Is London Tap Water Safe?

Remember my friend Lenny from the post below? The horrible consumer of 5 plastic bottles in a day? (Okay, maybe I exaggerate, but I've seen her grab 3 at least!)
She text-messaged me from London she's been now re-using her plastic water bottle with tap water for 10 days & I'd be Ah, so proud! :)

I am not so sure how safe tap water in London is (apparently there may be swine flu abounding too?) or how safe the plastic bottles in London are?
It truly is an eco moment, don't want it to be at the cost of her health though! So hm, what to say? ;) /in a short text-message?;)/

SOME RESEARCH if you want to READ MORE (still no idea how to put stuff behind a 'cut!'):
Well, About.com & the Mayor of London say it's safe! Londontap.org says it's even better than bottled water!
They do say "80% of our drinking water comes from storage reservoirs connected to the River Thames and the River Lee. The remaining 20% comes from boreholes connected to groundwater stores" but the river water is pre-treated & there's natural purification etc & tests show high quality. They also give some really good facts about bottled water use! (some quite shocking!)
People interviewed by BBC seem mostly a bit sceptical still.. & so do people here (in comments - or could it be people financed by bottled water companies?), mainly with regard to taste. Due to years of marketing or..? (Or does BBC have bottled water sponsors too? hm!)

Here in Slovenia, in our region the water seems quite good! Not sure how it is in elsewhere though! - So, hmm?

Must admit I drank tap water in London on my visit there a few years ago - & am still alive! :) I did mix it with a cheap vitamin-rich powder (admittedly not really 'healthy' but it was yummy!)

Similar tips given in a comment by Golodh, London, UK here:
"- store it in the fridge. The deposit (if any) will sink to the bottom, and you taste less when the water is cold (compare e.g. with beer)." - might be doable in a hostel with a kitchen & fridges
"- drink lemonade. Find a brand of cheap squash you like and top it off with chilled bottled water. It will increase your sugar intake, but at least you'll be able to drink it." - doable, real organic lemon would probably be better though - how does lemon juice affect plastic or metal bottles though? I'm still partial to glass myself!
"- filter with active carbon" to remove the taste (?) - hostels could have these available (hopefully with recyclable/refillable filters!)
Good stuff like magnesium can be filtered out too, so only filter when really necessary!
(Well, if you're Coca Cola you can also spend 7 million pounds on marketing it then! Apparently it was even on CNN a few years ago, not sure if Dasani 'purified tap' water is still sold in UK?)

As for the plastic bottle - glass or maybe metal might be better, 10 days is probably okay but she better stay out of direct sunlight & such?!

Street Theatre Festival!!

So, for a few days, the capitol of Slovenia was swarmed with jugglers, street performers, circus artists & clowns & such...

(don't ask!;)

... and TRASH!! yikes!

I went there fully prepared. Or so I thought.

Brought with a reusable plastic box with two yummy sandwiches & a cloth serviette & metal fork, & a glass bottle. What else could a girl need?

I told my cousin to bring with a reusable box too, & as much zero waste food as she can.. & to adhere to strict zero waste rules, as to give a good example!

So my gorgeous cousin brought this, & did great on day 2!



My zero waste sandwiches were totally yummy too, but on Day 2, I ran out of them & forgot my reusable container at the hostel - and had to buy... THESE! Yikes!


I quarrelled with the shop lady to give 'em to me in ONE paper bag, but she wouldn't have it! 'Regulations,' she said, & whatnot!
I was too tired and hungry (& there was a queue forming) so I had to take 'em, but I swore to return with my reusable box & demand good service & no trash - or ask for the book of complaints!
(it's paper with foil.. & the foil is.. well, not zero waste, is it?)

Oh & there was a sheep!! :) called Sophy!!

My friend is totally awesome but.. uhm, not so zero waste..
She was bossed into recycling a beer can & bringing back the plastic cups she got us on Day 1..
.. but slipped a Coca Cola can into trash next morning, sigh!!


She had a most gorgeous cloth bag, but left it full of goodies with us to watch, & brought back one of those iffy free plastic bags from the shop!

She also lost my glass bottle! /sigh/

And what do you do if people get baloons for their kiddies? hm!

There was dancing in a public fountain involved, and a foam party.. What can I say? ;)

(& a deep social commentary on the nature of human greed & 'materialism'!)

I tried to make my friends recycle stuff & possibly avoid the plastic bottles, but on Day 3 the plastic water bottles were free (& my friend was convinced the Capitol has bad water?!) so they couldn't stay away from them!!
as if the plastic water bottles had any better water? /sigh/
/of course I was mortified cause I was trying to get some other NGOs to co-operate with the whole zero waste thing - some were even interested!! didn't dare to talk to any more after!! yikes!
There were even some celebrities at the scene, was too shy to talk to them & ask them to take part in our eco Cabaret too - sigh/

My reusable container came handy for the most excellent (spicy!) goulash - cousin however 'wanted her own' cause she was afraid she wouldn't get enough if he put it all in one reusable container! /sigh/ Never argue with a hungry woman!!
(of course that polystyrene foam tray didn't get recycled! /sigh/)



Overall, it was fun! & at least we got the plastic bottles to the recycling bins, which is more than many others did!

I was also shocked at the big amount of many beer & soda cans that ended up in 'ordinary trash'.. (not sure if I dared to photo any of those..? my memory card ran out, so I had to buy a new one - & slower too, yikes! Never buy in a hurry!!- it got stuck in another camera though!)
some bins for organic waste we encountered had really iffy stuff in them too!! (plastic bags the very least, or worse!!)

We were pleasantly surprised with separate recycling bins at the hostel - but they were not labelled clearly so we had to ask what to put where, I'm sure the others didn't bother much!
the color coding is different in every city.. & we don't expect foreign tourists to know our system by colour either, hm?
/it would be great if whole Europe had the same color-coding system!!/



Bye street theatre festival! - hopefully next year the organizers will be persuaded to get separate bins/bags for recyclables too??
Wouldn't it be great??

So, rules for big events:
1. Keep your water bottle firmly in grip! (Yes, even when ordering zero waste ice-cream!!)
2. Keep your friends' recyclables firmly in hand! (or rucksack)
3. Bring a spoon! (even if you think you won't need it!) And reusable container & fork and maybe knife & a napkin. And a cup.
4. Bring extra reusable containers/bento boxes/cups for hungry friends?
5. Have fun, ha ha!! :)

PS I'm not on any of the photos, just my amazing friends - big THANKS for the awesome moments! :) what can I say, I hate being photographed & am rather behind the camera! & don't have all the photos yet, akhem!
Also, for the record - the more risquee photos & vids can be found on YouTube - just kidding!! ;)

Oh, & remember that spicy goulash - I even brought some home in the reusable container & it was a lovely meal too! /eat your heart out, coz!:)/

Zero Waste Report #8: Can we take the trash out?;)

Today, Mum asked: 'Can we take the trash out?'

& I said, 'Can we last 1 more week so it's 2 months?'

Yes, the bin is pretty FULL!!

& Mum had 3 quite dirty-looking plastic bags (from spinach & quark! yucky!) she wanted to get rid of in the bin - if we took it out.. I muffled around a bit, not sure what to say.. Then I started drying up the rest of the dishes, & she just washed the darn bags, & I hung them on the line outside to dry!

must say I hang them conveniently above asparagus so it gets some moisture - seems to be enjoying it! ;)

I've also started thinking more about water these days, as it's been really hot, & we discussed it some at the Slovenian forum..

Some said washing the recyclables etc isn't wise with regard to water use, but we use the water we've been washing other stuff in too (if detergent is needed) or pour the nutrient-rich water (from yogurt etc!) into compost!

I re-use water from washing lettuce to put into the tub for watering plants (if there's room) or water the grass beneath the balcony.. Today, I had a crazy idea to have the big tub outside the house closer to the balcony or connected to the balcony so I could pour it all in?! (I hate splashing about too much lol!)

So, hopefully, we'll last till next week & then take the bin out, & start anew!
(& hopefully with a 'stricter' regime again!!:)

EDIT: More than 2 months now!! YAY!!! :) Go Mum!! Go us!! :)

Zero Waste Report #7: Got the flu?

Mum & I went potato-weeding the other day last week, & Mum got the fever.. 39°C & more! at first we thought it was just the sun.. but Sis was down with the fever too...!

So we were quite scared..

We were joking around with the pig flu over at MyZerowaste the other day, but let me tell you, if your family has 39°C + fever, you don't exactly laugh about it!

(& Mum *DID* hug an American last week!)

What to do?

I looked online & got scared - they had all the 'official' signs (almost) - though surprisingly, those were 'just flu' signs too!!

& then I read 'just flu' had killed more people than 'pig flu' & that Rumsfeld (?) was in charge of the Tamiflu company (conspiracy theories etc) - & how Tamiflu had killed 14 kids in Japan or something?

I printed out some of the info & didn't know what to do...

Mum said defiantly she would have no Tamiflu anyway!!

Cousin (another one) said potatoes on the head & on palms of hands can reduce temperature... So we tried this..
Mum drank beetroot juice...
Still, she had 39°8C at night, & that is no joke!!

So she & Sis took the 'official' get-the-fever-down/anti-pain drugs... (see pic above)

They are over-the-counter & readily available in pharmacies.. but still.. there's no recycling sign on the packaging, so...?
Mum did ask if at least the aluminum-only packaging of probiotics (far right) can be recycled?

Also, a by-product of the flu (or whatever it was) was a lot of - TRASH!


You can't deny ill people their hearts' desires, can you?
(& traditional cures for.. stomach trouble!)


Sis & Mum insisted on 'overbaked bread' & butter cookies!
(Sis also wanted unhealthier things & didn't get 'em!!)

I got the more expensive 'overbaked bread' labelled with PP #5 recyclable plastics sign.. (who knows, is it really recyclable & does it get recycled?!)
One could get 2 cheapie ones (non-recyclable) for the price! (& they wished for 'plain one' - didn't complain over what I got 'em though! so I guess it was 'plain enough'!:))
Probably the see-through cellophane-like inner wrappings are - cellophane? (& non-recyclable?)
The cookies are not labelled recyclable in any way!!
/Mum seems slightly addicted to them though!)

I also cooked them a lot of thyme tea & blueberry tea & such.. & eventually they did get much better - I think yesterday Mum had more energy than I did!

So:


So now we have quite a lot in the bin! (Remember, this is Week 6 though! - Oops, week 7!! WOW!!:)
we did let it slip a bit, so hopefully next week we'll get back on track & start anew!
/There is some small trash in the bathroom bin too, including some not-so-pleasant stuff! What can I say? Sis can't be persuaded to go for cloth pads or a mooncup or such! She still swears by plastic throwawayables! /sigh/)

I was bashed & trashed at a Slovenian forum, how unhygienic cloth pads are etc - but I was the healthiest one at home at the time?! (Dad had a bit of a cough/cold/flu before Mum & Sis did! He was quickly over it though!)

& now I can say - flu, indeed (any kind) *IS* creating a lot of rubbish!!

& we all need an 'emergency plan' for zero-waste policy when anyone goes ill!!
/not sure exactly how that plan would look, I am envisioning zero waste overbaked bread - & cookies! - somehow! :)/

But could I (or anyone?) make 'em like they are in da supermarkets?
& how would they keep? (would one freeze them? or eat every week/month?)

Mum & sis are much better, still it's better if they don't go shopping & such.. Dad is not to be trusted to go shopping alone though!!

Today he brought home this (& chicken breast not-in-a-container! /sigh/):

Old non-eco non-fairtrade bananas in a plastic bag WITH HOLES!! - cause they were on DISCOUNT! (cheaper)
Why on earth do they need to be in a plastic bag WITH HOLES?
Doesn't this defeat the purpose? (if they got rotten, the bag would leak.. & they'd still get rotten sooner, cause they were put in a bag-?!)

Ah well!!

I've never seen this done before, usually you'd just take 'em - the packaging industry must really be going crazy - ugh?!!

Which brings us to the point: is it better to be ill with the flu - or - packaging crazy? hmm!!
(Not sure if there is a cure for that!)

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! :)

Zero Waste Report #4: What was I thinking??!! Going BANANAS! lol

Well, I think there is 'no way' that we can pull off the 'real zero waste week' so I definitely won't be telling the media about this, lol!!

It will be just an experimental week 'just for us' & hopefully we'll come out wiser...

Dad & Sis just 'don't find any sense in it' - especially 'since other people are polluting so much. They both told me to tell other people to make less waste first.. ugh.. (which I intend to, but 'small steps'..)

At least I did TELL them both about the zero waste week - they didn't take it so well, lol. But then again Mum didn't take it so well at first either!!

Sis also bought some non-eco bananas AGAIN & really drove me BANANAS!!
(found here)

I was soo proud after we had an almost 14-days of (clean! not-smelling!) trash in the bin, & then first Mum had a baking day & some butter-remains landed in there, then Sis put in the banana peels, so the trash had to go outside...!!
I admit I lost some enthusiasm after that!!

Ideally we'd have 1x/a month bin (or less), but will we ever get there?

Some dry fruits in TINY packages and in cellophane were bought again, ugh!! :(
And some pumpkinseeds in non-recyclable plastics! ugh!! /they don't even taste that good!/
I really hate shopping (where others see YUMMINESS, I see TRASH!!) seems I won't be able to leave 'em alone to shop!! ugh

Grandma hasn't found zero waste butter yet, hopefully Mom & I are going to the organic farmers' market on Saturday! (I ate some coconut butter on bread instead - it tasted.. odd!!:) might be okay with a hazelnut spread or so..)

On a happier note (after I had ALMOST given up!), last Saturday Sis *did* ask if her tiny 100g coffee bags are recyclable & even googled up the recyclability(!) (alas, it's #7 plastics, so I was dubious) - of course she found nothing useful, so still someone would need to be called, most likely..
We talked and she said maybe she could buy in bulk (to make less waste)..

(found here)

I am still afraid to call any authorities or the companies dealing with this.. I did contact a local semi-journalist & talked about maybe-writing for a local newspaper, but haven't actually called them yet..

(found here)
I actually talked to my waste-ful neighbour the other day, & asked her 'How come they make so much waste?!' lol
She said, 'well, there's 4 of us' - and they're in the attic, with kitchen and living room all-in-one, so having a compost bin proved too smelly.. (They at least take out bigger piles of eg potato peels on Sunday to the compost heap)
And they do recycle tetrapaks, kiddies got containers at school..
We were distracted by kiddies running around half naked in the cold, so we couldn't fully discuss it all..

I at least asked her to call my Mom if she has any still-good toys or such, so she could give it to the charity NGO.. (Mom also picked some good-enough kiddie shoes out of their 'big garbage' pile..)

I've researched some GOOD stuff about no nappies, zero waste hair, & some other things.. Mum FINALLY tried the soap nuts - & they wash REALLY well!! YAY!! :)

(pic found here - ours look a tiny bit different, are in halves - was told they must be without seeds to wash well!)

Cheese is still being bought with a reusable container :) YAY!! we made some yoghurt again too! :) - & Sis BOUGHT some too! :( (In TETRAPAKS, of course!! ugh!)

...it still feels like 'too little'...


We got attacked by ANTS & I did find some great stuff online, befuddled them temporarily with cinnamon, & they returned.. :(
not sure what to finally use - as natural as possible!!
It seems best to find their entry ways & close them - but how? (there seem many, they seem to find new ones) & what with?


(pic unrelated & found here)
My cousin from the farm (yes, that one!) asked Mom to research a machine for throwing artificial fertilizer around.. and it's SUCH a shame, cause they live in such beautiful nature, & they could have an eco farm, & they're looking into fertilizer dispensers and buying milk in tetrapaks!! OoO (& disposable nappies!!)

I was ranting whole day today & Dad told me to rant at coz - I said it would be better if he did, a man with more authority, but Dad wanted none of it! although he keeps going there to help & COULD wield some influence!! Grr!!

Saw this great documentary A Farm For the Future (cca 50 min) & it did make me think - I wish I could show & present it to my coz & his wife too!


Also, the nuke firm is selling energy cheap to households, & all a TV show focused on was how advertised 10% reduced price isn't really 10% & consumers might be thus misled, & how they might have monopoly & iffy gov/non-gov position (with money landing who-knows-where).. not a word was said on how bad nuke power is!! grr!! - I want to kick someone's tushie!!

Still don't know what to eat - my tummy isn't happy.. :(
Been reading romance books out of desperation - at least they are zero waste - my neighbour's!! :D

On the other hand, as a winner of the FABULOUS Eurovision blog award

on Mrs A's The Rubbish Diet together with the awesome Danda from Italy & Esther from France (who I hope will post more!) - is it really time to despair? Or RE-THINK?! Hmm!!

So happy to be in the company of other totally wonderful bloggers (some of whom I definitely wanna research more!) - and hopefully I will be inspired by the Muse/s of blogging (or Muse/s of rubbish, if there exist any?) re: what to do?

Zero Waste Report #3 - Mum almost fully on board!!:))

So, what can I say?

I started a blog in Slovenian (it's feeling very lonely still, & there's still more work to be done on it, but YAY!! I started it! :))
I also announced a 'zero waste week' around Earth Day on a Slovenian forum - some people may still be scared of it a bit? Hopefully at least a few will be intrigued to minimize their waste too..? :)
/I'm scared of it too, lol!! - but at least it will hopefully motivate me to do even better, even if we don't get to 'zero'!!/

Mum is now almost fully on board, and this is a great thing!!
/She has read my blog in Slovenian too, maybe it helped a bit! I asked her for input etc. I also tell her about stuff I find online, like the Biutiful Cauntri yesterday, and the poor sheep & cats../

She has now lectured cousin's wife & her mother-in-law (my aunt) extensively how it's bad to burn plastics at their farm!! (That's another set of relatives from what I wrote about before!) About the toxic gasses etc!
Mum told them to set up a mini-recycling station & she'll take the plastics etc to our recycling bins when we visit! :) YAY!! :)

Cousin's wife would even be interested in cloth diapers, but her husband wasn't enthusiastic about them! So more research into cloth diapers needed, I'll authorize Mum to take a look at some of the stuff I already found! :) /It seems real funny to send your own Mum e-mails! lol/ In any case, they can at least reduce the plastic ones and have some cloth, some others.. or maybe organic ones..

It would be ideal to have places or stores where a new Mum could go and 'test' some of these diapers (all that are available here), to find which would be best for the kiddie.. (as babies can be different & not all diapers may be appropriate for all babies)

As for Sis, she still likes to drink capuccino (in a million satchets!), even though she has bought zero waste (lower percentage) coffee mixed with fake coffee in a reusable glass container (I was impressed!), and could theoretically drink that! But she'd have to add sugar & with the little satchets, she has the impression it's no-sugar aka healthier! /faints/ It's also 'so good'!
I asked her if she'd drink capuccino from a zero waste container if I bought it & she seems open to that provided it tastes good -? (Now here's research! Any ideas?)

She has also bought non-eco bananas again, still puzzled about the peels /again/ :(
/Sis says I 'overthink' & 'exaggerate/over-react' to this! I told her some of her 'exaggerations' aren't fun for me either - she's allergic to dust and some other things, and we can't have flowers or cats in the house!! so at least we're at stalemate here. Probably if we splash out for eco bananas she'll eat them too, she prefers to buy cheaper on her own. Am not happy with plastic packaging for 'eco' bananas, so..? hm, what to do?/

I must also praise Sis (if I didn't before): she now puts empty tetrapaks on the counter for me to wash!! YAY!! :)
If they are fresh, they can be rinsed with water easily! & usually at least a spoon or two of yoghurt are still in them! (for me to lick)
/This is such an improvement, she just tossed them before..)

The yoghurt production has been started again, but Sis prefers to mix bought+homemade (don't ask!)

Dad has been away at relatives a lot, so didn't add much to the bin. Didn't eat much yoghurt either, so we may have too much of some!:)

Last week the bin did smell a bit, was still unsure what caused it to!
I talked to Mum about the importance of non-smelly bin, we'll see if it sticks? (Not sure if I talked to Sis about it, or if I dare to?;)

She's the one who has bought icky 'plastic' salamis and such before - they're both unhealthy and make bad waste.. (I'm really too disgusted to wash those!)
Hopefully 'real meat' can be substituted for that? (we still have some pretty much zero waste dried meats from Uncle.. not so totally healthy, but yummy!! I see she hasn't bought the iffy ones now..;) So probably the goal would be to always have some zero waste meat for snacks & suppers in the house..?)

Mum said we don't have so much waste & if it was all rolled up together it would be very little of it too - so the thing to work on would be the smell/food leftovers..
I told her at Clean Bin they wash the 'garbage' so it's clean and doesn't smell..
We developed a routine of washing up the dishes together after lunch - much quicker than just one person doing it, & it gives me a chance to brainwash inspire her with the zero waste superheroes & their daily adventures! :)

So, the key to a woman's heart may be through doing housework together.. (or whatever is very important to them..!) Also, she loves pictures & videos of kiddies! (like Little Miss Green!)
Some healthy competition with 'what other bloggers are doing' is quite helpful too! ;)

I'm also much happier to help now that Mum is on board with zero waste, so it's a double-win I guess?! :)

We still don't know many things..

How do you freeze rabbits zero waste? especially whole ones, to make 'em stuffed? (45 x 13 x 13cm or so) - I measured them & we'll look for any appropriate containers, if we find them.. for other parts they must be only 3 - 4cm high, and 10 x 19/20cm or 26 x 19cm or so otherwise.. Plastic bags used so far still.. :(

And what do you give to people as small thankyou gifts?
I used to give chocolate or such, do more zero waste little gifts exist?

& Mum's charity group will be giving gifts for the elderly again, for Easter - usually this meant (donated/sponsored) cookies or yuk! candies or coffee in (I think unrecyclable) plastic boxes/bags & such, also in plastic bags or unrecyclable gift paper bags (with a plastic layer).. both unhealthy AND not zero waste..
Have no idea what they could give that would be healthier, happily accepted by elderly people, AND zero waste?

Maybe to figure out until Christmas or next year, hopefully..?
(One year they gave oranges and they got bad before all of the gifts could be transported, stuff needs to be 'stable', so fresh fruit is out..)
So, more things to figure out & research..

Been also busy trying to organize myself, but that is stuff for a whole another blog post, I guess!! :) /phew/

Thank you for reading so far, if you managed to!! :) Any ideas or comments will be appreciated!! :)

Zero Waste report #2 - The Terrible Cold!! - Zero Waste Style!

Well, I wanted to give weekly reports like the lovely Chez Green family over at Myzerowaste have 'em, but last week couldn't think of anything to 'report'! hm!

Basically, I haven't been doing any new experiments! - although I think I MAY have found a potential useful use for one of the strangest 'leftovers' in the bathroom! lol!! /will post about it one of these days.../

My Dad can't be trusted upon to buy cheese 'the zero waste' way, so now Mum and I will try to do it whenever we can..

Also, I had a terrible cold (brought on by the damn incinerators, I think!! just reading about them makes me - ooh!!) Or the too many Amazon-books that I tried to cram all into my head. And Beppe Grillo totally scared me!! (I had nightmares of nanoparticelli coming in through the window from the next-door factory!!)
Or it was the donuts, and a few not-so-healthy days before that. (Carnival was here!) Or, my Sis brought it home. As we both got it at the same time.

My Sis took the Coldrex anti-cold med. I was tempted, very tempted.
But I looked at the box and thought, 'Is this zero waste?' uhm, not.
I couldn't help but feel guilty at the thought of having to throw away the pill cases. Also, when I read 'caffeine' - the stuff usually made me jiffy, even when not messed up!!

So, instead I took my trusty old Louise Hay into my hands, and looked for her words of wisdom. Of course she was spot on, as pretty much always.

"Your thinking has become narrow. Wish to run away. Leave me alone." LOL!! SO TRUE!!
So instead, the right mantra is to be: "I'm always completely safe. Love surrounds me and protects me. All is well." Hm!

When I actually focused on the lovely communities going the zero waste way (instead of trying to figure out the evil ways of the incinerators or if they are really so maybe-green as some say they are) it helped heaps too!!

Basically that's probably what Louise Hay has been saying all along: focus on the solution and not on the problem! Hm!

So, the good news: my gorgeous cousin has now signed up for an eco course at the Uni (after receiving a loong pep talk from me last weekend, lol!) - I wish those courses were just part of every curriculum, unfortunately they are completely optional mostly - but the good thing it's her assistant professor's favorite course!!

Some friends and acquaintances were vaguely interested too.. (or at least didn't run away screaming, as I had feared! though one has avoided me for more than 2 weeks on account of feeling guilty for the many non-eco diapers they throw away! she has a lovely baby boy!!)

There is a thin line between inspiration and completely terrifying someone (at times) and I'm not always sure of it!! lol (seems like Beppe Grillo may still have some problems with this too!:)
So, I am still looking for ways how to tell people about this without completely scaring them or making them go on the defensive or thinking I completely lost it! lol

My Mum is now interested to try washing her hair with the soap nuts too, as I told her how some people on the online forums are delighted with them & even have more hair volume this way!

I also suggested that cloth diapers might be recommended to a local 'mothers' home' (for mummies that need to get away for a while & stay in a place before going on their own.. they might be excited about cloth diapers there too & start using them on their own later on too? It would also be more cost-effective for the home..) We'll see what comes of this, but it's another 'seed' planted.. :)

Some Moms here in Slovenia seem quite happy with them, although there are many different varieties, and it also depends on the baby, as all are different..
Personally, I think if we could survive & prosper in cloth diapers (Mom said she washed every 2 or 3 days then too) babies today could too.. (especially as more modern varieties are around) My cousin's baby (that's another cousin!) couldn't stop wetting her pants (at 3 years old) until the doctor advised taking away the disposable diapers!!

Of course, another thing was tested this week: my resolution to stay with cloth cleenex!!
In fact, I must tell you I wasn't sure if I'd last myself.. but was immensely cheered up by the lovely cloth handkerchiefs with lovely little flowers and such! (They rock!) Only used up maybe 5 altogether, and still keeping 1 or 2 around 'just in case'...
They're a nice childhood memory as we always used them, as far as I remember.. before the paper hanky frenzy.. (I do admit a few tissues of - recycled! - toilet paper too, lol!)

Other than that, nothing much to report. I wish I were 'perfect', living the zero waste lifestyle already.. but it's a (sometimes slow) learning process.. I do wish more people here in Slovenia were 'on board'.. (still didn't dare talk to my neighbours! ough - & Of course I didn't want to give them any germs either!! Although I don't believe in this 'germs' stuff much, it much more depends on one's immune system.. but if the immune system is already low, well.. just heard one neighbour is still ill, mostly due to soda pop, his wife says - I said 'better not have any in the house then,' but his wife 'loves 'em soo much' too!! OoO - and then quickly changed the subject! hm! It's difficult to change habits, yeah, sometimes.. Still, I think health comes first.)

The number of allergies and illnesses here scares me too.. Not everyone is so lucky to get better with Louise Hay & cloth hankies alone.. (& some herbal tea & juicing of beetroot+carrot+apple - yum!)
And instead of campaigning heavily for healthy air - people just go buy drugs or ionizers (I was heavily tempted last week! still am!) & succomb to advertisements telling them to stay in and use drugs, ugh!!
I do think HEALTHY AIR is more important!! :)

Hopefully other people will start realizing it too.. Some already have.