Use 10 Percent Less

All things must change when the consumer changes

Recycling

Fairphone – a better phone option?

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A couple of years ago, I read an article about Fairphone in an edition of “The Big Issue” and I was fascinated. The first thing that caught my notice was that when Fairphone’s founder, Bas van Abel, first wanted to create a fair mobile phone, one of the first things he needed to do was pay a bribe in Africa to access a mine. I’d heard that the mines in Africa can be run in terrible ways for the local people (who are basically desperate for any money they can get) and this was, and still is, a major concern for me. Just because it’s in Africa and out of my sight, doesn’t mean I can just put this out of my mind and accept it.

Eventually Bas van Abel sourced ethical materials and the Fairphone dream was underway. This dream wasn’t just the sourcing of ethical materials, the bigger part of the dream was to create a phone that was modular and could be easily repaired by the owner using inexpensive spare parts. This is why the Fairphone is of interest here at use10percentless.com, it’s a phone that you’re intended to keep for much longer than the standard smart phones, hence less waste.

Obviously, I decided to buy a Fairphone. I wanted my usage of a phone to have less impact on the world. It wasn’t an easy choice because it also meant I’d be switching from an Apple iPhone to an Android based phone. I’d never used Android before. However, on the positive side, it worked out that I spent roughly half as much money on my new Fairphone compared to the iPhone I would have bought if I’d stayed with Apple. [Read more…] about Fairphone – a better phone option?

Extinction of convenience

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The human race today, even in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic, is addicted to convenience. It’s this addiction that is bringing us down and, with all likelihood, be the main cause of our extinction. Due to our desire for extreme convenience, we use the resources of the world with gay abandon and create enormous amounts of pollution everywhere. In response to this, the world’s environment has been changing rapidly in recent decades, as if the world is preparing for the extinction of convenience, which includes us. Our only hope is to create an “extinction of convenience” of our own, and eliminate our insatiable desire for endless convenience.

During the current coronavirus pandemic, I see a persistent desire to get back to the ways things were even though there are plenty of fantastic examples of how things could be better. The skies are clearer because there are not many planes flying, pollution from our cities has dropped dramatically, nature in many parts of the world is springing back into action and local communities are becoming stronger all over the world, just to name a few. Do we really want to go back to the way things were? People are worried about the “economy” but we really need to build a new economy rather than simply return to the old one. [Read more…] about Extinction of convenience

Disposable Batteries – what a waste!

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Disposable batteries obviously increase pollution and use up the Earth’s resources, but there’s really very little need for them. Rechargeable batteries are so good these days that it must actually be very close to the point where disposable batteries should be banned. I’ve been using rechargeable batteries for almost everything for 3+ years now, and they work well. There’s no need for disposable batteries.

 

First experience with rechargeable batteries

The first time I really looked at using rechargeable batteries was to power the external flash unit of a new Canon camera that I bought. The external flash unit took four AA batteries and I did a bit of research to see what professional photographers used for this purpose and I came across Eneloop batteries (note that I’m not deliberately promoting this type of battery – it’s just what I have experience with – there must be other good types of rechargeable battery as well). These worked great for the camera flash and, I learned over time, also seemed to work well on everything else. [Read more…] about Disposable Batteries – what a waste!

Important things other than Brexit

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Living in the UK in recent times, it’s hard to find news reports that don’t include Brexit. Of course Brexit is an important issue that must get resolved, but there are far more important things other than Brexit that aren’t receiving enough attention. Last week, I decided to write a letter to a few of our politicians to suggest some actions that they could be considering, and preparing for, at the same time as resolving Brexit. I’ve posted the complete letter below.

The UK has some good recent momentum on environmental issues with the amazing work of Sir David Attenborough (see https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2018/plastics-watch) and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (see https://www.rivercottage.net/news/join-the-war-on-plastic) and the country really has an opportunity to help the world push forward quickly.

I’ve sent this letter to four politicians;

  • Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP – Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service
  • Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn MP – Leader of Her Majesty’s Official Opposition
  • Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP – Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
  • Sam Gyimah MP – Member for East Surrey

I know full well that the letter might gather no attention at all and may not even be read, but I hope that’s not the case. Sending the letter certainly can’t cause any damage and, at the very least, it might be read and may have an influence on some of the future decisions made for the UK.

It’s important that we focus on pollution, and something other than Brexit. We’re definitely polluting too much and plastic and CO2 seem to be our biggest, out-of-control, polluting factors at the moment. This letter requests changes to our laws to rapidly promote the reduction of pollution as changes to laws can have almost instant effect. However, we can also acknowledge that if every one of us starting using and consuming less, that would be of great benefit as well. Both actions at the same time would be best.

See the letter below… [Read more…] about Important things other than Brexit

It’s Not all Rose Gold Straws and The Perfect Pantry

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Today we have a guest writer, Abi Jarvis, talking about some of her advice for using less. I find Abi inspirational. She’s a young person who’s really showing us all the way and I’m glad that she’s been able to write this post for us. Until I saw her post, I’d never heard of “Rose Gold Straws and The Perfect Pantry“, so I’ve been further educated by Abi. Many thanks.

Peter.

It’s Not all Rose Gold Straws and The Perfect Pantry

By Abi Jarvis

First, I would like to start with – THERE IS NO PERFECT WAY OF DOING THIS. Whether you’re lucky enough to live near a zero waste bulk buy food shop or not, whether you don’t have time to pre-make your meals for the week or you do, you do not need to be perfect at this, you just need to try. It’s not all Rose Gold Straws and The Perfect Pantry.

I’d definitely say, buy some kind of flask or Thermos for hot/cold drinks and foods. We drink a lot of tea and coffee as a nation, also as well as cutting down on waste it means you keep it hot/cold and it’s your personal container. I love KLEAN KANTEEN for their drink opening mechanism, also CHILLY’S BOTTLES are decorative but functional, and THERMOS make great long life containers.

It's not all rose gold straws and the perfect pantry

Cut down on everyday plastic – bread, milk, fruit, veg, meat. An easy one would be buy bread from the bakery section in paper bags over pre-cut and overpackaged loaves, the bread is often of a better quality too. Sign up to MILK AND MORE (https://www.milkandmore.co.uk/) milk and juice delivery, use the drinks and then put the bottles back out for collection, think of all the plastic milk and juice bottles you go through. [Read more…] about It’s Not all Rose Gold Straws and The Perfect Pantry

Plastic and shale gas from the US

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A couple of weeks ago, I watched the BBC’s programme “War on Plastic with Hugh and Anita, Series 1, Episode 3” and was shocked by many things, but none more than the fact that the UK is shipping in US gas (from US fracking) so that we can make more and more plastics in the UK. I didn’t realise there was such a strong link with the plastic we use every day and shale gas. Now I feel quite sad, and I wonder if people are aware of the connection between plastic and shale gas.

US Gas from fracking in the UK!

Firstly I’m shocked that US gas from the fracking of their own land is being shipped to the UK. Even as the Scottish government is strongly debating whether to implement a complete ban on fracking in the country, they are allowing gas fracked in the US to come into Scotland. The UK has areas like the North Sea and the Norwegian Continental Shelf right near by, so why don’t we take advantage of that? I’m sure it’s all because it’s cheaper, but cheap is not always good (see – Is “cheap” the right direction?). Cheap means somebody is making more profit out of it, but doesn’t mean that the value of humans and the value of the environment are being adequately taken into account.

INEOS is the company that was highlighted in the programme on BBC, and they seem to be proud of bringing in US gas to their Grangemouth facility in Scotland. In the links and quotes at the bottom of this article, you’ll quickly get the impression that the owners of the company are making big profits out of plastic and shale gas and they’ve convinced the government to keep their hands off by talking about preserving jobs and supplying UK manufacturing.

[Read more…] about Plastic and shale gas from the US

Recycled and recyclable

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Here’s a really good example of recycling. It’s a product from Ecover where the cardboard packaging was already 100% recycled and is also recyclable. Recycled and recyclable – that’s great.

recycled and recyclable
This product from Ecover was their All-In-One Dishwasher Tablets. Yes, I know it’s bad that I’m using a dishwasher as I’m sure it would create less impact on the environment if I washed the dishes by hand. But remember that one of the main ideas behind Use 10 Percent Less is that you don’t have to go from zero to hero in one huge step. If the whole world can start reducing consumption by just 10 percent, right now, that would be a tremendous relief for the planet and the environment.

[Click on the images to see them full-size]

recover dishwasher tablets

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Non Recyclable Packaging

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Do you ever bother to look at the back of the package you’re buying to see its recycling status? Even better, it’s good to check if it’s already recycled. I’m constantly amazed how often the packaging is clearly labelled as non recyclable packaging. In the UK this is defined as “not currently recycled”.

Non Recyclable Packaging

 

This is so bad. We all know about the plastic crisis the world is facing – how can it still be legal for companies to produce packaging that can’t be recycled? We know that Two Farmers have solved this problem and are using compostable packaging, so there should be no excuse for big name companies, like Kettle, to use non recyclable packaging but they do, as you can see here.

[Click on the images to see them full size]

And, as you can see below, there are ultra-cheap Cheese Puffs from Happy Shopper that also come in non recyclable packaging. That just shows how cheap this packaging must be. I’m sure that using recycled or compostable packaging must be more expensive and that’s why it’s avoided.

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Recycled Toilet Paper

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Everything should be recycled. Really it should. We can’t afford to keep making new stuff and just throwing nearly all of it away into landfill, that makes no sense. One thing that should be very easy to buy is recycled toilet paper, and it is. Here’s just one example from the Ecoleaf range of the Suma Cooperative.

As you can see below, the paper is 100% recycled and sourced locally (for me that’s in the UK) and even the wrap that it comes in is made from potato starch and biodegradable. Going even further than that, Suma supports Treesponsibility and is a very socially responsible cooperative. It’s positive organisations like this that I’m happy to support. They’re showing the way for how all corporations could be.

You can see and read all the information from Suma below…

Recycled Toilet Paper – Information on the packaging

100% recycled paper

recycled toilet paper
ecoleaf Toilet Tissue is made from 100% recycled fibre sourced exclusively within the UK. Manufactured from 60%+ post-consumer waste supple streams, collected by local authorities, kerb side collections and bona fide waste merchants. The remaining waste fibre is made up from UK manufacturers’ waste such as printers’ trim and greeting card manufacturers’ waste. No chlorine-based chemistry is used in the production process. Sourced and then manufactured in the UK, every effort is made to maximise loads and minimise road miles.

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Recycled Bucket – from tyre rubber

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Back in October, I argued that governments should Ban New Plastic because we can’t just keep bringing new plastic into the world until it suffocates. We’ve already made so much plastic that we shouldn’t need any more as we should be able to just recycle what we have. Well, one example of what can be done presented itself to me recently when I bought a recycled bucket made from old car tyres.

recycled bucket

This bucket was made by Faulks & Cox Ltd under their brand Tyre Rubber and is made from recycled tyre offcuts. Not only has this bucket avoided the need for making new plastic, it really is a very good bucket. It’s the strongest bucket I’ve used (apart from galvanised steel buckets, but this tyre rubber bucket feels just as strong) and I feel very confident using it no matter what load is in it. That’s very different to some of those cheap plastic buckets that break from time to time (and just have to be thrown in the trash) when they’re loaded up.

On their website, Faulks & Cox Ltd describe the following advantages of their Tyre Rubber range;

The Tyre Rubber™ brand has a range of 35 rubber buckets, baskets, mangers and bins that feature:

– Made from recycled tyre off-cuts
– Strong beyond words
– UV & Frost Proof
– Safe for growing food
– Safe for animal water / feed
– Non-Toxic

[Read more…] about Recycled Bucket – from tyre rubber