What to do with your plastic!

I personally found the film TRASHED a bit too short on solutions on how we can help by not putting plastic into landfill or incinerators.

I thought of some ideas and and quickly blogging them this morning.

1.First make some doorstops using unwanted clothes or curtain fabric -Find a stone or rock that will fit into the doorstop and after washing wrap it in plastic -use food packaging or plastic bags cut up to stuff the doorstop before sewing up -you can make these in any shape you like but here is a very easy shape that anyone can make!

Sew your own pyramid doorstop  - Better Homes and Gardens - Yahoo!7

If you want to use up even more plastic what about making a pouf!!! Simply fill the fabric/knitted pouf with all of your unwanted plastic- this will take a considerable amount believe me.









2. Leave your plastic at the shop- if we all did this we would be forcing shops to change how they sell stuff.It costs them money to 'dispose' of rubbish.

Take your own bags AND a flat bottomed shopping basket or box.If you do this you can use plastic bottles/large food containers to divide up space and then fill these with the loose veg you have removed packaging from.This is a very posh version which I have blogged the link to.

3.Instead of buying cosmetics/toothpaste etc. in plastic tubes make your own! Use a basic recipie for face cream/cleanser and add drops of essential oils that suit your skin type and age; I like frankensense which is pricey but will last at least a year.

It is possible to buy good creams and lotions in glass jars but one thing I cannot find is toothpaste so here is a recipe to make your own!

Homemade Remineralizing Toothpaste Ingredients:

• 5 parts Calcium powder or Calcium Magnesium Powder
• 1 part Diatomaceous Earth (optional- contains trace minerals and silica. UPDATE: A reader noted that DE can be abrasive and is not needed with the baking soda, so if you don’t have DE… no worries!)
• 2 parts Baking Soda
• 3 parts Xylitol Powder- This ingredient is not completely necessary, but just keeps it from tasting bitter.
• 3-5 parts coconut oil to get desired texture
• Optional ingredients: Essential oils for flavor (mint, cinnamon, and orange are all good), Grapefruit Seed Extract, Myrrh and Trace Minerals

[Note: To keep things simple, I just use a teaspoon or tablespoon, depending on the size batch I'm making, so the above recipe would read 5 TBSP calcium powder, 2 TBSP Baking Soda, etc.]

2. Add Coconut Oil one part at a time until you get desired consistency.

3. Add any optional ingredients, including Essential Oils for flavor (my favorite is Peppermint Orange)

4. Store in small container like 1/2 pint glass jar. To use, either dip clean toothbrush into it, or use Popsicle stick or spoon to put on toothbrush. I’ve also thought of storing in a plastic bag with a corner cut off to be able to squeeze like toothpaste, but haven’t tried it yet