Next up in our lunch–themed week…
Like clear plastic muffin/cake boxes, plastic clamshell-ish tubs from salad bars or pre-packed pastas/salads are frustrating – they’re *almost* strong enough and *almost* resealable enough to be reused but not quite.
As with many things of this nature, it’s best to just avoid them when possible so you don’t have to worry about disposing of the tub afterwards – but if you do pick one up, what can you do with it?
I believe most of them are plastic identification number 5 so can be recycled in some places. They can also be used as mini-greenhouses/cloches for very small seedlings.
Any other suggestions?
Categories: food, items, packaging
Posted by louisa
on 24 February 2010
Following on from yesterday’s lunch box post, I thought we might have a week of lunch themed items because a) I love lunch, mmm, lunch and b) it is often a lot more wasteful than most meals because most people tend to be away from home, with limited catering facilities and so are more likely to resort to pre-packed snacks.
To save money and to avoid packing landfills with even more plastic sandwich packs, people are encouraged to take their own packed lunches with them to work – but without a bit of pre-planning, that can easily lead to a lot of packaging waste – plastic bags, cling film/saran wrap, foil — and that’s before starting on any specially bought single serving items.
There are a number of different bento box style lunchboxes on the market – a set of reusable containers which fit neatly inside a carry case – perfect for snack-size portions of different items. If you’ve already got a stash of small plastic tubs (either purpose-built or reusing resealable packaging), you can use these as inspiration to make your own bag. Perhaps even one that can fit onto your bike…
If your lunch isn’t quite so complicated, a reusable sandwich wrap/bag might be enough – Julie from Towards Sustainability has been experimenting with making a reusable lunch bag for her daughter.
What have you done to cut down packed lunch waste? Have you made your own sandwich bag/wrap or lunch box? Do you regularly reuse packaging from other food items — like bread bags?
What do you do for drinks? Have you bought a purpose-built water bottle or do you reuse an old bottle instead?
Categories: items
Posted by louisa
on 23 February 2010
We’ve had an email from Sarah C:
My kids always need new lunchboxes, what can I do with the old ones?
The hard plastic square ones I used to have when I was little were good kid-size storage boxes so maybe encourage them to use their previous year’s boxes as storage – for pens, letters & birthday cards, small toys – in their bedrooms. If they’re a bit scruffy, they can probably be recovered or painted, and you could make old fashioned suitcase straps & buckles if the plastic catch has broken.
Insulated cooler bags seem to be more common that those though now and from what I’ve read Googling around, they don’t seem to last as long as the hard plastic ones – not so easy to keep them clean. The material could be used to make coffee cup/beer can sleeves – or insulating pipes around the home where space is too tight for expanded foam.
Any other suggestions?
Categories: food, household, items, kitchen
Posted by louisa
on 22 February 2010
Lynette left a comment on another post asking:
Does anyone know how I can recycle man-made fabrics that are beyond wearing, not appropriate for ‘rag’ etc. People have suggested charity shops, but they wouldn’t want such items. Council 3rd world bins ask for only wearable clothes, so this is becoming a problem. I buy all second hand clothes but have to avoid wool as I am married to a staunch vegan.
As I replied to the comment, I think it depends on the item of clothing/type of fabric – a man-made fleece jacket is going to have different reuses to a viscose camisole or nylon tights. From Lynette’s mention of wool, I’m guessing she’s thinking about fake woollies – polyester or acrylic jumpers/cardigans and coats etc.
If the fabric is a reasonably heavy weight, a lot of the insulating ideas for fleeces would apply. If you’re handy with a needle & thread then you might be able to upcycle the decent parts of the garment into something else – a smaller version of the clothes for a child or a dog.
I also wouldn’t be too sure about charity shops not wanting them – talk to the staff (the stock sorting staff, not necessarily the counter staff) at your local shop and see if they collect items for a “rag man” — textile reclamation companies often have deals with charity shops to take their scraps, and pay the charity shop some money based on weight. Clothes and items not fit for reuse in their current state can be shredded to use as filling, or depending on the fabric, the fibres reclaimed and respun.
Any other suggestions?
Categories: clothes and fabric, items
Posted by louisa
on 19 February 2010
The other day, Mrs Green of My Zero Waste mentioned how happy she was to receive something in the post wrapped in newspaper rather than a bubblewrap lined envelope or plastic bag.
We buy a lot of stuff online – secondhand stuff from eBay, homemade things from Etsy/Folksy, computer bits, craft supplies, clothes for us and the bajillion small people exploding from the loins of our friends etc etc – and as a result, always have a large amount of packaging lying around our office. A lot of online shops have made improvements over the last few years – crinkled brown paper or air bags instead of polystyrene packaging nuggets, and I’ve received stuff from eBay in all sorts of reused cardboard boxes – but the pile still grows. I reuse it where I can (see below for related reuses) but I’d rather reduce the amount of stuff I receive in the first place if possible.
The most obvious answer to the question is “stop ordering so much stuff online and support your local shops instead”, which is fair enough for some things but other things are harder to come by in real life.
Has anyone ever asked an online shop to reduce the amount of packaging they use? Has anyone sent it back for them to deal with? I’d love to hear your experiences.
If you sell stuff online, what do you do to keep packaging minimum? Got any suggestions for others in the same position?
Post packaging reuses
Categories: items, office, packaging, paper & stationery, reduce this
Posted by louisa
on 18 February 2010
