Get off your arse Thursday – week 2
Add article to favourites
Who’s going to join in this week? Get off your arse Thursday is your opportunity to get on with a job you’ve been procrastinating about that will help you reduce, reuse, recycle or compost more. We don’t care what it is as long as it help you reduce your landfill waste in some way. Read more on our post last week.
Last week, Mrs A was emptying her bokashi bin and Sandy was posting her yogurt pots to GHS while Joe was kicking back and listening to a Radio 4 play about a family who had to reduce their carbon footprint to zero. Hardly a procrastination job, but we’ll let him off – perhaps he finds it hard to relax 😉
Mrs J and Carole were out and about shopping for zero waste Easter eggs and Poppy was just a general show off with all her tasks – not only did she set up her mini greenhouse, but she was unpicking cushions covers ready for reuse as well as sorting out her piles.
I was planning on sorting out all my reusable envelopes into an orderly pile, but instead we hoped into Gloucester for some errands, so I took a pile of polythene to Sainsburys for recycling.
Poppy won our award for getting off her lovely arse, and I need to sort out just what that prize will be. Ah, here we are:
Not only is this chocolate zero waste, it’s zero waist too. I hope you enjoy it Poppy!
So what’s instore this week folks? I’ve decided to make use of some plastic meat trays I’ve been holding onto – I’m going to make a batch of curry and rice and freeze them in these trays ready for a ‘can’t be bothered to cook’ evening. If the weather is kind to me, I’m also going to plant some seeds. Nothing like fresh, seasonal home grown food to reduce your plastic packaging 🙂
Readers who viewed this page, also viewed:
Cheltenham Community Recycling Champions and Vision 21 for Gloucestershire You'll have to forgive the 'localness' of this post. I know it won't be helpful for…
Don’t throw it away… That's rubbish, just throw it away ... How many times have you heard that or said…
It’s get off your arse Thursday! After my little outburst a couple of weeks ago about procrastination and overwhelm I've decided the…
Sunday roundup 46 Goodness me, that magic number 52 is getting ever closer. One whole year? It can't be,…
Get off your arse Thursday – week 9 What a naughty bunch of zero wasters you were last week. Only two of you took…
I think I shall also use the trays we’ve been collecting and plant more seeds. Need to take the recycling and sort the baby clothes from the loft but that depends on how sick my children and when my delivery arrives.
Mrs G,
Just checked your blog before going to work and you didn’t half make me smile with this comment! “Poppy was just a general show off with all her tasks – not only did she set up her mini greenhouse, but she was unpicking cushions covers ready for reuse as well as SORTING OUT HER PILES (my caps).”
Poor Poppy, I didn’t know she suffered so, but I don’t know if you can get Zero Waste Preparation H!!!
(Sorry Poppy)
Anyway, today I’m going to go around the paper recycling bins in the classrooms to make sure the kids are sorting their waste correctly (you get all sorts in there sometimes!) I’m going to leave it at that, I’ve got a very sore tennis elbow type arm with hand sanding down all my lounge walls last night! Can’t wait to get started on some actual painting!
Carole
Carole
Mmm, planting seeds, must start that soon…. After I dig over the veg beds, sort out the compost bins and rearrange the garden around the chickens… Must dig out my paper potter too, it’s vanished into the back of the shed, which needs emptying and tidying. It’s just starting to get warm enough to be out in the garden for a while most days now and it really feels like spring is finally here!
Cadbury Eggheads are only wrapped in foil, no plastic and no card.
Hi Mrs Green,
Just started on the garden. Yesterday cut down the Hypericum bush. Ths stalks could be used for an outside wall frame for plants. Has anyone tried this themselves?
Today, I dug the garden, an annual task, and what a scorcher as well. Do you believe sunburn in March?
Next, empty the compost bin and build raised beds.
I was sorry to read about Mrs Average’s possible retirement from the trend. If true, it will be a big loss. I personally started out alone and eventually got in contact with her, from a good tip. We have all come a long way for those early beginnings.
You’re so cruel Mrs G !!
I think I will have to postpone getting off my arse until tomorrow. Master P has a friend coming over after school today, so I’m a bit tied up with that. That said, it’s one of those things that we have been putting off … does it qualify?
I also bit the bullet and put my wheelie bin out today. First time since Zero Waste week!! There was still room in it, but some unknown item was getting a bit whiffy, so it had to go. I’ll mark the date on the calendar and start again. 🙂
I have had a sort through both boys clothing as they have both shot up again.
Any that has been outgrown or is no good has been sorted as follows:
DS1’s has gone into boxes ready for DS2, with some going into the “Bag2School” bag; DS2’s has been split between a bag for his friend who is quite a bit smaller than him, a bag for the charity shop and a bag for “Bag2School”.
@MrsJ: Hey Mrs J – planting is in full swing now. What did you plant yesterday? I went to the garden centre and looked at seeds but got overwhelmed. So I came home, wrote a list and need to revisit to buy the products!
@Carole Blake: How did the recycling bins go, Carole – any naughty contaminants in there? Hope the elbow has recovered; along with Poppy’s piles.
@Sarah: Sounds like you had a busy day, Sarah – did you manage to get through it all? It was a beautiful day here. I lay in the garden for a while with the cat keeping me warm; it was lovely!
@John Costigane: John, I do believe you about the sunburn – the same happened to me over the weekend LOL! I’ve never used hypericum as planting stalks, but we use the prunings from our sycamore trees for growing runner beans 🙂
@Poppy: Sorry Poppy; I couldn’t resist 😀 I hope you had fun with your little visitor and cool about the bin – that’s been ages! Let’s see how long you can go next time.
@maisie dalziel: Great one, Maisie. There is something very satisfactory about sorting through wardrobes and weeding out the half mast trousers. And it’s great when we can pass clothes down to other children. We love getting black sacks of ‘cast offs’ from others!
@Mrs Green: Nope, I parcelled up soap nuts, signed a couple of books, parcelled those up too, went to the post office, made pasta, did a bit of housework, wrote a bit of book 3 and generally pottered about with a sore back and did nothing in the garden. All the garden stuff is longer term and won’t get done in a day! I have located my potter though.
this morning we have dug some of our veg plot (begged from a local farmer) and I am now making onion soup and mushroom soup, all left over from last week. does feel good
sorry
Yo ladies – bizarrely Thursday is the day for my local “Kick your arse club”, an informal group of friends who support each other in making sure we get things done and have a focus for the next week. The great thing is that en route to the venue there’s a car park with recycling banks….a perfect spot to drop off the empties and an old moth-eaten coat. So cheers Mrs G for the Kick up the derriere too. Hope Poppy’s sorted her piles 😀 x
@Sarah: I’m glad you located your paper potter and it sounds like a very busy and industrious day!
@sandy humphreys: Sounds like a wonderful day, Sandy. Digging the plot and home made soup for lunch – sounds like the perfect day to me 🙂
@Almost Mrs Average: Well done mrs A. It’s an honour to be able to inspire you of all people 😀
Your club sounds like great fun! Is it originally a Barbara Sher success team group?
Alas the children were still very ill and spent most the day breast feeding my youngest.
However, my husband’s nan rang the council about her inability to take her cardboard and plastic bottles to the recycling bank (she’s in her late 70s) and was told to “just put it in the bin then”!!!!!!!
@MrsJ: That is a dreadful comment from the council! Quite unbelievable.
Mrs G,
I went through the bins, (getting strange looks from teachers etc.,) and found some mixed card in with the white stuff, also some orange peelings!!! Had a small talk with the teachers to ask them to remind the kids what stuff goes where.
Carole.
@Carole Blake: Hi Carole, I have posted a tinfoil competition on SkyNews. It might be suitable for school kids to collect Easter Egg and chocolate wrappers. What do you think as a school worker/teacher?
@John Costigane: Hi John, will have a look, tell you what I think over there?
Carole
@MrsJ:
The council here will be collecting what they refer to as ‘light kitchen cardboard’ from next month 🙂 Yippee!!
@MrsJ: Ack – Mrs J; that is so frustrating for your husband’s Nan – so thoughtless 🙁 I hope your family are in perfect health soon, but they are in good hands; breast milk is the finest medicine every created 🙂
@Carole Blake: Well done Carole; card I can understand, but orange peel?! It’s great that the teachers are supportive of your efforts.
@Poppy: Ooooo, Poppy – happy dances; tell me more about what that includes when you know. How brilliant!
@Carole Blake: I know I said it’s a shame she didn’t get a name of the person she was speaking to!
@Mrs Green: Thank you – little one was worse today. Ironically the dr suggested I gave him diluted cow’s milk!!
Sorry to hear your little one is worse today 🙁 I can’t believe that about your dr (well, actually I can, but doh!)
@Mrs Green:
It’s things like cereal boxes, t-bag boxes, toilet and kitchen roll tubes. Larger corrigated stuff will still have to be taken to bring sites or HWRCs, but being able to do the other stuff kerbside will make a huge difference 🙂
It will be interesting to see if the leaflet being put through the doors, actually gets the message over. From what I’ve seen with the other stuff, I doubt it! 🙁
Thursday was planting seeds for me too. I’ve never actually grown tomatoes “from scratch”, but I’m trying to avoid those plastic seedling containers this year, so I’m giving it a go. I saved some seeds from last year and got some from a friend and am trying them out in my mini indoor greenhouse.
@Poppy: That sounds fab, Poppy. It really is a good move. I hope the leaflet encourages people to participate. I wonder why they don’t have that effect and what the best communication would be.
@Jen from clean bin: well done with the seeds, Jen. The tomatoes will be fabulous – you’ll never look back!