Wouldn’t it be nice to come into work every monday to a lovely, fresh loaf of bread sitting on your desk? That’s right, this post is about how you can have fresh, bready goodness once a week without raising a finger (well, almost) or creating any landfill waste.
I have to give full credit for this idea to my sister who started a bread exchange with 3 of her friends back in Ottawa. The concept is this: Continue reading
Grant always gives me a hard time for buying yogurt. It is pretty much the only thing we still buy in a plastic container, and he doesn’t care for it much, so he likes to chide me for the wasteful packaging.
I have actually cut down on my dairy consumption a lot since we started this project, but I still buy one every week or three (and I personally do think that the transparent Fraser Valley yogurt ones are great for reusing in the freezer because you can see what’s in them).
unfortunately, although the containers can be recycled, they can’t get made into more food grade containers, so it does mean that every yogurt I buy is encased in virgin plastic.
I’ve been reading for awhile now about people making yogurt at home. Continue reading
That is what I keep asking myself. Why eat take out when you know it’s just going to be a big hassle to explain that you want your falafal wrap in your own container with no paper wrapping? NO paper.
Then I receive a wrap covered in two pieces of paper, a napkin, and a paper bag INSIDE my reusable plastic container. No joke.
I know it seems like I’m asking for it by even trying to dine out, but there was nothing at home to make lunch with, and I did pick a nice local restaurant that doesn’t use styrofoam which I thought indicated that they were trying to cut back on needless waste. I even heard the order-taker tell the wrap guy to make it with no paper involved. . . .
In retrospect, I should have asked for it on a “for here” plate and then transferred it to my container myself.
It’s not in the Clean Bin Rules, but I’m going to try a new approach and mail the paper waste back to them with a nice letter.
Filed under food waste, slip ups
If you didn’t already need another reason to stop using store bought shampoo and conditioner, the Canadian government just decided that 16 chemicals, two of which are common ingredients found in shampoo and cosmetics, are actually toxic.
According to a story on GreenBiz.com, Siloxanes D4 and D5 which are found in products such as shampoo, antiperspirants, lipstick, textiles, paints and coatings, sealants, plastics, and food additives, were determined to be substances toxic to the environment. Continue reading
Filed under Around the house, Hygiene
A couple weeks ago, we had friends over for dinner, and they brought a delicious cake. But not just any cake, a cake that was (gasp) packaged in a hard plastic case! Of course, we didn’t say anything, and it is curbside recyclable #1 PETE plastic, but we wouldn’t normally buy something in such a large, disposable package.
It seemed like too good of a container to recycle right away (reuse before recycle is always better), so it has been sitting in the “rigid plastics” section of our kitchen recycling center ever since, waiting for an idea.
Well, this morning I had a great idea for reusing it: indoor greenhouse! Continue reading
Filed under Around the house, reusable containers
I knew it would happen. After 220 days, I’m officially out of conditioner (actually, I ran out of shampoo too, but I have a previously rejected half bottle bottle still under the sink).
I’m able to avoid the dreaded bin because the bottle is #1 plastic (curbside recyclable), but I’m going to try to last the rest of the project without buying more conditioner based on the fact that I’m not convinced that hair products are actually essential hygiene.
It’s the same reason that I’m not buying mascara or eyeliner. They look good, but I can still function and maintain basic levels of “clean” just fine without them (ie. I don’t smell). Continue reading
Filed under Hygiene
The Clean Bin Project Blog 