Sunday Roundup
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The Greens; with another exciting roundup of rubbishy events
Spring is here! Later on today, Little Miss Green and I will be planting potatoes in the garden. The daffodils are out and Mr Blackbird has been tuning up at 6am each morning ready to woo his lady blackbird.
I love this time of year; filled with such potential and positivity.
Say goodbye to the disposable coffee cup
On Monday I had a good old rummage through a package sent me by Paul at ECOutlet. He sent me a KeepCup, which is a barista standard reusable coffee cup. Take a look at my review video and find out what else was in the box!
Scotch pancakes
On Tuesday I felt rather proud that I’d managed to avoid a whole pile of packaging waste by making scotch pancakes. I’d love to know what you make at home that has prevented you filling up the landfill with unmarked packaging.
Reuse silica gel
I’m sure you’ve all had a few packs of silica gel in your time. Designed to protect goods from getting damp, the last pack I had carried strict instructions to THROW AWAY! You all came up with some fantastic reuse suggestions and we’ve compiled them into “8 ways to reuse silica gel“. If you’ve got further ideas, be sure to add them to the list!
Reduce takeout landfill waste
Our guest post this week was from Lisa Borden who tackled the subject of takeout waste. What with all those disposable cups, knives, forks and plates, not to mention individual packets of sauce and polystyrene containers she has lots of tips for saying no to landfill waste. What are your ideas?
How to store salad
On Friday we ate ten day old lettuce. It’s ok, we haven’t hit upon hard times, but I have definitely discovered the secret to reduce salad food waste. Take a look at our dustbin demon too – it’s a real ‘gotcha!’.
Coming up
Just when you thought there couldn’t possibly be anything left to say about rubbish we have another week’s entertainment lined up for you.
You’ll be able to find out my secret ingredient for amazing mashed potato, you’ll be reading about a decision I had to make that was very difficult to reconcile, and we’ll be sharing another guest post from Gareth from Tree2mydoor about his commitment to landfill friendly packaging.
In the meantime, I had a call from Radio Scotland this week. They were covering the recycling issue and wanted to hear what I had to say about it. Unfortunately modern technology had other plans and the line dropped out half way through the interview; but you can at least listen to the first half.
Click on this link to listen: radio scotland
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Hi Mrs Green,
Really enjoyed the ‘local’ Radio chat, giving a good perspective for the general public. The best thing in our trend is its worldwide reach. Future media contact seems certain with more TV coverage possible.
Good to see the outdoor growing season taking off for the family with mine likely to be a month later. However, yesterday and today, all day hopefully, the Sweet Basil plant has basked in the sun after such a long spell indoors, short of light and decent heat. Recent leaf growth has given miniature leaves which shows the plant is coming to life. Grow Your Own will be even bigger this year.
Another frost related item, is related to Bokashi use. I placed the contents from it in the compost bin in late autumn but the early winter prevented its normal breakdown. The upshot is that the fungus has started working before the usual soil process giving a whitish film at one inner wall. Packing with thawed soil will be necessary to allow normal processing. In future, it may be advisable to empty the Bokashi in early autumn at the latest.
I spent yesterday in the garden planting potatoes as well as broccoli, salad greens, and peas. It is the ultimate zero waste produce!
@John Costigane: Thanks John; it was great to have the opportunity to speak in your neck of the woods and great to see your basil is enjoying some renewed energy in the sun. Good tip about the bokashi too – we live and learn. In our wormery we seem to have all sorts of things sprouting and shooting!
@Alea: Sounds lovely, Alea! Apart from potatoes, I’ve refrained from putting anything outdoors yet, but in a month or so we’ll be able to plant out.
@Mrs Green: The severe winter has certainly affected all garden activity but another hopeful sign is the sprouting of spring onions, planted last year. A nearby spearmint clump is still a winter relic but should recover later.
Slugs are seen in the compost bin only, in ones and twos recently. I have been collecting used coffee grounds regularly over every few days, from my own use, to cover the compost surface. Their effectiveness will be worth following to help others with the problem. Alcohol baths, flush with the soil, are another tool worth investigating. Being teetotal, 100% will be used for the purpose. I will leave others to cover the issue for drinkers, but I can foresee problems of correct usage.
@John Costigane: 😀 well Mr G certainly wouldn’t waste good beer on slugs. I don’t drink either, but would be too tight to buy it, especially when free coffee grounds or my plastic slug collars do the trick. But it seems to work for you and that’s all that matters.