Single use plastic

Part 1

I am calling this part 1, I don’t know how many parts there will be but I suspect it will be a lot! Single use plastic is obviously a massive issue at the moment. I’ve got to admit that it isn’t something I’ve given a lot of thought to until recently. I felt pretty good about taking my reusable carrier bags out shopping. I am now ready to try and do better than that. More than that, I feel the world is with me. Together we can do this!

I do my weekly food shop at the supermarket. I get it delivered. I tick the box on the order to to say no carrier bags leading to the inevitable running back and forwards with plastic crates and precariously balanced food sculptures being created on the kitchen floor. But despite my lack of carrier bags, more or less everything I buy is wrapped in plastic. It is sad. We have decided to try and reduce the amount of plastic packaging we use.

Coincidentally, last week we popped into Morrison’s (not my usual supermarket) and discovered that not only can you buy your fruit n veg in paper bags but you can also get own brand bread in paper! That makes me happy.

Food in paper bags!

Hurrah for Morrison’s! I also noticed they have paper bags to pack your shopping at the till. This week I am doing my food shop at Morrison’s. And that is my first step.

Please let me know if you have other suggestions for reducing plastic packaging.

*Edit – Very annoyingly, the plastic free options don’t seem to be available when you get your shopping delivered. I have emailed customer services to ask them to change this and am waiting for their reply. Until then I am shopping in store.

Saving the bugs!

Step 2 – Helping wildlife.

Wild corner

In order to do our bit to save the bugs and the bees we are leaving a corner of the garden to nature (did I mention we have a super dooper new house with a proper garden with actual grass!!) The kids built a bug hotel with some old bricks and pieces of plywood that were handily lying round the garden when we moved in. I’ve left the grass to grow up and the dandelions alone. We placed the bug hotel next to the flower patch and on the other side have planted some bee friendly seeds, thank you very much 38 degrees! Now I have to admit that my fingers are really not that green and mostly I can only get things to grow from bulbs but fingers crossed the seeds will grow!

Now the garden already seems pretty popular with the bugs. You can’t kick over a clod of earth without disturbing a worm or two, there are woodlice and slugs and greenfly and spiders, a couple of caterpillars have been spotted and butterflies and bees are buzzing around the daisies. So it’s all looking hopeful out there. We have rummaged out a nature spotter’s guide so the kids can try and identify the bugs we see. We think we spotted a Red-tailed bumblebee yesterday though the highlight has certainly been watching a spider rush out and wrap up and consume an unfortunate fly!

COMPOSTING!

Step 1 in our mission to reduce how much we send to landfill!

After moving into our swanky new house with our proper garden! last October we found we already had a compost bin, hooray! Now I have never composted but composting is amazing because instead of our food waste going to landfill we can use it in the garden to grow lovely flowers. I like a win win and not only that but it is free, no money has been spent!

So first things first, what to put in the world saving compost bin? Well as we were sorting out the garden we started with the cut grass from the mower. Then while I was digging over the flower patch, the kids were delightedly picking up earthworms and putting them in the compost bin. We have decided not to put cooked food in ours because of the smell and so not to attract rats. So, we mainly put in vegetable peelings and fruit waste though some shredded paper and egg shells have also gone in. Now I know for compost the smaller the better though I have to admit the odd rotten apple has gone in whole from time to time.

So the compost bin is now about two thirds full so I suppose the next question is, will it turn into usable compost for the flower patch?Watch this space to find out the answer!

Reducing our carbon footprint

I have always considered myself to be reasonably environmentally friendly. I dutifully do my recycling and take bags to the supermarket. Recent events have persuaded me however, that it is time, as a family, to up our game. We are in a climate emergency and doing the bare minimum is no longer acceptable. The pressure has been piling in from all sides, with David Attenborough in one ear and Greta Thunberg in the other, not to mention the full weight of the KS2 science curriculum coming at me from a loud 9 and 10 year old! I am committing, here on the internet, to reducing our carbon footprint and in some ways more importantly, to join the fight to change the world. This blog will be about the changes we are going to make and our efforts to become more green.