Welcome back to another Beauty Finds. This edition is linen exfoliation mitts.
These exfoliating mitts are also a Recycle Less edition. Like most of my beauty products I try to look for the lesser plastic options. This is almost impossible so I go more for ingredients that are clean and/or natural. These mitts seemed the perfect version of the two, linen being a natural, sustainable when grown sustainably fibre and a zero waste option as they biodegrade down being 100% linen.
I found them in Druni. Druni in Spain has a great selection of bio, organic brands and has the cutest beauty accessories line by 1699 who do good dupes of more expensive brands beauty accessories at a fraction of the price. Recently they started a more sustainable line. The exfoliator mitts being one of the products.
Welcome back to another Recycle Less! This edition features an easy self watering plant system using plastic bottles.
Spinach!
I’m in no way a green thumb, but I try. I mentioned recently I follow Hamimommy on YouTube a day in a housewife vlog, who too cares for the environment, sharing tips and ideas on how to help lead a more sustainable lifestyle. One vlog she featured an easy self watering system for growing edible plants indoors as in the video below using plastic bottles. Curious to see if it worked, I had an 8L water bottle left over from holiday I didn’t want to throw out. No not hoarding! It still had some water in it, I hadn’t got around to using up. In Spain the water isn’t nice out the tap, so when away buy bottled water. At home I use a tap water filter.
It’s really easy to set up:
Cut the bottle about 1/3 down from the top.
Keep the lid and cut a hole in it.
Thread through a cloth or rag through the hole in the lid and screw the lid back on. I used part of a bamboo cleaning cloth. Have about 1/3 or a bit more of the cloth in the inside of the bottle.
Place the now cut 1/3 bottle with the lid upside down on the remainder of the 2/3 bottle and fill with soil making sure the cloth is sufficiently in the soil to draw up water.
Welcome back to another Recycle Less where I share my journey to be more sustainable and using less plastic. This edition features something I don’t think anybody likes doing, cleaning the toilet yet everybody loves a clean toilet!
To be honest at the moment I seem to have hit a stalemate on recycling less. I’m not buying non plastic items just for the sake of and replacing everything with a more sustainable version. It’s more when the current plastic item needs replacing I seek out the non plastic alternative, so I don’t have many finds to share at the moment. I still use a lot of plastic. Mostly with groceries but that can’t be helped. Thankfully more companies are aware of this. I’ve noticed it’s more the organic products that are coming in plant based plastics. I still use when buying loose produce, cotton produce bags. Thankfully I’m not a huge junk food biscuit kinda girl which cuts out a lot of plastic. When it comes to clothes, accessories I buy less as so much of it is plastic crap! I do have some FOMO, but I know it’s a buy to satisfy a mood so I walk away and literally forget about the item upon leaving the shop. Basically now when shopping I consider the packaging more than the item.
There are things however that are if you see it, buy it as my Mum says. A plastic free toilet brush being one of them. It was also on that other list of if you see it buy it, the list of things to look out for. It wasn’t my intention to purchase a new toilet brush, yet I knew the current toilet brush would need replacing in the next year or so. A visit to check out Yes, Future Positive Supermarket here in Barcelona was one of those if you see it, buy it days.
First up, it is expensive. €9.90 which is a ridiculous amount for a toilet brush when plastic ones, you can pick up for €2 or less. Maybe online you can find them for cheaper. The advantage over plastic ones is when it needs replacing no plastic to landfill, recycling or more plastic for the next one.
Okay, does it clean, scrub as well? I think so. The bristles have bent like plastic ones do but it cleans and scrubs okay. Initially it does smell, a plant sisal smell that hangs around for a day or 2 however after a few uses that goes. None of the bristles have fallen out within the 6 months of use, but have bent or crushed a like plastic toilet brushes bristles. I knew it would happen quicker than plastic ones but not this quickly. It does I think clean more aggressively the limescale build up in the toilet bowl as the build up seems less. Tmi Nat!
The biggest problem is how to dry it so mildew and other moulds don’t build up, which is the advantage plastic ones have. The shop also sold its stand separately which I declined, as that would have made the whole set up around €30 and I was also buying out of curiosity if it worked. I still had the plastic pot for the current plastic toilet brush and thought I can use that. Well, yes and no.
Official poster for World Wildlife Day 2022 – English created by Despina Kannaourou
World Wildlife Day was created in 2003 by the United Nations General Assembly to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants. This year’s theme’s ‘Recovering key species for ecosystem restoration’. According to the IUCN or International Union for Conservation of Nature, data on the Red list of Threatened Species:
‘…over 8,400 species of wild fauna and flora are critically endangered, while close to 30,000 more are understood to be endangered or vulnerable. Based on these estimates, it is suggested that over a million species are threatened with extinction.
Continued loss of species, habitats and ecosystems also threatens all life on Earth, including us. People everywhere rely on wildlife and biodiversity-based resources to meet all our needs, from food, to fuel, medicines, housing, and clothing. Millions of people also rely on nature as the source of their livelihoods and economic opportunities.
In 2022, World Wildlife Day will therefore drive the debate towards the imperative need to reverse the fate of the most critically endangered species, to support the restoration of their habitats and ecosystems and to promote their sustainable use by humanity.‘
Jackdaw. Least Concern on the threatened species list
My teenage years didn’t appreciate it much, I was fortunate to grow up in the countryside. My Dad purchased a huge plot of land in the Suffolk countryside when I was about 3. We had badger sets (I never saw them apart from one, that decided one night they were going to curl up under a garden tree never to wake again), rabbits (sadly my Dad hunted them as they had myxomatosis. That’s what he said. I think stress management was also involved), blackbirds, sparrow hawks, robins, sparrows, grey squirrels, water voles (or shrew. I only saw it a few times!), frogs, toads, butterflies, moths, massive spiders, so much more along the neighbours peacocks and muntjac deers that liked to visit. Moving to more urban areas, hedgehogs and in London a family of foxes living in or under the garden shed. I felt honoured they choose that shed!
Welcome back to another Recycle Less where I share my journey to care for the environment and Planet Earth by being more sustainable.
It’s common knowledge that shopping local saves on emissions and energy in delivery from ordering online to you door and/or travelling further to afield for purchases. In return these emissions contribute in theory less against climate change. Money spent is also kept in the local economy. Not to mention either how many courier companies are overwhelmed with deliveries, how much abuse they get if items are delivered by said time and date.
I live in my eyes one of the best cities in the world for shopping or rather what I want from stores and shops, Barcelona. I can get nearly everything I need aside from cinnamon and raisin bagels. Good bagels are non existent here. I often shop in the city centre yet I find it’s in my local Centro Comercial (mall or shopping centre) I buy most clothes, shoes. If I’m honest I don’t shop much online for clothes. I’m old school. I prefer to look, touch the item in person. The centre has a few specific shops which I go to at least once a week, yet my local mall I can find most things I looking for or it’s perfect for returns. While I cycle as transport which is zero emissions aside from oil every now and then, looking at it the centre it’s local as it’s 25 min bike ride. If you’re really getting into the nitty gritty of what’s local my local Centre Comercial is a 5 min bike ride. I just seem to find what I’m looking for more in the local mall. Maybe as I have more time to look around as I don’t have to cycle back so far.
When I visited my parents last year in the UK, my Mum and I went to a few local larger towns yet it it was the tiny rural Somerset town a 5 minute car journey from their house where I found the most things I was looking for. The shops combined excluding the supermarkets would probably fit into 1/4 if not less than my local mall and it’s not a large mall by mall standards here. They’d even fit combined into the superstore supermarket there! The shops themselves were basic compared to their larger town and cities counterparts. I got a few bits for my Dad and got a kick out of the local post office.
natjtan 