Category: alternatives

Furoshiki – waste free wrapping/carrying

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Learning and drooling at the beautiful fabrics, all at the same time

Recently, I went to a free class run in Bern by Live Green, to learn the Japanese art of Furoshiki. I love a good course/class and jumped at the chance to learn about this versatile technique/skill.

Furoshiki is a brilliant, no waste option for wrapping and carrying things. The fabrics come in different sizes, to be used for different purposes. Our teacher, Ye, said most Asian (Japanese, Chinese, Koren) households used to have one or more and they were used for everything. But her husband Mike noted that, unfortunately, this is a tradition of the past and plastic products have taken over. He said in Japan it is currently experiencing a revival with the Zero Waste movement, which is great to hear. Continue reading →

Charcoal water filter

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Charcoal is not just for chicken!

While in Australia over the 2016-2017 festive season, we found a store with all sorts of goodies I like, especially this one. A charcoal water filter.

In Switzerland, our water is of a very high quality, but it has a lot of lime/calcium in it and often I’ve noticed a strange smell.

Voila! Slip one of these little babies into the jug and after five hours the water is purified. No smell, no taste – just that clean water sensation. Delicious!

Here’s the one we found, but I’m sure there are plenty of other brands selling them. I like that this comes in cardboard with minimal packaging. The sticks are fragile though, so you need to be careful they don’t splinter when putting them in the jug and pouring from it. By pure luck, the first one I used sits nicely under the rim and doesn’t move.

Minimal packaging
The remaining two sticks

Here’s a short version of the blurb: “This package contains several sticks of kishu binchotan … it absorbs chlorine and heavy metals. It also alkalises water.”

Each one lasts about two months (I’m going to stretch mine for longer and see if I notice a change). For me, this is way better than a plastic set up where you have to buy the plastic-coated filters. And once it’s done it’s job, the stick goes into the compost. Or the packaging says you can put it in the fridge to soak up smells.

Do you use charcoal sticks? Or do you have a different water filter system?

Wishing you a wonderful day.

Reusing coffee grounds

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Today, it feels like spring. Check out this beautiful sight outside our home!refusetherefuserefusetherefuse

And with this spring feeling, I felt like cleaning! My face!

I use Aleppo soap for my hair, body and face. I still feel strange writing the word Aleppo, because the Syrian city has gone through so much. I doubt there will be much soap for sale in the foreseeable future, which is the least of our worries.

After summer holidays in Australia, wearing sunscreen every day, my skin felt really clogged, so after reading about it many times, I thought I’d give the used grounds from this morning’s coffee another job.

This is one of those easy and effective treatments where you think ‘why have I never done this before?’ Zero waste face scrub! I just put a dollop of coconut oil and a small amount of coffee grounds in my hands, rubbed them together, then scrubbed my face.

Totally sold on how effective and simple this is! Clogged pores are clear, the bumpy skin around my chin is now soft and my whole face feels fresh. Two ingredients, minimal packaging, no nasty ingredients.

And the leftover grounds went in the compost.

Will be doing this again, for sure. I liked the feeling the coconut oil left on my face (I normally just use it on my body). Here’s a recipe from PETA which uses olive oil, if you fancy trying that.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

Doing better in the bathroom

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Over the past few months, I’ve been using up all the plastic containers of lotions, potions and promises floating around the bathroom cupboard. I was reusing the ones with spray nozzles to hold homemade alternatives, then impatience and a chance conversation at the local chemist led me to better alternatives.

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Who knew brown could be so pretty? New brown bottles, old clear jar.

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Asking can’t hurt …

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I’ve been going to an awesome Turkish kebab restaurant near work (in Bern, Switzerland) for a falafel roll or mezze plate at least once a week for almost a year.

It’s cheap, it’s pretty healthy and the people are nice. Sometimes I eat in, sometimes it’s to go.

Last week, I thought I’d try something different.

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How much does it cost? Week 2

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That’s not a zucchini … THIS is a zucchini 😉 Homegrown goodness!

Finally I have time to write about week 2 of the “as organic as possible, waste-free grocery shopping” experiment.

As mentioned in week 1, some people are concerned that waste free = expensive. Buying organic also costs more than normal produce, so I’m going to do a little experiment to see how much I spend each week on groceries. This unfortunately not unfortunately will be hindered by the fact we’re on holidays from 21 August, but hey, it’s still worth doing the sums.

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Our new friend, the butcher

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We live in a small village, just outside the centre of Switzerland’s capital, Bern. During the week we don’t really eat meat, but on the weekends in summer it’s nice to throw a sausage on the barbecue or have a lasagna with salad.

During the first week of Plastic Free July, I took my own container to the meat counter at one of the two big supermarket chains. It was their main store in Bern. I chose some lamb and asked if it could be put in my glass container. The man refused, citing health and safety regulations. I tried to “strike up a discussion” (notice I’m not using the word argue!) that I took responsibility for my own actions and it would be fine as I would be eating the meat that night. He said no (man, I hate that word!), and because I had no (there it is again!) time to go anywhere else, I accepted the lamb, wrapped in a thin sheet of plastic and put inside a waxy, one-use-only paper bag.

As I walked off, feeling verrrry disappointed, I heard him tell a co-worker I wanted to use my own container. I didn’t hear any more of the discussion, but I hope it got them thinking! But this little exercise inspired me to hurry up and find a plan b … to refuse the refuse … because there’s always a plan b, right? Continue reading →

Washing with water

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We’ve come to the end of Plastic Free July and what an enjoyable, eye-opening time it’s been. I’ve met some lovely business owners and workers who understand the concept of producing less waste and will write about that in another post or two.

In July, I definitely reduced my plastic intake, but of course, no one is perfect so a few things still crept in. But I didn’t touch the top four nasties – bottled water and softdrinks, straws, all unnecessary* plastic bags (as per normal) and takeaway tea or hot chocolate (I don’t drink coffee). These are small but life-affirming wins for me!

I set another self-imposed challenge for the month … to finally do “no poo” – where you don’t wash your hair with shampoo or conditioner. Read more about the whole concept at this website. Some people wash with baking soda and rinse with diluted apple cider vinegar, others use solid soap and/or conditioner bars, some just even use conditioner only, but I wanted to be as minimal as possible.

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The easiest of starts

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The beautiful lake of St Moritz in Switzerland … momentarily spoiled by the sight/blight of this …

One of the easiest and simplest ways to reduce waste it to ditch the one-use plastic water bottles. They don’t all make it to the recycling plant.

While the photo above isn’t the best quality because I zoomed in, the eyesore was enough to snap my sister and I out of our blissful state while taking in the glory of St Moritz lake, in Switzerland, during her recent visit.

This is what the lake looked like elsewhere …

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