Waste
To reduce our waste we have had to look not only at cutting the amount we buy, see below, but also the types of things we buy and the packaging that comes with them. Our Landfill waste is now mainly non recycleable plastic packaging which we continue to work to reduce.
The other thing we have done is produced food. This can be sprouting seeds or salad leaves on window ledges, via potatoes in pots to a full scale allotment. It all helps. In our blog I document what we are growing and harvesting at the moment.
The other thing we have done is produced food. This can be sprouting seeds or salad leaves on window ledges, via potatoes in pots to a full scale allotment. It all helps. In our blog I document what we are growing and harvesting at the moment.
Shopping
However good a deal something is, it still involves spending money to save money. In the mid 90s I was a sucker for the Buy One Get One Free type of offers. We then lived in Crieff for a year, and as my husband went past a supermarket daily he did the shopping once a week. He took a shopping list and came home with what was on the list. We "saved" or rather didn't spend a fortune. It opened my eyes to how much these offers cost us. That was the start of a journey which now sees me avoiding large supermarkets as much as possible because even with a list and not being hungry I am still vulnerable to the array of unnecessary purchases. I shop locally, where individual items can be more expensive but the overall bill is cheaper. We grow as much fruit and veg as we can, we use a local veg box scheme for fruit , veg, milk and fruit juice and local farmers for meat. Overall, this costs less.
In 2009, following three of the family reading Living the Good Life by Linda Cockburn, we decided to spend two months living out of our garden, supplementing with fruit, fruit juice, wheat based and dairy products. We do not have the space or the climate to produce these.
The result was we managed to eat from the garden from the end of July to mid October again reducing our costs and our food miles. In 2010 we are trying from mid July till Christmas, now we have more time. I retired ( at the age if 42) in January 2010 - we now produce some meat and we have a greater selection of food in our garden. Again we are allowing ourselves fruit, fruit juice (though now locally grown - and also some of our own juice), wheat and dairy.
As of mid August the garden has been slow to produce though is starting to pick up, so we shall see. Follow this on our blog.
In 2009, following three of the family reading Living the Good Life by Linda Cockburn, we decided to spend two months living out of our garden, supplementing with fruit, fruit juice, wheat based and dairy products. We do not have the space or the climate to produce these.
The result was we managed to eat from the garden from the end of July to mid October again reducing our costs and our food miles. In 2010 we are trying from mid July till Christmas, now we have more time. I retired ( at the age if 42) in January 2010 - we now produce some meat and we have a greater selection of food in our garden. Again we are allowing ourselves fruit, fruit juice (though now locally grown - and also some of our own juice), wheat and dairy.
As of mid August the garden has been slow to produce though is starting to pick up, so we shall see. Follow this on our blog.
