If you think that just because it’s called paper, you can still be green by recycling it, think again. But, not to worry, we’ve found some great eco gift wrapping ideas for you.  

 via Martha Stewart 

Wrap bottles in newspaper 

 Simple gift wrapping 

 Try using kraft paper 

 Pretty newspaper ribbons 

 Recycle old music sheets 

I think that if you put a real effort in your wrapping and make it very pretty, nobody would dare tell you you’re cheap for not using store-bought wrapping paper.  

But if you have to, please make sure you buy FSC-certified or recycled paper.

Already wrapping up pressies for Christmas? I know, still a bit early. But we thought we give you this idea early as well before you start stocking up on gift wrappings and ribbons.

We thought this is really pretty. And green too!

We stole the image from Jessica Jones from her blog How about orange… (we hope she doesn’t mind!)

Have a look at her step by step guide on how to make the ribbons for the not too crafty amongst us.

eeks! Read here. Yes, we still have a long way to go. I feel a pang of guilt on my end, as I am putting more than what I wanted in my bin. 

Are you doing your bit?

Soon, if the scheme pushes through, every household will get a slop bucket (kitchen caddy) where food scraps go. And you’ll be slapped with a £80-£500 fine if you fail to recycle. Environment secretary Hilary Benn suggested this plan over the summer.

Biodegradable waste will be used for energy or processed for biofuel instead of going into the landfill.

Not sure how this is going to be enforced. Would they check my waste bin to see if Ihave dumped food scraps in there? Or am I going to be judged by my empty slop bucket? If it’s empty, it could either be I’m not recycling (so, yes slap me a fine) or I made an effort not to have food waste or I compost my own waste (no, I don’t deserve a fine).

Your thoughts?

ok. i’ve been snooping around other blogs looking for tips to share here. so click away…

a bit of decorating DIY here – how to make egg carton flower lights.

another decorating DIY, but i must say these are sooo pretty, though not something I would try – coffee filter wall art

not sure how this would go down with friends – Spring cleaning party

this would surely come in handy – How to get every last drop

I just think people’s idea of recycling IS leaving their paper on the train for somebody else to read.

Most of the time, I carry a book and some technical materials (read: boring stuff i need to read!) with me. But, there are just days that I wanted a non-challenging read – maybe to pore over the latest news, and gossips (sshhh!!), and maybe the latest must haves.

So, yes, never mind that the articles are poorly written or that it’s a rehash of something we have read like a week ago in another paper or in the internet, the free newspapers do come in handy sometimes.

Everybody else usually leave their paper on the train, I guess it became a habit for most. As most of the time, it gets picked up by another person dying for something to read. Quite considerate, if you think about it.

Most of the time people think that leaving litter is quite antisocial, and why it doesn’t apply to leaving newspapers as well still baffles me. You’ve probably left your paper on the seat, or at the back of the seat, or even stuffed them in between the seats. But, I’ve seen people just dropping them wherever, without looking back. Grown men. Professional looking, well-dressed people. It just seemed acceptable, and nobody else would raise an eyebrow. Either that, or we are too polite to tell them off – I am guilty of this, though at times I stare them to death, but to no avail as they had their backs turned to me anyway.

It’s an eyesore. And it could be dangerous as people are likely to slip on them in stairwells.

Aside from that, they’re most likely to end up in the landfill.

The cleaning fairies do exist to clean up after us. London Underground staff, and people from one of the afternoon free papers regularly pick up what we’ve dropped. Keeping the eyesore to a minimum and nobody slips and sue them.

6,500 tons of our garbage, mostly paper, is left on the Metronet-maintained trains and stations each year. Only about half can be sent for sorting and recycling, though improvements to these figures are being made and a further 21 tonnes each week are being recycled.

Some 1.5 million of these free paper are given away in and around London each day. Note that this article is still in 2006. There are certainly more of them around today. An interesting aspect in this article is that, we are all paying for those “free” paper in the form of our council tax – for clearing up, to be put into the landfill, incinerated or recycled. Not to mention the costs to the environment. I think our council tax can be of better use elsewhere.

It might be helpful to note, that at least some of these free papers are doing something to help. Publisher of London Lite and the London Paper, have each installed 35 bins in the West End and Victoria. And the London Paper “uses environmentally friendly ink that can be broken down without specialist recycling techniques”. Too little help, I think, but it is a start.

Meanwhile, I think I’ll just stick to my books and technical reads to keep me entertained in the Underground. I don’t really want the free papers to print any more copies for my sake.

I used to think they were always made from recycled paper. Partly because I wished they were as I had been using them like there was no tomorrow.

But the truth is, because of consumer demands for the softest products, it’s virgin fibres that mostly goes into loo rolls, facial tissues, kitchen towels, and table napkins. And after you’ve used them, they cannot go into the recycling bin (they’re considered hygienic wastes and can cause contamination). I know I had a bias for the soft, thick, really white ones.

Here’s a lowdown on the available statistics:

• 270,000 trees are flushed down the toilet or end up as garbage every single day according to the WWF.
• Every Briton flushes 17.6 kilos (39lb) of toilet paper down the lavatory every year, almost two and half times the European average, based on this article from the Telegraph.
• The European average use is 11 kilos of tissue per year.
• Each person in Britain uses 4,000 rolls of toilet paper in their lifetime.

And whether they all add up, the truth is we are using quite a lot. What to do? Tissue has been one of the most important products for personal hygiene. It’s hygienic, it’s convenient. I don’t think any modern household can completely do away with it. I’m certainly sure, I can’t go without it at the moment.

Of course, reducing my use is one way to go. I can take it seriously and follow Sheryl Crow’s advice of using “only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where two to three could be required”. But . . . hmmm . . . i’m imagining really messy hands. Maybe I won’t go as far as counting the squares just yet. But there are still plenty I could do:

• after I’ve finished up the remaining pack of table napkins, switch to linen ones. sure, I had to wash them, which would cost the environment as well, but I am pretty sure they will go in with my weekly washing load. And linen table napkins just feel so decadent, doesn’t it?
• I don’t keep facial tissues at home. I’ve always been used to cloth hankies. Again, they go in the weekly wash. Downside? Just yesterday in the train, i was sitting across a woman who accidentally sprayed herself wet as she opened her sparkling water bottle, I reached in my bag and realised I only got my (used) cloth hanky at hand, and I certainly can’t offer her that.
• use rags more often around the home instead of kitchen towels. Rags are washable and can be reused over and over again. Though I would still keep a couple of rolls in the cupboard for emergencies, but hopefully they will last me for the rest of the year.

And then, there’s the loo rolls. WWF recommends we buy ones made from sustainable material, with high recycled content, and the not so white ones (as the bright white ones would have been bleached). WWF did a report ranking as to which among the major toilet paper manufacturers are most responsible. SCA (makers of Velvet) have ranked first in these charts. But note that they scored a mere 46% last 2005 in these rankings, quite a low score, I thought.

A recent trip to the groceries had me picking up a pack with the WWF logo stamped on it. On closer inspection at home, I didn’t find anything in the label that even claimed what percentage is recycled or where the materials were sourced from. Is the WWF allowing use of their logo to greenwash consumers now?

So, I set out to list what I should be looking for in the labels in loo rolls from now on:

• amount of recycled content.
• FSC certification to say product is from well managed sources. Not all recycled content are sourced responsibly.
• unbleached, chlorine free. I had always been concerned about my health. And the less chemicals in products we have intimate contact with is surely better.

I was setting my heart on buying 100% recycled ones (dramatic choice of words, i know, but it is still shopping isn’t it?). But I had my second thoughts. Recycled paper does have it worries too. This article says “one German study in 1993 (that’s how far back we had to go to find data) suggested that there can be 10 to 100 times more toxic metal residues in recycled paper than in that made from virgin pulp.”

I’m now thinking, maybe paper isn’t the way to go. Organic cotton loo rolls anyone? I’ll let you know as soon as my first pack arrives in the post.