As with all change, it takes a while to find your feet. My sustainability drive so far has been a lot of trial and error, not just in the products and suppliers that I use, but almost as importantly, the ways in which I implement the change ie new household systems. (I am not a control freak really!)
So over the last few months I have been reorganising the house and embedding new routines.
The biggest challenge I have to say has been the recycling. I knew that I had to change the system when my husband (who never comments on the state of the house) asked me if that pile of (clean) recycling was going to live there in a box on the kitchen counter forever?! I therefore started to focus on the ‘how’ we were going change not just the ‘what’.
The first thing that I did was to start storing the various plastics that get recycled with carrier bags in a bag under the sink. After a few missed opportunities to take full bags to the recycling location I now put full bags straight into the boot of the car so that I have it with me whenever I happen to be passing Waitrose (Morrisons accept less types of plastic).
For the (many) crisp packets and Ella’s pouches that go to Terracycle, I store them out of sight in an old biscuit tin and multipack bag in a cupboard near the bin.
The numerous other items that can be recycled at various different places I now store in shoe boxes in the utility room, eg cosmetics, aerosols, stationary, toothpaste etc. So that I can see when it is worth making the trip.
Upstairs, I have a recycling bin and I have also put containers in the bathroom for contact lenses and razor blades.
In terms of other changes, I have had to allocate some cupboard space for the numerous containers that I have now collected and regularly use for my refills for both food and household products. I have also decided to allocate a cupboard for all of the dry ingredients and measuring tools that I need for the bread making so that I can not only stock up on ingredients, but so that the nightly task of making it is just that little bit easier!
For the days when my brain isn’t working or I am running late, I have also found it very useful to get into the habit of making sure that my shopping bags are always ready with my fruit and veg bags, tupperware containers and paper bags already in them so that I can’t forget them.
And finally, as we are still going strong on the paper towel ban I have had to come up with a system for cleaning and drying the flannels. So as you can see in the photo, dirty flannels now hang on the wall mounted hanging bars, when they are dry they go into the hanging plastic bag (old school shirt bag) and then once they are clean I hang them from the multi-peg rack. (See not a control freak at all!)
I may have been a bit crazy to try to change everything all at once but it is getting a lot easier as I am settling into my new routines. Now I just have to teach them to the rest of the family!!!!
