Weekly weigh in number seven
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Oh Dear what can the matter be?
Dear dear what can the matter be?
Oh dear what can the matter be?
Our weigh in’s a total nightmare.
Our graph is going to be doing an acute rise this week due to a thorough clearing out of my kitchen cupboards a couple of days ago.
Why is it that we put away so many empty packets? Are we still optimists from our childhood believing the faeries will come along after dusk and refill our containers with sweets and lollipops? Are we lazy? Do we still have a childish yearning for ‘junk modelling’? Or are we simply products of the Blue Peter years?
Whatever the reason I found a lot of empty non-recyclable packaging in those cupboards of mine from my pre ‘zero waste’ days. It’s amazing the stuff that is still in there too. Plastic is EVERYWHERE. In addition I used up a couple of packs of things up from the freezer. There is nothing like a junk food day to put a smile on Little Miss Green’s face. So she indulged in chicken dippers and chips as I was too tired to cook properly after doing the aforementioned ‘spring’ clean.
See, there we go again; giving in to laziness and convenience. I’m a true product of the 21st century consumerist lifestyle. Too tired to cook – what is that all about? I wouldn’t have had a choice a few decades ago AND I would have done more in a day than clean out a few dusty cupboards.
I’ve been thinking about all the gadgets and appliances in my life recently. Compared to housewives of the pre war days we have it ‘easy’ don’t we?
There are no wash day blues on a Monday for us any more, no scrubbing the flagstones with a steel brush, no cleaning the hearth (well actually I do, but I rather enjoy it), no plucking our own chickens before we can have a Sunday dinner, no baking bread, preserving fruit or making cheese unless we choose to.
No, all we have to do is hop in the car, mosey on down to the local store and choose from a bewildering array of pre-packaged food, designed with our convenience in mind. Before we pop out, we shove everything into a washing machine, throw in some chemicals and let 65 litres of water and a couple of kilowatts of electricity take care of it. We don’t even have to hang the washing out, we can just set the machine to miraculously dry our clothes too.
The thing is though, I wonder how much time these gadgets, appliances and convenience products save when we look at the overall picture. Do we go to bed satisfied by a days work? Do we feel physically and mentally relaxed and ready for a good night’s sleep? Or are we chasing the next dream in the belief that our lives will be ok when we have……….a holiday, the mortgage paid, a new car, the latest computer, a kitchen refit………..
All of these gadgets might save us a day in the wash house, but what do we get in return (apart from clean sheets)? We get more time to fill with more things. So we buy computers, TVs, X-boxes, cars and stuff to fill our time. In the process we burn more fuel and pile more plastic into the landfill. And we’re STILL tired and frustrated. We’re still waiting for the next hit that will bring us meaning to our lives.
Hmmm, well before I get completely off topic and this turns into a bit of a soapbox I need to start talking dirty again. Our landfill layabouts for this week amount to:
1 Tilda Rice bag
1 broken CD case
1 cream pot
A pistachio bag
Alfalfa sprouts cellophane
4 yogurt pots and lids
chips and chicken dippers bag
lentils cellophane
3 plastic tops from glass schwartz jars
cellophane from a pack of scourers
1 scouring pad
1 ripped swing bin liner
1 curry tray and lid
two plastic coffee lids
1 coleslaw container lid
1 chocolate chips bag
an old plastic spoon
a dead pen
a cocoa tin and lid
a plastic chocolate sprinkles container
We’re back up to middleweight status, with 301 grams.
I’ve got the milk in for another go at yogurt making too, so watch this space 😉
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Wow Mrs G, You’re still doing really well. When you think back to the beginning, just think how much you were popping in the bin ;-D
And to think tht in the past, there weren’t gyms to work off any extra excess. That was just part of everyday living ;-D
Oh Mrs Green,
don’t you go beating yourself up! I know it’s a blip upwards on the weight graph but all that stuff is gone now and will never darken your bin again, and it’s left over from times when you weren’t thinking about the packaging.
It’s still loads less than most people chuck in a week. Well done.
Sarah
Oooh, I will be checking in with you to see if you’ve made your yogurt…just keeping you accountable, you know. 😀
And I second what Sarah said…you’re still doing way better than I am!
I’ve had sort of the same cupboard/freezer cleaning issues as you(except that I’m mainly just trying to reduce my food waste)…I find stuff and I’m like, “WHY in the world did I buy this?”, or “Why did I buy so many of these??”
By the way, if you are interested in baking bread, I have a baking blog(it’s linked on my sidebar on my frugal blog). I haven’t been doing the blog for that long so there aren’t tons of recipes there, but you might enjoy some of what I’ve posted so far.
Thank you ladies! I don’t feel too bad about it, I must admit. As you say, Mrs A; it just makes you realise how many lifestyle changes you’ve made.
Kristen, you’re such a slave driver LOL! I’ll be terrified to think of you every time I open a yogurt pot from now on 😀
I took a peak at your baking blog a couple of weeks ago; there is some great stuff on there and some really inspiring and informative ideas.
For now I will stick to the breadmaker, but hand baking is something on my ‘want to achieve’ list at some point.