TYPOS & lack of co-operation?? grr!!

First of all, I'm very happy that this year Slovenia will participate officially in the European Waste Reduction Week!

But, and I mean but I was really furious that the invitation to that week was full of TYPOS! Grr!!
And next week was 'strike weeek' for all 'official government employees' - are the TYPOS sign of PR people's being on strike?? Yikes!

(I'd be embarassed to send such an invitation on, and in fact am.)
I'm not sure whether to call them or are they on strike??

We had some land catastrophes such as big floods, biggest in history, luckily not in our region. So I understand the Ministry for Environment was busy... However, they could have the decency and effort to read a simple short memo 2x and correct things??

That aside, I'm hoping they would still coordinate things well..

Meanwhile, I tried to get some info and 'lists' of what is really recycled from people in charge of that, and apparently that may be guarded more than the state secrets!
I was told to turn to local waste management companies (who themselves told me they don't know much, only what the others are required to take).

So at the time I'm really effing furioous!! Okay, I could probably be more diplomatic... And maybe I didn't call at the right time (the person was busy with meetings) but still.. You'd think they'd be happy if people want to help them do their jobs proper?? Grr!!

I'm not sure what to say, what to do, I guess I'll just try to get info elsewhere or just tell people to be very cautious and assume the worst and just go for as little recycling waste too.. (Maybe that's closest to the truth too??) ugh!!

Zero Waste Week: Results!!

So, this week has been the Zero Waste Week for us!!

What was the result?

Of course I wanted to take a pic of the 'main bin' (the one outside'!) to check that no one managed to sneak any rubbish outside!!

I expected to find the bin empty:



Now imagine the shock:



And it wasn't even our rubbish!!

There was a tell-tale indicator on the top (removed immediately!) & 7 more in the neighbours' bin!!



Yes, Dad and the neighbours had had a drinking party outside (the neighbours were sawing wood!) & this was the horrible result!

I promptly picked them up & washed them & they are waiting to dry & be recycled!

If they had the nerve to put rubbish in our bin, I had the nerve to take some out of theirs to have it recycled!

(my neighbours' bin, the attick neighbours': 2 adults+2kiddies - offending recyclables eliminated already!)


(my neighbours' 2nd bin: the downstairs neighbours, Grandpa&Grandma's - Honestly I don't know why they didn't put the rubbish into their 2nd bin? - Maybe the ashes from fire were still hot?

They are 4 adults: Grandpa, Grandma, the young ones+2 kiddies, and yes they have 2 bins! I've already talked about the rubbish problem with their Grandpa@small bin, & the Mum of the attick@big bin. She said, 'But we are 4!' & I wanted to send her to Mrs A for training!!
This is the Mum that bought her son a plastic Wallee!! instead of teaching them how to make less waste!!:)
Of course she works in a shop (mini-supermarket!) & that makes it difficult to eat healthy & make less waste!!

But how much garbage did we make? Did we manage to go 'zero waste' completely?

Alas, no. But it was a good try. And I'm VERY proud of my family cause they have behaved so well & made so little garbage!!


REMEMEBER, this is the results of TWO weeks worth of garbage!!
(the bin in the front='mixed trash')

(I contemplated whether to throw the old garbage away & start with a clean slate, but that wouldn't be zero waste, would it? The plastic bag accounts for something too!)

All in all, the 1st day was the worst:
- the butter wrapper
- tiny plastic from Dad's tax ID pocket
- plastic sausage-wrapping
- AND a new wrapped butter was started! (with expiration date 20/4/2009 so not using it up wouldn't be zero waste!)
I was totally frazzled & thought I'd 'lost it'!! ;)

Then, other things mysteriously followed: (but surprisingly less & less garbage!;) - I taught people to just leave stuff on the counter!)

- unidentifiable white plastic foil chocolate wrapper
- a potentially recyclable #4 amaranth plastic wrapper (someone was too quick!!)
- a mysterious bit of paper towel? - we may fish it out again!
- some dirt from sweeping the floor on Saturday
(Sis did it! I've gotten used to taking dirt outside & just putting it under trees.. Truth is I'm in two minds about it - as we have wooden floor & stairs lacquered with conventional=toxic varnish, & PVC hall flooring..? so I wasn't as decisive & gung-ho about it.. What do you guys think?)

- tiny bit of thread from mending my pants & putting in new/re-used elastics! Haven't sewn for (at least) a decade so this is a new WAHOO!!;) And it's easier than I expected! darn!;) I also remember heaps!

- maybe some other tiny bits I've missed!

I did remove the non-cloth-hankie plastic wrappers (#4 plastics!) seen above, but honestly they did smell & I'm not sure if we won't toss them out anyway!
(Alas, there's foul smell in the bin! - due to the butter wrapper & the plastic sausage!)

I hate to say one of the yogurt tetrapaks (seen on a pic later on!) was washed too late too, & did smell.. so not quite sure what to do with that either!

There's also some used paper hankies & some hair in the bathroom bin, not quite sure what to do with those either.. (If it were my hair, I'd compost it, others' hair is chemically treated with shampoos, so I'm not sure..?)

The bird's droppings (our sweet budgie's) are collected separately, to be put under trees also.. I read it's okay to put them in compost, but my family is afraid of avian flu or such, & don't wanna risk it..


There's also plastic foil from the 'eco bananas' - I'm thinking to write to the company! & there will be the waxed paper from the carob yummy spread..

The good news is, Mom's made butter AGAIN! :)

(pic from 1st time she made it, no bought yogurt this week!;)

I do hope homemade butter becomes a true tradition!! (Mum said she only used cream from 2 or 3 milks - we get 2 liters at a time: The trick is to take away the cream before Dad manages to usurp it, & after there is some bigger amount of cream already!)

It was surprisingly easy, after all the terror & sweating, my family did their best...!! And I ADORE them for it!!

I felt like a really horrible person for making them do all these things, Mum's gone a bit ill in the process, it was a sucky week weather-wise..

I wanted to bake them a yummy zero waste treat (ispired by the lovely presents from Mrs A & Mrs G!), but alas Mum's bought some biscuits in an unindentifiable plastic container at the fair on Sunday! /sigh/

Must make sure to tell my family of my baking attempts well in advance! /at least she was supporting local economy!/
Mum also bought cheese, & while it wasn't zero waste (came in a plastic bag!) it was local & homemade - & we might turn this into zero waste cheese if we network with the supplier wisely!

The Zero Waste Week was a great learning experience!!

I managed to buy meat in a reusable container AND fix my pants, & I don't think I'd have done it without the zero waste week!!
We also made 1/2 of a weekly menu (after a veery long time!), & remembered to use up the sour cabbage & turnips, before they'd gone completely bad!

We realized this is easier than we expected, but our 'recycling' biz will have to be streamlined a bit (& I may post more about it in advance!)

I hope we will continue to make so little waste - or even less!! :)

Dad was unhappy with all the recyclables on the kitchen counter! - Well, they have to dry somewhere! (He suggested we collect them in the 3rd 'bin department' & Mum rebelled she needs that space for her chemicals=cleaners!)
How & where do you girls & guyz wash & leave them to dry? Do you have a separate box or something?

/Weening Mum off the chemicals may be a learning process & I don't expect her to go 'cold turkey'!/

Also, the recyclables need to be in designated places or they are 'forgotten' (& start to smell!) They also need to be washed regularly enough!
(This is easy if 1 person both makes & washes them, if it's 2 or more different people, & if the kitchen isn't spiffy, err, errors or miscommunication can occur! Stuff can get lost in the jungles of the counter!!)

To avoid packaging from dishwasher tablets (& make Mum happy!), I washed more dishes this week than ever!!
(The eco detergent doesn't wash so well, is a bit abrasive to dishes, & we're not 100% sure the 'recyclable' wrappings are really recyclable!)

Still to call about what actually *is* recyclable in our council.. For the purpose of zero waste week we just assumed everything that (the council & the packaging) says is recyclable is recyclable!!

Alas, I made no dish cloths! & I only got the beekeeping magazines today..
The old beehive is still waiting to be fixed too..

It was raining a lot, so luckily not much noise until Saturday & yesterday/today! YAY!! (& today the neighbours' wood is all sawed, lucky me!!)

We did some work in the garden today, & I went to fetch some zero waste honey.. :)

Oh, & I can't tell you what Mum did - it's too horrible!! - & the post is already too long! Must wait till next time! :)

My Mum Made Butter!! :) Yum!

Well, I have been hunting for zero waste butter everywhere...

Truly, I have...

And no naked butter in sight! /sigh/

So after a neighbour said her boyfriend makes butter(!) & I lamented at home how Dad eats all the cream before we'd be able to make some, & gave them as an illustrious example! - finally, some cream was saved this week.. (it also helped Mom & Dad were away from home most of the time! making wood at Aunt's..)

Mum just used a little pot & a hand mixer.. then she showed me how she pours away the 'water' (I drank most of it - yum!) & just rinses the butter & does things to it with a spoon.. (no fancy equipment used here, just going about it as simple as possible!)
/pic found on Wikipedia/

I talked of what people online say or use.. (so Mum used a sieve too, before, she didn't)
She was told the mystery of butter-making by a woman we used to get milk from.. before that, she didn't know how..

It's really simple & quick.. (Poppy may have fumbled with it more, but we had a smaller quantity too..) and also more cost-effective... (considering we get milk anyway.. and this is just a by-product!)

Mum also said if we want to make quark/cottage cheese, we can oder extra 2 liters of milk & just make it! :)
/The woman making quark didn't come to local monthly non-farmers-market this week! Sis said we can visit her though if needed, so quark sources covered! ;)/

(pic found here )
Mum &I talked of maybe using the soapwort instead of soapnuts as a more local alternative, for hair washing & washing the clothes.. (apparently the soapwort has 20% saponins in the root, soapnuts only 15%?)
Found some recipes for shampoo, haven't found any for washing clothes yet! Any recommendations?

/pics found here/
I also want to make a dish cloth & have looked at patterns online.. only found some brightly colored cotton in Mum's boxes.. not sure if it's okay for dish cloths.. would prefer organic/eco cotton..
Does anyone know if mercerized cotton is okay for dish cloths?

Am rather dreading zero waste week cause I feel totally underprepared, & still haven't planned the menus! /sigh/ And Dad will be sawing the wood much of the time, & I really hate too much noise!!
Sis said, 'Can we have it next year?' lol

Some Horror Gifts from Easter/b-day in advance include non-zero-waste chocolate, & sadly, I couldn't resist it! /sigh/ Hopefully it will get eaten before ZW week - or wait till the end? /Or..?!/ Can I cheat? ;)

Better news:
I called the local newspaper & they're interested in articles how to make less waste. (I said nothing about zero waste week cause I'm not sure we could pull it off! lol) They would be published end-of-May & then once a month, so I have time! :)

Got the 500 media contacts of Slovenian media too (YAY!!:)), & not sure what to do with them?!! (slightly overwhelmed, lol!!)

Not-so-good:
Tomorrow we can't go to the Farmers' Market as Mum has other things, Sis seems slightly ill, & Dad wants to be sawing wood! /sigh/ & I still haven't renewed my drivers' license! /sigh/

The computers I ranted about a few weeks before were discovered under the pine trees and on the grass (!!) at the local wastewater center! /sigh!!/
Definitely something must be done about this!

(Mom said to put them in newspaper too, but I'd prefer to talk to local officials first & try to deal with this quietly & diplomatically, if possible!! alas, I'm no diplomat! & when I think of the damn computers, some of them half broken on the grass, near a river (!) I get headache!! ugh!!)

Head of a local charity agrees a reuse station would be a good idea..
Now if only I could convince the officials etc? & get some money from EU?
(They give money for MUCH stupider projects!!)

National garbage policy is said to be updated in 2 months.. NGOs should definitely have a say, but will anyone bother to do anything?

I feel so... tired, & alone, & ... ugh, not sure exactly what to do & how to go about it..?!! I am just 'poor old me', not so healthy at the time either!! - how can I change any official politics?!!
/img found here/
at least I weeded out the strawberries today! :)
now if only weeding out silly official policies & practices would be as easy!!

Hmm, maybe this is normal before a zero waste week?!! Do tell!! :)