I had looked into the prospect of washing my hair with baking soda (before I remembered that Lush selling most products package free) but the first step in that process is to leave your hair without washing it for a week, which I am not sure would be a good idea when I spend my weekends camping, visiting dusty mines and otherwise getting dirt in my hair and then have to scrub up (a bit anyway) for teaching during the week.
I rescued these fragments of shampoo from the shower floor this morning, hopefully they will be enough to keep me going until next Wednesday when the next shipment of Lush products comes with Ciarán's sisters.
I had looked into the prospect of washing my hair with baking soda (before I remembered that Lush selling most products package free) but the first step in that process is to leave your hair without washing it for a week, which I am not sure would be a good idea when I spend my weekends camping, visiting dusty mines and otherwise getting dirt in my hair and then have to scrub up (a bit anyway) for teaching during the week.
0 Comments
The idea of this year was not to buy anything, because it will eventually end up in the bin, but there is one exception, high quality jewellery never gets thrown out! Or at least that is my excuse! I wanted an emerald ring to remind me of my time in South America and I hadn't got around to finding the perfect one before new year came around, so there was nothing for it but to bend the rules slightly!
And since I plan to wear it every day I refused the box in the jewellers, do I saved on that waste! This year we switched from puree in plastic packets to jars, but I decided to go one step further and try make my own at home.
I looked up recipes online and eventually found one that did not involve using an oven. Filled the biggest pot I could find with chopped tomatoes, and everything was looking well....until I got bored of waiting for the sieved mixture to reduce and at the same time realised that my biggest pot was still not high enough to cover the jars for processing. But I am an optimist and now have for jars of not quite paste, that need to be stored in the fridge, and should hopefully taste good and save us from buying two or three more jars of shop paste! While I am willing to change habits and go without things in my personal life, I am finding it harder to do the same teaching, where I buy things that other teachers may never dream of, but are part of my teaching style, like blutac (or typewriter cleaner as it marketed here) and stickers for positive reinforcement... not exactly essential items!
These are the pairs that ended up in Colombia after my last trip home (I left a few there), I have another ten pairs (that I can think of off hand, so probably more) But yet in January I was already planning on scouring second hand and charity shops when I get home as I have nothing the exact right height for teaching (usually I would have some where in the region of five pairs of school shoes), and was also worried that I hadn't found the perfect travel-to-hike pair. Now when I look at this, I feel like I have far too many pairs!
Smells a bit funny, but seems to work. Fine for sitting around pools where you have access to a shower, but topping it up might be a little more complicated if you were wandering around the rain forest, but not impossible since I generally carry a bottle of water with me.
Expense is still an issue though, but one I am willing to ignore in the short term...I will order more with the next visitors! When I got some wisdom teeth out, a lot more then the tooth fragments ended up in the bin. In the surgery itself there was single use aprons, needle heads etc. (I was hiding under said apron trying not to pay attention to what was going on) But afterwards I had to get all this stuff that will eventually make it's way into the bin:
I tried to post this on Friday, and I thought I succeeded this morning, but there was only a blank post here, so I guess weebly was trying to give me a free pass.... So I´ll take it and move on!
I love pasta! I probably eat it 3-4 times a week. The problem is it comes in plastic packaging. Yesterday we happened to be in a supermarket in a more affluent neighbourhood and I got excited about the pasta in cardboard boxes, but obviously the fancy stuff was being imported from Italy, so I am really unsure about which is better.
I have already cut out mushrooms (until I can buy them loose) but I am not sure if I can do the same for pasta! I love shopping! which is part of the reason I am doing this challenge, but since January I have had to make do with second hand and charity shops, flea markets and craft shops...This is my favourite purchase: A completely guilt free biscuit plate. I have also managed to pick up a selection of books, a fancy dress costume (which will soon be returned) and various gifts.
For the past three months I have been struggling with drinking frozen drinks without a straw! Yesterday I lost the battle completely with a coconut lemonade (highly recommended but not without a straw), a third of the way through drinking it it formed a solid mass, which I stirred using my spork...but still when I lifted it to my mouth I ended up with a nose full of ice-chips, a frozen face and a mess that required several tissues to clean up, as well as damaging the packaging of the straw I was so eager not to use! Lesson learned!I ordered sushi without thinking about what I was going to eat it with.
Then they came and put down silver cutlery (in a paper bag) and wooden chopsticks in a paper packet. Obviously the less wasteful option would have been the cutlery, but I didn't want anyone (of the restaurant staff I will never see again) to think that I can't use chopsticks... So I opened them! Then to make matters worse I dropped a piece of sushi in the soya sauce causing a splash the hit the napkins in the holder (which I wasn't planning to use) and the bag from the unused cutlery, and probably causing the staff to draw the conclusion I had been trying to avoid! Both friends and new acquaintances have been very supportive when I tell them I can only go to restaurants, cafes and bars that don´t use disposable plates, cups and cutlery. In the last 3 months only one person has got angry with me for complicating the plan!
Entering organised races is a great way to motivate you to keep up exercise. But this year I am going to have to do without, a typical race pack contains about 4 booklets and leaflets and goodies ranging from keyrings to foot spray, as well as the race number, t-shirt and a bag to put it all in.
Hopefully I will be able to motivate myself to run without the pressure of an upcoming event! Not many of the changes I am making this year could be described as glamorous, but taking tissues out of the box and refolding them into a reused pack is probably the furthest I have gone in the other direction.
Tissue and toilet paper usage is something I have decided not to cut out entirely but to cut down on as much as possible, as well as minimising packaging. I have cut out kitchen towel completely, and when I am paying attention I stop them laying my cutlery on a napkin or giving me a pile on my tray (although I admit that sometimes I am distracted and don't notice until it is too late). A lot of people assume that I am doing this to save money, but not only is that not the reason behind it, but I'll probably end up spending more money!
Instead of buying soap etc in Colombia, I had my sister (who is now visiting me) pick up some package free stuff in the UK. Instead of getting take-away food I go for a sit down meal in a restaurant, and when eating in places like the airport I have to head to the fancier eateries. There are always things that I "need" to buy! Among them for the last 2 years were the the socks that don't stick out above your runners. I looked for them in Colombia, but could only find the ones that stick out. I thought I bought some in Ireland last summer but turns out now I have a cm of some bright colour sicking out.
But now this year, when I can't buy them I see them being sold on the side of the street, when I am not even searching for them! The same story with a decent denim skirt (travel essential) and the perfect pair of converse! I am now out of conditioner and moisturiser so embracing coconut oil (the idea that one glass jar is better than a years supply of plastic containers). It was not quite a seamless transition as the internet tells you to rub it into the ends of your hair the night before washing (so some organisation is required).
There is also an issue with the oil being liquid in warm climates and as hard as wax in cold climates, although it is a perfect consistency in Bogotá, so most of the time this won't be a problem! This is going to be a big deal for me, not only because of the grey strands but because the dyed hair bleaches in the sun more than the natural roots which leaves an obvious line.
I saw this line 3 weeks ago, but decided to leave it to ration what little supplies I have as long as possible. An advantage of travelling is that I rarely saw myself in a mirror while I was away! I couldn't ignore the roots any longer so yesterday I mixed some (no all) leftovers I had from last year in a mug and applied it with a cocktail swizzle stick, turns out you don't really need gloves or the bottle with a nozzle. It wasn't a 100% success, either because I didn't use enough or because the tubes of colour had been open for months, but I think that is probably for the best since I will be leaving it too long again before my next application, so having uneven coverage will mean that the line between the dyed hair and roots shouldn't be so obvious! Today I was very excited when I saw home made soap advertised! Sadly it had already been wrapped in plastic, so I politely explained that I was trying to avoid plastic usage, at which point they offered to remove the plastic for me! I don't she got the concept!
I have started to run out of toiletries, for a while I have been using shampoo as soap (for some reason I have a lot of shampoo) this is the short term solution as I am optimistic about finding soap with zero packaging (possibly in an artisan market) but yesterday I also ran out of toothpaste, which is the first real big change! Brushing with baking soda (also the short term plan as it is not antibacterial) is an unpleasant but tolerable experience! I am certainly glad that it is not my only option for the next 11 months but I think I will be able to keep it up until I find the ingredients for a better one! Carnival is a very intense experience, parades during the day, street parties at night, you get very tired, very drained and very desperate for coffee, however coffee in Barranquilla and if you do manage to find coffee that you know is good, but only comes in disposible cups, it is very hard to resist the temptation! Not sure how that excuse extends to pastries, but I justified it at the time!
Now I have moved on to the recovery on the beach for the rest of my trip, so there should be no further lapses! I have been travelling in very hot places, a few days ago my empty water bottle was "cleaned" out of my room, but even if it hadn't there was nothing to refill it with, around here they don't drink the tap water. In my quest for hydration I drank synthetic tasting orange "juice", cans of coconut water with pulp the consistency of vomit and panela lemonade which always tastes of snot to me, I chose soft drinks (in glass) over water, insulted a hotel worker by wanting water not from a bottle, terrified some poor villagers who didn't think their water was suitable for tourists, and finally in frustration when my choice was between alcohol or plastic caved and got a bottle of iced tea. But mainly I just spent the last few days in a state of constant thirst! I am in a big city now and staying in one place for 4 days, so I should be able to rehydrate properly!
I almost lost a shoe to a dog. I had left my shoes outside of the common area of the hostel and a dog had carried it (and a pair of socks) away.
I searched in vain, and contemplated my alternatives; wearing my ugly runners for more than just exercise or bringing back a bad buy that gave me blisters every time I wore them. Eventually I came up with the idea of offering a reward, and about 2 minutes later the shoe was found! All it cost me was a coke (in a glass bottle), the sock however were nowhere to be found! Today they called me down stairs in the hostel, and when I got there I was informed that it was for the owner's 3 yr old daughter's birthday party. I cringed at the fact that they had disposible cups, plates and spoons when they had a fully stocked kitchen, but had already handed me a slice of cake before I could anticipate them and grab one from next door! At that point it would have been rude and pointless to refuse!
|
For 2016 I am not going to be a waster!I am going to try to buy nothing new: clothes, electronics, home wares, gadgets, souvenirs etc. Archives
December 2016
Categories |