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Waste Not, Want Not: Wrapping

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Waste Not, Want Not: Wrapping

Posted on 16 December 2013 by admin

by Lauren Parry and Jennifer Bain

Christmas is coming! You’ve spent months planning and finding the right gift and the time has come to wrap it. Wrapping and unwrapping presents is a big part of Christmas, but when the festive season is over what becomes of all that paper?

Due to the materials it is made from, wrapping paper can be difficult to recycle and is often only used once before being thrown away. What’s more, buying wrapping paper and tape every year can be expensive, and time consuming. So, in the interest of reducing waste, and improving the present wrapping experience, we’ve been exploring some more sustainable ways of wrapping our Christmas presents.

Furoshiki Wrapping:

Furoshiki Wrapping is a Japanese tradition, wrapping and carrying presents and other goods with a reusable cloth instead of paper or plastic bags. This eco-friendly alternative can be reused time and time again. There is no need for tape and one piece of cloth can be used to wrap a range of shapes and sizes, so there’s no fuss with cutting or wasted bits. This fast and simple method provides a novel and attractive way to present gifts. Oh, and its good fun too!

Recycle Now have produced an easy to follow video showing how to Furoshiki wrap gifts of various shapes and sizes:

Not sure you can do it? Have a look at our attempts – we may not be as fast as the professionals, but it really is as easy as it looks…

Any kind of fabric can be used for Furoshiki – headscarves, shawls, pashminas and sarongs (for a summery souvenir!) work well – but a simple square cloth is often easiest to work with, especially where diagonal folds are needed. Make it part of the gift or put a note inside encouraging the recipient to reuse it for wrapping. Websites such as http://www.wragwrap.com sell wrapping cloth in various sizes, styles and designs – they even have a range of Christmas designs – but you can just as easily buy or recycle your own pieces of cloth.

More Wrapping Tips:

  • Gift bags can of course be re-used again and again. Passing the same gift bag back and forth with the same person every year can make an amusing tradition.

Gift bags

 

  • Attractive tins and boxes can be used the same way.

Festive boxes and tin

  • If you just love the whole experience of paper wrapping your presents, see if you can do it without that recycling nightmare known as sticky tape… This can be tricky to get just right, but with a bit of patience and careful manoeuvring (and maybe an extra pair of helping hands), it can be done! Just make sure you make the creases really crisp. Use ribbon or wool to tie your presents the traditional way.
  • Used Christmas cards make great gift tags. Cut into smaller squares if they are too big and punch a hole in them for tying onto your gifts. The backs of the cards can be recycled as waste paper.

Christmas card gift tags (2)

  • Have a box handy for used wrapping paper on Christmas day. Paper in good nick can be used to wrap presents next year. (Who says it has to be neat and tidy?!) Paper that has been unceremoniously ripped off can be shredded and re-used as next year’s gift-bag filling.  Tissue paper can be re-used the same way.
Jenny's signature shoddy wrapping style using recycled gift wrap
Jenny’s signature shoddy wrapping style using recycled gift wrap!

 

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Christmas Present Amnesty

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Christmas Present Amnesty

Posted on 18 December 2013 by russell

iStock_000016577635 - smallFirdays and Saturdays throughout January, Greener Kirkcaldy Advice Centre and Eco Shop, 10am – 4pm

Once the festive period is over, we often find ourselves with lots of stuff we don’t want or need anymore.  Maybe you got the same CD off 2 different aunties, maybe you really don’t like those socks from you Nan, or maybe you’ve realised your cupboards are full and you need a clear-out?

Our Christmas Present Amnesty is here to help in January – we’ll be dedicating a corner of the Advice Centre to be a ‘Swap Shop’ for a month.  The rules are simple – bring something along and you can take something away (or leave a donation).  Just come along during opening hours, and keep an eye out on our Facebook page for updates of what’s been handed in.

 

 

 

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Have Yourself a Very Green Christmas: Tips for an Eco-friendly Christmas Dinner

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Food & GrowingArchives

Have Yourself a Very Green Christmas: Tips for an Eco-friendly Christmas Dinner

Posted on 18 December 2013 by russell

by Lauren Parry

Christmas is the season to eat, drink and be merry – but the traditional Christmas dinner with the turkey and all the trimmings puts a lot of pressure on both the environment and our purses. The big day is coming, and I know that planning the perfect meal for all the family can be stressful enough, so I’ve put together a few tips on how to have an eco-friendly Christmas dinner – saving money and the environment, but still delicious!

EasternWildTurkey (2)
Free range turkeys are better looking too!!

Having a green Christmas is all about watching what you buy and what you do with the leftovers!!

Planning your festive feast:

  •  Buy locally – Get your Christmas food locally from butchers, farmers markets or direct from the farmer. This reduces the travel miles of your food and helps sustain your local economy. Not buying from the supermarket will also reduce excess packaging. Fife Diet provides a handy map of local foods suppliers and the Farmers Markets are particularly good for picking up fresh, locally grown bargains. Kirkcaldy’s Christmas Farmers Market will be held on Sunday 22nd December so pop along to pick up some last minute deals.
  • Buy seasonally – Cut down food miles by buying fruit and veg that is in season.
  • Go Veggie – As well as the meat industry being responsible for producing high levels of greenhouse gas emissions, meat is often the most expensive part of a Christmas dinner. So save pennies and the environment by going veggie this year. Not having the turkey doesn’t mean you have to miss out – see http://vegetarianrecipeclub.org.uk/christmas for some tasty vegetarian Christmas recipes!
  • Go organic – If you can’t handle the thought of going all-out veggie this Christmas, then try going organic. Organic turkeys will have enjoyed a free-range life and are reared in a less energy intensive way. They taste much better too!
  • Buy in bulk – Buying your veg in bulk will cut down on excess packaging, reduce trips to the supermarket and save money!
  • Serve British Cheese – Reduce the food miles (and the price!) and fill your cheese board with British varieties such as Cheddar, Wensleydale, Stilton, Cheshire and Cornish Brie.
  • Make your own Christmas pudding – Christmas puddings rack up food miles, using ingredients from far off places. So as an alternative you could make a dessert from home-grown fruit (probably a bit late now, but a good idea to remember when picking fruit next summer).
  • Reduce waste – It’s almost a tradition at Christmas to buy and cook too much food. So this year make a list, considering who will be there for Christmas (and who will be around the share the leftovers!) and try not to overbuy. You could also try and buy food items that can be used in other meals later. 

And when you’ve finally eaten too much:

With the temptation of all that delicious Christmas food, it’s easier said than done to not overbuy at Christmas, and I know that in our house we tend to have enough food left to feed a small army. So here are a few ideas of how to reduce waste and make the most of Christmas leftovers.

  •  Freeze or refrigerate food that can be saved – stick on an ‘eat by’ sticker so it doesn’t go to waste!
  • Compost – Most of your leftovers can be composted to make nurturing food for your garden. So save your organic waste such as fruit and veg for the compost bin.
  • Reuse leftovers for delicious post-Christmas meals – Make tasty sandwiches filled with leftover meat, cheese and sauces, use the turkey carcass to make stock and make soup from leftover meat and veg. And of course there’s always the traditional turkey curry!

There are many tasty recipes for Christmas leftovers available online. Check out the Love Food Hate Waste, BBC GoodFood and Jamie Oliver websites for a particularly good selection. Here are a few of my favourite ideas for Christmas leftovers: (clink on the links for recipes)

Christmas Ice Cream               Christmas Leftovers Bubble and Squeak              Potato Peel Crisps Turkey stuffing and cranberry pasties

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Go Green in 2014

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Energy AdviceArchives , Food & GrowingArchives , TravelArchives , VolunteeringArchives

Go Green in 2014

Posted on 1 January 2014 by Lauren Brook

Happy New Year!

Now that Christmas is over it’s time to get thinking of new year’s resolutions. For many of us these will focus on spending less money, eating healthily and getting fit (making up for a very merry Christmas!). But have you thought about setting yourself some green resolutions that can help you do all of the above whilst also reducing your carbon footprint?

For example, one of my resolutions this year is to eat less meat. I’m not ready to become 100% vegetarian, but I am conscious that the meat industry has a massive carbon footprint. So I’m going to plan one or two days a week where I will only cook vegetarian food. This is also much healthier and meat can be quite expensive so this should save me some money too!

I asked the staff here at Greener Kirkcaldy to share some of their green new year’s resolutions.

Russell - “In 2014 my resolution is to be more of an 'active citizen'. This year I seem to have signed a lot of online petitions about things (known as 'clicktivism' I believe) but next year I think I ought to be more of an activist. Don't get me wrong, I don't think you'll see me chained to any railings anywhere! But writing letters to my MP and taking more notice of local politics are two easy ways I can be more of an active citizen. At the moment I don't even know who my local councillors are.... Through my work I meet lots of people doing their bit to create a Greener Kirkcaldy which is great, but alongside this communities need a healthy local democracy to make positive decisions in the peoples' interests.”
Russell – “In 2014 my resolution is to be more of an ‘active citizen’. This year I seem to have signed a lot of online petitions about things (known as ‘clicktivism’ I believe) but next year I think I ought to be more of an activist. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think you’ll see me chained to any railings anywhere! But writing letters to my MP and taking more notice of local politics are two easy ways I can be more of an active citizen. At the moment I don’t even know who my local councillors are…. Through my work I meet lots of people doing their bit to create a Greener Kirkcaldy which is great, but alongside this communities need a healthy local democracy to make positive decisions in the peoples’ interests.”
Lisa - “I'll cancel my gym membership and just enjoy running outside, along the prom or in one of the parks.”
Lisa – “I’ll cancel my gym membership and just enjoy running outside, along the prom or in one of the parks.”
Jenny - “Be more Squirrel - I'm going to try and keep potential wrapping materials aside for the year. Sometimes it can cost as much for giftwrap as for the gift!! For example, if you know someone who's keen on gardening, wrap their gifts in pages from Gardeners World etc. (you can glue pages together easily to get the size of gift wrap you need, or use newspaper - be creative!). Squirrel away useful sizes of cardboard boxes too. If you're lucky enough to receive flowers this year, reuse the cellophane and tie with twine/colourful wool - just let your imagination go wild and your friends will be delighted that you care enough to put this much thought in. The best news is we're saving pennies AND being green!!”
Jenny – “Be more Squirrel – I’m going to try and keep potential wrapping materials aside for the year. Sometimes it can cost as much for giftwrap as for the gift!! For example, if you know someone who’s keen on gardening, wrap their gifts in pages from Gardeners World etc. (you can glue pages together easily to get the size of gift wrap you need, or use newspaper – be creative!). Squirrel away useful sizes of cardboard boxes too. If you’re lucky enough to receive flowers this year, reuse the cellophane and tie with twine/colourful wool – just let your imagination go wild and your friends will be delighted that you care enough to put this much thought in. The best news is we’re saving pennies AND being green!!”
Lisa S - “My new year’s resolution is to stop leaving the TV turned on at the wall 24/7!”
Lisa S – “My new year’s resolution is to stop leaving the TV turned on at the wall 24/7!”
Suzy - “My new year’s resolution is to start bringing a packed lunch to work. The main reason is to reduce waste – I feel a nagging sense of guilt every time I throw away the packaging of a shop-bought sandwich or carton of soup! I also know that bringing my own lunch would be healthier, tastier and much cheaper. To cap it all, it’ll help make sure that I don’t waste so much food at home. So my plan for January is to make a big pot of soup each Sunday, and freeze it in portions to warm up in the microwave at work. I’ll also make sure that any leftovers from dinner get made into creative packed lunches, and that I use up any stuff in the fridge that’s nearing its ‘best before’ date.”
Suzy – “My new year’s resolution is to start bringing a packed lunch to work. The main reason is to reduce waste – I feel a nagging sense of guilt every time I throw away the packaging of a shop-bought sandwich or carton of soup! I also know that bringing my own lunch would be healthier, tastier and much cheaper. To cap it all, it’ll help make sure that I don’t waste so much food at home. So my plan for January is to make a big pot of soup each Sunday, and freeze it in portions to warm up in the microwave at work. I’ll also make sure that any leftovers from dinner get made into creative packed lunches, and that I use up any stuff in the fridge that’s nearing its ‘best before’ date.”
Fraser - “My new years resolution is to learn how to store the mushrooms I forage. Before now I have eaten them fresh or dried them, but I would like to learn more about pickles and sauces which will extend the life of my pickings dramatically. If I can store them for longer I will be able to put off buying shop bought foods of the same type.”
Fraser – “My new years resolution is to learn how to store the mushrooms I forage. Before now I have eaten them fresh or dried them, but I would like to learn more about pickles and sauces which will extend the life of my pickings dramatically. If I can store them for longer I will be able to put off buying shop bought foods of the same type.”
Darren - “In 2014 I plan to reduce my energy consumption by installing solar 12volt lights in my home.”
Darren – “In 2014 I plan to reduce my energy consumption by installing solar 12volt lights in my home.”

So why not help save the planet (and some money!) and have a green 2014. Try some of our ideas or start the New Year with some green resolutions of your own. We’d love to hear your ideas, so get in touch on Facebook or Twitter.

Have a happy, green new year!!

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