Wednesday 2 March 2016

Eco Friendly Papers and Cotton Wool.

Some of you who read my blog will be way ahead of me on your journey to reduce your environmental impact, and others may have just begun. The thing is that we are working on it - it's quite a journey back when we realize just how far we have fallen into the habits that produce so much waste.

This week's improvements: 
Starting to buy from Greencane paper, which is couriered to me by the carton load. This product is made from  plantation grown bamboo and sugarcane waste. The packaging is totally biodegradable (a big tick there). I bought a mixed box with tissues, toilet paper and paper towels. 



Yes I know it is greener to do away with paper towels, and honestly we don't use many, and tissues - well we have allergy sufferers here so they are non-negotiable. I figure at least they can be environmentally friendly ones. 
I did a little price comparison, which wasn't very scientific, but there is not a lot of difference in the price for me.
Oh, and it's all good quality - you would think it was top of the line soft tissue.
If you haven't tried them - have a look - www.greencane.com, they are all around the world. That is totally not sponsored by the way.

Cotton wool balls! I tried to get our teen to use cut-up old tee shirt cotton squares to remove her nail polish - but this is obviously totally uncool and she is still asking for cotton wool balls (which only come in plastic bags). I would have bought plain sheets of cotton wool in paper wrap like you could in the old days, but I can't find any. 
Well it turns out that old life jackets are full of shredded wool - who knew! So instead of throwing them away, I have removed some of the fluffy wool and rolled it into balls, along with some of that old cotton wool that I inherited.

But will the pretty packaging do the trick?


I suspect that this too could be seriously uncool, but we'll see.

A-Gathering in the Garden in Autumn
Honestly my garden looks terrible and I didn't really think there was much in it, but a wander with my trug has produced all of this! 



Rhubarb, cucumber, tomatoes, aubergines, cape gooseberries, windfall apples, peaches, silverbeet, basil, passionfruit and beans. Also it has been a great year for wild blackberries, they are still going.
I had better get a move on - I have pesto and blackberry&apple pies to make.  
  


6 comments:

  1. Paper products made from bamboo? Wow. I was ready to order, but it's not available in the US yet.
    Your garden basket is a painting and a feast! I'm excited because my radishes, spinach, and basil are up. Yesterday I repotted the lime and lemon trees that live on the deck in hopes that the squirrels will leave them alone this year and not eat the buds.

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    1. Oh, I saw that Greencane had sites all over the world, didn't realize they hadn't all got the products. Hopefully they won't be far away. Your squirrels do what our possums do - good luck.

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  2. I love your wool balls and don't think I would have ever considered pulling the stuffing out of a life jacket. Fantastic idea!

    I have eliminated all paper products from my home with the exception of toilet paper. I've been using 100% post consumer recycled paper but have wanted to switch to bamboo and give that a try to eliminate the energy needed to recycle the paper in the first place. It's been hard to find bamboo in the US but I'll keep looking. How do you feel bamboo compares to other brands of toilet paper?

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    1. Forgot to answer your question - the bamboo toilet paper is as nice as the good quality brand that I was using before. It looks perfectly normal and is not earth mother-looking at all, if you know what I mean.

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  3. A journey back when we realize just how far we have fallen into the habits that produce so much waste.Cahul

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