A tour of my kitchen!



Welcome to my kitchen!

I thought that as this week's subject for the Rubbish Diet Challenge was Food waste (and I'm meant to be a bit of an expert on the matter, giving out advice on Love Food Hate Waste etc. ) I would share with you some of my favourite tools in the kitchen which I believe help to reduce what food goes to waste.

So #1 comes in as: Food Bag Clips!

So many packets may claim to have resealing properties, but I inevitably don't open them properly, or have very little faith in the lasting stickiness of what is essentially a line of sellotape the company has so thoughtfully (hem hem) provided.

They come in lots of shapes and sizes. Some people use clothes pegs, some use bulldog clips, anything will do, as long as you squeeze as much air as possible out of the bag first, and make sure there's not another hole at the other end or something!

Especially useful for breadbags, because, let's face it, the twiddly little best before label does Nothing to reseal.

Food bag clips - all over my kitchen! I find them especially useful on big packets - eg. big bags of crisps and bread

Waste Reduction Tool #2 : Tupperware

Well, if we're going to buy stuff in packaging, we might as well make it reusable!
This week I challenged myself to avoid using clingfilm. So instead of wrapping my sausages to put in the freezer, I put them in an assortment of tupperwares instead.
One of my favourite kinds of tupperware has different sections for lunches etc. - yes, getting a little geeky but it is very useful!

Tupperware - lots of free items available in the form of packaging. I use it for everything!

 Waste Reduction Tool  #3 Mugs with lids!

Being an avid coffee drinker (mainly at work) I was delighted to get a mug with a lid this Christmas.

When we worked with Food Waste Families last year, several of them found that they would make tea or coffee in the morning out of habit, but never get round to drinking it all. They were shocked by how much they were throwing away down the sink and the simple addition of a thermos mug meant that one cuppa could travel with them in the car, to work, and still be a nice temperature to drink for elevensies!

Often we don't think of things like flat fizzy drinks or dregs of cold coffee being 'real' waste, but it all adds up!

My fave Christmas present was a KeepCup, which keeps my coffee hot for longer with a lid. Genius.

So, come on then, what are your favourite tools in the kitchen to avoid food waste??

Don't forget to check out how other families are doing this week with their Rubbish Diet Challenge.

Final weigh in for the week : 1 bag of plastic bottles for recycling, half a black bag of kitchen packaging, one carrier bag full of plastic films for recycling.

5 Top tips Re:Junk mail

How can we Reduce, Reuse and Recycle the pesky leaflets we never asked for?

Well it looks as though central government is going to try to pull together a one stop shop to allow householders to unsubscribe from junk mail once and for all in the UK.
Most of it is a waste of paper, especially if we already have the takeaway leaflet ten times over, don’t shop in the particular supermarket which has millions of deals on every week, and certainly don’t have a need for the product being advertised.
Currently the system involves contacting at least two companies – the Royal Mail, and the Mail Preference Service.

But how well will this work? I can’t honestly imagine that the local takeaways will take much notice of whether a house has signed a register or not, unless it confronts them on the doorstep!

What methods have we tried and tested already to Reduce and Reuse junk mail?

1. Put up a sign. Yes it may look like Mr Scrooge has had a hand in decorating your letterbox, but a small polite sign really can work wonders. We tried it on our letter box, simply saying, ‘No junk mail including charity textiles bags, please.’ The impact was fantastic! Until weathering gradually wore it away. So, on my To do list is: replace the sign. Some people choose durable stickers, but I liked being able to personalise my notice, as charity bags was a real issue for us, receiving up to 5 a week!

2. Catch them at it. A short conversation could flag up your property as a ‘No, thanks’ address, with that particular distributor, but probably you won’t be in, or the message won’t be passed on to the bosses.

3. Send it back. Costly in postage, but it does make a statement. Let us know if you get a response? Mrs Green at My Zero Waste probably has some great templates for returning mail, as well as sending back unnecessary packaging!

4. Chopping it up and making use of it. This was especially fun cutting out pictures of our favourite foods for a school project! Shredded coloured paper would make decorative, recyclable fillings for hampers or present boxes.

5. Crafting it. Magazines and direct mail are often printed on brightly coloured or patterned papers, so why not turn them into some beautiful paper flowers – they’ll never wilt or die,
The paper flowers are made in a similar way to making paper snowflakes, each a unique design. Then roll a sheet around a pencil, use a dab of glue or smidgen of sellotape to seal the end, and slide the pencil out, making your own stalk to attach. Paper aeroplanes and origami are also a popular activity, and cost-free!

And of course if you can’t reduce or reuse it, please recycle it. Maybe our blue boxes will be lighter once the new measure comes into play – keep your ears to the ground!

Let us know about your junk mail successes and messes below.