It may just show my ignorance but I was shocked to find this out. There are videos demonstrating it. It’s everywhere! Even in sea salt!
The other day in Dan’s Refill Store a kindly customer asked if I had any deodorant. Although I managed not to take it personally, it did make me want to make sure I wasn’t putting people off coming into the shop! And it made me think about plastic free alternatives to standard deodorants. There are a few out there. Most are available in tins or jars and are applied with the fingers. Pit Putty, Fit Pit, Earth Conscious Natural Deodorant and Pit Balm are a few of the options. However, the only one I could find near me at the time was called Salt of the Earth. It’s a bit like a hard deodorant stick and you wet your armpits before applying it. They do it in a refill format and it seems to last a very long time, which means the price is very reasonable. If you’re ever in Chalfont St Peter, come to Dan’s Refill Store – if you can bear to get in the door, it must be working!
Carbon Cutout 