Tag: green (page 1 of 2)

March 26, 2021 / 0 Comments

How to Eco-Hack Your Laundry Room

It’s been a while since we’ve done one of these, but as the days are getting brighter and lockdown is lifting, I (Emma) decided to revive the ‘How to Eco-Hack…’ series.

This time, thanks to some of my recent purchases, we’re focusing on the laundry room. (Or, I supposed as we’re British, the free space under the counter in the kitchen.)

Before you wash

Make your white goods greener

Electronics are a major contributor to climate change during creation, use, and disposal. Normally, we think of this with small, smart tech items, but it’s also true for our bigger appliances, like washing machines and tumble dryers.

If you want to be clean and green, then repair the items you already have and if you have to replace them, then shop second-hand and look for ones with a higher energy rating. (Also, offer your old items for spares on free sites.

Get a basket

Okay, so if you’ve already have a basket, that’s great. But if yours is falling apart because you’ve had it for 15 years and it wasn’t great quality to begin with, search for a second-hand item. It’s not very common in charity shops, so look online or expand your definition of what can be a washing basket. A swing-top bin, a bag-for-life, or a storage box will all work. If you want to buy new, look for a wicker one with a fabric liner. It’s more expensive but it lasts longer.

Wash less often

Over-washing wastes water and electricity, as well as damaging your clothes over time. We’ve been conditioned to think that we should throw things in the wash after every wear but that’s just not the case. Need some advice on when to wash? Check out this image from Moral Fibres.

To stretch the amount of time from wardrobe to washing basket, spot wash clothes with small stains and hang outfits up at night to let odours dissipate.

Wear your clothes for longer

I know that this seems like I’m making the same point twice, but I’m not, I swear. You’ve heard of microplastics, right? The invisible-to-the-naked-eye pieces of plastic are making their way from our products to our food. And microplastics, like the dirty little secrets in every teen drama I’ve ever watched, all come out in the wash.

As most microfibres are released in the first five washes, keeping items for longer will negate this. Even better if you buy second-hand because that item has likely already been worn and washed a bunch of times. And of course, dangerous microfibres only come from plastic-based materials, like polyester. Cotton, wool, and hemp items will shed microfibres too, but because they’re natural, they won’t damage the planet.

Wash

When it comes to washing your clothes, there are so many ways to reduce your impact on the environment. These tips are pretty well known, but we’ll just go over them quickly:

  • Treat smaller stains in pre-wash
  • Wash at lower temperatures because most of the energy use comes from heating the water
  • Fill your machine up until you can fit your hand between the clothes and the drum
  • If you have reusable menstrual products, soak them in a bucket of cold water (like the kind you’d get when running your shower)
  • Ditch the fabric conditioner

What to wash with

When it comes to what to wash with, there are a few options that are better for the environment because they don’t use chemicals that are dangerous to marine life (seriously, check the warning label on those scent booster things) or come in single-use plastic packaging.

Eco Egg: My mum has been using this for at least ten years, just refilling the egg with pellets about every year or so. It doesn’t contain bleach, is UK-made, and will save you tons of money. (I’ve read other reports about the egg holder occasionally opening mid-wash, but we’ve never had that happen, and that it should be used above 60 degrees or for heavily soiled clothing, but again we’ve never experienced an issue, although we rarely wash above 30 degrees.

Ecoever: Made using natural ingredients and biodegradable bleach. I haven’t used them since I left uni but the other sites that I read said that it has a plastic inner liner in the box and is fairly expensive.

Soap nuts: These are natural, biodegradable, and can be bought from Package Free Larder. Pop a few into a netted bag (My friend actually just tied off the foot of some ripped tights.) and throw them into the machines. They’re great value, but the reliability of cleaning can vary, so perhaps don’t use them for heavily stained items.

Stop the microplastics

As mentioned above, microplastics are a mother fucking nightmare for the ocean. But if we’re continuing to use what we have and buy second-hand, there will inevitably be some plastic-based fabrics in our wardrobes. So, for the past two months, I’ve been trying out the Guppyfriend and the Coraball, both of which promise to reduce microplastics.

Guppyfriend Wash Bag

This is basically a fine mesh bag that you put plastic-based clothes in for washing. It will catch the microfibres, while still allowing the clothes to get washed, and then you can just hook the microfibres out of the filter at the top of the bag.

Now, these fibres take some time to build-up to the point where you can see them in the filter (because they’re individually invisible to the naked eye), so you might feel a little scammed if, like me, you want instant results. Rest assured that it’s perfectly fine to use the Guppyfriend multiple times between cleaning it out, even if you’re doing a few washes in a row. After several washes, there begins to be a build-up of what looks like lint in the part of the bag just above the zipper. Then, you can clean it out.

To use, fill the bag to two-thirds full with any plastic-based fabrics and zip shut, pushing the zip underneath the cover at the end. (IDK what the technical term is.) If you’re unsure because the label has faded or was cut out, it doesn’t hurt to chuck it in.  Fill up the rest of the machine with only organic materials, like cotton towels and wool jumpers. (This also helps to prevent an imbalance that leaves your machine unable to spin.)

Pros

  • Can be used many times with a reduction in usability
  • Can technically be recycled at end of life (but only in streams that can specifically accept polyamide 6.6)
  • Catches 90% of microfibres
  • Easy to use

Cons

  • Can’t be used in temperatures above 40 degrees, which is sometimes needed for  things like toilet cloths and reusable nappies
  • Costs between £15 and £30 dependent on retailer and sales, but this might be too much for people on limited incomes

CoraBall

This is a ball with dozens of coils that are designed to trap microfibres, doesn’t involve sorting your washing, and can be used at higher temperatures. I bought it initially for my toilet cloths, but I’ve used it for many other things.

The trouble is that those coils can be a nightmare if they get caught on any thin or delicate things, like bra straps, loose threads on clothes, or the ear bands for facemasks. That was a nightmare but I should have prepared better.

The fibres build up and can be pinched off, as you do with a hairbrush.

Pros

  • Can be used above 40 degrees
  • Made from 100% recycled plastic
  • Easy to use

Cons

  • Only catches 26% of microfibres, so I only used it in loads too hot for the Guppyfriend

There are also other options, like installing a filter onto the wastewater pipe, but these seemed too technical for me and we’re quickly dismissed. If you’d like to learn more about them, this blog can help.

Live and Let Dry

The unsurprising tip here is to hang dry outside whenever possible. Not only does it reduce energy needs but it also extends the lifespan of your clothes. But obviously, this isn’t always possible because we live in the UK, so the weather is not always good, and not everyone has the space for a washing line.

If it’s raining or for those with a tiny garden, a balcony, or no outside space, clothes racks are an incredible investment. My top tips are:

  • get racks that fit over the bath or the shower, so that the water drips down into the drain
  • open the windows a crack to let the moisture escape the room and avoid mould
  • try to do one wash load at a time to avoid drying too much at one time
  • save up non-essential washing during bad weather (I only wash one load a month in winter, by not washing things like summer pyjamas and shorts)

If you need to use a dryer, get some dryer balls to reduce drying times.

Hopefully, this has helped you to improve the eco-friendliness of your washing cycle. If you have any tips, let me know in the comments below.

August 28, 2020 / 0 Comments

The Big Green QUESTION: Part 1

Hello and welcome to the 2020 anniversary post for Shades of Green. How’s your year going so far? Terrible? Ours too.

A little bit of housekeeping before we start. You may have noticed that our blog has undergone some changes recently. For instance, we changed our posting schedule to once a month; the last Friday. It’s not that we’re any less committed to the cause, but we are under a lot of pressure in our lives right now and to preserve quality, we had to cut quantity.

We’re hoping that this is just temporary and that, by the time 2021 rolls around, we’ll be back to “normal”.

In keeping with this being a weird year, we’ve changed our anniversary post to reflect what it means to be green. (Especially in quarantine.)

With that in mind, let’s hand over to Tamara to start off.

Once a month, I plonk myself at my desk to write about my ongoing attempts to live green in Pompey. I very much write about what I live and do. Some months are greener than others and I try to be honest about that.

Take for example earlier this month, I briefly considered cycling (green!) in the rain to multiple recycling banks with my mixed plastics and cartons (green!), then immediately tossed that thought aside (wait, what?) and sidled ungracefully into my car (not green!). Trying to be green with these daily actions – it got me thinking.

What the heck do I (Tamara) mean when I talk about my attempts to live green or eco or sustainably or ethically?

Hmmm…..

What does living green really mean?

Is it just a green stick I use to beat myself and others with? My mother, who lives with me and who I strongly encourage to recycle and buy free-range meat would say, ‘absolutely, yes!’.

To be honest dear Reader, my definition depends on the day and what cards life is currently dealing me. It depends on the individual and their circumstances.  It’s in the very title of this blog – Shades of Green – recognising that there is no one right way to live ethically – you decide on your focus and do what you can, with the resources you have.

Let’s take a pause here to acknowledge that even being able to talk about living eco is a privilege. To have the time, brain space, and money to even attempt to live a sustainable lifestyle (whatever that means to you) is a privileged space to reside in. 

What is living green not? 

Image by Robin Higgins from Pixabay

It is not photogenic. Forget the zero waste jars of Instagram Influencers – my version of living green isn’t glass jars and pretty photos of vegan food. It is second-hand furniture and eating leftovers. It is also forgetting leftovers in the fridge until they go mouldy but hey, I put them in the food waste recycling bin…so that’s green right?!

Nope and nope! And why so beige? Ergh.

It is not always spending my way out of a problem. There are a lot of products aimed at the green market and some of that shit is expensive and unnecessary. I am trying to be discerning. Do I need that beautiful bamboo lunchbox when I work at home and have a perfectly functional plastic one for the rare times I leave the house? 

Yes, I do.

Oops, I mean – No! no, I do not.

Not today, you beautiful temptations.

It is not absolute. All or nothing thinking has no place in my brain or my home. That is a fast track to Overwhelm City and Give-Up Land. If I try to do it all, I quickly end up unable to do anything and beating myself up. I cycle short distances but when my depression is bad or, to be honest, it is raining – I get in my car. Some of my food shopping is done in local shops and naked (the food, not me!), but I also buy food in plastic. And that is ok. With this blog, I challenge myself to do better – on my terms.

What does living green mean to me?

  • Acknowledge & Adjust: Looking at the big-picture stuff, it is first acknowledging that the way our society is built and run on finite resources is not sustainable and secondly, crucially, adjusting my behaviours accordingly. We are in a climate emergency and we have to change both wider society and individual behaviours quickly and dramatically. This is an uncomfortable truth I have to keep reminding myself off.
  • Environmental Injustice: Even more uncomfortable is facing the truth that those who benefit from and perpetuate this system are not those who experience its repercussions. Living green is about fighting climate change, speaking out for social justice and being actively anti-racist. The areas in Portsmouth with the highest levels of air pollution are also some of the most deprived. It would serve me well to remember that next time I get in my car for an unnecessary journey.
  • Consumer Power & Circular Economy: So, it is about me trying to live lightly on the planet, being aware of my consumer power, and ensuring that the products and activities I buy and consume are made, distributed, and disposed of in a sustainable and environmentally considerate manner. Essentially, trying to live in a circular economy.
By Catherine Weetman – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=67945876
  • Do, Repeat & Layer: In terms of my daily life, it is focusing on small actions that I can repeat and build on overtime. Green Living is like an onion that you can peel for infinity. 
    • The Infinite Green: For me, it started with easy kerbside recycling, then I added in home composting, then recycling items that required more effort.
      • I became more knowledgeable about the recycling process and decided I needed to buy less and create less waste and not just rely on recycling the stuff I buy.
        • I then started to think about my clothes.
          • My shopping. I think about what the products I buy are made off. How were they sourced? Who had to work for less than a living wage to make these shoes for me? Do I need to buy this new? Can I get it second-hand? Do I need it at all?
            • My food. How was the land and people treated to grow this? Are these eggs made by happy hens?
              • My travel choices.
                • My energy providers.
                  • About the banks I use.
                    • My phone. My internet connection.
                      • Is this company transparent in their hiring and sourcing? Do they pay their taxes?
                        • The onion skin keeps peeling…

It is easy to dismiss how much of an impact one person can have. But the only person I can control is myself. The money I spend, I want it to reflect my values. I want to be thoughtful, intentional and aware. I fail often but in my own way, in my little corner of Portsmouth – I try.

What does living green mean to you?

And what of you, Dear Reader? What does living green/ eco/ ethical/ sustainably mean to you? What are you focusing on at the moment? Let us know in the Comments section below. 

Written by Tamara, a Green Hairy Feminist
February 14, 2020 / 2 Comments

It’s not (always) expensive being green; how to save money and the planet

Dear Reader, 

You may not know this about me, but I (Emma) am really really cheap. Cheaper than I, as a middle-class person with a fair amount of savings and a fairly steady income, have any right to be. 

So cheap that on the last holiday I took with a friend we would have had to have paid £4 to sit together on the flight and I rejected this completely. She didn’t even push the matter because she knew I’d bitch about it being a waste of money.

I suppose, if you’ll allow me this brief moment in a therapist’s chair, it stems back to my childhood, when my family didn’t have a lot of money and debt was the elephant in every room of our house. 

Photo of change

Sometimes this cheapness conflicts with my environmental beliefs.

For example, I have to buy some tampons because, while an advocate of reusable period care,  I will be on holiday and going swimming during one of my periods this year. (I have still not mastered the menstrual cup.)

The organic cotton tampons that I know I need to buy cost £4 for a pack of 20. By comparison, the supermarket own-brand terrible-for-the-environment plastic-filled tampons cost about 99p for 16.

And I’m outraged by this despite having to buy 1 or 2 packs of these a year. (Can you imagine if I was using tampons all the time or if I had any kind of medical issue with my period that made it heavier or more frequent?) 

What I’m saying is that I do understand why people would choose the cheaper option over the more environmental one in most cases. Particularly in such a dire economic time when the government prefers to make sure the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. (I wrote this on my phone when it was still working, and it autocorrected my sentence to read ‘the poor stay put’ and tbh, I think that might be how the government feels too.) 

However, this article is not intended to be a depressing read on how caring for the earth can ruin your bank balance. Instead, I want to focus on how it can actually save you money. 

In a way, the money you save can pay for more expensive tampons and other eco things. But even if you only choose to do the green things that will save you money, it’s still a way to cut your impact on the planet. 

Planet earth taken from space

Switch to reusables

While plastic is the biggest problem, single-use anything isn’t great because of the energy used to create it. Plus, a one-off purchase that might be a little more expensive is still cheaper than multiple disposables. 

To start with, why not try a reusable water bottle, shopping bag small enough to fit in your handbag/backpack, a lunchbox, and a handkerchief?

More advanced reusable lovers can try period care, nappies, wax wraps, and toilet cloth.

Use what you have

View this post on Instagram

I don't know who needs to hear this, but: Minimising your waste does not have to make a good photo on Instagram is order to be good for the planet. Many times eco bloggers will promote their efforts to minimise waste with attractive bamboo cutlery, mason jars, and metal straws, which make being green look super fashionable. While we love IG likes as much as the next person and we appreciate that some people need to be convinced with a cute lunchbox, saving the planet is not a trend, it's vital to our survival. This isn't to bitch about the people who buy eco things and want them to be pretty. (We certainly have enough of that on our page.) Rather, we want to tell you that's its okay (and more eco) to use the plastic lunch box that you have from school, rather than buy a brand new tin one now. And you shouldn't feel any shame about posting it on IG to share your waste saving story. That's why we posted this photo of a lunch box that PGP member Emma used to get pastries from a shop for a picnic today, rather than picking up their plastic bags. Share your #uglyzerowaste images with us by tagging us in your photo or story or commenting down below. #zerowaste #reduce #reducereuserecycle #refill #reuse #green #eco #plasticwaste #cuttingwaste #Portsmouth #southsea

A post shared by Portsmouth Green Party (@pompeygreens) on

Overconsumption is a big problem because it involves extra materials and energy to create a product, energy to ship and store it, and finally energy to get it from the store to your house. 

Where I can, I use what I have rather than buying anything. For example, for handkerchiefs I use the old napkins that belonged to a table cloth that had been thrown away. (Someone knocked cherryade over it when they small and the stain never came out.)

Use pre-loved

I fucking love buying second hand. Most of my clothes (and books) are from charity shops and at least three pairs of shoes came from my parents. 

By choosing pre-loved items, you are taking something already in the waste stream and giving it a second life.

I also love sites like Freegle, Freecycle, and Trash Nothing to get pick up cool things for free. 

You can also get rid of items on there, that you might otherwise have to take to the tip or pay for the council to collect. (Think about broken furniture, which some could repair or use for firewood.)

Repair

My main repairs are small sewing things for clothes, holes in leggings, underwire springing free from bras, and rips in the seams of jumpsuits. I can (sort of) do these myself. Or with supervision from a more seasoned sewer.

For anything more complicated, like my currently glitching phone, I defer to the repair cafe, which is donation-based. (Excuse me, while I cry over my phone.)

Public transport

I never learnt to drive and it was primarily because I didn’t have the money or the time. (Now, I have the money, it’s mostly an eco thing.)

What with all the costs associated with driving, from lessons to car purchase to tax to insurance, it’s so much cheaper for me to take the bus, coach, or train. (Or even walk on a dry day.)

As an added eco benefit, you can use e-tickets for the bus and coach to save paper. (I don’t know if you can with the train.) The First Bus app also saves you money on day passes (often less than a return), singles, and passes (week, month, year).

Okay, that’s about it from me. Do you have any other ways to save pennies and the planet? Let me know in the comments below.

Fireworks exploding over disney castle
June 21, 2019 / 3 Comments

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.

pawprints
December 14, 2018 / 0 Comments

Green Cat Paws

I am not a cat person. Cats are evil creatures that glare batefully for absolutely no good reason. They take pleasure in toying with innocent birds, will attack you with no warning, and oh my gosh, their fur just gets everywhere. The Dutchman, my partner for the last sixteen years, loves cats. Adores them. He will greet every cat he meets in the street and loves a good tussle with a playful kitty. Reader, I married him. I must have been distracted at the time.

So, you’re probably not surprised to read that I (Tamara) now have a cat. A hateful creature that I utterly adore called Popster, Poppet and, officially, Poppy. When my depression made itself known to me, I turned to ‘ye ole Internet to find a magical cure. The internet told me pets can help with positive mental health. Well duh, I kinda knew that already. As the Dutchman had waited patiently for fifteen years for me to relent, I felt I owed him at least an attempt at having a cat. But as a cat is for life and not just for Christmas, I did my due diligence, investigating cat behaviour, needs, costs, etc. I decided that fostering a cat would be the perfect compromise. The Dutchman would get his cat-fix, we’d be helping with animal rescue and if I didn’t like it, then no problem as the foster cat would go to its forever home.

Cat and human high five

We approached Second Chance Animal Rescue, a local cat rescue charity based in Southampton and Portsmouth, and after a thorough house-check and interview, we soon received our first foster cat. The only problem is within 24 hours, we were in love and adopted her. So now, our vegetarian household had an obligate carnivore to cater for. This was the first of many challenges at rearing an eco-conscious cat.

Here are my top hits and bombs on cattifying my life whilst attempting to be environmentally aware!

CAT HITS

cat food

Food: I did A LOT of initial research when it came to choosing the food for the Poppet. I decided that though vegan cat food is available, as cats are obligate carnivores, I would feed my animal other animals. But I didn’t want her to be responsible for the poor treatment of these other animals so her cat food had to be organic or free range. It also had to come in packaging that could be recycled in Portsmouth – that ruled out pouches immediately. I also was keen to feed her a low-grain diet, but that together with my animal welfare requirement was more difficult to source. Price was also a consideration as I had a budget to stick to.

I use Yarrah Organic for both wet and dried food, bought in bulk online. It contains organic meats and Marine Stewardship Council sustainable and certified fish. The cans are recyclable at kerbside here in Pompey, but the dry food comes in a plasticy bag so unfortunately cannot be recycled. I try to balance that bomb by ordering their largest bag available.

As a new cat person, I did attempt to make cat food with pumpkin, tuna, sardines, added taurine, and other vital cat vitamins and minerals but Reader, the bloomin’ cat wouldn’t eat it. I also tried cooking up a meat bone broth for her – but again, she turned up her hateful nose at my offerings. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

¾  Cat Paws

cat figurine on toilet

Litter: I was disappointed to find out that I could not compost the Poppet’s poop because of parasites in cat feces, which cannot be destroyed in a normal home composter. However, I was determined to use environmentally-responsible litter and settled on Cat’s Best, which is made from PEFC-certified secondary raw wood materials.

¾  cat paws

cat staring through catflap

Cat Flap: Thanks to Freegle, I was able to source a second hand cat flap for free. It then turned out the glass in the door wasn’t safety proof and had to be replaced – but that’s another story and not the cat flaps fault!

4/4 cat paws

cardboard box

Toys and Enrichment: I don’t deny, I wanted to buy the Poppet all the toys and all the things! I just about managed to restrain myself and discovered that boxes and string are Poppet’s favourite toys! Cheap and cheerful and not plastic – boom! The cat scratcher is made of cardboard and a longer lasting one made of sisal.

4/4 cat paws

cat sitting on chair

Cat Visits: A local pet sitter visits Poppet when the Dutchman and I are out of town with friends also popping in to check on her as well. This means she is less stressed and in a familiar environment with her familiar organic food and we are supporting local business. Ahhhh, it’s a cats life!

4/4 cat paws

drawing of girl and her cat

Mental Health: My hateful Poppet has brought an unmeasurable amount of happiness into my life. Just having her around on days when depression is engulfing me makes it better. She is our constant companion, she makes me laugh, and though she punishes us for going away by peeing in the hallway – I still love her!

5/4 cat paws

Cat Bombs

pill packets

Packaging: As mentioned above, the packaging the litter and dry food comes in is not recyclable. At the advice of the vet, Poppet is given regular preventative flea and worm medicine. This is in a plastic tube and packaged in unrecyclable foil.

After having four teeth removed, Poppet is on a daily diet of edible cat toothpaste. Whilst I have managed to source plastic free tooth tabs with fluoride for my human household, the cat toothpaste is unfortunately unrecyclable. Sad!

2/4 cat paws

 

Do you have a cat or other pet in your life? Any hints and tips on how to lessen their environmental paw-print? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

November 9, 2018 / 1 Comment

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 🙂

homemade deodorant
September 28, 2018 / 0 Comments

The Green Hairy Feminist

For the past two summers, I (Tamara) have been experimenting with plastic-free deodorant and today’s post is about the highs and lows of that experience.

 

Simultaneously, I have been challenging my previously unquestioning acceptance of societal female beauty expectations by no longer shaving my armpits and legs. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am lazy-as, and this is reflected in my makeup routine which is basically non-existent. A beauty guru I am not! I don’t wear perfume or nail polish and my hair is curly, wild and free. So it was not a leap for me to grow my pit-hair.  But even so, I was surprised at how self-conscious I felt as my armpit hair peeked out and waved in the wind.

women's march

Last summer, a month or so into being shave-free, one friend commented on my hairy hippy-dippy ways and I had to make a conscious effort to be blase about both her reaction and my choices. This summer, feeling much more comfortable with my underarms  I was disappointed with myself for feeling momentarily inhibited when at Victorious Festival with my stylish ex-housemate. Why? She was too busy having a good time to care about the state of my armpits. So why did I hesitate before putting my hands in the air and waving like I just don’t care? My hubby certainly had no qualms about his equally hairy armpits. Why do I care about internet trolls opinions on grooming? Why when standing next to a sleek and chic stranger do I feel less-than? Damn you society with your ridiculous double-standards and expectations! Removing body hair should be a choice, not an expectation. And with that, I move on to the point of today’s post – my deodorant/antiperspirant experiences!

*Disclaimer, as always, I will be discussing my experience of certain products. This is not sponsored or affiliated, it’s just my random experience.*

 

Green Deodorant

Since my teenage days in the 90s when the ozone was a hot topic, I have avoided smellies in aerosol packaging and also any with aluminium. For a while, I tried crystal deodorants but didn’t find them effective. Post-crystals, my brand of choice for many years was Bionsen roll-on as it was aluminium and paraben free, I liked the light scent and it kept me from being a sweaty betty. But….the plastic packaging. Sigh!

natural deodorant

After some thorough and very scientific research, I decided on Earth Conscious Natural Deodorant Mint. It ticks a lot of my boxes as it comes in a tin, is made in the UK, smells lovely with all the essential oil ingredients and most importantly, it dealt beautifully with my sweaty tendencies. I was in love. Problem solved? Nope.

Unfortunately, I developed a dark underarm rash. I tried alternating it with my previous Bionsen deodorant but no joy. The darkening under my arms together with my new hairy pits meant I was just too self-conscious. I gave it to my husband to try who loves it and has no issues with it at all once he got used to the direct application (it is applied with the fingertips directly to the armpits). It is very cost effective as a tin is about £6 and has lasted him forever. So while it didn’t work for me, I still thoroughly recommend it.

I continued my very thorough and scientific search. Deciding on convenience, I headed to Lush in Cascades and purchased T’eo, a deodorant bar. No more searching for the elusive earth-friendly deodorant – this was it! Packaging free, ethical company, smells good, and the shop is cycling distance. Nuh-uh, not this time Missy! I was so disappointed when once again the dark rash appeared, but now with itching!

 

Success!

I started to think maybe I should try making my deodorant and so I did some actual research. I noticed a common ingredient in both my the Lush and Earth Conscious deodorants and the online deodorant recipes – sodium bicarbonate. Perhaps this was the cause of my rash?

 

natural deodorant

 

Finding a deodorant that was both sodium bicarbonate and plastic packaging free was tricky but I did it. And boy, it was expensive. £12.50 for a 68g jar of Meow Meow Tweet Baking Soda Free Grapefruit Deodorant Cream. Gulp! But this time folks, no joking, this is the one. I’ve been using it for two and half months now and I am ecstatic to report no dreaded rash, no smelliness and no sweating – and this summer in Pompey was hot hot hot!  By George, I think I’ve got it! *does a happy dance*

 

I am off on my holidays and when this post is published, I shall be sunning myself in Turkey in all my hairy glory. Yeee haw!

 

hairy legs

 

What about your deodorant experiences. Have you made your own? Can you recommend a plastic-free brand? Tell us in the Comments section below.

eco business
September 14, 2018 / 0 Comments

How to eco hack your small business

Hello and welcome to a very special edition of Shades of Green, where Tamara and Emma pass the mic to one of our dear readers. That’s right; we’re taking a week off and letting someone else tell you about their eco-friendly life.

So, without further adieu, let us introduce our latest guest writer, Rich Pearson. Rich is the owner of Vintage Lounge Portsmouth, an online vintage furniture store based in Portsmouth, and he’s going to tell you how he runs an eco-friendly business.

—

When I started Vintage Lounge Portsmouth in 2010, I didn’t think too much about making it eco-friendly. After all, how much impact could a small business really have on the environment?

I’ve since changed my mind because I’ve learnt more about the importance of reducing my individual environmental impact and I want to help create a healthier world for my kids to grow up in. This meant recycling more at home and buying cloth nappies, but it also meant making some changes to my business. This is how I run an eco-friendly business.

Premises

eco premises

Go online: My business is online only. This is partly for commercial reasons, but it’s eco-friendly too. Mainly because I can work from home, so I don’t use any extra electricity for the business and I don’t have to travel to a shop. This won’t work for everyone, but it’s great if you can.

Switch to an eco-friendly energy company: Even though I’m already saving energy by working from home, I get my energy from Ecotricity as they only use solar and wind power to make electricity and frack-free gas! [Emma: You can switch to Ecotricity here and they’ll make a donation to the Portsmouth Green Party.]

Use eco-hacks to save energy/water: Low-flow taps and energy-saving light bulbs can be installed in practically any business to save money and cut your environmental impact. Luckily, my wife installed them in our house when we moved in.

Use low energy appliances: I don’t use many electrical items to run my furniture business (laptop, printer, camera, some power tools), but all of them have high environmental ratings, which means they use less energy.

Print smarter: I try not to print most things, so I’ll keep all of my records on the computer and send receipts digitally, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. If I have to print, I’ll use these hacks to reduce my environmental impact:

  •         Use vegetable inks
  •         Use recycled paper (or scrap paper if it’s a delivery label and only one side needs to be seen)
  •         Print double-sided
  •         Recycle the ink cartridges through a charity [Emma: Portsmouth Green Party can raise money through recycled ink cartridges.]

 

Goods

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkm_B9VHt5g/

 

 

Sell preloved items: This might not be for everyone, but I buy second-hand items and give them a new lease of life – often all they need is a little elbow grease and some eco-friendly cleaning products. I mainly buy at car boot sales or from charity shops, which keeps money in the local community and prevents items from going to landfill. Some items, I’ve even rescued from places where they’ve been dumped.

 

Post and packing

eco packaging

Don’t use packaging: If I’m delivering items to people within Portsmouth or if the buyer is picking an item up, I won’t box them up. This reduces the amount of packaging I use and lets customers inspect the item (if they want) while I’m there.

Reuse packaging: I try not to buy new packaging in order to post my furniture and wherever possible I reuse boxes/bubble wrap/other packaging from friends/family members or from Freecycle. This means that all my packaging gets at least one more use before it goes to landfill/recycling!

Buy eco-friendly packaging: One of my biggest problems is that I can’t source enough bubble wrap second-hand to meet my needs, so I do have to buy it occasionally. However, I make sure to use biodegradable bubble wrap that completely disappears within two years, which is much better than other alternatives. But, if any readers have some bubble wrap, I can take it off their hands!

Combine pickups/deliveries with existing journeys: I’d love to tell you that I never use my car to make deliveries or pick up furniture, but I can’t carry a sideboard on a bus… unfortunately. I always try to combine my business transport with other things, like dropping my sons at nursery.

 

It’s often easier than you think to make your small business greener and its more than worth it to create a better world, especially for your kids.

—

Thanks to Rich for that brilliant article about how to eco-hack your small business. If you’d like to see more from Vintage Lounge Portsmouth, check out their Instagram, Facebook, and eBay pages.

 

If you’d like to write for Shades of Green, please see this page. If you have any more eco-hacks for running a small business, please leave them in the comments below.

 

August 10, 2018 / 1 Comment

How to Eco-Hack your Festival Experience

It’s summertime and for some of us, that means seeing our favourite bands perform live at our local and not-so-local festivals. If you live in Portsmouth, you could well be heading to Victorious or the IOW Festival in the coming weeks and we at Shades of Green hope you have an amazing time. However, we do also recognise that sometimes festivals are less green than we’d hoped.

That’s why I (Emma) want to show you how to make your festival experience as green as it can be.

Getting there

When travelling to the festival, try to use public transport where possible. Often the roads will be crowded anyway and car parks will really jack up the price around major events. Plus, all rock stars travel on tour buses!

Most festival websites will tell you how to get to the venue from the local train station or (in the case of the IOW) ferry port. If friends are heading to Victorious from outside of the city and they live nowhere near a train or bus route, then direct them to our Park and Ride, which has a stop about 15-minutes away from the Common.

Eco-Festival outfit

Biodegradable Glitter

We all know the dangers that microplastics can cause to our ecosystem and what is glitter but thousands of pieces of plastic that we stick to our skin at festivals? Never fear, my sparkly friends, because biodegradable glitter is now a thing.

Sustainable Swimwear

Even if you’re not planning on going for a dip, many people will choose to wear bikini tops/ board shorts to festivals. If this describes you, then you might be interested to know that you can actually buy swimwear made from reclaimed fabrics. This reduces the amount of fabric going to landfill and the energy costs of creating something from new.

Green Festival Packing List

When packing for your festival, my best advice is to bring only what you need. Not only will you not be weighed down, but you’ll be less likely to forget/abandon an item on your return. Still, there are a few green things that I recommend bringing with you.

Reusable Bottle

It’s important to stay hydrated during hot weather, but we all know that single-use plastic bottles are an ecological nightmare! Opt for a reusable bottle, which is durable and lightweight. It’ll keep your drink cool and it could save tons of £££ from vendors. Also, best to get some reusable cutlery if you’re going to eat there and a reusable straw if you need a straw for your drink.

Important: Check what you are allowed to bring before you set off. For safety reasons, many festivals will stop you from bringing in knives or glass. You may also be asked to empty a water bottle before entering (in case you were trying to smuggle in booze!), so be prepared to refill once inside.

Biodegradable Reef-Safe Sunscreen

I’m a massive fan of summer sunshine, but I’m not crazy about sunburn or any of the other scary side effects, so I use SPF 30 (Yeah, I’m very white!). The problem is the common chemical ingredients used in sunscreen products worldwide (i.e. oxybenzone) can cause fatal damage to coral and other marine plant life. Yikes! Luckily, there are all-natural alternatives available, which can protect your skin without harming the planet.

Solar-powered Mobile Charger

Whether you’re filming your favourite band’s set or trying to find your friend in the crowd, you’ll need your phone to work, but trying to find a free charging point will be challenging. Skip the queue and save on electricity by using the sun to charge your phone while you enjoy the music.

 

That’s it from me and now I want to hear from you. Are you headed to a festival this summer? Do you have any eco tips to share? Let me know in the comments section.

clinking glasses
July 27, 2018 / 1 Comment

365 days of Shades of Green- Part 1

Shades of Green is one year old! Happy Greeniversaray to Emma and meeeeee (Tamara).

It has been a fantastic year – a year of attempting to show and not just tell the wonderful folks of Portsmouth that it can be easy being green, a year of charting our attempts to be kind to the planet whilst not leaving the house and a year of eating our way around Pompey’s veggie establishments under the guise of blog ‘meetings’! I am so chuffed to be marking this milestone with Emma and of course with you, dear reader.

 

what's your story

 

To celebrate a year of Shades of Green, Emma and I have posed five questions to each other to judge who is the greenest of them all. Haha, could you imagine?! We don’t do judgement here, only positive vibes! 🙂

 

In this 2-part series, Emma and I will share where we both are in our Shades of Green journey. Today it’s all about Emma!

 

Explore with Emma

 

Time for change

 

Q1: Emma, tell us is there anything you have changed in the past year to be more green?

 

Since we started Shades of Green, I’ve made some changes to my life in order to become more eco.

 

  • Food waste – I hate to admit it, but I’ve always been a little bit concerned about using vegetables or fruit when they start to look a little funny or something dairy based when it’s a little bit out of date! In the past year, I’ve been tackling this by taking food that a little past it prime and actually cooking with it. Often, the appearance, texture, or even taste of an individual food item can put us off eating something that is perfectly safe to eat. This can be mitigated by making it into a soup/curry/smoothie and even masking the taste with sauces and spices.
  • Recycling – You’ve really helped me to recycle more by telling me about the plastic recycling at Sainsbury’s and taking my cartons to that secretive place somewhere outside the city. You have no idea how much that’s reduced my family’s waste.
  • Traffic – While I don’t drive, I’ve been reducing the amount that I ask my parents for lifts, which means more buses and more walking.

 

plane

 

Q2: Talking of traffic and travel, how do you reconcile air travel with your green living aims?

I knew I shouldn’t have bragged about my holiday to Florida, lol.  Like most people, I love going on holiday and sometimes that involves air travel. Now, I know that’s a controversial thing in the green community, but in order to visit places in America and Africa, it’s kind of the only option, and I don’t think that we need to be martyrs in order to save the planet.

 

Yes, take slow transport where you can and where it makes ecological sense to do so – if you’re getting a plane from Southampton to Manchester, then rethink the train or the coach – but don’t beat yourself up for wanting to visit other countries and other places.

 

According to the Carbon Footprint Calculator, my return economy-class flight from London to Orlando will be about 1.13  tons of CO2. That’s a lot and there’s no way that I can deny it, which is why I’ll be offsetting it (it only costs about £6). But, do you know what equates to a carbon saving of roughly 1.88 tons a year? Being Vegetarian.

 

The things that I do to be green, including being vegetarian, recycling more, not driving, etc, actually more than make up for these big holidays that I only take every 2-3 years. It’s not perfect and ideally, I would love to be content travelling in the UK and in Europe, but I’m not perfect and I want to go to Disney World. I can’t excuse my use of air travel, but I can cut my eco-impact in other ways in order to make up for it.

 

home lettering

 

Q3: You mention a few of the actions you take to cut your eco-impact Are your family on board with your green aims? How do you deal with any conflict or differing options?

My mum is a little peeved whenever I tease her about eating meat, but my parents are mostly on board with my green lifestyle. In fact, they’re the driving force behind most of the green things in our house and have been since I was little. My dad went pescatarian when I was four and ditched fish after I went vegetarian. My mum almost never eats meat anymore.

 

We have a compost bin, several different recycling bins for the things that can’t go in our kerbside recycling, use eco-friendly bulbs, reusable bags, and even use the water collected in baths and showers to flush the toilet and water the garden. All of that was in place far before I could weigh in. Maybe my parents should write the blog instead of me?

 

teddy bear

 

Q4: Aww, shout out to Emma’s Mum and eco-warrior Dad. I’m well jel as I struggle to get my mother to even recycle! Thinking of the relationship between us and our folks, what are your thoughts on having children and the impact on the planet?

 

I would like to preface this minefield of a question by saying that I have three little nephews who I love very much and I wouldn’t give them up if that one action would end climate change. Sorry, but that’s just the truth.

 

But there is plenty of evidence to suggest that having children is one of the least eco-friendly things you can do, mainly because when you create another human being, you are creating someone else who needs resources that are already in demand.

 

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t have kids if you want them and can offer them a healthy and happy home environment, but you might be shocked to know that having one fewer child will save you  58..6 tonnes of CO2 per year. That’s more than all the other green things combined.

 

I don’t currently have children and they’re not really on the cards for me for like another 5-10 years, but I do think I want them. Depending on how I (and my future partner) feel at the time, this might mean bio kids, but more likely it will mean adoption. Don’t worry, this isn’t a selfless act – I’m just freaked out by the idea of being pregnant!

 

 

Q5: As a reward for you generously answering some tough environmental and ethical dilemma questions re. air travel and children – here’s a nice easy one to finish off. What are your top Pompey places for green living?

 

As always, we love to hear from our readers. What are your top Pompey recommendations? What eco changes have you made in your life? What are your guilty pleasures? Tell us in the Comments Section Below.

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Promoted by T Sheerman-Chase, 99 Pretoria Road, PO4 9BD on behalf of Portsmouth Green Party. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other party, agency, organization, employer or company.

It's easy being green