Category Archives: zero waste

Salvage or Not?

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I discovered recently that some clothes can be salvaged and others can really only be destined as waste or recycling if you have access to textile recycling facilities.

First, a pair of GMan’s shorts which he managed to splash with a substance containing bleach and you can see the results near both side seams below the pockets.

The fabric is sound and they in otherwise fairly reasonable condition so I decided I had nothing to lose and coloured in the affected spots with a black permanent marker. The result is far from perfect, however, the marks are considerably less noticeable than before.

GMan will continue to wear them for everyday wear.

A top of mine had a different fate. I bought a very fine knitted top for $5 secondhand almost exactly 2 years ago. According to the label it was linen. Anyway, it had been gradually getting thinner in the underarm area and I suspect that was was why it had been donated in the first place. It has finally become unwearable so I have added it to the pile for textile recycling. The photo shows a close-up of the multiple small holes under one arm and the other side was in a similar state.

This is my last post here for about a month as we are now on holidays and I will be posting here.

Tinned Tomatoes

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You may remember this post from about a month ago. I bought 3 rather large tins of crushed tomatoes. I made sure that I had a plan for how to use/store nearly 3kg of crushed tomatoes once the can was opened. This is important to make sure that nothing goes to waste.

I opened one a couple of days ago and used 2 cups of it in a dish I was making. The remainder are now frozen in quantities which are a similar size to a regular 400g can of tomatoes.

Do It Once

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Almost all of what I, and probably most of you, do is repetitive. Some things are repeated daily, weekly or less frequently. Things like meal preparation and washing up can even be multiple times each day.

However, there are some jobs which can be done once and once only. Many fall under the broader category of decluttering which in itself can seem like an endless task.

I recently cleaned up the desk in our small office which is a built-in desk in the walkway through to the laundry. Keeping this space free from clutter is an ongoing project and I completely understand that.

There were 6 small plastic boxes sitting one one corner of the desk. These had previously held photographic slides that belonged to my father. The slides have all been scanned and saved so I had disposed of the originals. The boxes were covered with adhesive labels and notations in permanent marker and I had been undecided as to whether I could repurpose the boxes. I possibly could but the question really is, ‘do I need them?’

After several months of seeing these boxes multiple times each day I decided that they could be used by someone else. So, the first step was to remove the labels and clean them up.

No before photo but here they are, ready to go. I plan to take them to the Bendigo Share and Repair Shed as I feel that someone will be able to use them.

I am sure that they will be perfect storage for someone’s small treasures.

Just because you don’t want to send something to landfill does not mean that you are obliged to keep it or even to find a way of using a particular item.

Outsourced

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The past week since my last post has been somewhat devoid of blog material. In fact, it has been generally fairly quiet with us spending most of the time at home. There were a couple of fine sunny days which were perfect for some more fence painting. We have now completed 2 coats on all of the outside of the pickets and both sides of the gates. Once we finish the inside of the pickets then I will just need to do some touching up of baseboards and posts which are dark grey.

We did go out yesterday afternoon to pick up the quilt which I had taken to a friend to quilt on her longarm machine. It is always a delight to see the transformation from a piece of patchwork to a completed quilt. I think this one looks particularly spectacular.

A close-up of the stitching pattern.

The backing fabric from a thrifted doona cover really highlights the quilting.

Meanwhile, in a change of pace we have a weekend full of activity but more about that next time.

This and That

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While it is only the beginning of the second week of August there is a definite hint of spring in the air. At least the bitter chill has gone, at least for the moment. Today was a glorious sunny day.

The daffodils are almost ready to burst forth.

GMan picked all of the remaining lemons from the tree. It is only quite a small tree and one of the branches that was laden with fruit really needed to be pruned.

I have juiced about half of these and will do the rest tomorrow.

One thing led to another and I sorted out the freezers which were a bit of a shambles and I was not 100% certain of what was in there. I found a single serve of soup and a zucchini quiche which GMan and I had for our lunches. I also pulled out a bag of whole ripe tomatoes from last summer. I will thaw and chop them to use in cooking.

A jar of prepared chickpeas was thawed out for a vegetable curry for dinner – it is chickpea, pumpkin and eggplant.

We also made the most of the better weather to do a bit more fence painting. I think it is going to be our version of the Sydney Harbour Bridge!

It is still cold at night so firewood is a must.

They’re Back

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote this post about the ‘new to me’ boots I had purchased.

Well, I did take the old ones to a cobbler in Melbourne to see if they might be able to be repaired. He assured me that he could and that the cost would be $60. This seemed like a very reasonable price to restore an unwearable pair of boots that had seen 6 years of constant winter wear.

Today we were on another jaunt to Melbourne and I picked them up. They are as good as new so I am looking forward to several more years of wear out of these favourites. While buying secondhand is a sustainable option, it is important not to forget about taking care of what you have to ensure that it lasts as well as considering repairing items where possible.

I was also able to drop off the donation of towels which I mentioned the other day. They were very gratefully received and I am pleased that they will be put to good use. I also gave them the two carry bags which I had made as I am sure that someone will appreciate those, too.

After lunch we headed over the river to The Sumner theatre to see ‘Mother Play’. It was both funny and tragic but most all, very moving and certainly not one for the faint-hearted. I enjoy live theatre and this was no exception and it was particularly exciting to witness Sigrid Thornton’s superb talent on stage.

Opportunity Knocks

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Browsing in op shops can be a bit overwhelming if you don’t have some sort of strategy. When it comes to clothes I am always on the lookout for certain colours and types of fabrics as well as generally restricting myself to spots, stripes or plains. This way I can eliminate about 90% of the stock fairly quickly.

I have a bit of a mental wishlist but you also need to be alert to unexpected possibilities. This is particularly important to keep in mind as you can sometimes score some bargains by buying summer clothes in winter and vice versa.

When we were in Sale last week I spotted (pardon the pun) these trousers for $4. They are Fella Hamilton brand and made in Australia. I think they will be perfect for most of the year in our climate apart from the depths of winter or very hot summer days.

On our way home from Sale we stopped in Kyneton with the specific purpose of going to the Salvos op shop which I have previously found to be very good. We didn’t find anything on this occasion, however, we parked the car directly outside a secondhand shop which happened to have a rack of clothing on the footpath and I spied this jacket on the end of the rack. It has a fully detachable hood and lining as well as inside and outside pockets and a drawstring option at the waist. It will be a great addition to GMan’s selection of jackets and perfect for our overseas trip in December.

Meanwhile, 2 things that I have been actively searching for were a pair of tongs as GMan needed a pair for extracting lumps of charcoal from a jar jar of kerosene (his homemade firelighters) and a king-size sheet or doona cover in shades of pink. This is for the backing of the patchwork quilt I am currently making.

I was in Bendigo today and after my appointments I made a concerted effort and went to 6 op shops. At the final one I found both items that were on my list. One side of the doona cover will be perfect for the quilt backing. The tongs I found are brand new so I have earmarked them for the kitchen and the old ones can be used for the firelighters.

In another shop I picked up a dress for $5. It is a good quality knit fabric and will pair well with tights, boots and a coat and scarf. I did not bother trying it on but I suspect I may need to shorten the sleeves a bit.

The final buy was a set of 4 x double point knitting needles. All in all I have had a very successful week of op shopping.

Thoughtful Decluttering

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Last month I wrote this post about rearranging the linen. Once I consolidated the towels that were in a couple of different spaces I ended up with a plastic tub full of ‘spare towels’.

Fast forward to today when I read a Facebook post from a friend about a charity in central Melbourne who provide hot showers and laundry facilities for those who are sleeping rough. They are asking for donations of towels and also washing powder/liquid.

I was immediately sure that the tub of towels in the top of my linen cupboard could be put to better use. I will take them to donate when I go to Melbourne on Wednesday.

Most of these towels came from my mother’s home after she died a little over 4 years ago. They were too good to use as rags or even for animal bedding but I was not sure what to do with them. I have enough and someone else will be able to benefit from them so I am happy with the outcome.

This is the top of the linen cupboard now. There are 2 beach towels.

I am not a fan of decluttering that involves throwing excess stuff in a bin when with a little time and thought things can be moved along to be of benefit to someone who can really use them.

Stocked Up

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We have arrived home after a couple of night away at Sale which is about 4 hours drive from home. You can read all about it here.

Apart from the obvious holiday we used the travel wisely to source some grocery items with having to deviate too far out of our way.

The route took us through Melbourne so we took advantage of the fact that it was Tuesday and we called in to Graina at Moonee Ponds where we buy most of our bulk dry goods. Each Tuesday they offer a 20% discount if you bring your own containers which I always do anyway. I did not have too much on my list but managed to top up a few things. I also stopped at Ray’s Top Nuts nearby for a couple of other things.

As we continued towards Sale I noticed a roadside stall, The Spud Shed with a board advertising potatoes for $1/kg. I made a note to check this out on our return trip. The advertised potatoes were clearly small/seconds but they suit our needs perfectly and I selected a couple of kilos.

Our next stop was in the outer south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne at the warehouse for Australian Organic Products. I had ordered a 20 litre drum of laundry liquid by Kin Kin Naturals. The laundry and dishwashing products are produced by a small family business in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, not far from where we lived in Queensland where I bought them in recycled containers, directly from the maker, Felix. I had to change my purchasing arrangements once we relocated to Victoria and I discovered I could source the products through Australian Organic Products but the delivery costs are pretty steep to our regional location so I used the opportunity to pick up my order directly from the warehouse.

We usually do our regular grocery shopping in Bendigo at a greengrocer and Aldi but since we were traversing the suburbs of Melbourne we took advantage of suitable hops along the route.

This is everything I bought in our travels apart from the 20 litre drum of laundry liquid.

The weather is tipped to be cold and wet tomorrow so I am looking forward to staying indoors and working on some more of the patchwork blocks.

Some Special Sewing

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I have put my head down and done some concentrated sewing over the past couple of days. It is a birthday gift for our elder granddaughter.

The result is that I have now completed 21 patchwork blocks which is half of the total needed for a QS quilt.

I wrote a post in February which you can read here in which I mentioned that I had done the first block.

Here are the other 21 blocks ready to start sewing.

The disappearing 9 patch is essentially a 2-step process. The first is to sew the 9 pieces together and you can see some of them here at that stage.

After that, each block is cut into 4 pieces and rearranged before restitching. This gives the overall random finished pattern.

I hope to have the patchwork completed in the next week or so but it is somewhat dependant on other activities.