Has anyone seen the current KFC 'family bucket' advert? 'Look you can get all this processed, fried, brown gunk for sixpence and give mum the night off cooking...'. It's the end bit that got me so angry when I saw it for the first time: the final boast is that all the packaging is disposable, cue footage of the whole lot being swept into the bin at the end of the ad...paper cartons, cups, wrappers...
To my mind, this is criminal as we approach global environmental meltdown. Surely this kind of statement can't be considered acceptable in 2007?! I'm going to write to the Advertising Standards Agency (www.asa.org.uk) and see if I get any response...
UPDATE 17/03/07: I'm not the only one to be mad about this ad - Nick at Enviroblah has also blogged about it! There is a link to his blog from mine.
Referring back to my 'One for the Girls' blog, I've also recently seen ads for Always Ultra 'with silk'...Hello?! Silk?! It's almost as bad as scented tampons. Come on girls - we don't need this nonsense!
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Household stuff
Cleaning:
A few months ago I was asked my a market reseacher in our town centre if I had 10 minutes to spare. She was lovely, it was raining and I only had the washing up to look forward to at home, so I said yes.
The survey was for Cilit Bang, that purple stuff on the shouty adverts which promises to clean your drains, nuke soap scum, and probably walk the dog too. I can't even remember what the new product was now, but I had to watch a promotional video then answer a series of questions about it and whether or not I would be likely to buy it. I said that I probably wouldn't. The reason: it was PURPLE! Now, I love pink, purple and that whole range of girly colours, but purple toilet cleaner?! How un-natural is that?! And it fizzed in a scary way on the ad...
I told the lovely market research lady that I was an Ecover habitue, and thus unlikely to swap my eucalyptus for purple foam. Despite everything, I landed a Boots gift voucher, she was closer to her day's quota, and off I skipped.
I don't think it's overstating things to say that I LOVE Ecover stuff! Some friends of ours have been using it for a while, and they've recently gone the whole hog with washable nappies for their baby daughter, so we really felt it was time to give Ecover a go.
We broke ourselves in gently with the washing up liquid and cleaning spray. The Ecover website details their full range, as well as information about their environmentally aware production methods:
www.ecover.com
The washing up liquid is made with camomile and smells very fresh and natural - almost a bit minty. It cleans as well as standard washing up liquid, and per litre is not significantly more expensive. It is concentrated, so you don't need much.
The kitchen cleaning spray is likewise fragrant, and is perfectly effective. Building in confidence, we decided to give the toilet cleaning liquid a go. The over-riding scent is eucalyptus, which is refreshing with no chemical overtones which catch in your throat - it's about as far from horrid 'forest pine' as it's possible to get! For best results, you need to use a toilet brush too, but as for limescale, we don't find we need to use a separate limescale remover. We live in a very hard water area, so this is a bonus.
All Ecover bottles and their caps are made of the same type of plastic so the whole lot can be recycled. The products are biodegradable and do no harm acquatic life.
Laundry:
We've also been using Ecover washing powder for a few months now. It is similarly priced to other brands, and cleans everything very well. Like all their products, it has a natural subtle scent, and is meant to be ok if you have skin allergies (luckily, neither myself nor my husband suffer from these).
Our washing machine is Bosch, and rated A in terms of energy efficiency. However, I am trying to wash more at 30 degrees on the 'quick wash' setting to further reduce our energy and water consumption. This is fine for dark loads, but for lighter colours, especially towels, I still prefer a 40 degree wash. I will persevere however, as I'm aware that this may just be due to habit.
I recently bought some dolly washing balls from Lakeland (www.lakeland.co.uk). These are meant to act like old fashioned washing dollies: you put them in the machine with your laundry and the extra agitation they generate is meant to shift dirt so that you can reduce the amount of detergent you use. At £13 for 9, I thought they were worth a go, although I've not objectively tested how effective they are - it's difficult to do so unless you are washing really grubby stuff. Having no pets or children, nothing ever gets that dirty. However, I did a home hair dye yesterday and shoved the red/brown stained pale green towel into the washing machine with the balls and no detergent for a cold rinse and it came out spotless. This may have been helped by the fact that the dye had not had a chance to dry in, but I was pretty pleased.
You can also buy washing balls which ionise the water so that dirt is drawn from your clothes, meaning you can dispense with detergent altogether. The most common ones in the UK seem to be Ecoballs (try a google search). I've not tried these as I don't think you can use them if you also use water softeners (which we do as I don't want liomescale to cause my washing machine to seize up). However, you can also buy magnetised balls which claim to solve the limescale problem, which you can use in conjunction with ionising balls. When I get round to it, I may give these a go, although without opening the back of the washing machine I"m not sure how you would test the level of limescale being deposited.
There are even balls for tumble dryers which claim to fluff up your towels etc without recourse to Bounce. Not having a dryer, however, I've not tested these.
Washing balls are very noisy in your machine, so if possible set the machine to come on when you're out! If I do try the ionising/magnetic balls I'll update the blog...
Bathroom:
Who out there has tried recycled toilet paper? It's amazing how many people seem to think it is actually made from 'reclaimed' used toilet paper!!
Currently, Nouvelle is the only recycled brand available at our local supermarket - and there are NO recycled tissues available at all!! It's not triple-ply-quilted-also-makes-the-tea, but it's more than adequate than you very much. What is the point of recycling your old newspapers and junk mail if you only ever buy 'virgin' paper products? Remember reduce, reuse, as well as recycle!
I've just starting using washable cotton face pads made from towel offcuts and polyester (the middle bit, so your products don't soak into the flannel covering completely). I found them at www.lovetheplanet.co.uk and they're great! They come in little mesh bags of 5 (use this for washing them as otherwise they can get stuck in between the drum and the door of the machine). I've not yet used them for removing nail polish etc, but when I do I plan to keep one specifically for this so as not to spoil the others.
Right, that's your lot for now.
A few months ago I was asked my a market reseacher in our town centre if I had 10 minutes to spare. She was lovely, it was raining and I only had the washing up to look forward to at home, so I said yes.
The survey was for Cilit Bang, that purple stuff on the shouty adverts which promises to clean your drains, nuke soap scum, and probably walk the dog too. I can't even remember what the new product was now, but I had to watch a promotional video then answer a series of questions about it and whether or not I would be likely to buy it. I said that I probably wouldn't. The reason: it was PURPLE! Now, I love pink, purple and that whole range of girly colours, but purple toilet cleaner?! How un-natural is that?! And it fizzed in a scary way on the ad...
I told the lovely market research lady that I was an Ecover habitue, and thus unlikely to swap my eucalyptus for purple foam. Despite everything, I landed a Boots gift voucher, she was closer to her day's quota, and off I skipped.
I don't think it's overstating things to say that I LOVE Ecover stuff! Some friends of ours have been using it for a while, and they've recently gone the whole hog with washable nappies for their baby daughter, so we really felt it was time to give Ecover a go.
We broke ourselves in gently with the washing up liquid and cleaning spray. The Ecover website details their full range, as well as information about their environmentally aware production methods:
www.ecover.com
The washing up liquid is made with camomile and smells very fresh and natural - almost a bit minty. It cleans as well as standard washing up liquid, and per litre is not significantly more expensive. It is concentrated, so you don't need much.
The kitchen cleaning spray is likewise fragrant, and is perfectly effective. Building in confidence, we decided to give the toilet cleaning liquid a go. The over-riding scent is eucalyptus, which is refreshing with no chemical overtones which catch in your throat - it's about as far from horrid 'forest pine' as it's possible to get! For best results, you need to use a toilet brush too, but as for limescale, we don't find we need to use a separate limescale remover. We live in a very hard water area, so this is a bonus.
All Ecover bottles and their caps are made of the same type of plastic so the whole lot can be recycled. The products are biodegradable and do no harm acquatic life.
Laundry:
We've also been using Ecover washing powder for a few months now. It is similarly priced to other brands, and cleans everything very well. Like all their products, it has a natural subtle scent, and is meant to be ok if you have skin allergies (luckily, neither myself nor my husband suffer from these).
Our washing machine is Bosch, and rated A in terms of energy efficiency. However, I am trying to wash more at 30 degrees on the 'quick wash' setting to further reduce our energy and water consumption. This is fine for dark loads, but for lighter colours, especially towels, I still prefer a 40 degree wash. I will persevere however, as I'm aware that this may just be due to habit.
I recently bought some dolly washing balls from Lakeland (www.lakeland.co.uk). These are meant to act like old fashioned washing dollies: you put them in the machine with your laundry and the extra agitation they generate is meant to shift dirt so that you can reduce the amount of detergent you use. At £13 for 9, I thought they were worth a go, although I've not objectively tested how effective they are - it's difficult to do so unless you are washing really grubby stuff. Having no pets or children, nothing ever gets that dirty. However, I did a home hair dye yesterday and shoved the red/brown stained pale green towel into the washing machine with the balls and no detergent for a cold rinse and it came out spotless. This may have been helped by the fact that the dye had not had a chance to dry in, but I was pretty pleased.
You can also buy washing balls which ionise the water so that dirt is drawn from your clothes, meaning you can dispense with detergent altogether. The most common ones in the UK seem to be Ecoballs (try a google search). I've not tried these as I don't think you can use them if you also use water softeners (which we do as I don't want liomescale to cause my washing machine to seize up). However, you can also buy magnetised balls which claim to solve the limescale problem, which you can use in conjunction with ionising balls. When I get round to it, I may give these a go, although without opening the back of the washing machine I"m not sure how you would test the level of limescale being deposited.
There are even balls for tumble dryers which claim to fluff up your towels etc without recourse to Bounce. Not having a dryer, however, I've not tested these.
Washing balls are very noisy in your machine, so if possible set the machine to come on when you're out! If I do try the ionising/magnetic balls I'll update the blog...
Bathroom:
Who out there has tried recycled toilet paper? It's amazing how many people seem to think it is actually made from 'reclaimed' used toilet paper!!
Currently, Nouvelle is the only recycled brand available at our local supermarket - and there are NO recycled tissues available at all!! It's not triple-ply-quilted-also-makes-the-tea, but it's more than adequate than you very much. What is the point of recycling your old newspapers and junk mail if you only ever buy 'virgin' paper products? Remember reduce, reuse, as well as recycle!
I've just starting using washable cotton face pads made from towel offcuts and polyester (the middle bit, so your products don't soak into the flannel covering completely). I found them at www.lovetheplanet.co.uk and they're great! They come in little mesh bags of 5 (use this for washing them as otherwise they can get stuck in between the drum and the door of the machine). I've not yet used them for removing nail polish etc, but when I do I plan to keep one specifically for this so as not to spoil the others.
Right, that's your lot for now.
Veg boxes
We've had two veg boxes from Abel & Cole now, so thought it ought to be the subject of my next post.
Their marketing clearly worked on us, as a leaflet shoved through the letter box early in January (doubtless cashing in on the New Year 'detox' market, although we've never subscribed to that!) persuaded us to give Abel & Cole a go.
Their website is very informative with regard to the contents of their boxes, and the vast range of products they offer, including bread, meat, and Ecover cleaning products:
www.abel-cole.co.uk
There are two of us in our household, and on average we cook 'properly' about 4 times a week. We opted for the 'mixed organic box' to be delivered fortnightly, which costs £14.80. Whilst we have not weighed and calculated the cost of equivalent organic items in a supermarket, our guesstimate is that the box represents reasonable value. Setting up an account was very easy via the website, and the deadlines for ordering products are pretty flexible. Our box is delivered on Mondays, and we can cancel any time until the preceding Friday night. Abel & Cole prefer you to set up a regular order, although you can amend/cancel them at any time with no obligation. Payment is taken via direct debit after delivery.
The amount of vegetables in the mixed organic box is sufficient for us for a week, although more fruit would be welcome as we both take packed lunches to work every day. Whilst you can state likes and dislikes via the website, you can't swap items in some boxes, so check for this if that is something you would like.
Our reasons for trying a veg box were several:
1. Convenience of doorstep delivery
2. British produce, with minimal imports (bananas being the obvious exception, and those are at least fair trade)
3. Imported goods are brought by ship rather than air, so helping to reduce their 'carbon footprint'
To be honest, neither of us are really that bothered about the organic element of Abel & Cole. I'm not 100% convinced as to its viability in terms of rates of production: if the world's food was produced via (UK standard) organic means, we'd run out of room to grow/rear everything. Thoroughly washing all fruit and veg prior to consumption/cooking must surely get rid of the nastiest pesticides etc or else they wouldn't be permitted for use.
However, we love the fact that the majority of Abel & Cole produce is British. Who really needs mange tout in February anyway? We have had some pretty interesting things in our box so far (the more obscure items come with suggested recipes): jerusalem artichokes this week prompted us to try a scrummy sausage dish that we wouldn't have found otherwise. A few days before delivery, the contents of that week's boxes are posted on the Abel & Cole website, so nothing comes as a complete surprise, which is great.
The produce in our (cardboard) box comes either loose or, joy of joys, in paper bags. The whole lot is tied up with string. Empty boxes left outside on delivery day will be taken back by the driver and re-used, or else you can just recycle them yourself. I was very excited to receive the first lot of potatoes complete with mud!
I'm well aware that an organic veg box is a luxury, and that farm shops provide less expensive British produce, but for convenience, you can't beat a box left on your doorstep.
I think when we get a bit more confident with the whole thing we might try some of the different boxes too - the salad one would be great for summer. So far, none of our produce has gone to waste and I'm discovering some nice soup recipes as a way of using things that I can't think what else to do with.
I would say a veg box is worth trying, and there are other companies out there doing similar things. Anything which diverts money being spent in supermarkets has to be a good thing.
Their marketing clearly worked on us, as a leaflet shoved through the letter box early in January (doubtless cashing in on the New Year 'detox' market, although we've never subscribed to that!) persuaded us to give Abel & Cole a go.
Their website is very informative with regard to the contents of their boxes, and the vast range of products they offer, including bread, meat, and Ecover cleaning products:
www.abel-cole.co.uk
There are two of us in our household, and on average we cook 'properly' about 4 times a week. We opted for the 'mixed organic box' to be delivered fortnightly, which costs £14.80. Whilst we have not weighed and calculated the cost of equivalent organic items in a supermarket, our guesstimate is that the box represents reasonable value. Setting up an account was very easy via the website, and the deadlines for ordering products are pretty flexible. Our box is delivered on Mondays, and we can cancel any time until the preceding Friday night. Abel & Cole prefer you to set up a regular order, although you can amend/cancel them at any time with no obligation. Payment is taken via direct debit after delivery.
The amount of vegetables in the mixed organic box is sufficient for us for a week, although more fruit would be welcome as we both take packed lunches to work every day. Whilst you can state likes and dislikes via the website, you can't swap items in some boxes, so check for this if that is something you would like.
Our reasons for trying a veg box were several:
1. Convenience of doorstep delivery
2. British produce, with minimal imports (bananas being the obvious exception, and those are at least fair trade)
3. Imported goods are brought by ship rather than air, so helping to reduce their 'carbon footprint'
To be honest, neither of us are really that bothered about the organic element of Abel & Cole. I'm not 100% convinced as to its viability in terms of rates of production: if the world's food was produced via (UK standard) organic means, we'd run out of room to grow/rear everything. Thoroughly washing all fruit and veg prior to consumption/cooking must surely get rid of the nastiest pesticides etc or else they wouldn't be permitted for use.
However, we love the fact that the majority of Abel & Cole produce is British. Who really needs mange tout in February anyway? We have had some pretty interesting things in our box so far (the more obscure items come with suggested recipes): jerusalem artichokes this week prompted us to try a scrummy sausage dish that we wouldn't have found otherwise. A few days before delivery, the contents of that week's boxes are posted on the Abel & Cole website, so nothing comes as a complete surprise, which is great.
The produce in our (cardboard) box comes either loose or, joy of joys, in paper bags. The whole lot is tied up with string. Empty boxes left outside on delivery day will be taken back by the driver and re-used, or else you can just recycle them yourself. I was very excited to receive the first lot of potatoes complete with mud!
I'm well aware that an organic veg box is a luxury, and that farm shops provide less expensive British produce, but for convenience, you can't beat a box left on your doorstep.
I think when we get a bit more confident with the whole thing we might try some of the different boxes too - the salad one would be great for summer. So far, none of our produce has gone to waste and I'm discovering some nice soup recipes as a way of using things that I can't think what else to do with.
I would say a veg box is worth trying, and there are other companies out there doing similar things. Anything which diverts money being spent in supermarkets has to be a good thing.
Friday, February 2, 2007
Daily pinta
Remember when everyone had their milk delivered by a cheery chap with a white jacket and a worn brown satchel for collecting the money? Then supermarkets got in on the act and you could buy 4 or 6 pints in one go, and it all seemed so much more convenient that way...
Ever since I left home I've always bought milk in plastic bottles, on the premise that milk deliveries seemed to be getting later in the day (where they still existed), and I didn't want the milk to go off sat on the doorstep all day, especially in the summer.
Then just a couple of weeks ago a newspaper article made me think again, and another one has since galvanised me further. Due to the falling price of milk, partly driven by supermarket 'price wars', there are now half the number of dairy farmers in the UK as there were a decade ago, and if things carry on in the same vein (including a continuing increase in dairy product consumption), the UK will need to import milk within the next few years to meet demand. How mad is that?! Apparently some organic milk is already imported.
A milkman calls mid-morning, three times a week in our road, and one Saturday I nipped out to ask how to go about setting up a delivery. All I had to do was email/phone the dairy with my order, and wait. You can amend delivery details online, including changes to the products you want and the days you want them delivered (e.g. to account for holidays/house guests etc).
So far so good. We are having milk and fresh orange juice (also in glass bottles) delivered twice a week. The juice is lovely, and our main motivator for ordering that is to cut down on the waste generated by the laminated cardboard cartons the supermarket variety comes in, which we can't recycle in our area.
I plan on buying a 'milk minder' to keep the bottles cool on summer days before we can get home and put them in the fridge. I am a little bit apprehensive about this, but time will tell. We may just have to be more organised and order deliveries for days when we know we'll be at home. Updates will appear here!
Useful links:
www.expressdairies.co.uk
www.dairycrest.co.uk
Both companies offer a postcode search facility which will tell you if your address is on a delivery route.
Give it a go - if it doesn't suit your needs, you can always cancel, and if you do persevere, you'll be supporting your local milkman and reducing waste.
Ever since I left home I've always bought milk in plastic bottles, on the premise that milk deliveries seemed to be getting later in the day (where they still existed), and I didn't want the milk to go off sat on the doorstep all day, especially in the summer.
Then just a couple of weeks ago a newspaper article made me think again, and another one has since galvanised me further. Due to the falling price of milk, partly driven by supermarket 'price wars', there are now half the number of dairy farmers in the UK as there were a decade ago, and if things carry on in the same vein (including a continuing increase in dairy product consumption), the UK will need to import milk within the next few years to meet demand. How mad is that?! Apparently some organic milk is already imported.
A milkman calls mid-morning, three times a week in our road, and one Saturday I nipped out to ask how to go about setting up a delivery. All I had to do was email/phone the dairy with my order, and wait. You can amend delivery details online, including changes to the products you want and the days you want them delivered (e.g. to account for holidays/house guests etc).
So far so good. We are having milk and fresh orange juice (also in glass bottles) delivered twice a week. The juice is lovely, and our main motivator for ordering that is to cut down on the waste generated by the laminated cardboard cartons the supermarket variety comes in, which we can't recycle in our area.
I plan on buying a 'milk minder' to keep the bottles cool on summer days before we can get home and put them in the fridge. I am a little bit apprehensive about this, but time will tell. We may just have to be more organised and order deliveries for days when we know we'll be at home. Updates will appear here!
Useful links:
www.expressdairies.co.uk
www.dairycrest.co.uk
Both companies offer a postcode search facility which will tell you if your address is on a delivery route.
Give it a go - if it doesn't suit your needs, you can always cancel, and if you do persevere, you'll be supporting your local milkman and reducing waste.
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