Category: Food Waste (page 1 of 1)

celebrate the little everyday green wins

Recently I (Tamara) have been struggling to manage my depression. It has risen up and engulfed me and my outlook, which usually presents outwardly as positive and energetic, has been bleak, joyless, and stationary. 

In the last few days, I have reluctantly dragged myself out of the murky treacle that I have been residing horizontally in. Some of the things I needed to do before this depressive episode hit still need to be done. This blog post is one of those things.

Now,  Emma and I are a team and she has occasionally in the past filled in for me when I have been unwell. But this time,  I didn’t ask her as I know she is swamped with work (it’s why there was no blog post earlier this month) and anyway, I want to write my post. 

But my brain interferes, telling me that I am a terrible Green who is not doing enough and the world is burning.  Not very conducive to writing a cheery post about eco bathroom tips and tricks. Not conducive at all! 

A tool I keep in my mental health toolkit is counting the small achievements. Usually, brushing my teeth and taking a shower are daily actions that don’t require much thought. During a depressive episode, these can take an inordinate amount of energy and are a major achievement. Recognising this helps me change my thinking, which then helps lift me out of depression’s grip. (Together with therapy, antidepressants, love and support from friends and family, getting exercise, trying not to face plant into potato (crisps and chips are my go-to depression food), occasionally leaving the house, and lots of light-TV binging).

Image of a sunny and sandy beach
Clearly not Southsea seafront

So this post contains no tips on how to green up your bathroom, instead, it is a list of the green minutiae, the daily eco tasks I have accomplished that all add up. It is celebrating the drops of water that make up the ocean. Cheesy, yes. True, also yes!

And if you have that voice telling you that you are not doing enough, saying this is all pointless and how are these small actions changing anything? –  I hope you will list all your small accomplishments and see that each and every action is helping to create a culture of change. 

Ok pep talk over, let us celebrate the joy of the tiny green action! Here’s my top 10!

person wearing face mask and doing the thumbs up sign
Not me or Emma, but we beg of you: wear a mask! (in places where social distancing is impossible and provided you are not medically exempt due to a disability)
  1. Refilled 

I trotted down to Herbies, the independent health food shop on Albert Road to refill my cleaning liquids (laundry, washing up, and hand soap). At the time, this was on a Wednesday and they were closed. This is not their fault. My brain was depressed goo. The real win was that I returned when they were open! (Alert: Herbies have recently changed their opening hours and are now open on a Wednesday!)

  1. Supported Local Independents

My hubby (The Dutchman) and I celebrated an anniversary by gifting each other a book. We had a lovely, safe, and socially-distanced look round Pigeon Books, our local independent book store on Albert Road and left two books richer. What is not to like? Say I love you with a book!

  1. Grew Something

Earlier in May, I wrote about my difficulties keeping seedlings alive. I am pleased and proud to report that my honeywort – my last man standing – is still alive!!!!! No one is more surprised than me! (Scroll to the end to see evidence of this great feat!)

  1. Cooked Food Waste

This is a two-part win as I made soup from the broccoli and cauliflower stalks and leaves which I used to compost. When I am low, I do not want to cook or eat nutritious food. This made so much I froze some, so Future-Depressed-Me can eat better. She won’t be happy about it, but I know she’ll be glad in the end.

  1. Composted Food Waste

I do not currently have a compost bin in my garden (it is on my list… Actually, hold on, I am going to post a Wanted ad on a local group right now…. Ok done! Hopefully, I will get a flood of replies!) 

So while I am compost bin-less, some friends of mine are kindly letting me use their Food Waste bin as they are one of the lucky few who were part of the council’s food waste collection trial. I walked over to their place and deposited my offerings into their box. (Hahah, I love how dodgy that sounds!)

  1. Hung Laundry Outside

That’s basically it. Chores tend not to get done when I am depressed so doing laundry meant I was winning at life! And with a 20°C wash cycle and hanging the clothes outside, I was also winning at my green life!

  1. Connected with the Green Community

Prior to Covid-19, Portsmouth Green Drinks gathered once a month at The Southsea Village – an informal meet-up for people interested in environmental issues. During the lockdown, these monthly meet-ups moved online and there were quizzes and various themed talks.

I attended a recent talk given by local Passivhaus designer, Rachel Mitchell of GreenBox Associates. It was nice to see smiling, familiar faces, listen to an interesting talk by a passionate, inspiring local entrepreneur and environmentalist and also immediately use some information on insulation gained from her talk in my next win.

  1. Chose the Greener Product

Sometimes, living a green life and making choices based on eco-values can be cheaper than the norm. But sometimes, and to be honest, I find a lot of the time, it isn’t cheaper. Case and point – my attic insulation. 

Insulating our very draughty and dusty attic in our new house is a project The Dutchman has recently tackled while I have been languishing horizontally. I have not been involved in it at all apart from as a cheerleader and giving the odd opinion. When presented with the choice of cheaper insulation or ethically sourced and more expensive wool insulation, I winced at the extra cost, but, as we could afford it, decided it was worth installing the eco insulation. Not everyone can spend out on more environmentally friendly products, but I was able to and so I did.

  1. Bought Ethical Fish

Though still a vegetarian in my head, I am not an actual official vegetarian any more and haven’t been for a while. My secret shame made public! (Bonus: Emma still is very much a vegetarian though and will be writing about it next month!)

I have Type-2 diabetes and have been controlling it for the last year with a low-ish-carbohydrate diet, so I have been eating MSC certified sustainable fish. Except, when it comes to sashimi. I bloody love local restaurants’ Sakura’s and Rakuzen’s sashimi and it has been a delightful guilty treat over the lockdown months. So to counterbalance this, I recently made a purchase of frozen ethical sashimi for me to chow down on at home. 

  1. Wrote a Blog Post About Celebrating the Small Green Wins

So meta. But this blog post is a massive achievement. I love writing it and look forward to it every month. This month was harder than usual and thank you for reading. It makes it worth the times when it is a struggle.

And here is the moment you have been waiting for. I present to you for her Shades of Green debut – my last-man-standing, my precious, my honeywort!

How to Recycle in Portsmouth in 2019

Welcome to The Updated Ultimate Guide to Recycling in Portsmouth!

 It is no secret that we (Emma and Tamara) love recycling; we’ve certainly written enough posts about it. Back in 2017, our first post here on Shades of Green was about how to recycle in Portsmouth. But in the two years since then, much has changed and the time for updating is here!

As there is currently no national standardized recycling system in the UK, access to recycling facilities varies widely depending on where you live. It’s basically a geographical luck-of-the-draw. Emma’s best friend lives in Bolton and whenever Emma visits, she’s amazed and rather jealous about what Bolton council will divert from the rubbish bin compared to Portsmouth city council. She literally lusts over Bolton’s kerbside recycling where food and drink cartons, foil and foil trays (to name but a few) are all collected, together with the usual suspects of tins, paper and card and plastic bottles.

Shades of Green Mantra
Image by Tracey McCulloch

With countries such as China and Malaysia turning away the UK’s low-quality recycling, dumping our recycling waste on other countries is no longer such an easy option. So, though important, recycling must come after reusing, repairing, and reducing. With this in mind, donating to charity and repairing is included as a recycling option on our list.

For your convenience and our sanity, we’ve structured this list of items by which room in your house they’re most likely to be found. (We’ve included office as well for those of you looking to recycle at work.) We’ve also listed it according to the most convenient place for you to recycle items, i.e. if it can be recycled at home at the kerbside, we’ve stated that. 

Prepare yourself, this is one epic post!

Tip: Please ensure items are clean and free of food residue on them. Give items quick rinse and let air dry before recycling.
Terracycle Tip: Public drop-off locations for Terracycle recycling schemes do change and some schemes are time-limited, so check the maps we have included or the Terracycle website for updated locations and information.

The Updated Ultimate Guide to Recycling in Portsmouth

Room by room


Living Room

Extract of living room items that can be recycled

Living Room: Recycle Kerbside

  • Paper and Cardboard, such as
    • Newspapers and magazines 
    • Junk mail 
    • Greetings cards and gift wrapping paper (no glitter or embellishments or foils or plastics) 
    • Telephone directories and Yellow Pages
  • Small Electrical and Electronic Items (WEEE)
    • If definitely dead as a dodo, recycle at the kerbside. (Leave in a standard-sized supermarket carrier bag on top of your green wheelie bin/ box.)
    • Broken Sat Navs, Games Consoles, Laptops, Tablets, Cameras, including video cameras, Mobile Phones, and Portable Music Devices can also be donated to Portsmouth Green Party who through Recycling for Good Causes recycle these unwanted items and raise funds.

Living Room: Leave The House

  • Batteries
    • Where: Collection Points are located inside the store of most large supermarkets, including Lidl, Tesco, Currys PC World, and Sainsbury’s. (Take a look in your supermarket next time you shop)
    • What:
      • All household batteries including ‘button’ batteries from watches.
      • Battery packs from laptops, mobile phones, power tools and remote control units.
  • Cigarette Waste
    • Where: Freepost to Terracycle.
    • What:
      • Extinguished cigarettes
      • Filters
      • Tobacco pouches
      • Rolling paper
      • Inner foil packaging
      • Outer plastic packaging, and ash.
  • Books
    • Pre-loved books can be donated to charity or put in the Books & CD/DVD Recycling Banks across the city. Click here to find your nearest one.
  • CDs and DVDs
    • Pre-loved CDs and DVDs can be donated to charity shops or to the CD/DVD & Books Recycling Banks across the city. Click here to find your nearest one.
    • For obsolete data CDs etc
      • Where: Post to Reproplastics. Contact them first for their separation specifications.
    • What:
      • CD and DVD cases (with the discs removed)
      • CDs and DVDs loose
  • Large Electricals
    • If in working order, donate and if broken, attempt to repair.
    • If definitely broken
      • Return to the store for disposal.
      • or take to the Household Waste Recycling Centre (aka the Tip in Port Solent)
      • or contact a scrap metal dealer, like this one. (Emma did no research apart from Googling ‘Free Scrap Metal Collection Portsmouth UK’)
  • Furniture
    • Donate, give away, or sell.
    • If not fit for use, try offering on Freecycle or Trash Nothing because some clever crafty people can turn your broken chest of drawers into a child’s toy storage.
    • Last resort is the tip.
  • Money

Kitchen

Extract of kitchen items that can be recycled

Kitchen: Recycle Kerbside

  • Paper and Card, such as:
    • Takeaway menus 
    • Cardboard egg boxes
    • Cardboard fruit and veg punnets (please break down larger boxes)
    • Cardboard sleeve
    • Cardboard sandwich packaging (remove plastic window)
    • Cereal boxes
    • Pizza boxes (any parts with food waste or lots of grease should be composted)
    • Corrugated cardboard
  • Plastic bottles (No lids), such as:
    • Home cleaning product bottles like Cleaner and detergent bottles
    • Drinks bottles
    • Milk bottles
    • See where you can recycle the plastic bottle lids further down this list.
  • Drink Cans and Food tins (please wash), such as:
    • Drink cans e.g. fizzy drinks cans, beer cans
    • Food tins e.g. baked beans, fish, soup tins
    • Pet food tins e.g. dog and cat food tins
    • Metal sweet and biscuit tins
  • Food Waste Trial 
    • Portsmouth City Council is launching a food waste kerbside collection trial starting this September 2019 for 6 months. Click here to see if you are one of the lucky households participating. 
    • Yes to all uneaten food and plate scrapings, plastic-free tea bags, shredded paper, coffee grounds, vegetable peelings, eggshells and cut flowers.  
    • No to liquids or packaging of any kind. That includes industrial ‘compostable’ packaging such as Vegware.
Tip: If your road is not part of the food waste trial, see ShareWaste further down this list. 

Kitchen: LEAVE THE HOUSE

Recycling Banks/ Supermarkets
  • Glass Bottles and Jars (including metal lids) 
    • Where: Recycle at Glass Recycling Banks located across the city. Find your nearest one here
    • What:
      • Glass bottles of any colour e.g. wine and beer bottles
      • Food jars e.g. jam jars, baby food jars
      • Non-food bottles, e.g. perfume, aftershave, face creams
Tip: Did you know you can leave the metal jar lids and the screwcap lids on!   
  • Rigid Mixed Plastics
    • Where: Rigid Mixed Plastic Recycling Banks at Sainsbury’s Farlington and Sainsbury’s Commercial Road. Sainsbury’s Superstores are the only stores we’ve spotted these mixed plastic recycling banks.
    • What:
      • Margarine and ice cream tubs
      • Confectionary tubs
      • Rigid plastic food packets
      • Yoghurt pots
      • Plastic lids (see below for alternatives to Sainsbury’s)
  • Drinks and Food Cartons
    • What:
      • Juice cartons
      • Paper cups
      • Milk cartons
      • Paper coffee cups (no lids)
      • Soup, tomatoes and other food cartons
      • Other beverage cartons
      • No to sandwich packaging, any other laminated fibre packaging, coffee cup lids.
 Tip:  Did you know you can leave the caps/lids of the cartons on!    
  • Stretchy Plastics
    • Where: Plastic Bag Recycling Collection Points found in (usually) larger supermarkets in-store, including Waitrose Southsea and Commercial Road Sainsbury’s Superstore and Tesco Superstore and North Habour Tesco Superstore Extra.
    • What: 
      • Plastic Carrier Bags (except biodegradable or compostable bags)
      • Plastic bread bags,
      • Plastic cereal bags and inner cereal bags, 
      • Plastic wrappers and ring joiners from multipacks of cans and plastic bottles
      • Plastic wrappers from toilet roll, nappy pack and kitchen towel packs,
      • Plastic freezer bags
      • Plastic magazine and newspaper wrap (type used for home delivery only) 
      • Polythene that covers things like dry cleaning, 
      • Thin bags used for fruit and veg at supermarkets, 
        Bubble wrap
      • Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) – resin ID code
      • No: Do not include anything claiming to be biodegradable or compostable.
Tips: Tear off sticky labels where possible.
      Bread bags can also be dropped off at Eco Freaks Emporium, Gosport.
Out and ABout (Kitchen)
  • Plastic Bottle Lids (alternative to Sainsbury’s mixed plastics recycling banks)
    • Where: Lush Portsmouth.
    • What: Small plastic bottle tops made from any plastic compound such as Lush bottle caps, milk, soft drinks, sports cap drinks, fabric softener caps.
    • Where + What: Take milk bottle lids only to Coffee No. 1 in Southsea

[April 22, 2021

SAD DANCE UPDATE: Unfortunately, St Mary’s Church no longer take foils for recycling. Instead, you can take your foils to the Household Waste Recycling Centre, in Port Solent (aka the tip).]

  • Foils
    • Where: Drop it at St Mary’s Church, Fratton 9am-12pm, Monday to Friday. 
    • What:
      • Clean household foil and aluminium trays
      • Takeaway containers
      • Barbeque tray
Tip: Try the scrunch test - if you scrunch it up into a ball and it stays that way (like tin foil does), then it’s probably recyclable aluminium. If it bounces back open it isn't and needs to go in the rubbish bin.  
Tip: Take the plastic lids to Sainsbury’s Mixed Plastic Banks
  • Biscuit or Sweet Metal Tins
    • (alternative to kerbside recycling)
  • Organic, Compostable Waste
    • Sign up for Sharewaste, which links people with organic waste like veg peelings and no compost with people with home composters! Tamara has two compost bins and is very proud of her system and many ‘regulars’ who donate their fruit and veg peelings.
    • What: This depends on the person who accepts your stuff for compost but to give you any idea – Tamara accepts:
      • Raw, uncooked fruit and veg peelings (remove stickers from fruit etc)
      • Uncooked eggshells (please crush)
      • Used tea leaves and used coffee grounds. ( just the contents of the teabags as most teabag casings are made of plastic – unless states plastic-free/ biodegradable tea bags )
      • No cooked food of any kind
  • Plastic Takeaway Containers: If still fit-for-purpose, donate your clean reusable takeaway containers to The Lifehouse or Foodcycle or Portsmouth Foodbank.
  • Coffee Pods:
Tip: Did you know that Portsmouth Foodbank welcomes donations of toiletries, Tupperware, tin openers etc for people in need - not just food. 
Terracycle Drop Off Locations (Kitchen)
  • Ella’s Kitchen Baby Food Pouches and Snack Wrappers
    • Where: About four Terracycle public drop-off locations in Portsmouth and Eco Freaks Emporium in Gosport. See map for details. Alternatively, youcan sign up as a private collector and post the items for free.
    • What:
      • Ella’s Kitchen brand of baby food pouches
      • Ella’s Kitchen brand baby food pouch caps (remember these can also go into Sainsbury’s Mixed Plastics Recycling or be taken to Lush)
      • Ella’s Kitchen brand Snack packets
  • Pringles Tubes and Lids
    • Where: There are a few Terracycle Pringles public drop-off locations depending on where you live in Portsmouth, including Solent Infant School. Zoom in on the map for details. Or sign up as a private collector and post the items for free.
    • What:
      • Any size of Pringles brand tubes
      • Plastic lid and seal of Pringles brand can
  • Crisp Packets
    • Where: There are a handful of Terracycle Crisp Packet public drop-off locations both in the north and south of Portsmouth as well as Eco Freaks Emporium, Gosport. Zoom in on the map for details.
    • What:
      • Crisp packets
      • Crisp multipack outer packaging
Tips: Flatten the crisp packets and do not fold them into triangles. And try Two Farmers Crisps which come in home compostable bags! #notanad 
  • Popcorn, Nut and Pretzel Packets
    • Where: There is one Terracycle drop-off location in Pompey (Southsea) or then it’s Eco Freaks Emporium in Gosport or Horndean. See map for details.  
    • What:
      • Any brand nut packets
      • Any brand pretzel packets
      • Any brand popcorn packets
      • Any brand crisp packets
  • Biscuit and Snack Packaging
    • Where: There are a few Terracycle public drop-off locations in Portsmouth as well as Eco Freaks in Gosport. Zoom in on the map for details.
    • What:
      • Any brand of non-savoury biscuit wrappers
      • Any brand of cracker wrappers
      • Any brand of cake bar wrappers
  • Sweet Packets and Plastic Confectionery Packaging
    • Where: Solent Infant School in Drayton. Eco Freaks Emporium in Gosport. (Both SIS and EFE also take several other items if you just want to make one big trip with everything.)
    • What:
      • Plastic chocolate and sweets pouches and bags
      • Individual chocolate bar wrappers
      • Chocolate and sweets multipack outer plastic packaging
      • Plastic chocolate block wrappers
Tip: Breakfast, granola and energy bar wrappers are not accepted. See here for more details on what is/isn't accepted.  
  • Home Cleaning Products Packaging
    • Where: Several locations in North Portsmouth. See map for details.
    • What: all brands and sizes of –
      • Plastic bottle caps and plastic trigger heads for home cleaning products
      • Flexible wipe packaging (used for home cleaning products)
      • Pumps and caps for home cleaning products

And for the truly dedicated, here are some kitchen items that do not currently have drop-off locations in Portsmouth but can be taken further afield to Fareham, Gosport Denmead etc.

Further afield Terracycle drop off locations
  • L’OR and Kenco Coffee Packaging
    • Where: Drop off at these locations in Fareham or Gosport.
    • What:
      • Any size of Tassimo Flow Wrap packaging
      • Kenco Eco-Refill Coffee Packs
      • L’OR Coffee Capsules
      • Kenco Eco-Refill Coffee Packs
      • Kenco brand Coffee Jar Lids
Tip:  Alternatively, for an easy life, drop the coffee jar lids at Sainsbury’s Mixed Plastic Banks  
  • Cleaning Products Packaging
    • Where: Either in Eco Freaks Emporium, Gosport Fareham and Denmead. Zoom in on map for details.
    • What: any brand of –
      • Outer plastic sleeve for dishwasher cleaners:
      • Foil inside dishwasher protector
      • Flexible plastic dishwasher sale bags
      • Outer packaging for dishwasher cleaner and fresheners
      • Fragrance Twin Pack plastic sleeves
      • Flexible stain remover packaging
      • Flexible cleaning wipe packaging
      • Flexible cleaning product refill packaging
      • Flexible dishwasher tablet packaging
  • Pet Food Packaging
    • Where: Either in Gosport or Horndean. Zoom in on map for details.
    • What:
      • All wet pet food plastic pouches
      • All pet treat flexible plastic packaging and pouches
      • All dry pet food flexible plastic packaging

Bathroom

Extract of bathroom items that can be recycled

bathroom: Recycle Kerbside

  • Paper and Card, such as
    • Toilet roll tubes
    • Toothpaste cardboard cartons
  • Plastic Bottles, such as
    • Plastic shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, etc bottles
Tip: Rinse them out first- use leftover bathwater or do so in the shower.  

Bathroom: LEAVE THE HOUSE

Terracycle Drop Off Locations (BATHROOM)
  • Oral Care Items
    • Plastic toothbrushes (rinsed)
    • Electric or battery-operated toothbrush heads (rinsed)
    • Toothbrush outer packaging
    • Toothbrush tubes and caps (empty as far as possible)
  • Razors and Blades
    • Where: Sign up here for a Freepost envelope.
    • What: Gillette is running a recycling scheme until June 2020 via Terracycle for all brands of razors, blades and disposable razors and their packaging.
  • Plastic Air Fresheners
    • Where: A few locations north of Portsmouth. See map for details.
    • What: all brands and sizes of-
      • Plastic air fresheners and air freshener cartridges
      • Plastic air freshener packaging

BEDROOM

Extract of bedroom items that can be recycled

BEDROOM: Recycle Kerbside

  • Aerosols, such as
    • Deodorant aerosol containers 
    • No lids
Tip: Take the plastic aerosol lids to Sainsbury's mixed plastic banks. 
  • Metal Tins, such as
    • Shoe polish tins
    • Deodorant tins

Bedroom: Leave The House

Out and ABout (BEDROOM)
  • Glass
    • Where: Glass Recycling Banks can be found across the city. To find your nearest one, go to Portsmouth’s City Council Recycling Locator here.
    • What:
      • Glass jars and bottles such as body cream and face cream jars. Remember, you can leave the metal lids on.
  • Jewellery
    • What + Where: Donate jewellery including costume jewellery, odd earings, broken pieces, and watches to Portsmouth Green Party. Of course, other organisations and charities also collect for these types of recycling schemes.
  • Contact Lenses, including Packaging
    • Where: We have spotted contact lens recycling bins in-store at Boots in Commercial Road, Portsmouth and the Boots Meridian Centre, Havant. When you get your next eye-test, check if your local opticians in participating in this Terracycle scheme.
    • What: any brand of-
      • Soft, disposable contact lenses (daily, 2-weekly, monthly)
      • Contact lens blister packs & foils waste packaging
  • Spectacles
  • Inhalers
    • Where: A number of locations across the city, including Boots Southsea and Asda Fratton pharmacies. Search for the nearest one here.
    • What:
      • All brands of oral respiratory devices
      • Click here to check the list of acceptable items
  • L’Occitane Beauty, Hair and Skincare Packaging
    • What:
      • Refill pouches
      • Flexible Plastic Tubes
      • Rigid plastic tubes/tubs such as lip balm tubes and deodorant sticks
      • Caps and closures
      • Pumps, trigger heads and dispensers such as for soap, body lotion etc
      • Travel size packaging
      • Metal cases
      • Aluminium packaging
      • No: Aerosols Glass Bottles, Glass Tubs, Glass Moisturiser Jars
Tips: Recycle aerosols kerbside minus the lid, the aerosol lid can go to Sainsbury's Mixed Plastics Recycling Banks, the glass tubs and jars to the Glass Recycling Banks all around town. 
  • Clothing and Accessories
    • What:
      • Clothing
      • Shoes
      • Bags
      • Household Linens
      • Belts
      • Hats, scarves
    • Repair:
    • Donate:
      • New to Good Condition?
        • *Prioritise* donating to charity shops and shelters if items are in good, reuseable condition.
      • In Good to Bad Condition?
        • Textile Recycling Banks
          • Where: There are many across the city, check here for your nearest one.
          • What: Any materials (clothes, shoes & bags and household linen) no matter how old or worn (Please ensure items are clean and place them in a bag).
      • Not Fit for Use?
        • Where: Charity Shops and Textile Recycling Banks
        • What: Rags, materials and textiles not fit for use – including old towels, bedding, clothes, etc
        • Tip: Put in a separate bag and label it rags, so staff don’t waste time going through it.
    • Swap for Rewards:
      • Where: Most M&S stores, including M&S Outlets, and at Oxfam stores offer a ‘Shwop Drop’ box, usually by the tills. Nearest M&S Outlet is in Gunwharf and Oxfam Shop is in Southsea.
      • What: They accept any item of clothing (even if it’s damaged) from any retailer, including shoes, handbags, jewellery, belts, hats, scarves and bras. You can also Shwop soft furnishings (bed linen, towels, cushions, curtains, throws, aprons, tablecloths and napkins)
      • Where: +What: H&M accept unwanted clothes by any brand, in any condition, at any of their stores. Nearest H&M is in Commercial Road, Portsmouth.
      • Others reward schemes exist. Google is your friend.
  • Bras
    • As well as the options above, you can also donate your preloved bras to specific bra-focused organisations and charities that redistribute and recycle them.
    • Tamara particularly likes Against Breast Cancer and Bravissimo, having used both in the past. Freepost your bras to Bravissimo to this address: FREEPOST RLYT-YCYR-YGUH, Bravissimo, 1st Floor, Imperial Court, Holly Walk, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 4YB.
  • Towels, Bedding, and Other Large Soft Materials
    • If it’s not good enough to be sold in a charity shop, but too good for rags, donate to your local animal shelter.
  • Mattresses
    • Donate to charity shops or homeless shelters, if in good condition and fit for use.
    • If not able to reuse, you could take some time stripping it down into individual parts, giving the material to rag bags and the metal to scrap metal collectors.
    • Or you can take it to the tip.
  • Sex Toys
    • Electric ones, i.e. vibrators, can be recycled with Love Honey. (Read more about socially conscious sex here.)
Tip: As electric/battery-operated sex toys are electrical items, they can be recycled kerbside. Leave in a standard-sized supermarket carrier bag on top of your green wheelie bin/ box. 
Terracycle Drop Off Locations (Bedroom)

Office/ study

Business vector created by freepik – www.freepik.com

Office and study: KERBSIDE

  • Paper, such as
    • Window envelopes
    • Envelopes
    • Greeting cards (no glitter or embellishments)

Office and study: Leave The House

Tip: Remember, shredded paper cannot go in the kerbside recycling but it can go in a home composter as well as the new kerbside food waste collection trial. 
  • Packaging from Packages
    • Where: Join Packshare and donate your packaging materials to small businesses. The closest location accepting materials (at the time of writing) is on Hayling Island.
    • What:
      • Cardboard boxes
      • Bubble wrap
      • Air pockets
      • Packing peanuts
      • Jiffy bags
      • Poster tubes
      • Brown paper
      • Tissue paper
      • Vinyl mailer 7″ and 12″
      • Corrugated cardboard
      • Shredded cardboard
      • Plastic bags

Garage / Shed

Extract of garage and shed items that can be recycled

gARAGE AND shed: Leave The House

  • Energy-efficient Light Bulbs:
    • Robert Dyas and Curry’s PC World stores should accept them for recycling. There is a Robert Dyas on Palmerston Road, Southsea and a Curry’s PC World at Ocean Retail Park, Copnor.
  • Bicycles
    • Community Cycle Hub will refurbish donated bikes or recycle them. They have three locations – two in Portsmouth and one in Gosport.
  • Wood
  • Paint
    • Reuse: Reuse it. Donate to friends/family/local community project if you won’t use it again.
Tip: Did you know paint can't be recycled or taken to landfill sites in a liquid state? 
  • Non-electrical Tools
    • Donate to charity shops, local community projects, or Workaid.
    • Unusable ones might be able to be collected by scrap metal collectors.

Garden/ Windowsill/ Balcony

Background vector created by vectorpouch – www.freepik.com

Garden/ Windowsill/ balcony: Leave The House

  • Plant Pots and Trays
    • Donate useable items to community gardens such as Southsea Green and Landport Community Garden.
    • A friend of Shades of Green, Emma, alerted us that plastic plant pots can be recycled at B&Q. Let us know if you try!
    • Further afield in Havant, you can take all shapes, sizes and colours of plastic plant post and trays to Dobbies Garden Centre. Give them a quick wash first and ensure it is plastic and not polystyrene.
  • Compostable Garden Waste
    • Where: As mentioned in the Kitchen section, Sharewaste links those with organic waste and no compost with neighbours with home composters.
    • What: This depends on the Sharewaste neighbour but they might accept –
      • Dry leaves,
      • Wood ashes
      • Withered flowers
      • Wood shavings
      • Grass clippings
    • Where: The Garden Waste Club, a paid kerbside collection is available in Portsmouth through Biffa.
    • What:
      • Leaves, grass cuttings, hedge and tree cuttings etc
      • Any woody material under 10cm (4 inches) in diameter
      • No vegetable peelings, animal waste such as droppings etc or animal bedding
  • Holiday Inflatables
    • Where: Isle of Wight based Wyatt & Jack turn inflatables, destined for the bin, into cool bags. Post smaller items and they refund your postage. They can collect large items from you using a courier service. See here for address details.
    • What: punctured and beyond repair –
      • Punctured paddling pools,
      • Bouncy castles,
      • Inflatable unicorns etc.
      • Water wings/ armbands
      • Beach balls
      • Old windbreaks
      • Trampolines
      • Rubber dinghies
      • All sorts of other beach paraphernalia, inflatables and water toys
      • Air beds

Well, that was a major read. Congrats if you made it to the end. Let us know any questions you have in the comments below or via ">email.

We’re especially interested to hear from people who want to share other recycling locations, other products to be recycled, and if you’re a local business able to take any products (i.e. paint, wood, etc) for reuse.


GREEN CHALLENGES: How we Scrwed up this year and how we’ll do better

Following our Green Wins, join Emma and me as we bare our souls and reveal our Eco ‘Oopsies’. But as eco-shame is never the aim of our game, we also set our positive intentions with personal enviro challenges for the next 365 days of Shades of Green.

So, first, the waggy-ish finger – What Eco ‘Oopsies’ have Emma and I (Tamara) made in the last year in our attempts to live green?


Confessions of Shady Greens

Image by jessica45 from Pixabay

Emma’s Eco Oopsies

Chauffeur Hire: I have been persuaded to share a taxi late at night, rather than get the bus, which I feel guilty about. (Tamara says: You are SHARING a taxi. That is fine. I absolve you.)

Flying McFly Face: Two of my holidays in 2019 have involved air-travel and I cannot pretend that I feel good about it. Before my holidays, Tamara and I discussed offsetting the carbon, which Tamara feels is greenwash. I can’t prove that the companies would have planted a tree with the £10, so I donated it to Portsmouth Green Party instead.

Single-Use Trees and Leaves: I do routinely forget to tell restaurants that I don’t want paper napkins, so I end up taking my unused napkin home and using it for emergency toilet paper if I haven’t washed my cloths. Otherwise, restaurants will just throw them in the bin because they don’t know what you’ve done to them.

Strike a Pose, Vogue: I bought three *new* items of clothing that were definitely not made from sustainable materials. I wish my swimsuit had been made from recycled materials and that the other items had been bought second-hand. 

Tamara’s Eco Oopsies 

Cat vs Food: My stupid cat has stupid ongoing urinary problems. She is now on stupid urinary food for life and though I have sourced it in a can and not in a stupid plastic pouch, it is not ethical meat. Gutted. Farewell to Yarrah‘s organic, grain free and MSC wet cat food!

Who Needs Teeth?: I am pleased to report that I have sourced zero waste toothpaste and floss. I have been using Toothtabs (with fluoride!) for a while now and am very happy with them. I’ve been buying them online and was so chuffed to buy them locally from Refill and Replenish  – a fab mobile plastic-free shop run by the lovely Laura and Alice.

However, though I bought plastic-free dental floss from Wild Thyme ages ago at the Package Free Larder launch event March, I haven’t actually used it yet. My dentist will be horrified. 

Think of the Fishes: Since Emma’s post last year on eco-ing the festival experience, researching and buying eco sunscreen has been on my list. I have not yet sorted that but I am using up one from last year’s Turkey holiday in September

Fish are Friends, not Food: But my biggest oopsie is that I’ve been eating illicit fish here and there, mostly eating (delicious) sashimi at Sakura Southsea – and it’s not even ethical or MSC fish. It is a massive fail. And I dare to still consider myself a vegetarian. It is a complete identity crisis. Who even am I?


We learn from our mistakes and we are not about eco-shaming, so Emma – please lift us back up – what will you be focusing on for the next 365 days of Shades of Green?

365 Green Challenges

Emma’s Green Challenges for Shades of Green 365

  1. A lot of the green progress I’ve made is a case of thinking more about what I need and do not need. That’s cut down on packaging, as well as the creation of new items. I want to continue this thoughtful thinking next year.
  2. I’m taking a stand against presents. Over the next year, I’m going to be telling all of my friends and relatives that I’m not going to be buying them birthday or Christmas presents, nor do I wish to receive them. (Actually, I’m just linking them to this post.) I will be making exceptions for my niece and nephews, but in order to ensure they get something that they’ll cherish, I’ve asked their parents what they want.
  3. I will continue to cut down on:
    • packaging, even stuff that can be recycled, by buying naked products
    • animal byproducts, by eating vegan meals more often
    • food waste, by optimising  my use of Olio, the Trash Cafe, etc

Tamara’s Green Challenges for Shades of Green 365

  1. Terracycle and stretchy plastics in the Carrier Bag recycling banks – this is an ongoing de-merit. I have started taking stuff to carrier bag recycling but I still haven’t looked into it properly so always feel guilty in case I am contaminating it. I do take my crisp packets to a Terracycle collector in Southsea and keep my pens for Milton Cross School (but haven’t actually taken them) but again haven’t really done the research.
  2. Water-saving is a challenge indeed as hopefully, I will be moving this autumn (hence the new mortgage green win in our previous post) and my new-fingers-crossed-home has a water meter. This is something I haven’t experienced since living in Tobago when we would bathe using a bucket. I am going to become a water-saving bully, I know it! I am taking inspiration from Emma’s post on ‘How to Eco-Hack Your Bathroom’ and her tips as her household are water-saving champs!
  3. I have signed up to be #flightfree2020. I have warned my friends and family who reside abroad and am mentally preparing myself from now! Did you know that there is a new Sweedish word for the feeling of shame experienced when flying – flygskam. 2020 shall be flygskam free for me!

And so concludeth our anniversary introspection! Emma and I will report back on our green challenges in approx a years time in August-ish 2020 Till then, here’s to another 365 days of living in various Shades of Green!

And what of you Dear Reader, what are your green oopsies and challenges? – tell us in the Comments Section.

GREEN WINS

Happy Anniversary to us – Shades of Green is two! 

In the last two years since we started Shades of Green, Emma and I (Tamara) have become firm friends with our shared love of milkshakes so thick the straw remains upright, theatre-trips and of course, recycling! 

In this two-part anniversary post, we will be celebrating our green wins, commiserating our ‘oopsies’ and setting challenges for the next 365 days of Shades of Green.

Today’s focus is on the individual changes and progress we have made since last year’s anniversary posts (check those out here and here) and so Emma and I discuss our green wins over the past year.


Emma’s Green Wins

Image by Ben Kerckx from Pixabay

Food Waste 

I’ve had a lot less food waste, not because, as was the case last year, I’ve been repurposing slightly out-of-date food, but simply because I’ve been eating more food before it goes “off”.

Image by Shirley Hirst from Pixabay

Compost + Recycling

Thanks to your insight and my mum joining the Zero Waste Portsmouth Facebook group, I’ve learned how to compost and recycle a lot more (Shameless plug for our next post – a refresh on everything that can be recycled in Portsmouth!). Also, thanks more to me wanting to lose weight than any green aims, I’ve been eating a lot more apples and carrots for snacks, rather than chocolate and crisps. And due to more careful shopping and better recycling/composting knowledge, we put our bin out on a monthly basis. 

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels

Transport 

I’ve continued to prioritise bus travel and walking around Portsmouth over getting lifts from my parents. Although, I will admit that I have planned my social schedule slightly around when my mum will be using the car anyway. (“Hey Tamara, do you want to go to the cinema on Tuesday? Not because my mum is driving near Gunwharf anyway…”).

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0LyA-JpNJ4/
Emma’s Portable Zero Waste Kit Lunch Box

Zero Waste-Kit

I’ve also created a portable zero-waste kit, a’la Tamara’s magic green backpack. I keep all of the stuff, bar my cloth bag and my water bottle, inside an old lunch box that can be used to transport leftovers home in. This goes with me everywhere: to the beach, to restaurants, to Disney World

Emma, that is a*mazing! It is so important to notice and celebrate our daily achievements and success.  You have made so many lasting changes and are generally kickin’ ass. Nice one dude.


Tamara’s Green Wins

Recycling – Cartons + Foils

As you may recall, until this February, I was taking a car-load of cartons every few months all the way to Chandlers Ford. But no longer, as there are now three carton recycling banks in the city! And the newest one is Alexandra Park in Alex Way car park. *Happy dance*

I also took foils on those recycling runs and I am happy to say that I don’t even have to leave my house to recycle these now, as I am doing a serendipitous exchange with the lovely Sarah via ShareWaste. She drops off her organic waste on a weekly basis for my compost and takes my foils for recycling at St Mary’s Church, Fratton. Boom! The barter economy – well kinda!

[April 22, 2021

SAD DANCE UPDATE: Unfortunately, St Mary’s Church no longer take foils for recycling. Instead, you can take your foils to the Household Waste Recycling Centre, in Port Solent (aka the tip).]


Image by Younjoon CHOI from Pixabay

Travel

Emma, as you know flying is our shared Achilles heel! I am pleased to report in the last year I travelled by train from Fratton to Amsterdam to visit the Dutchman’s family. The Eurostar cost me £40! Bargain!  I did have the luxury of time – I travelled on a Wednesday and it took me basically all day. And Full Disclaimer – I flew home to Southampton. 

Green Money 

1. A huge win that I am very proud of is sourcing an ethical mortgage that is actually cheaper than my current mortgage! I will soon be the holder of a mortgage with Coventry Building Society which is ranked 3rd best ethical and environmental record of 37 mortgage providers by the Ethical Consumer. CBS scored 13.5/20 compared to my current mortgage provider The Co-operative Bank which scores a depressing 7/20. I have been with Co-op Mortgages for ten years and had believed them to be super-duper ethical. I was not impressed when I realised that I had been completely taken in by greenwash, the curse of not doing my research. A mortgage is the largest financial investment I will ever make and I am so pleased to be putting my money where my mouth is.

2. Emma and I, both individually and as the Portsmouth Green Party, were pleased to be able to contribute some money towards The Package Free Larder’s crowdfunding campaign. I am so excited to see this project become a reality as Emma, Esther from Zero Waste Portsmouth and PFL and I took a trip many moons ago to check out The Food Assembly project in Bournemouth (UK Assemblies have since closed down) as research for what is now The Package Free Larder. So it is a project that is close to our heart.

3. Till last year, my Amazon boycott was very ad-hoc and convenience often won over values. For the last 9 months or so I simply ignore Amazon’s existence in my internet search results – a head-in-the-sand tactic that works for me. The Dutchman wants to watch some tv-shows on Amazon Prime, but that’s his problem. I now buy books second-hand from World of Books which is recommended by Ethical Consumer (though definitely not perfect as books I purchased were delivered wrapped in plastic. Sigh!)

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

Green Purchases

1.Crisps! Oh, how I love thee! I had a short-lived love affair with Two Farmers crisps which come in home compostable packaging and even set up a little crisp-buying group with a fellow Zero Waster Emily. That has come to an end at no fault of Two Farmers or Emily. I have The Diabetes and crisps are now but a memory! I have made some kale crisps since The Diabetes Diagnosis as chickpeas are a bit too carb-heavy at this stage in my Diabetes Recovery Journey. The kale crisps were tasty but more like crispy seaweed than crisps!

2. I bought the Dutchman a surprise gift of a stainless steel pint glass for use at Victorious Festival this year. At £7 from online shop Plastic Freedom, I was happy with that! Ooh Emma, we should add that tip to your eco-festival article!

Repairing my stuff

I, Tamara, did this!

But my proudest moment this year was repairing the underwire of my bra which had poked through and was trying to murder me. Usually, I put murderous bras in the rags donation but not this bra! I HATE sewing. It confuses me and gives me a headache. Yet I even sewed a little pad onto it to stop it rubbing under my armpit. I AM AMAZING!

I volunteer most months at The Repair Cafe Portsmouth and I pretty much told everyone there, I was so proud of myself!


Whew, that is a lot of positive vibes from the Shades of Green. This post has been such a joy to write, especially as I often experience eco overwhelm. Shades of Green has been such a positive focus in my depression recovery.  But the flip side of this eco-coin is that try as we may, we are incredibly fallible in our green efforts. So tune in on August 23rd for the second part where Emma and I admit to our not-so-green oopsies and discuss our challenges for the year ahead.


And finally, Dear Reader, we love to hear from you – what are your green wins? – tell us in the Comments Section Let’s celebrate together, dudes!


How to eco hack your Walt Disney World vacation

You may not know this dear reader, but Shades of Green shares its name (quite by accident) with a Walt Disney World golf resort. In fact, every time I (Emma) Google our blog that is what comes up. Why am I telling you that? Because WDW is the subject of today’s blog.


There’s no getting around it, taking a holiday in a place that is several thousand miles away and is a major tourist trap is hardly the greenest thing that I could do, but what can I say? I love Disney – I even worked there for a time – and I’m not going to stop going. So, last month I went.


However, I did want to make my trip as green as possible and this is what I did to make that happen.

Getting there

Plane flying

The only practical way to get to the USA is via plane, so I offset my flight’s carbon footprint. As it turns out, flying direct and in the economy cabin is better for the world than having a change or flying in premium/business/first class, which is good because I flew there direct and economy class. (Although, I did have a change on the flight back, which I didn’t think about until I’d booked it.)

Packing List

Suitcase with period pants, reusable pads, cloth napkin, lunchbox, spork, and kayak bag
Missing: One water bottle

I was never going to be able to take just hand luggage with me to the USA for three weeks, so I took a suitcase. Although I’ll admit it could have been a bit lighter because I over packed on cardigans for the evenings – two would have been enough – and I could have washed some clothes (underwear, socks) in the shower. (I am considering just taking a carry on next time because of this.) However, these are the things that I packed to make my trip greener

  • Reusable water bottle: WDW is filled with water fountains, meaning that you never have to buy a plastic water bottle or ask for a cup of ice water. Plus the Chillys bottle (recommended by Tamara) kept my water cold even in the Florida sun.
  • Fabric tote bag: While I didn’t buy a lot on my trip (two t-shirts and a postcard, I think), I wanted to make sure I didn’t have to take a plastic bag at the store. (No one batted an eye in WDW, but outside of Disney, cashiers were really shocked when I kept refusing a bag for things like food and one even tried to force me to take one because he’s already put my crisps in the bag.)
  • Period pants/ reusable menstrual pads: While this didn’t entirely cut my need for tampons – I couldn’t wear these at water parks and I didn’t have the luxury of changing my pants/pads during the day, as I do at home – it really helped me cut down on the disposable pads that I would have worn in the parks to avoid an accident while in a two-hour line.
  • Lunch box: I took this to carry in snacks to avoid buying something with packaging in the parks, but also to take back food that would be wasted at the end of a meal.
  • Bamboo straw: Given that I was generally drinking water, I didn’t have much of a chance to use this. However, it did save me from taking a straw when we sat down at a table service restaurant and I ordered a soda.
  • Spork with knife edge: I used this so that I wouldn’t have to take disposable cutlery. Then, I washed it every night at our hotel. (My parents didn’t bring one, but they did reuse the cutlery that they got on our first day for the rest of our trip.)
  • Cloth napkin: I took a few of these so that I wouldn’t have to use paper napkins. Each one lasted about three days, before being put in the washing pile.

Transport

The monorail driving

While in Orlando, I travelled on the hotel shuttle and WDW transportation (buses, monorails, boats) with dozens of other people, so it was just like using public transportation back here.

We took a taxi to and from the airport, but I did try to get a shuttle. It was just too full by the time we got there and couldn’t accommodate my mum’s wheelchair and the next one wasn’t for like an hour. Not great when you’ve been up for 16 hours already.

Hotel

The Hollywood Tower Hotel
This wasn’t my hotel, I just wish it was.

I will admit that this was probably my greatest green failure. (It kind of wasn’t even my fault, but it was really annoying.) I didn’t choose the hotel for its eco standards, but rather price and proximity to WDW, but I figured all hotels must have the same basic guidelines of not changing your bed linen every night, having recycle bins, and not changing towels that were hung up on the rack.

When we got there I realised there were no recycling bins but figured that it was okay because we could recycle stuff like the milk bottles in WDW. (We just had cereal in our room each morning, which was more eco than eating in the park or at the buffet.) However, their coffee cups were the disposable kind, which is annoying because I was expecting a china cup.

Still, I left a note for the housekeeper (with a tip!) asking them to leave the cups, as we would rinse and reuse, and to not empty the bins unless they were full. If all, I’ve put in the bin is the flight tag from my suitcase, it doesn’t need changing. When we got back, the housekeeper had taken the note (and the tip!), but completely ignored my request by replacing the cups and emptying the bins. They also, despite the eco-guidelines that were in the hotel welcome folder, changed towels that I’d hung on the rack. I had a little bit of a freakout that my mum found funny.

We worked around it by hiding the cups in the microwave and putting all our rubbish in one bin, as opposed to using the kitchen and bathroom one, but I couldn’t do anything about the towels. It still annoys me.

Food

https://www.instagram.com/p/BypbeVjgU0b/

As we all know, one of the best ways to lower your eco-impact is through being careful with what you eat. Eating locally, choosing the option with low or no packaging, and eating fewer animal products all help to lower our carbon footprint.

Now, I ate vegan about half the time and vegetarian for the rest of the time. There are a lot more options than you might initially suspect, especially if you seek out the sites I’ve linked for help.

 As for packaging free, that’s difficult in Disney. Cast members aren’t allowed to take things like bottles or boxes from guests so they can’t place your vegan burger into your lunch box or fill up your bottle with soda. There are ways to limit your packaging though, including:

  • taking your own non-packaged snacks in
  • taking reusable cutlery, straws, bottles, napkins, and boxes (for leftovers)
  • opting for your ice cream in a cone rather than a cup
  • dining at table service restaurants (be warned, this does take longer and will eat into your park day, which is why we only did it once)

You might think it’s hard to eat local in WDW, but it’s easier than you think. See WDW grows a lot of its produce on property and the Living with the Land ride at Epcot shows you how they’re always looking for new ways to grow food using less water, less soil, and utilising permaculture.

Shopping

As mentioned above, I didn’t really buy anything when I was in WDW. A couple of tops for me, but nothing for anyone else. Not even my nephews and niece. (Sorry kids!)  Also, on a related note, I will sound like the sourest person in the world, but I’ve never understood why adults buy other adults gifts from their holiday.

By limiting what I bought, I reduced the amount of packaging to just a couple of price tags and limited the amount (in a very small way) that Disney would have to replenish with brand new items largely made from virgin materials.

Well, that’s it from me on how to eco-hack your WDW holiday, but there will be a follow-up piece on how Disney is working to reduce its eco-impact. Now, I’d like to hear about any tips you have for making your WDW vacation greener. Let me know in the comments.

Emma’s attempts to reduce food packaging waste

One day last year, Tamara asked if I (Emma, obvs) wanted to come on an eco-expedition with her to [I’ve completely forgotten what we did, but it was definitely something green] and on the way we had a discussion about zero waste and how we could reduce the packaging on food.

I’m a keen recycler, but I still end up with an awful lot of food packaging in my bin every week and I really wanted to cut that down. (Although, I should note for clarity that my house still only produces roughly one bin liner full of rubbish per month.) I made it my goal in 2019 to cut the amount of food packaging that I’m sending to rubbish and here’s how I’ve been doing it so far.

Buying loose fruit

Red apple

We all know that we should eat more fruit and veg, but I’ve not been great at it in the past and I’m still not great at it now. I’ve been trying to eat more fruit and less chocolate for about six months now, but the problem is that most fruit comes wrapped in unrecyclable plastic.

Now, I know that the underlying principle is that the packaging keeps food fresher for longer and reduces food waste. However, I still wanted to cut the amount of packaging coming into my house. So, I’ve been buying fruit loose during my online shop, even though it annoyingly works out as more expensive.

 Obviously, there are some fruits that aren’t available loose at the supermarket (i.e. berries), so I’ve had to cut them out of my diet. (They’re probably available loose at farmer’s markets, but I don’t have the time to get there.)

Overall, I’m happy with my choice and I will stick with it, but I have had some slip-ups, like where I just really wanted some strawberries.

Baking bread

Loaf of bread

Carbs are pretty much my staple food and I freaking adore bread, so, over the past few weeks, I’ve been attempting to bake my own bread. Now, I’m no chef and the GBBO is certainly never going to accept me as a contestant, but the results have been fairly promising. Although, I have caved in to buy baguettes at the supermarket still.

Side note:  I used my mum’s breadmaker, but I know that can be a huge expense for some people so I recommended doing your research (and perhaps even borrowing a friend’s) before purchasing.

Getting a reusable water bottle

Reusable water bottle

Ever since Tamara wrote her green backpack post, I’ve been keen to replicate my own. I’ve mostly acquired all of the necessary items now, but the true turning point came with my very own water bottle.

It’s not like I never had one before, but they’ve always leaked or they weren’t dishwasher proof and it drove me crazy. Now, I have two dishwasher safe ones that I use on a daily basis and I genuinely don’t think I’ve bought bottled water since.

Okay, well that’s all from me at the moment, but I hope to check in later in the year with an update on how I’ve reduced the amount of food packaging that I bring in, whether recyclable or not. Now, I’d like to hear any tips you have about reducing your food packaging.

Tamara’s Trio of Food Smugness

This week’s post is a celebration of food and community. First pat on the back in my trio of food smugness goes to Foodcycle Portsmouth and my friend Alexa, a fellow Green Party member, who organised a Portsmouth Green Party meal ‘takeover’ of Foodcycle which I participated in recently.

Portsmouth Foodcycle

 

Foodcycle is a fantastic food waste charity that creates free meals for the community from donated food waste. Foodcycle  Portsmouth provides the local Pompey community with tasty, free vegetarian meals made from surplus food that would otherwise go to waste. They do this twice a week: on Tuesdays at the John Pounds Centre and Thursdays at King’s Church on Somers Road.

 

It was a blast! A group of us Greenies were welcomed with open arms by the regular volunteers and guided by a calm and knowledgeable Team Leader, we cooked a three-course meal of veggie soup for starters, pasta bake with potato wedges, garlic mushrooms and wilted spring greens for mains and fruit salad for dessert. The entire meal – the cooking, prepping, serving and cleaning up – took about four and a half hours and was attended by about 45-50 guests. The evening was both wonderful and exhausting. I took the mountain of veggie scraps for my compost and left on a complete high and with the vow to volunteer there once a month.

 

Trash Cafe Food Hamper

Credit: The Real Junk Food Project South East (Facebook)

 

The Real Junk Food Project South Coast run a number of pop-up ‘trash’ cafes in Gosport and Portsmouth dedicated to collecting and repurposing food waste.  They are part of a global network aiming to abolish surplus food through a variety of Pay As You Feel concepts. I bought my first veggie food hamper from their Portsmouth pop-up cafe, which can be found at  Buckland Community Centre on Wednesday afternoons, for a £10 Hamper fee paid in advance when I ordered online and a Pay What You Feel on collection.

There was so much food – a great mix of fruit, veg, proteins such as tofu and also snacks. It was so fun to receive as it contained foods and brands I haven’t tried before. There was some fancy fake-chicken that I would not have bought in the supermarket as it is rather pricey! All that perfectly good food would have been destined for the bin but instead was destined for my belly! Double win! They also offer gluten and dairy-free hampers and can deliver for an extra fiver. As you know, I’m not a big fan of leaving the house, especially now winter is coming, so I will definitely be using their delivery service!

Being Neighbourly

 

At the Dutchman’s (my hubby) work, his office has a plastics-free fruit box delivered each week. I hadn’t realised that if the fruit isn’t all eaten or taken home by a colleague, it goes in the bin. Sacrilege! About 40 apples and pears were destined for the bin. Not on my watch!  I offered the fruit on the  Zero Waste Portsmouth discussion group on Facebook, with Foodcycle Portsmouth and the Olio app as my backup.

In less than an hour, the apples and pears were collected by a Zero Waster who turned out to be a neighbour who lives on the same street as me! We’d never met before and both happened to be members of Zero Waste Portsmouth. And as a kindness, the next day she gave me a bag of parsnips that she’d won in a hamper and did not want. It gave me the warm fuzzies and I am loving the green community in Portsmouth!

 

And what about you, dear Reader? Have you had any experiences with FoodCycle or the Trash Cafe Network? Or any tips and tricks on reducing food waste? Leave your thoughts in the Comments section below. We really do LOVE hearing from readers. It gives me such a buzz! Byeeeeeee buzzzzzzzzz 🙂

Reducing Food Waste: Eggs

A couple of months ago, my mum bought a couple of dozen eggs meaning to make cakes for her clients, but then caught a virus before she could do any baking. Soon, the virus was passed onto every member of the household, myself (Emma) included.

The smart thing to do at this point would have been to give the eggs away on an app designed to prevent food waste (i.e. Olio) or to a friend or family member, or frozen the eggs which apparently you can do if you separate the whites and the yolks. I could even have fed some eggs to my cat. But alas, you never know how long a virus will last. By the time anyone had recovered, it was well past the Best Before date on the carton.

A safety warning about eggs

Unlike most foods, eggs can be very dangerous if you eat them when they’re out of date and you should use your best judgement about consuming them yourself or allowing immunocompromised people to eat them. But, as with most foods, the Best Before date is only a guide. This means that you can often use them a little bit after the date and suffer no ill-effects, but my mum didn’t want to use them in her cakes in case it did make anyone ill – can you say lawsuit?

So our choices were to pretty much eat the eggs asap! As Oscar Wilde once said: “Eating an egg is always an adventure!”

via GIPHY

The trouble is that my dad doesn’t eat eggs – although he does like to complain about food waste – and my mother is out at least three nights every week. So here I am, eating roughly 45 ‘expired’ eggs on my own in a month. When I told Tamara this, she literally made a retching sound and said: “eww, eww, eww please shut up”.

At this point, I was more egg than person. I made a big batch of peanut butter cookies and ate some sort of egg dish every other day. It all came to a head about three weeks in, when I burnt two eggs and the yolks went mouldy in the frying pan – yes it happens! Before you ask, I did crack the eggs into a cup first and saw no problems.

I threw these out because… of course, I did. But there were still 5 eggs left in the box.

 

My mum suggested throwing those out, but I resisted, determined to find some way of using eggs without eating them. So, I turned to the internet. Some people joked that you could use rotten eggs to egg someone’s house – I hope that was a joke. Others were more helpful.

 

You can use apparently use a gone-off egg to help your tomatoes or eggplants grow – the shell will deter insects and provide calcium to the soil, while the egg will provide the nitrates needed for growth.

Egg whites can also be used as a proto glue, for craft projects. Another use is to provide a shiny coating for smaller ornaments.

For those of you who own leather products, you may also be interested to know that you can clean using egg whites. And for those of you with silver jewellery, you can use the yolks to oxidise your silver jewellery. I won’t bore you with the details, it’s a chemical reaction involving sulphur and… Hey, don’t click away, I’ll stop. If you do want to know more, just click here.

 

You can also use also use them as a strengthening and conditioning treatment for your hair because of the protein in eggs. Add a couple of drops of essential oils if you’re worried about the smell. Another beauty hack is using egg whites as an anti-ageing cleanser, which should also reduce puffiness, and egg yolks as a rinse-off moisturiser. Although, I should tell you that the idea of putting gone-off eggs on my face irked me out too much to try.

 

I hope this has helped those of you who find yourselves throwing away eggs to reduce your food waste. Let me know if you have any other tips for reducing food waste in the comments.