Why love your soap bar?
Should you grab that soap bar? Yes, definitely, if you want to save money and eliminate plastic in your bathroom! Don’t worry about the germs!
Tag: low waste
What to know about a shampoo (bar)?
Nature lovers headache: who would have known that a transfer from your everyday shampoo to an all-organic shampoo bar can be such a hassle?
First steps on shopping plastic-free
A year ago we decided to cut down bringing plastic into our home. Following is the result of our first time trying plastic-free shopping. Our future is bright!
June 2018 thoughts
Those who have read our earlier posts know that we are on the path of consuming less, saving more, putting our minds and home into a minimalism mode and trying to survive without a fridge and buying less plastic. We can manage with most of the above-mentioned things just fine. Now we have to tackle the plastic matter. Is it possible to shop plastic-free?
Little (plastic-free) steps do matter
So far the first month has passed quite nicely for us. As we were able to save food from going to waste. Eve rescued it from the work canteen. So we were able to save more money and put it into our savings. Eve’s posts should give you a better overview of this subject. We haven’t been buying a lot. As all the little things we need, we already have. And if we have run out of something, then we are always looking to buy it in a glass, tin can or some other form, except in plastic.
Since it is the end of the month, it means we are ought to cook a complete new vegan meal we always have wanted to cook. This is part of celebrating our wedding date every month. I guess you need some kind of traditions in your family. And we are proud that we can join our forces on something we both love equally, maybe Eve a bit more than me – food!
Let’s investigate the (plastic-free?) haul
Let’s talk about the photo below, our haul for the anniversary cooking. Most things on the picture we bought for the two-course meal: oven-baked nachos and American style strawberry cake. As you can see most is in glass or in tin jars. (There will be a post soon talking about the difference between a can and a can) BUT of course, there are few BUT’s: starting from the left, vitamin B and Magnesium drink tablets, lemon extract, margarine, toothbrushes, glass noodles, nachos and strawberries in a plastic container. The potatoes are in a recyclable green bag.*
What we failed at?
The toothbrushes – we desperately needed them (I know, what a lousy excuse!). But we could have waited a day and get a bamboo one from some other store.
Vitamin drinks, as we are deficient on B12 and Mg, and had no medicine by hand.
Lemon extract, well not sure why did we buy it maybe thinking of using it for a long time. Definitely not to be bought in the future in such form.
Margarine was a must for the cake and since there are not really many vegan options available in the first place, let’s not even go to plastic-free options here…perhaps in the near future.
Glass noodles are our favorites and we have really grown on them. But if consuming them means bringing all this plastic home, then I think we should change our habits than continue this flow of plastic.
Nachos, are there really plastic-free options?
Strawberries, after we bought them we thought they could have poured them all in the red plastic bag, what we had with us. So we could have saved three containers, but since we were on a long walk from the store with heavy bags, we realized when reaching home it all would have been a big mush.
This amount of plastic really made my heart hurt. It was the last time we did such a purchase. Next time we would have our own containers or bags with us not to take anything from the farmer.
So there you go, not bad at all, but many changes could still be done. Moral of the story:
prepare ahead of time, know your needs, do your research and bring your own containers or bags, when shopping for produce.
November 2019 plastic-free update
As time has passed, we have become more environmentally aware, conscious of our actions and adjusted our needs. Also, we have found alternatives for products coming in plastic containers in different stores.
Let’s see what has changed 1,5 year later:
*Vitamin B and Magnesium drink tablets – we no longer buy them. They come only in plastic and are not really healthy. We have liquid B12 we take from a glass jar.
*Lemon extract – this actually lasted for a while, as we finished it perhaps a month ago. But now we would never buy it. As real lemon is the real way to go!
*Margarine – it is a very processed product, so we have been avoiding it. We mostly use coconut oil now. Recently we found small cubes in the store, which come in paper.
*Toothbrushes – we have turned a long time ago to bamboo brushes.
*Glass noodles – we have stopped buying those. Have twice bought big bags of noodles to last us for long.
*Nachos – haven’t bought any since then!
*Strawberries – we have always put them in our own containers.
Stay tuned to read more about our current life, while aiming for zero-waste, plastic-free, and less consuming life.
Baking soda – the household wonder helper
I have known that baking soda is good, but I never realized how good it is for the environment, my wallet and my everyday life!
Berlin Clothing Swap – time to swap!
Attend the upcoming swap on November 24th, 2019 at the Museum of European Art from 1-4pm. It’s free! Take advantage of this free offer, engrave is normally 2€.
What about organic waste?
As you probably noticed, I didn’t tackle the organic waste subject in my previous post. From several ways how to manage your biowaste, with our little tips below, you can easily find yours!
In a short period of time, we got used to collecting organic waste. When we’re doing the first garbage disposal after moving in, we couldn’t find a bin for, what I like to call – alive trash. As it seems, our property managers haven’t invested in disposing of green waste. Therefore we are left to our own devices – to throw all alive waste in the same bin as garbage or? Yeah, what else is there really?
There are basically two options, to compost or scatter the scraps back to nature. If you throw your organic waste in the garbage, it will travel to the landfill. From there, it will start to create methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, which harms our environment.
Once you create compost with the help of the earthworms and some soil, you need to use the final product or take it where it is needed. But what if you do not have a garden, plants or a green thumb friend to give it to? I guess the only option is to take it back to nature, which is not so bad, right?
Taking your organic waste back to nature
This is far from the ideal option, but if you happen to have some wild nature area where you live, then why not? Do so in moderate amounts. Of course, it is not the best to take banana peels, avocado seeds and orange peels to your European forests. This is because such fruits do not grow here and therefore it conflicts with the local flora.
Maybe you’re wondering how I came across the idea to scatter food scraps in nature?
The story
We were staying in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria in the summer of 2017 hosted by a wonderful soul Andrei (name changed for privacy). Our Bulgarian friend is also vegan and into saving the planet. He has a big heart. Because he didn’t ask for money from us during our month stay at his humble abode. He is quite awake, knowledgeable and works out daily, trying to prove that when vegan, you can be as fit as an omnivore.
On garbage disposal day at his place, he asked me to take the green waste while he threw out the garbage near his home. I was left to carry the green bag quite far from his house. We were talking while walking to his training spot in the wild huge park in the middle of Sofia. I really didn’t want to interrupt, but when we were quite deep in there, I asked, “So where is the green recycling bin?”. He replied: “Just scatter the content of the bag wherever you want and trash the plastic bag in the bin”. I was, probably like you are now reading these lines – very surprised! Yes, all the green waste back to nature to do its natural thing there – decompose.
This is exactly what we are doing now in our small building without a green waste disposal unit; we gather the little waste we create in a glass jar with a lid. The jar came home from the store with pickles and now has another use and when it is full, we scatter it in a nearby large nature spot. Don’t worry, it is not a park or anything, just a woman-made dirt path, otherwise, completely wild!
Give your organic waste a chance!
The only reason we are able to do this is that we happen to live not far from nature. Also, we only create plant scraps. We do not recommend taking your meat scraps and wasted prepared food to nature! We only scatter peeled potatoes, carrots, onion skins, apple hearts, and occasional banana peels. If once in a blue moon some food that we saved happens to go to waste, it will find its final resting place there as well, but only in small quantities.
The other reason why we get away with doing this is that we are most likely the only people in this area who are doing it. Even so, I must say I have noticed that some people, who have their little summer houses in the area, have created a huge pile of garden waste, which is honestly huge and always there.
We create so little waste that it withers in just a few weeks with no harm done. It is nothing like putting your waste in Central Park, no, we would never do that or recommend you doing it!
Look outside of the box
If you like the idea of taking nature back to nature but happen to live away from natural areas or wilderness, then there is still hope. Just bring the jar of food scraps with you in your basket and scatter at a suitable place. In bigger cities, there are always opportunities around. It is important to choose areas away from human traffic. Also, it is wise to use different spots to avoid accumulation, as the gardeners in our area have created.
We are proud to save green waste going to the garbage bin. It makes us really happy contributing to the wellbeing of our planet. This is great that we were able to solve the problem of not having a green waste collection point.
We’ll see how the winter goes while doing this. At least the bin can be bigger and kept outside on the balcony in cool temperatures. I definitely will keep you updated.
… A note from Eve:
Be creative when green bins are not part of your living situation. This is another great lesson we learned on our travels in Bulgaria, from two different people on opposite sides of the country. First, discarding green matter by the Black Sea (in the wild there), and smack in the middle of the bricky capital city, Sofia.
Learning that it is okay to bring organic waste to nature was so important. We have been made to feel that it would be considered littering, but then again – look at our world. There are millions who live on human waste in landfills, trying to survive.
To return nature back to itself seems obvious. Still, it will take some time to get used to it. We have been heavily indoctrinated to follow rules and to do things are you are instructed to do even if it makes no moral sense. I would rather the food be poked at by animals than to join our discarded goods in landfills. These food scraps would otherwise sit in landfills, creating greenhouse gases with other materials that will never be part of the earth anyway.
Think outside of the box that modern humans create since they are often at odds with the wisdom of nature.
Want to learn to compost at home easily?
The Beginner’s Guide to Composting at Home
*UPDATE 2019
Since spring we also have organic waste bin, so we have been happy users of that. First, it took some time educating some of the people in our building, but now it finally works. People have started to use it more eagerly, which only makes us happier. As more waste is put to good use and fewer ends to a landfill.
Sorting garbage in the kitchen
Though we are trying to become plastic free, we do not believe in trashing bags and containers that we already have just to be free of it. In other words – how to manage your garbage?
Homemade laundry detergent, a bang for your money
Making your own all-natural and cheap laundry detergent can be a bit of a hassle. Avoid failure and learn from my mistakes.
Cleaning your mattress is easy as baking soda
Now we are happy owners of a free bed plus many other items of furniture. How to clean the mattress and what keep to mind, when caring for new old things?
The five items we got were free, but for the van rental, we had to pay – 50€. Divided by the items, each item cost us 10€. Not bad, not bad at all. Plus on top of it, we got a mirror and two floor/doormats!
Anyway, one thing you definitely have to keep in mind, when getting things for free, is their condition. They may come from a neat household, well-taken care of and tidy. Or from a smoker’s home, with stains, smells, and signs of wear. If you have never brought free furniture into your home, it may be a bit scary, as the items may need some work. In our case, the mattress needed the most care.
You may be thinking, why talk about about a bed (or you may wonder why to save one from a landfill), as this is what we just use when sleeping. That’s it, this is the reason we need to talk about it and take care of it. I hope this post will help people like myself. I had to do thorough research on the internet to complete my cleaning task.
Get to know your mattress
Our mattress came with a cover and an extra cover. These were both dirty. Had stains and everything smelled of cigar smoke. Pretty gross – for many a garbage, but for us a treasure, which needed a little TLC. I wasn’t sure if the cleaning was going to work out. Really, how was I supposed to get rid of the smoking smell??? Google to rescue. After my many unfruitful searches, finally, a treasure revealed itself – Clean My Space. I really enjoyed their video and the “leading actress” does a great role, talking about cleaning and maintenance.
What to keep in mind while cleaning the mattress and maintaining it:
*cleaning mattress is not only necessary, when getting a used mattress, but it has to be carried out with every one you are owning and using to sleep on, even if they are brand new and once came from the store, like brand new;
*mattresses become extremely dirty, as we sweat every night a lot, which all will be stored in the mattress, therefore the airing of mattress and your bedclothes is very important;
*turn and flip your mattress every season;
*no water/liquids on your mattress, especially on memory foam mattresses, use a fan to try any wet spots;
*get the protector to protect your mattress, wash it and clean often;
*most mattresses are not cleanable, as they do not come with a cover, you can zip off
Cleaning a mattress without a zip-off cover
If the cover can’t be zipped off, then you should follow these steps:
*vacuum the mattress, to get rid of whatever may be there; do that at least once a season;
*deodorize your mattress, while shifting baking soda on your mattress and letting it sit for a little and then vacuuming it off, adding few drops of essential oils, will add a nice aroma to the cleaning;
*spot cleaning and stains, better tune in the video to get a complete overview of the stain types and how to handle them, but the main thing to know is, tackle the stains ASAP.
Take a look at the video HERE.
Clean My Space is an awesome outlet for all cleaning related questions you may ever have, check them definitely out!
The place where we are living at the moment is not our permanent home. So, therefore, all these mishaps are easier to handle. As we really do not want to bury so much money into something we are not going to use in the long run. Remember you can use these tips in your permanent home. Don’t be afraid of trying.
Read more on how we managed to get the cigarette smells out of our old new mattress in our future posts!