Wednesday 13 January 2010

Recycling plans

Taking a leaf out of Rae's blog, and Sharon's blog I am planning on reducing our waste significantly. We recycle everything possible, but tend to stumble on food waste. All compostable stuff is composted, but sometimes it is not just the peelings, it's food that would have been useable if I had been more organised, and used it earlier. Another issue we have is cooked waste. Sophie is particularly bad for only eating a couple of mouthfuls, but we have other less than excuberant eaters in the family too. I got a couple of Bokashi bins from freecycle a while ago, but have never used them, so I am planning on setting these up and see how we get on with them, although so far it is mainly bread that is going in there. Along with a food plan, I hope to reduce the amount of food waste we create.

I am also conscious of how much stuff we actually recycle. We have had to order a larger recycling bin, as now they have added all sorts of plastic packaging, tetrapak, and thick cardboard to the list of things they will take, there is no-way it will all fit in the standard sized bin. Surely we could cut down on this too? But it may take a while.

We tend to be hoarders, as well as completely disorganised which makes for masses of things not being sorted through until we have a blitz. There is literally years worth of paperwork, sat in the study. Items that are no longer needed, but cannot bring myself to sort out as it would either mean it going to landfill, or waiting for one of those days when it "might" just come in handy! Therefore, more use of freecycle will be happening, more organisation with household things as well as food, and trying to repurpose things when I can, but admit defeat sometimes and either find someone who can use it, or bite the bullet and recycle it!

For example, I have found a use for our old recycling buckets, new carrot growing beds for the lottie. Perfect height to deter carrot fly, and we can control the soil more easily. But I also have some broken scales, and a broken hand-blender, I really don't think they can be repurposed into anything, so I'll have to find the appropriate place at the local waste site.

4 comments:

  1. I'm doing this more too - 3 things gone on freecycle in the past couple of weeks so I'm very pleased. Our downfall is cooked food waste I think - must try harder ;-)

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  2. I do tend to give a lot of food scaps to the hens. We are eating more veggie stuff, so nor worries about potential cannibalism ;) I have stopped buying read and am making our own - 3 loaves at a time - one in use and others in the freezer until the one in use is finished. K has gone back to uni, so it is a bit easier to do atm. We'll see - resolutions, resolutions...

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  3. Inspiring thoughts! Thank you for sharing. :) We also hoard paperwork and have no *idea* what to do with things like a broken blender!

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  4. You know, I worry about the amount of recycling we produce too. I used to look smugly into our half filled waste bin and then at our overflowing recycling boxes and think that was the way it should be, recycle as much as possible so less landfill. But then I realised that's not right at all, we should be producing less waste altogether. I think I still need to get into the idea of being a mum to a smaller family, still catch myself cooking meals big enough for seven adults when really I only have four adults left to feed and 2 little ones.

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