Kitchen

Fairtrade Food
Fairtrade food in the past has had a poor reputation for quality but now it is often higher quality than regular types.  Try Divine chocolate bars they're great.   You can get a whole range of Fairtrade food in supermarkets now it is not just limited to tea and coffee. Keep your eyes our for the Fairtrade logo and let's give the people that produce our food a fair price for it.  Support the Fairtrade suppliers and we can turn the tide and make a difference in the world and get higher quality food at the same time. More information can be found at the Fairtrade website www.fairtrade.org.uk.

Washing Balls (Eco Balls)
This has to be one of the best tips ever!   Stop putting chemicals in to the environment, prolong the life of your clothes and save money all in one.  Nope, we didn't believe it either!!   We finally took the plunge and bought EcoBalls which are balls that you put in your washing machine (with the clothes) instead of using washing powder.  These balls last for about 1000 washes and cost about £35.   They do not use any harmful bleaches etc which knacker your clothes.  Everyone wins! My wife was more skeptical than me (my skeptism had reduced after doing some research on the internet and consistently reading good things about them). After the first wash my wife's comments were "totally amazing"!!  A friend as two small children and she swear by them.  We use them to wash real nappies (that have been soaked) and they come up great.  They come with environmentally stain remover for really bad marks but we have never had to use that as yet they wash so well without them. For more info and user reviews see here.

Black Sacks
Using biodegradable black sacks/bin liners means that they will decompose rather than filling landfill.   They are available at most supermarkets, just check the packaging when you next pick some up.

Freezer Bags
Just like black sacks bio-degradable freezer bags are readily available from supermarkets and health good shops.  We are trying to minimise the use of plastics in our life but we do find freezer bags so useful so we have migrated to bio-degradable bags.  We do use re-usable plastic containers as much as possible (keep the containers next time you have a chinese take-away!).

Cling Film
We have stopped using cling film and I thought it would be a real bind not having any.  In fact it is not a hassle at all.  If we want to cover something we either put it in a re-usable plastic container (such as tupperware) or cover the bowl with a saucer or similar. I think cling film is one of those things which has been sold to us as a great invention but is actually not something you really need. It just adds to landfill, gets in to waterways and can be harmful to wildlife. I encourage you to try without it and you will soon realise you don't really need it.  Occasionally we use tin foil instead.

Aluminium Foil
Buy recycled aluminium foil ("tin-foil") and save some of the worlds resources without any impact to you!  You may have to look carefully for it as I am not sure if it is readily available in most supermarkets.  We get ours from the local health food shop it is an If You Care product so even the packaging is designed to minimise its impact to the environment.

Washing Up Brush
We recently found an all natural washing up brush.  It is wood with natural bristles.   Although it is still washing up, which is not the most entertaining of tasks, we do enjoy this brush more than a plastic one. You can get them from Natural Collection and they come with replaceable heads which you can buy separately. There is something wholesome about products made from natural materials.  100% biodegradable.

new Cleaning Clothes
We use 100% natural (cellulose) sponge clothes from Waitrose, they are sold as Thick Sponge Wipes.  Being a natural material they will bio-degrade.  They also wash really well so can be reused many times.  Apparently Lakeland do bamboo ones which are even better for the environment as they are not dyed and  bamboo is a far more sustainable crop but we have not tried these.

Washing-up Liquid
OK, so your hands may be soft but what about the chemicals you are pouring down the sink that soak in to the environment?!   Ecover do a environmentally friendly washing up liquid that works fine and is readily available from supermarkets that is also kind to your skin!

Cleaning Fluids
See the Cleaning section.


Compost Heap
So much kitchen waste can be composted.  See the Compost Heap item under the Garden section.