Monday 12 October 2009

Product swap...

I've been thinking about ways to reduce my waste and at the moment I'm trying to find alternatives to some of the high waste products I use...in the last couple of weeks I've made these changes...


I've stopped using prepacked pizza bases wrapped in plastic and with a polystyrene bit and started making my own using a recipe given to me by a friend. You can even make a big batch and freeze some for later, so pizza is still a quick tea.


Luckily we have several friends with apple trees who have a glut of fruit at the moment and need me to help eat them all up! (an apple tree is definitely on my 'when I have a garden...' list) So we haven't bought any apples for about a month.

My face wash in a squeezy tube ran out, to be replaced by a nice, vegan, biodegradable bar of soap which came packed in a cardboard box - which ticks all of my categories!


I've been using almond oil for ages, but wanted to mention it because it replaces so much of the stuff I used to use, it has no synthetic chemicals in it, comes in a glass bottle and is cheeap (that bit bottle cost me £2.99 and will last me about a year). I use it everyday as a moisturiser instead of body lotion, I use it to moisturise my face if I'm not going outside in the sun (otherwise I use moisturiser with a sunscreen), as a night cream, on a reusable make-up remover pad to take off my make up (on the rare occasion I put some on!), I use a tiny drop on my hair after I've washed it, or if it goes fluffy, instead of frizz ease, and I use it instead of intensive hair conditioner (I put a load on my hair while it's dry, tie it up to let the oil soak in for half and hour, then shampoo it out). Almond oil, I love you!



I've been using hankies for a while now, but now I've run out of paper tissues the swap will be permanent because I'm never buying disposable tissues again!

9 comments:

  1. YAY for not buying disposable tissues again!! :)

    I LOVE hankies too!!

    Also some AWESOME changes you've made!

    Check out the AWARD you've won!! :)

    PS About the oil - I was told it's good to have moist skin before applying any. Is that how you do it? (And for the face - I just use water, no soap at all! Or is it as make-up remover?)

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  2. Aww thanks Layla :D

    I LOVE hankies too! I think they're more healthy - I think breathing in the tissue dust was making me need to blow my nose more! yey!

    The oil - I put it on after I've had a shower and dried off, so I'm probably a bit more damp than usual but not dripping or anything - I have really dry skin though so it enjoys having oil put on it, my friend with more olivey/normal/slighty greasy skin puts on a tiny bit on every 3 days or so and finds that keeps her skin nice. Having said that I think you can put it on moist skin if you like. Errm the other thing in your comment, I'm not sure what you mean - do I use oil as soap? (no)do I use soap as a make up remover? (no - I use oil as a make up remover and soap if I have no mkae up on, which is 99% of the time!)

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  3. I TOTALLY agree about hankies!!

    I find I need to use them MUCH less too, and hated that paper dust!

    The oil - I think you're right to apply it after shower. A lady in a shop selling oil said if you put it on completely dry skin it could cause wrinkles (?) Not sure if this could be true? - One winter I put olive oil on my face and hands daily before going on walks, and I did notice some wrinkles near my eyes later on in the spring/summer (maybe I just got older though! or read too many worrying articles on trash! - That was before I found MyZeroWaste and all you lovely trash reductionistas!)
    Also, doggies LOVED me that winter! :)

    I don't use soap on my face at all, so I was wondering for what purpose you use it..
    Was taught by my Mum to just use water, since I was a kiddie, and I always thought it was enough... Maybe you could try it for a few days? I noticed my skin was MUCH better and MUCH less dry when I stopped using so much soap elsewhere too.. (I only use it when necessary now, I used A LOT in the past..)

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  4. olive oil before walks? I can't bear the thought of putting oil on just before going outside, I think of sunrays+oil and frying food! eeek!

    I do use the soap on my face, every time I wash it, although this morning I had a soapless shower and a soapless facewash, my face doesn't seem to have minded, but I kind of missed my shower soap cos it smells so nice, but my skin's ok. One question though, how do you know when using soap IS necessary? Is it just when you're muddy, or really smelly??! heehee!

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  5. .. in the winter!! :)
    (I didn't do this in the summer!!)
    Mostly my face needs protection from wind and weather in cold days..

    Some people actually use olive oil with St John's Wort soaked in it as 'sun tan lotion' (?) My Dad even used regular oil at times, in the past.. (Though I don't advise this.. He's a true pirate with dark skin, I guess for him 'anything goes'..)
    Some others say that St John's Wort is no go with sun, so hmm.. (to be researched further)

    I stayed away from all chemicals this summer and just used shadow or straw hats or such!:)
    (and light clothing with long sleeves and trousers when eg needed to work in the sun)

    YAY for soapless facewash! :)
    Yup, when you're dirty or smelly, that's a good hint!:)

    Some people also use soap only 'in the pits' when showering (armpits if needed, and #2 mostly; my Mum taught us not to use it in feminine regions..) I've done this occasionally.. Depends if you need a more thorough wash or not..

    A distant relative even cured his Athelete's foot by using no soap on his feet for a few months, or something like that!

    I use soap on hands after going to the toilet, after handling puppies and before handling food.. Otherwise, I try to stay away from it as much as possible, and my hands are thankful for it!

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  6. almond oil! I need to get me some of that. Thanks for the info.

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  7. Hi Drea :)

    I admit it, almond oil is my god, you should try it :) Let me know how you get on :)

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  8. Brilliant post. I've linked to it this morning as I love how you inspire people that making simple changes can have a significant impact.

    I'm yet to make my own pizza base; I think I'll give it a go following your recipe link - thanks!

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  9. Wow, thanks Mrs Green :) I really love your blog so I take that as a big compliment :)

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