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!! :)

Shocking news!!

Okay, so you guys may be wondering where I have been... Been looking at and researching other things..
BTW comments are fixed now (I think) so - happy commenting!! :)

I've been recently made aware of a great new channel for (hopefully) independent/alternative information on environment etc. here in Slovenia.
It's called Studio 12 and is supported by CEE Trust - Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe which aims to help create independent media in this region (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia).

Not only does it report of the latest developments re: Sai Baba and other spiritual themes, a whole section is devoted to environment and such!
And YES, they have TV shows about GARBAGE too!! (Now you see why I'm addicted!!:)

They invited into their studio the CEO of Slopak, the company that gathers recyclables in Slovenia. (Interestingly, the company is set-up and funded by chief-package-waste producers such as Coca Cola, beer breweries, Tetrapak, milk companies etc. - so stuff can get passed on to be recycled even if they have to pay for it - there are FUNDS set aside for this! they do not depend on the market solely, although it was easier when stuff was worth more.)

Not surprisingly, the CEO said THEY PREFER RECYCLABLES TO BE WASHED!! (which the garbage men have been wishy-washy about and never really made a clear advice) Of course it makes sense - if washed, the recyclables can be sorted much more easily, and they can wait longer for transport too (without getting smelly, mouldy or such) which makes the whole thing more economical and produces less emmissions from transport. Also, MUCH LESS chemicals are needed for washing the recyclables early after use as opposed to later having to use really strong and bad chemicals.(!)

But this isn't the shocking news yet!!
THIS is the shocking news: When asked about TRENDS worldwide, the CEO calmly talked about an interesting TREND how to 'make' waste/packaging, so they will have the best fuel effect (& will burn in a most consistent manner etc). GRR!!

This makes me wanna behave in an un-ladylike manner!!

I guess this explains all the rantings by the amazing Mrs A and the equally amazing Mrs Green!!

Here we are, thinking of how to reduce waste in ingenious ways, and they are actually DESIGNING best flammable and burnable waste - instead of focusing on LESS WASTE in the 1st place!!

I want to have a word or two with those DESIGNERS!!!!!!!

I am NOT a DESIGN Major but I have this book: Eco-Friendly Design
A friend of mine IS and she's never heard of it! (until I told her)
/Been meaning to do a review on it & will post it up when I do! - I think it is most helpful for visual-art/graphics designers, but packaging designers may find a hint or two too!!/

Maybe Mrs A and Mrs Green could invite some design college professors for a nice cuppa tea or a piece of zero waste cake?
Or maybe Poppy's protests need to be held outside a design college/University...? hmm!!

If you find a product or service (or incinerator) advertise itself to be 'green' or 'eco' and it's not - report it here: http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/how_to_complain/complaints_form/
(Found on the lovely edenbee.com)
I wish we had something like this for Slovenia-? Hey, maybe we have! Gotta check!! :)
(And while you're at it, maybe Complain to ASA about polluters adverts too?!!)