Back to the Bin

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Posted on August 8, 2012

Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment on my post about the kitchen bin. Today I remembered to chop up some of the bacon scraps and put them out for the chickens. I have not checked to see if they ate them but if they do I will gradually give them the rest over a period of time and that will be another thing that will not go in the bin.

When I next emptied my kitchen bin I took a couple of photos of the contents which I would like to share with you.

This is what 2 weeks worth of rubbish looks like. There are 2 adults in the household. I placed it next to a dinner plate so you can get an idea of the size.

Here it is on the scales. It weighed 411g.

So, what was in the rubbish bag for the week? An empty toothpaste tube, a foil sheet from medications, a plastic bag from the carrots, plastic packaging from a block of cheese, packaging from razor blades, plastic bag from frozen peas and elastic from several pairs of worn-out underpants. There were other items that I have not identified as well.

Next time I do this I will be a bit more specific about exactly what it contains.

Obviously our rubbish varies from week to week as some thing are only discarded a couple of times a year. It is a worthwhile exercise to check what you are discarding each week as a way of considering whether you can change habits to reduce the amount of waste.

A Unique Gift

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Posted on August 6, 2012

I have been making a gift for Izz for her birthday. She has a doll’s bed which has been passed down to her but no bedding.

I bought 2 u-shaped pillowcases recently from the op shop. Here is one that I have unpicked ready to use. Note the roll of fabric which is the dismantled and pressed frill.

The Duke bought a piece of foam cut to size for the mattress and I have covered that using some of the pillowcase fabric.

The next step was to make a patchwork quilt. I worked out the size and number of pieces I would need. The plain pink is more of the pillowcase, plain mauve from a piece in my stash of fabric, Dora pattern is a few leftover scraps from the doona cover and curtains that I made for Miss O last year and the pink patterned fabric is from a blouse I picked up at the op shop. The frill is the one I unpicked from the pillowcase. The hemmed edge remained intact so I simply regathered it and reapplied to the quilt edge.

I bought a large piece of cotton/bamboo batting for a bed quilt I am working on for Izz’s bed so I used a small piece for this quilt. (I think this is a rather spoiled doll!) The backing is more leftovers from some op shop fabric. I quilted it by simply machine stitching along the seam lines which is nothing fancy but seems effective.

The finishing touch was to make a matching pillow. A couple more fabric scraps and some salvaged filling from an old cushion and I had a complete set of bedding for the doll. Here is the mattress with the pillow.

The total cost of things I bought specifically for this project was $6.60. This is a gift which I know will be loved regardless of the cost. I am looking forward to seeing Izz’s face when she opens the gift.

Now I need to work on the the bed quilt I am making as well since her birthday is in 2 weeks and I want to be able to give her the present before we go on holidays.

Maintaining The Castle

A New Corner

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Posted on August 4, 2012

This afternoon The Duke and I did a bit more sorting out in the workshop. This area is almost the size of a double garage. It has a workbench and storage cupboards built-in as well as various other storage that we have acquired.

Keeping it neat and tidy is difficult as there always seems to be a project in progress. However, we do need to keep some state of order as it is located between the double garage and the downstairs entry to the house.

We had some shelving that had come from my parents’ home and we decided to rearrange things and put the shelving up.

Here it is in the corner next to the door into the downstairs entrance foyer. There is also plenty of space to store our garden shoes/workboots/gumboots.

I am not even sure what I will put on the shelves yet but I am really pleased that they are installed.

It is another small step towards getting and keeping things organised.

Falling Into Place

The Kitchen Bin

9 Comments

Posted on August 1, 2012

Tonight’s post is in response to a question posed by Jean in the comments of my post a couple of days ago about Zero Waste. She asked about alternatives to using plastic to line a kitchen bin.

I have read about using newspaper to make an origami-style bin liner and one day I might do that. In the meantime, I find that despite my best efforts, I always seem to have plenty of plastic bags for the purpose.

I line my small kitchen bin with whatever plastic bag comes to hand. I do not knowingly bring any extra plastic bags into the house but some is simply unavoidable at this stage. Any bag that looks as though it would be useful for this purpose is saved. I keep them in a ziplock bag in the laundry cupboard.

For example, I buy frozen peas so I carefully slit the top of the bag and then use that in the bin. Often, it does not tuck neatly over the edge but I am prepared to accept that. I use a rubber band to tie it off before throwing in the bin. If I get any plastic bags in packaging of items such as small appliances these are kept for the bin as well. They usually have a few air holes to avoid accidental suffocation but that is not a problem as my waste is usually just confined a small number of non-recyclable items which need to be contained rather than necessarily sealed in plastic.

I do not put any meat scraps in my kitchen bin. I generally buy meat that has no waste eg: skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets, premium mince etc. The exception is bacon as I trim the fat off it. I put the meat scraps in a bag in the freezer and occasionally add them to a kitchen rubbish bag immediately prior to putting the garbage out for collection.

Anything which can be composted is collected in the compost bucket – this includes all fruit and vegetable scraps as well as eggshells and butter wrappers.

Finally, here are the bins in a pull-out drawer in my kitchen. Each bucket lifts out for easy disposal and cleaning. On the left is the small one I line with my rubbish bag and on the right is the recycling.

I will do another post soon and examine exactly what rubbish we have for a week.

Let me know how you manage your various waste streams. Have you made a conscious effort to reduce the amount of rubbish you send to landfill?

Freezer Finds

6 Comments

Posted on July 30, 2012

My freezer is one of the most useful appliances I have. I am able to buy larger quantities of some items and avoid going to the shops as frequently as I would otherwise and of course it is wonderful to be able to store excess produce.

I have 2 freezers – one is the bottom 1/3 of my refrigerator in the kitchen. It has a narrow shelf at the top and 2 large pull-out baskets. The second freezer is the size of a bar fridge and lives in the study.

Since we are going on holidays in 3 weeks I have been trying to use up some of the food that is in the freezers with a view to being able to empty and turn off the stand-alone freezer. The first thing to do was to make an inventory of everything that is in them so here is the list.

Ground coffee
Pineapple (fresh, very ripe so will be juicing it)
Refried beans (homemade) 500g x 4 packs
Ice-cream – 3/4 of a 2 litre tub
Grated cheese – 4 large containers (I buy 2 kg block of cheese from a local factory and grate it)
Spreadable butter blend (homemade) 500g x 2
Grated zucchini – 400g packs x 2
Beef curry – 6 serves
Lasagne – 2 serves (lunch sized)
Chili con carne – 2 serves
Beef & vegie casserole – 6 serves
Tomato/pasta sauce (homemade) – 750ml x 2
Lasagna sheets (homemade) x 12
Fettucine (homemade) – 2 serves
Gravy beef – 500g x 2 packs
Chicken breast fillets x 4
Sausages x 2
Bacon (shortcut) x 7 slices
Sausage rolls (mini) x 5 – thawing for lunches today with salad
Sweet pastry (homemade) x 1 quantity
Savoury pastry (homemade) x 1 quantity
Baked sweet pastry (was tart shell which broke)
Sliced white bread (homemade) – 7 slices
Gluten free bread (1/2 loaf)
Breadcrumbs (soft and toasted)
French stick (sliced and in a bag)
Fruit muffins (crumbled in a small container)
Mashed pumpkin (to make pumpkin soup)
Lemon zest
Lemon juice (2 litres)
Lemon juice (ice cubes – about 4 dozen)
Lime juice (ice cubes – about 4 dozen)
Sliced limes – 2 containers
Orange juice – single serves x 3
Banana x 1
Passionfruit ice cubes x 15
Turkish bread rolls x 4

Bag of meat scraps

The freezers are a constant dynamic as shown by the following changes in the past 36 hours since I made that list.

Lasagne – ~~2 serves~~ (lunch sized) – now 1 serve
~~Fettucine (homemade) – 2 serves~~ – used
Chicken breast fillets x 4 – now x 3
~~Sausage rolls (mini) x 5 – thawing for lunches today with salad~~ – used
Lime juice (ice cubes – about ~~4 dozen~~) – now 3 dozen
Orange juice – single serves x 3 – now 8 serves – 2 used and 7 more added after juicing the remaining oranges from the tree

I have also added another 2.5 litres of lemon juice.

From my inventory I have made a menu plan and will be using more of the contents over the coming weeks.

I am confident that I will be able to empty the small freezer before we go away. I will post an update of the list in a week or so.

How do you manage the contents of your freezer? Do you keep a precise list or just a general idea with the occasional complete inventory? What do you mostly store – excess produce, bulk meat, prepared meals or baked goods? I would love to hear your story.

Zero Waste – Is It Really?

7 Comments

Posted on July 29, 2012

One of the things that I am really passionate about is waste – specifically packaging. For many years I have worked hard to reduce what I bring into the house and while I am nowhere near the nirvana that is ‘Zero Waste’, I generally do a pretty good job.

Today we went shopping for various things. One thing I bought was some sliced salami. Whenever I buy deli meat from the supermarket or meat from the butcher I always take my own plastic container and ask them to put the meat directly into the container and to stick the price label onto the lid. Most of the staff are really good and simply weigh the container before adding the produce.

However, sometimes it can be challenging and you have to constantly watch what is happening or otherwise you can be easily blind-sided. We have had instances where my request was followed and then they wrapped the whole container in miles of cling wrap or put the meat in a plastic bag before putting it in the container – AARGH!! Today the young girl clearly had no idea how to establish the tare weight of the container so she spread a plastic bag on the scales, placed the salami on it and then tipped it into the container I had provided. I chose not to say anything as it only causes distress to all concerned.

Also, there was not enough sliced salami in the display so she got more from the coldroom and sliced it. The piece she retrieved was wrapped in clingfilm and this was removed, discarded and a new piece re-applied when she had finished slicing it. The display trays are covered with cling film also.

So, by taking my own container and refusing plastic bags and outer wrapping, can I regard this as zero waste?

Buying dry goods from bulk bins creates the same dilemma because although you buy them loose from the bulk bin they have been decanted from some sort of packaging. At least it is usually a large quantity such as 25kg of flour or sugar so there there is less packaging per kilo.

I still buy my cheese from both the supermarket or the local factory where I can get 2kg blocks but they are still wrapped in plastic.

When I buy fruit and vegetables I always make the choice to buy loose produce that I can put in my own tulle bags that I made even if it is more expensive than the pre-packaged option. A good alternative is a Farmers’ Market, though you do have to check as some stalls do package things into plastic bags. It is a matter of being committed and voting with your feet as to where and how you shop.

Yandina Markets photo

The only true zero waste shopping is what I can collect from my own garden – eggs, avocadoes, citrus fruit, spring onions and parsley was the haul for today.

Do you try to avoid packaging when you are shopping? Does this influence where you shop and what you buy?

Cruel to be Kind

5 Comments

Posted on July 28, 2012

I always feel cruel at this time of the year as I have to clip our Border Collie dog in preparation for the tick season which usually begins at the start of August. Sometimes I have left it too late with very serious consequences for both the dog and my wallet.

Today was the day and here is the ‘before’ photo.

It is not a particularly good photo as Psycho dog was determined not to co-operate. He co-operated even less once he saw the clippers, however, once I convince him that it has to be done he just stands still and quivers.

I used to pay to have him clipped but then eventually decided that I could do it myself. It has only taken 3 haircuts to recoup the cost of the clippers. While my efforts are not up to show standard I think he looks quite respectable.

Here is the end result.

Once it was all done I washed him with handmade neem soap and then dried him off with the hairdryer and he does look rather gorgeous. I think he will be wearing his Drizabone coat a fair bit for the next month while the weather is still quite cool – particularly at night.

It was imperative that I got this done before we go on holidays as the housesitter will need to check him regularly for ticks and that is nearly impossible while his coat is long.

That is another job ticked off my ‘to do’ list before we head off.

Name & Shame

3 Comments

Posted on July 26, 2012

I have been busy with work recently and so not much time for my creative pursuits – gardening, cooking and sewing. However, I have been making an effort to finish off some jobs that have hanging around.

Many have been things that I keep meaning to do such as reviewing our phone and internet plans with the current providers. I wrote about this project a couple of days ago and you can read it here. I have decided that the exit fees for our mobile phone contract are too high so we will stick with what we have for the moment and be more vigilant about reviewing the SMS messages that we receive advising that we have used 60% and then 80% of our data quota. I did discover that we can negotiate a new plan once we are within 3 months of the end of our current contract. I have made a note in my diary for the end of December to do this.

Despite not getting quite the outcome I had hoped for, I am certainly not naming and shaming our telephone or internet providers. I am saving that for our electricity company!!

I have written several posts about my battles with Origin Energy since I began this blog in March 2011. I will not bore you with links to them all here but if you put ‘electricity’ or ‘Origin Energy’ into the search function on the right-hand side of the page you will find most of them.

Yesterday, I made yet another phone call to Origin regarding the non-appearance of our latest bill/statement. The meter was read on 28th May which is almost 2 months ago. This has happened every quarter since we had the solar panels installed in November 2010. Despite numerous assurances about ‘the system’, ‘a block on your bill’ and other nonsense being sorted out it never happens and I am just about about breaking point.

As usual, the people who answer the phone copped my wrath, always prefaced with “I know it is not your fault directly”. This time I have the name of the person who took my call initially as well as the contact in the Solar Billing Department. I have advised that I will be sending a letter to the General Manager with a copy to both of the people with whom I spoke directly yesterday.

We have been receiving electricity bills for over 30 years and they have arrived in the mail, as regular as clockwork, within 3-5 working days of the meter being read. This has been the case year in, year out without fail until we had the solar panels installed.

Suddenly, when we are in credit rather than having a bill to pay, we do not receive any notification until I ring up and beg/plead/argue/debate the issue every 3 months. Initially, we were advised that credit would only be paid every 12 months or if we wanted it more often it was up to us to ring Origin and request the payment. Previously, I had an automatic direct debit set up to pay our electricity bill. It is clearly far too difficult for Origin to set up a simple direct credit to my bank account every 3 months when my electricity account is in credit!

I have to battle to even find out how much credit is owing to us while Origin get interest-free use of money which is rightfully ours. Shame on you, Origin!!

Things have improved marginally in the past 18 months. I discovered yesterday that I can now make an online request for payment of any credit balance into my nominated bank account. All I need now is to receive the statements for our electricity account in a timely manner so that we can use the money which we have accrued through the purchase of solar panels and judicious use of electricity.

Origin Energy – lift your game and get this sorted out – NOW!!

I suspect that I am not the only person with billing issues since installing solar panels and I am very keen to hear if anyone else has a similar story to tell. Please leave a comment at the bottom of this page or on my Facebook page. Alternatively, you can email me. The email address is at the foot of this page.

I am particularly in the experiences of other Origin customers, but please feel free to comment, regardless of which provider you have.

To my overseas readers – do you have similar problems?