#low waste

[xanderisrotting]

You CAN be eco friendly with tech!!

Use energy saver mode

Dont keep your pc and chargers plugged in when not in use. Better yet, get outlets that can switch off.

Buy energy efficient products

Replace parts instead of scrapping the whole product, and when it is beyond repair, recycle or sell for parts

Replace your phone battery instead of buying a new phone

Buy used/refurbished. They’re just as good as new, but youre not contributing to more demand

Try to buy local

Buy sustainably sourced accessories or ones that can be easily composted or properly disposed of

Use Ecosia to plant trees while you search

Use wildhero to plant trees with your email

Limit AI usage

[compost-intraining]

Okay listen I’m all for people doing their part to be more environmentally conscious but one thing I really wish was talked about more is how ableist vegan and zero waste communities can be.

A lot of disabled people NEED single use plastic straws. A lot of disabled people NEED precut, packaged vegetables. Same with veganism. I have severe anemia to the point where I have to get iron infusions because my body doesn’t absorb it properly. I tried being vegan but it was not sustainable for me because it made my health issues a lot worse. Veganism is not possible for a lot of people.

And it’s not just physical disabilities either. If your depression prevents you from cooking your own food, go ahead and get the pre made meals. Doing what you can to make things more accessible to you does not make you a bad person. This is not even getting into the financial privileges needed to have an “eco friendly” lifestyle.

If you’re zero waste or vegan that’s great, I’m happy for you but please do not try and push other people to do the same. No one owes you an explanation on why that lifestyle isn’t for them, and no one is a bad person for having a different lifestyle than you.

[queer-ecopunk]

👏 Scrap stock 👏 scrap stock 👏

[calendulacraft]

Fast Fashion to Slow Fashion :: a DIY guide to up-cycling and mending clothing on a budget.

For those of us living on a small income, buying from sustainable fashion brands is often out of reach. I would like to point out that *buying new but ecological garments isn't the only way to cultivate a slow fashion wardrobe*. Here are a few options for transforming *upcycling* your clothing, thus making fast fashion into slow fashion:

Mend and repair :: patch hand-me-down sweaters, fix holes in leggins from target and other department stores. By giving items a longer life, and preventing unnecessary garbage, fast fashion items become slow fashion! Here are two tutorials I have written on how to mend a torn belt loop on jeans and patch leggings.

Up-cycle clothing that doesn't suit your style :: when preparing for a trip back home and wondering how to acquire some nicer clothing for the trip a friend of mine gifted me a big bag of clothes. Almost all of them were items that we could call "fast fashion" and nearly all also had stains or rips that needed mending. By fixing and adapting these items and then going on to wear them for several years longer, I am keeping them out of the cycle of buy then trash.

Tailor items that don't fit you :: Taking in clothing is quite simple and there are lots of tutorials on how to hem pants and skirts or take in a size or two. I recently made a tutorial on how to take out a skirt, or make a skirt bigger by adding panels.

At some point, we must face the fact that a t-shirt is totally worn out and cannot be used for clothing any longer. In such cases here are a couple of crafts to utilize the fabric and other items from the scrap pile:

Create a Quilt :: if you find yourself with a pile of beautiful & memory-filled scraps -- transform them into a quilt as I have done in this post.

Make Twine :: Longer scraps of fabric, especially those from stretch materials like leggings or jersey cotton t-shirts can be made into a thing rope also known as fabric twine. I wrote a tutorial on how to make twine out of fabric scraps.

<<Best of luck in all your crafting endeavors!>>

[thinkpink212]

Low-waste & minimal — she’s resourceful, thoughtful, creative and love the simple things in life.

[keruukat]

Well, while discord is shitting itself, why not share some of what I’ve been up to!

I’ve been getting back into crochet- it’s my third or fourth time trying to get into crochet and second time getting into crocheting with plarn (plastic yarn) made out of plastic grocery bags!

My end goal is to end up with a reusable tote bag made of the grocery bags. My first attempt didn’t go so well- I started it when I was into plarn crochet last time last year at college! I intended it to be a round bottom to a tote bag, a bit odd shaped bag but it’d work, you know?

Well, I didn’t follow a pattern because structure scares me, and it Showed. I ended up turning it into this! A small trinket bowl, while I made the rest of my limited bag stash from last year into more plarn.

Well, then I discovered the magic of granny squares and granny square tote bags! Structure still scared me but I figured fuck it we ball. I ended up with a great looking granny square (below)!

However, I SEVERELY underestimated the amount of plastic bags I’d need to make the tote. I’d need 13 granny squares, and this one took around 11 bags (unsure exactly how many because pre-existing plarn). Not including the handle/strap of the tote that would be… ~150 grocery bags! So I have my work cut out for me, lol.

This time around, however, I’ve made SIGNIFICANT progress with my process of making the plarn! I’ve learned what thickness of yarn feels sturdy and good to work with with the size hook I’m using (about the width of my thumb, to then chain into plarn to use with a P [11.5mm] hook.)

I’ve also figured out how to seamlessly tie the strands together, and in the process learned that there is a use for the short strips of plastic from the bag handles! So I’m using more of the bags, and have less waste, while making the yarn easier to work with for me!

Here’s the current carnage, one granny square with thicker yarn, one with thinner yarn (which I may or may not use the thinner one in my complete tote), some short strips I salvaged from bag handles, and bags ready to be cut into one long spiral to be chained into plarn! Some to be made into thinner yarn to finish the one granny square, but most into thicker yarn for a more sturdy result!

I still feel like there’s a lot of waste with my current process, but it’s far better than throwing the whole bag away.

If anyone wants, I can share my process to make bags into plarn!! That’ll have to be another day, though, it’s 2am now.

But yeah!! Reduce reuse recycle, and make art and useful things from free items around you. If anyone has any hobbies/crafts with a similar philosophy, let me know!!!! I love that shit.

[italianpawg]

the most beautiful woman on this earth is a vegan childfree lesbian cat lady who composts and doesnt use plastic and buys organic grains in bulk and grows weed. she has multiple degrees and a book collection older than me. where can i find her. the pacific northwest

[lowwasteorbustanut]

My low waste goal for today!!

Unpicking a dress I like the fit of but HATE the fabric.

I’m taking it apart piece by piece so I can copy the pattern. I’ll make a dress version, which is what this piece originally was, and then shorten the waist so I can use it to make shirts.

My goal is to eventually make all my own clothing. That way I can use natural fibers (cotton, linen, wool) instead of buying clothing that is almost always some blend of polyester. Micro plastics are no joke!

So I’ll take a few hours (oh no) to completely unlock this whole dress. And if I have the spoons (probably not) I’ll try to draft a pattern. It would be my first time drafting a pattern, and I am nervous/excited!

[thestudentfarmer]

Good afternoon everyone~

It's cold, windy and it's been raining on and off all day but I finally got out to harvesting the sweet potatoes.

I started with the 'L' bed.

This is the bowl I'll be using to collect the spuds for this deep raised bed.

Those are full size scissors btw. This is the absolute biggest strainer I own and when I do harvesting I'm always glad to have it! Helps with carrying and washing off dirt outside so much easier!

It was pretty fun digging round for the spuds and to be honest the size and shape of some of them really suprised me!

For some size comparison, my hand is right on top of them.

All cleaned out!

Next was the little round bed in the corner. I wasn't really expecting much, but it filled the bin pretty good.

I've washed the spuds off and am letting them dry off but I'll be finding a spot inside soemwhere to let them sit and cure for a bit of time. (I probably will let them cure until end of febuary.)

Curing your sweet potatoes is what makes them sweet, you can eat them right away but their said to be bitter. (I will be trying 1 potato to see if this is true!) Curing them should be done for at least 2 week in a cool dry space (around 80*f). If you under 80*f space add 7 more days.

I thought this was neat and wanted to share it. since I've not seen a sweet potato grown or dug up before

I wasn't expecting so much differance in spud size from one single root.

And one last pic,

The ducks quite like the greens, while there's not much left of it I'm going to leave the vines a couple days so they can use it as enrichment/snack opportunity.

Weigh in on the spuds later!

🍠🌱Happy Homesteading and Harvesting!!

🌱🍠

1.11.2024

[bats-and-anarchism]

This tote bag is nice and big but it had this annoying print on it because years ago i bought it at a fast fashion store to avoid a single use bag. And since i don't wanna be a walking ad and i am a little punk i am covering the print with patches. I might also make longer handles for it, so i can wear it over my shoulder. I painted most of the patches myself. This bag seems like a better place for them than my pants since i do wash my pants regularly /j. Also the weather in germany is always either too hot or too cold to wear denim jackets or vests (at least for my neurodivergent ass) so even though i do have a battle vest and a battle jacket, i barely wear them which is sad

So if u have some handy tote bags which have annoying logos on them, just cover it. U will probably use them more then since u put effort in it and they look much cooler :D

If u don't like the punk look, u could use an old shirt with a cool print on it that u don't wear anymore for whatever reason or make one big patch out of any piece of fabric big enough and paint something on it urself. It's a really fun project and hard to mess up and even if u mess it up, u can just detach ur patch and try again

[petula-xx]

Old Recipe Books

I enjoy making recipes from old cook books. Some have been passed down to me, others I've bought cheaply second hand.

Why?

There's something about making a recipe that other cooks have made decades before you.

Old recipes usually use simple, cheap, raw ingredients.

Old recipes rarely require the cook to have any specialized gadgets or chef level skills to make them.

Old recipes were often designed for the home cook on a modest budget.

Old recipes often generate zero food waste, incorporate the use of left overs and rarely require one off boutique ingredients.

My old recipe books are like old friends.

[xanderisrotting]

For the past year and a half, my friend and I have been using the same 2 plastic lined gift bags back and forth. I give him a gift in the bag, then later he gives me another gift in the same bag. It’s a fun gesture between us, and I just realized how accidentally sustainable it is

[the-solarpunk-activist]

Y'all know what's solarpunk? Or at least sustainable? A good sourdough starter. It requires flour, quite a bit of it to get started, but it's healthier for you, and you can use the discard after the initial start phase for all kinds of tasty things meaning no waste and less store bought pancakes, crackers, brownies, breads, etc.

Here's how you make a starter (disclaimer this is how i made it, I've noticed a lot of sourdough purists insisting u need to weigh everything every time you feed and you need a scale for all your recipes, etc i have done none of that and i don't have the energy for all that either)

You need:

Flour, i use unbleached but that's because i had a bag lying around i used for vegan cookies as a gift and i heard it works for starters, Harold (my starter) seems to like it so why change, but I've heard of people using literally any kind of flour

Water, enough to mix into a thick pancake batter consistency

If you feel weird wasting flour you can try the quarantiny starter idea from king Arthur's flour which uses only a tablespoon of flour and some water until it's active and then you bulk it up when you want to bake with it.

You're going to want to add your flour and water and mix until it's a thick pancake batter consistency, i started with a half cup of flour but i left on vacation and my grandma accidentally bulked it up so now it's up to like a cup.

Every 24 hours (not exact measurement and some people swear by feeding it every 12, i do 24 but it varies by person and starter) you are going to want to toss half (in the garbage at this stage) and mix in about the same amount of flour as the mixture you just tossed (ex. You estimate you tossed half cup of starter, add half cup of flour to remainder in jar) add enough water til you reach consistency. I've gotten told this doesn't work but my starter is happy and thriving so I'm sticking with it.

Once your starter is active and consistently doubling within 8 hours after feeding (you will notice it does this in the first few days, that's Bad Yeast do not use. Your starter will hit a slump and then come back to rising, that's good yeast. I recommend putting a rubber band or hair tie where it is after u feed so u can monitor rise easier) experts recommend waiting ten days from initial starter start date to use it, i waited three weeks. Toss all starter at feeding during this time.

ONCE UR STARTER IS ACTIVE then u can save all the stuff u were tossing in a jar in the fridge (i use an old spaghetti sauce jar, and my starter is also in a big olive jar lmao) and use it in recipes that doesn't require yeast, this is sourdough discard and you can find a ton of recipes online for it.

If you want to use it to bake bread, you will use it when it's at its peak rise area, usually double what it was when you feed it. This is the yeast being all active and happy which will rise your bread. I recommend this recipe for beginners:

I reduced the salt to 1 tsp and added probably around a cup and a half of whole wheat flour, i had it lying around and why not. Changes will depend on your elevation and what works for you, it's not a science which is why no recipe will work for literally everybody. Almost everybody's first sourdough bread will fail one way or another but 98% of the time it's still edible and you learn!!!

Feel free to ask questions :)

Edit: forgot to mention that you should keep your jar covered, but don't screw the lid on, i just use the flat part of a canning lid placed on top

[queer-ecopunk]

Scrap soup time babeyyy

[sidewalkchemistry]

6 Eco-Friendly Alternatives to Kitchen Sponges

Natural Cellulose Sponges, Reusable Cloth Sponges, Wooden Dish Sponges, Reusable Dish Rags, Copper Scours, Scours made from Natural Materials (eg. coconut coir)

Traditional kitchen sponges are made of a mixture of cellulose, a naturally-occurring wood fiber, and synthetic materials like polyethelene plastic mesh to provide durability and a scouring surface. This combination is what makes up the typically yellow and green colored sponges that are most commonly sold today. In addition to its mixture of natural of synthetic materials, kitchen sponges are also usually treated with antibacterial agents to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria (and then spreading it around your kitchen each time you clean). Add to this that most kitchen sponges have a lifespan of tops a few weeks – and they’re packaged in plastic – and you can see how these are not a low waste option for keeping your kitchen clean. In addition, antibacterial agents added to sponges typically include triclosan, and according to the Environmental Working Group, “the U.S. FDA advisory committee has found that household use of antibacterial products provides no benefits over plain soap and water, and the American Medical Association recommends that triclosan not be used in the home, as it may encourage bacterial resistance to antibiotics.”

[ecopunkbeginner]

I really want to learn how to sew, but I'm very overwhelmed. I'm afraid of practicing on most things for fear of messing them up and wasting them. I'm really the kind of person who needs someone teaching me and available to answer my questions, but I don't have anyone for that and there's several reasons I'm apprehensive about finding a class (the most rational of which are my lack of income and COVID, but social anxiety is also a factor).

I know there's guides and videos online, but I always get so overwhelmed and usually don't know where to start because all my ideas are abstract, abstract to me specifically (because I don't know how fabric construction works), or difficult and/or risky enough to scare and/or confuse me out of wanting to do it.

Does anyone have tips for teaching yourself to sew? How do I practice without being wasteful?