Educating the people you purchase from

Apologies for posting this late!  I was away at a School of Veterinary Nursing planning day last week and time ran out!!  We had a great talk from Nicola Bould, who is a sustainability educator at Otago Polytechnic, during our planning days which has injected a huge amount of motivation into the team - so watch this space!!

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Please note: This posting is in no way meant to be offensive to, or to pick on the company I have been corresponding with.  This posting is designed to help educate people and companies on the answers that they need to be asking and seeking answers too and the changes the may need to make to improve their sustainablilty.  The end result should be a more sustainable company now and in the future and a more sustainable future for everyone. 

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What I am learning, as I start asking these questions to the companies that supply products within the School of Veterinary Nursing (and believe me this is a slow and ongoing project) is that everyone has a "Green" answer, but that it always appears light and when you dig deeper the staff marketing the products can't answer the questions and when they do, the answers are equally vague and light.  Without wanting to point the finger at any of these companies and using them as an example here is an example diaglogue I am in the process of having now..........

First correspondance from me:

"Hi
I am investigating >>>>>(product details removed)>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>we are using in our clinical facility at Otago Polytechnic.　 One of the Polytechnics KPIs is sustainability and as part of that we are looking at everything we do and use within the School of Veterinary Nursing and assessing what we are using and whether there are alternatives that better meet out KPI’s.

I note that >>>>>>>>>>>  meets our needs in terms of efficacy, but the questions I want to ask are along these lines................

1. What happens to it when it goes down the drain – are the components non-toxic? Or are they broken down into non-toxic components?

2. What is the companies green/sustainability policy/progress towards zero waste?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards
Francesca

Reply:
Hi Francesca,
Thank you for your e-mail regarding the >>>>>>>>>>>> enquiry into the toxicity and sustainability policy. I could not answer all the questions so e-mailed our parent company in the UK. They have answered,　 the reply is below. If you would like to know more or have any more questions please contact us again.

I do hope that these answers are what you wanted to hear. Could you please reply and let me know if you are happy with the way the >>>>>>>>>>>>> company is directed and that it suits your needs in the future.

Kind regards
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

And this is the information sent through from the parent company:

For part 1 of the questions, over the years >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> has been the subject of many tests and trials with the various water authorities and the National River Authority. Some that spring to mind are the Animal Sanctuary in the North East, The Shelter in Plymouth (can’t remember the name except the Manager Tony was instrumental in gaining us ground with the ABDCH?) and a large new kennel centre in the midlands. Each of these were put to stringent trials for water runoff to septic tanks etc. when they were installing new waste water facilities.

In each of the examples >>>>>>>>>>>>> was found to be non toxic going to drains as the residual % of the components after dilution and washing / rinsing was negligible. In addition the >>>>>>> will break down to sodium chloride (salt) in a short period of time causing no harmful effects to the environment. The only part of the formula that caused any concern at that time was the use of EDTA but in the end that was considered to be (a) as a component, too small of % part to warrant concern and (b) was changed to a more environmentally friendly component in 2004 following a Europe wide concern over the use of EDTA (even washing up liquids and similar household items used EDTA) and more suitable alternatives were found.

With reference to part 2:
We are committed to being green and as such are approved by the RSPCA. We use recycled packaging, bottles etc etc so our whole ethos is ‘Green’.

　

Kind Regards

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My thoughts:

So you can see from this correspondance that initially the NZ supplier hadn't really thought much about this or perhaps been schooled on it by the parent company but certainly seems keen and interested in this subject and ensuring the product meets the needs of a sustainable practitioner.

Win 1 - we have now, through a simple correspondance awakened the interest in the topic with regards to the product by the supplier

Win 2 - we have been given some information that we didn't have before to help us prove our use of the product is acceptable.

Hopefully a win 3: the UK manufacturer is now thinking that they need to formalise that information and present it in a meaningful manner.

But its also raised a whole heap of questions and this is where it is hard to get real meaningful answers.  In the reply from the UK parent company, they have justified the 'green-ness' of the product by saying they use recycled plastic bottles.  Yes this is great but this doesn't denote green and sustainable procedures.  There are so many more questions.  　

I am no expert at this at all so I don't propose to know all the questions or many of the answers, but my job here is to be thought provokoing and get you, the reader and also the companies I am corresponding with really thinking.

So this was my reply:

Hi >>>>>>>>>>>>

Many thanks for this. It definitely does begin to answer our questions and we don’t have any intentions of changing at this stage. It is great to see components have been changed as concerned were raised.　

However, in order to be really open and transparent about what we are doing, it would be great if we could get some copies of the trial work showing its safety. I am not doubting the word but we are increasingly being asked to prove and document what we say/use. My other thing that I would say now is that it is important that those involved with >>>>>>>>, understand the opportunity now to investigate answers to these questions is a real opportunity to leap forward as a product rather than wait and see what others do and be a market leader.

It would be great to get details of the "green" ethos. For example – it is really great that the bottles are recycled packaging but details on how this is sourced and the "green-ness of the making the recycled plastic into new bottles" for example because there is of course an energy cost (I am guessing this is still a good thing to do – I am just trying to illustrate some of the questions to ask – not just accept that its recycled so it must be better. The plastic vs paper debate is a classic one of this), details on how people are encouraged to recycle the packaging themselves – initiatives to encourage people to keep reusing the packaging like sending it back to be refilled for example (this may or may not work out the best but we are wanting to see evidence of looking at this as an option), also details of the sourcing of the components of >>>>>> and whether each of these components are green and also socially sustainable too. How much waste are each of these companies producing and how much is >>>>>>>> producing to make the end product. So you can see that I am wanting to go the level deeper – so we can see that the base components are sourced sustainably.　

Also manufacturing creates lots of waste – documented stuff about what is being done to reduce the waste – targeting zero waste and carbon neutrality for example. Is the power source that is used to produce the product from a renewable source for example, is all old equipment including electronic equipment fully recycled. Then the other side is the social ethos – are the employees of the company treated fairly etc. Also thinking about how you encourage the end product user to be sustainable in its use. Where it is not possible to reduce waste any further or carbon use, what offsets are in place – for example planting trees. The list of questions goes on.　

I appreciate these are all hard questions – and answers might not be currently available - we are asking these questions of lots of companies and many are struggling to answer them, however we believe these are questions we should now be asking for answers for and we are educating our students to ask these questions. It is essential now for companies to look seriously at this. It is no longer ok to just say "we are green because we use recycled packaging". We need to know about the whole package – which means the company need to know the whole package too.　 　　

If you click on the link in my signature to our sustainability blog, you can see some of the things we are talking about (the blog is just a weekly tip designed to start getting our students engaged and is only part of the package) – I have only recently started the blog, so lots of the stuff we have talked about and done are not on there yet. There is also a post about sustainability and a link to a video called "How stuff works" – this is a great eye opener and in some ways helps to visualise the consumer/throw away society and start thinking about different ways. One of the concepts that has really got me on board is that "rubbish doesn’t go away – it becomes someone else’s problem".

Many thanks and I look forward to any further information that can be provided.　

Kind Regards
Francesca

So as you can see there are lots of questions to ask to get the company thinking.  If we can achieve that and the company itself starting to make inroads into documenting what they are doing and the safety and green-ness of the company and its products, we have a win-win situation.  Lets see how they reply! 

Certainly in the short term it is hard to imagine that the consumer society is going to change, so as a sustainable practitioner, once you have identified that you really have a need for a specific product you need to be asking the hard questions to the person who is marketing the product.  This then gives the person marketing the product and therefore the company an education to some degree in improving their sustainability over time.
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To finish, a quote I borrowed from the recent NZVNJ, that originated from Mahatma Gandhi

“Be the change you want to see in the world”.

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Have a great and sustainable week!

Francesca

Please note: This posting is in no way meant to be offensive to or to pick on the company I have been corresponding with.  This posting is designed to help educate people and companies on the answers that they need to be asking and seeking answers too and the changes the may need to make to improve their sustainablilty.  The end result should be a more sustainable company now and in the future and a more sustainable future for everyone. 

Earth in hands - Image source

Rubbish pile - Image source

Ideas and feedback generated from last weeks blog post on cleaners

Within the School of Veterinary Nursing there was quite a bit of email traffic generated by last weeks blog post and I thought it was worthwhile sharing.........


Helen got a home made washing powder recipe from her friend Emma:

Emma had to say about the recipe above:

I use 4 cakes of Sunlight (1 box) and 1 container of washing crystals and make a large batch this fills 2 icecream containers. I usually put in a few drops eucalyptus or lavender oil.

Also when I pour it into containers to cool and (sort of) set I sort of whisk it a couple of times as it cools or it seems to separate a bit.

This does not have any bleaching agents so will not take stains out you need to treat these before washing!

But is very biodegradeable and lasts for ages you only need a small scoop for a full load. I use a scoop form a commercial power I saved.

Also I noticed Lily is less itchy when I use this vs commercial powder.

Probably once every 10 white loads I will use commercial powder just to really whiten them up

And apparently you can catch the waste water from the washing machine, where you ahve used this home made washing powder and water your garden with it and Emma says the garden does just fine. 
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Helen also raised the point "Does the Eco brand actually ahve any backing that it is better than any other or is it just good marketing?"


And this is probably a good point - it certainly has less stuff in it than other brands - the ingredient list is far shorter and the list of ingredients looks less chemical, but is it any better?


I'll leave you to make your own mind up and do your own comparisons.  Here is the link to the secostore website regarding how environmentally firendly it is. 


Jennifer H mentioned that she had done some of her own research and found that Surf was the one to use.  It is also part of Unilever which have got a well published sustaoinability charter and seem to be really openly committed, though I couldn;t find anything on the website relating specifically to surf and its sustainability.  Here is the link - you can have a look and make your own mind up.  Of course with this brand over say ecostore you have to consider miles the products are travelling and supporting the local economy and compare the cost/benefits. 


There are of course many other washing products like Down to Earth which claim to be ecofriendly too - sorry there is no link.  I have struggled to find one.  I didn find on my hunting the website for Reckit and Benckiser which cary a huge number of brands, including things like Frend and Finish.  You can read about their environmental committment here.  I would encourage you when reading this promotional stuff on websites to go back and review that video clip that I posted a couple of posts back - "How Stuff Works" .  The thing that sticks in my mind is for every product that emerges, on average there is about 70 x the waste produced.  Scary stuff. 


I think this all highlights that first and foremost we should look at using less process products and less of everything in general.  Then if we need something else we look at what it is, how it is produced, what the companies sustianability policy is and is it safe.  Remember lots of the commercial products are filled with long lists of stuff - names which you can hardly read.  Unlike the homemade washing powder recipe above. 
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Moving on from washing powder Helen also commented:

"I love that vinegar is back… just like grandma said. She also uses baking soda for deodorant, is 90 and doesn’t seem to smell much… (2 good reasons to use it, it would seem. Like my robust clinical trial???)"

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One the veterinary front Jennifer H suggested the use of a UV light for sanitising surfaces in the veterinary clinic surgery once they have been cleaned and after having Helen Milner down from VetSpecs last week, we are now investigating implementing there noscrub surgical hand wash system, which avoids the litres and litres of water running dopwn the sink. 

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On Chlorines, Jennifer H mentioned:

"Chlorines are strong oxidisers and toxic in high amounts (like most chemicals). But it biodegrades by gassing off. I seem to recall learning about it a few years back and the chlorine gas is a minimal risk as chlorine (sodium chloride) is found naturally in very high concentrations in our oceans. You get what you pay for with bleach. The Janola brand has up to 5% sodium hypochlorite but as it is stored, the percentage goes right down so it needs to be kept fresh. The cheap brands only have as little as 3% and they also degrade with age. "

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Vinegar as a rinse aid in the dishwasher and clove oil for mould

Several staff cxommented that Vinegar is a very good rinse aid, so why don't you all give that a try instead of purchasing rinse aid.

From Caro: I use white vinegar in the dishwasher instead of the conditioner this leaves dishes lovely and clean.　

1/4tsp of clove oil to 1litre of water is a great way of killing mould it still doesn’t bleach the mould so you have to clean the mould off first and then the clove oil helps prevent it coming back (asthmatic children) reacted strongly to other cleaning products.

From Jeanette: I used white vinegar on my bench after the sustainability tip – looks fab!
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Baking Soda
Lara says "Baking soda is a great, non toxic substitute for scrubby cleaners, and salt on half a lemon will take nasty stains out of counters and kills off a lot of bacteria.
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Bulk Cleaners
Jennifer H also mentioned "we discovered this week that you can get bulk cleaners at Piko Wholefoods on Stanmore rd. just bring your own refillable container!" - this is great for those of you in CHCH.  THere are sure to be similar options elsewhere too.

Remember when purchasing bulk cleaners like this, still ask the same questions about whats in them, where they are from and so on!! 
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What is biodegradable?

In the school teaching facility we are using Safe4 which is very like Trigene (a halogonated tertiary amine) and it is sold on being safe to animals and the environment and being biodegradable.  We are still trying to get more information to quaitify this, now that we are thinking at a doifferent level, and not believing everything we read!

It has raised the interesting questions...

1.  What is the definition of biodegradable?  We know they now market biodegradable plastic pbags but from the reading I have done this could be 500 years of biodegrading which really isn't acceptable. 

2.  Before it biodegrades - are any of the products including those in the breakdown process toxic?

So far, we have not had responses about this product to answer our more indepth questions, so we will let you know when we do.  We are also hoping to be speaking to a veterinarian with sustianbility interests next week about what she uses in her clinic.

We are also investigating other options.  However our biggest issue is we need to be using a product that is proven against parvovirus and ringworm in particular to ensure we are meeting hospital level standards in our facility. 

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So thats it from me this week..thanks to all the contributors.............some solutions provided and some questions generated.................I would be keen to know if anyone has a good natural cleaner for showers - glass doors and acrylic.  I now have a citrus clearner which certainly caused my hands or breathing no grief so that has got to say something, but maybe vinegar or baking sode in diswashing Liq do a similar job? 


Have a great and sustainable weekend!  During the next week, the challenge is to challenge someone who is selling you a product on its "sustainability credentials" and then before you buy it, ask the question "Do I really need it?"..................Remember "Less is more"


Cheers
Francesca

Cleaning Products - tip of the week

Last week I happened to catch a few minutes of a farming programme on TV that mentioned how regulated farmers were in terms of what chemicals they use, yet there was so much available on the shelves in supermarkets that we used and exposed ourselves to in our own homes which was not nearly so regulated and potentially full of very toxic chemicals, not only to the environment, but to ourselves.

 

It really got me thinking.........I personally have always tried to make ecological purchasing decisions with the household cleaners we use but I have no doubt I could do better.  This thought process does not need to stop at what you are using inside your house.  Also think about outside your home and in your workplace.  In the veterinary industry we use cleaners all the time.  All our graduates know to choose products fit for purpose and safety but we also need to ensure that they are fit for the environment  too.  

So your challenge for this week is to look at every cleaner that you use and evaluate it for environmental safety and personal safety.  Also think about where the product is made and what the companies actions are with regards to zero waste, carbon neutrality and so forth.  Think about whether you actually need it too.  There is a real opportunity here to become sustainable on space.  It is very unlikely you need every cleaner and detergent you have in your home particularly, but possibly at work too.  See some of the links below.  This reduces the space you need for storage and the number of plastic containers you need.  You will also find that you will save yourself a significant amount of money, using readily available products.  


Here are some websites to get you started:

• Why use eco-friendly cleaners?
• Top 10 eco-friendly ways to clean the house
• How to make a non-toxic cleaning kit - using a number of common household items 
• Recipes for non-toxic cleaners - based on common household items such as baking soda
• Ecostore - New Zealand based business producing environmentally safe products for cleaning everything from dishes, clothing to your home.  
• Citrus based cleaner- this is an example of one of many that are marketed.  When choosing any commercially made cleaner remember to look at not only the product but the company as well to ensure there are sustainable practices right from sourcing the raw materials through to your purchase.

In terms of environmentally friendly options for outside moss removers one of my colleagues tells me sprinkling baking soda on moss outside does the trick!  

Have a great sustainable weekend.  I look forward to reading your feedback on what you managed to achieve with regards to your household cleaning products over the weekend. 

During the up coming week look at what is being used in your workplace and make a plan to instigate some changes.  The planet need your help now!!


Kind Regards
Francesca Matthews
Programme Manager and Sustainability Champion
School of Veterinary Nursing

What is Sustainability and The Top 10 Myths about it

Image from Winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This weekly tip is coming tomorrow - I've got a good one that will be helpful for both home and workplace. 

Today, I have been working on a Sustainability course I am enrolled in and I really thought sharing this resource would be of a great benefit to you all in improving your understanding of sustainability.

Watch this video to really get a handle on sustainability

Myth 10 in particular gets you thinking.  I was already aware of this issue but it gives a classic example of people rushing in to basically make money out of something that really isn't that sustainable before people realise the truth. 

Click here to read The Top 10 myths about Sustainability 

Let me know what you think.

Have a great day

Cheers
Francesca

Tip of the week - Solar Power

Graur Codrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The idea to talk about Solar Power came through as an idea from Jen Hamlin, who is one of my colleagues! 

This was Jen's information for me on SOLAR ENERGY
This is a long video but the second half of it was very interesting. A couple of things that I came away with:

1. Solar is the way to go - message from the video: one day of sun can power the entire planet for a year.
2. Science funding to further develop the technology to use solar power is seriously lacking - a message from the video: everyone needs to learn as much as possible about energy and realise how important science is for our future.
3. This is not pie-in-the sky science, we are there in many ways already and very nearly there on some significant ways that will distribute huge amounts of renewable energy around the world, we just need more people to value it and a lot of good future scientists to carry it on - message from the video: kids should be encouraged to study science, it will save the world.

See: http://www.wimp.com/nanotechnologyworld/ for more 

So as you can see it has huge potential and has a big future in energy generation. 

From this information you can see that solar power has huge potential.  I often look at the sun beating down on my roof and think that I really need to install solar panels.  I know people who have and said that as soon as they did the electricity meter started turning backwards - so in a good sunny place you could see how you could very quickly pay off an investment in solar power both for commercial and residential properties.   In fact, I am a little surprised the new building codes don't require it - perhaps they are just waiting for the costs to come down a bit more?

• What do you know about solar power?
• Has anyone got it already?
• Post a comment so we can all learn more

Visit the NZ based Energywise website to find out more about solar power.  This link talks about how it works, where it works best and how much energy it produces and costs to install although I note that the costs here vary considerably to the estimates given on some links I visited so it may be that costs have fallen already so don't decide against it based on the costs given on this website.  Get a quote from a supplier. 

Here are some links if you are interested in finding out more about installing it at your place:

• Powersmart Solar Power
• Solar Technology
• Able Solar

And if you have kids that are struggling to decide what career path to follow, harnessing the sun's energy for electricity sounds like it is going to be a growth industry - in all areas from research and development through to installation of the system.

Have a great sustainable weekend

Kind Regards
Francesca Matthews
 

Programme Manager and Sustainability Champion for

Otago Polytechnic School of Veterinary Nursing

Tip of the week - Grow your own veges and what you can't buy local and in season

Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Its the beginning of spring so its time to start thinking about gardens again and looking forward to lots of healthy salads and other great summer food!!  This is also a good practice to improve your sustainability. 

So I am going to share some of the things I do in my garden (believe me I don't have a big garden and I am no garden expert).  I have done most of what I do by trial and error.  I am looking forward to lots of comments on this blog with your tips and ideas to improve my garden this year too!!  Together all the tips should make for some fabulous garden crops this year!!  My garden is based in Christchurch on the flat.  We get lots of frosts, it can get very dry but also has some spots which get good sun, though apart from the patio, none of the places I plant things get ALL DAY SUN.

1.  If you have never grown stuff before the easiest things I find to grow are:
Lettuces - choose the ones that you can just take outside leaves off, and plant just 2 or 3 at one time and plant some more seedlings a week or 2 later so that you aren't in undated with lettuce!  Lettuces grow spring through autumn.  Once the lettuce is finished let it go to seed and you'll get lots of lettuce seedlings sprinkled round you garden which you can let grown, transplant or give to friends!
Parsley - plant it in a few places to see where it likes best, once its finished let it seed and like lettuces you will have parsley everywhere! 
Mint - grows like wildfire all year.  Just cut it back or pull it out if it spreds to far and it will just keep oin growing. 
Silver beet - grows all year, just take the leaves as you need them, and again when its finished let it seed.

2. Pototoes - you can grow these even in small places.  Buy seed pototes and sprout them, then plant 1 sprouted seed pototes in a PB40 polythene bag (available from any gardening store) which has been half filled with potting mix/soil/compost (whatever you use).  Roll down the sides.  As the pototes gorws and noduls start forming that will be pototoes, slowly unroll the side of the PB40 bag and add more soil to keep the newly forming pototes from going green.  Keep them well watered. 

3. Cherry Tomatoes - plant when the last frosts have gone!!  Use quality potting mix (or ensure it is rich with nutirients from your ghome compost bin!!).  About 4-5 plants will feed a family of 4 for 4-8 weeks depending on how well you water and look after them.  You can either stake them up or what I found worked really well last year is letting them grow along the ground (with pea straw underneath) and draped over our box hedge (this was one of those we went on holiday and they were small and when we got back they were too big to stake errors that showed me this worked and then it was backed up by feedback from other people).

4. Citrus - Citrus grow well as long as they have good sun and are protected from frosts (on and they needs lots of water too!!  I have 2 in the garden and 2 in pots.  Especially those in pots need to be watered daily as they dry out and fertilised but they provide a good crop of lemons, mandarins, lemonade and limequat each year and as they get bigger there may be extras for making marmalade, lemon honey and other such yummy things!!

5. Deciduous Fruting trees - yes they can get big but you can buy dwarf varieities or just keep the trees you buy pruned to the saize you want.  Now is a good time to plant these.  I have an Apple and Nectairne which produce the best tasting apples and nectarines.  Honestly the taste difference between mine and those in the shops really makes you wonder about mass produced fruit!!!

6. Grapes - If you ahve a great sunny fence, run some wire a long it and plant a grape.  I do nothing to moine but prune it at the end of the season (and the extra growth mid season) and it produces so many grapes the kids can stand at the grape vine everyday after school for weeks and eat them to their hearts content and we still don't run out. 

7. Rubarb - If you like rubarb this is a great plant that you can just harvest as you need.  Take the outside stems first.  It likes lots of nutirient rich soil so I just pile horse manue around mine.  It dies back each winter then reaoppears again.  We get a few rubarb crumbles and plenty of rubarb for breakfast from ours. 

8.  Strawberries - these grow well in tubs and in raised gardens.  They spread laterally forming new plants each year.  Each plant fruits well for about 4 years.  Put pea straw between the soil and the fruit to stop the fruit rotting and cover to prevent birds getting them.  They say about 25 plants will do a family of 4.  And the strawberries are way better than most that you buy!!

Try and garden without adding too much fertliser or sprauying.  Learn about companion planting to reduce pests and also it is possible to buy ladybirds now which are apparently excellent at keep the vege garden bug free. 

And if you can't grow it  - try and buy products produced as locally as possible and buy in season to save money and the environment.  For example: remember that to grow tomoatoes in winter in New Zealand you need indoor glass houses with lots of artifical UV light and heating.

2 of my neighbours have turned there residential gardens into 100% edible gardens.  I don't think I will manage that with mine, but every time I go to redo an area of the garden I think about whether I could turn that area into something edible. 

Remember Helen's tip from last week about growing seedlings in out spouting then pouring them into a trench in the garen without having to disturb them - great tip!!  Also remember that you can grow veges and fruit in a pot, planter box or just those PB40 bags.  THe PB40 bags can be reused year after year and when not in use they are very small which is good for storage. 

 I think that is enough to get you thinking - arm youself with a great book that is about gardening in New Zealand.  I recently found these 2 New Zealand based books which look great, even for the most ungreen thumb:

• Vegetable Gardening
• Fruit Gardening

Best of luck planning you edible garden and enjoying the products!!

Have a great and sustainable weekend.

Kind Regards
Francesca Matthews
Sustainability Champion for the Otago Polytechnic School of Veterinary Nursing

Gladwrap.............

Nuchylee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Get Rid of that Glad Wrap

So, let’s think about limiting nasty old Gladwrap and using these alternatives:

I am the container queen – costs a bit to get your collection if you want to buy new, but they can be used over and over. Alternatively re-use containers you get your curries in etc. I use the clink/clack sort (mainly Sistema) and they don’t leak. Though blue latches do wear out over time. So instead of covering food in the fridge, bang it in a container and Bob’s your uncle. Lots of uses:

Plastic containers.

• Left overs.
• Lunch.
• Freezing leftovers (don’t over fill!! = MEESSY!!!).
• Ice blocks for kids.

Check out this web site and these super nifty little dudes…

I have these for the kids and so far, so good. They are wearing really well, and no glad wrap for sarnies. Moxy.

Re-sealable plastic bags
Re-use over and over. But since finding Gingerpye, I’ve gone off this. It’s kind of messy and hard work Gingerpye just wipes clean!
So between these two options, I pretty much never use Gladwrap – time to degrade Gladwrap is estimated to be 500-1000years. And lots of petrochemicals to make them (as there is in containers, but they can last ten years…)

Little steps may help – so get in there.
Have a great weekend – could be a bit nippy!

Helen Beattie
School of Veterinary Nursing