Looking for a naked lettuce

One of our number has been exploring what it means to live without producing any waste. Here is one day in her diary

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On Fridays we have sandwiches delivered from a local sandwich bar (the Flying Frog). It’s a welcome relief from the chore of getting up early to made a packed lunch, and it’s one I didn’t have to pass on in Zero Waste Challenge Week as they come wrapped in paper bags.

Which takes me neatly from yesterday’s bathroom to today’s kitchen, where I’ve been making a few changes to reduce waste. I’ve swapped my disposable dishcloths for washable ones. I still use kitchen paper, albeit sparingly, as the plastic packaging from Sainsburys can be recycled instore along with carrier bags. I used to use plastic food bags or clingfilm to wrap sandwiches, but I now use paper bags, which I buy in large quantities from a local stationers (Wyatt & Ackerman). Used kitchen paper and empty sandwich bags are torn up and added to the compost or brown bins. Aluminium foil is washed and reused until it tears, when it’s recycled in the black bin. I use Ecover cleaning products which can be refilled at Windmill Hill City Farm. Simple little changes that have saved a lot of waste.

I bought fish for this evening’s curry from the fresh fish counter at Asda. Although I’ve been shopping locally with my plastic containers it’s the first time I’ve taken them into a supermarket, and wasn’t sure how they’d be received. However I was pleasantly surprised to find that the assistant was quite happy to place my haddock and salmon fillets straight into the container and stick the price labels on the lid. However my search for plastic free toilet tissue drew a blank.

My younger daughter requested salad and naan bread to accompany her curry. The former wasn’t possible as I couldn’t find a ‘naked’ lettuce anywhere but I managed to provide the latter by making my own. They weren’t quite the same as any I’ve eaten before but they tasted good and my daughter said she preferred them to shop bought, so they may well become a permanent fixture.

And this evening my bin was empty again - for the third day running!

From the blog of our ‘still waters’ (also known as justgai) - you can check out what happened on the other days on her zero waist site

Suggested Task: Containers and supermarkets

Anyone like to try out taking around a container with them to the supermarket - for the fish etc? Let us know how it goes.

Your comments.