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How to make reusable wax cloth alternative to cling film

In a nutshell – Step by step easy instructions to make your own waxed fabric. It can be used instead of cling film to keep food fresh. If you like this tutorial and want more ideas to reduce your plastic waste please check out the Sustainable Summer Workbook. It has 42 easy ideas to make and do that the planet …

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Living lagom and making draft excluders

In a nutshell – as part of the Ikea LiveLAGOM project we were invited to make draft excluders from fabric scraps. Here are the instructions for a double one that moves with your door. There are huge gaps under the door of my living room. It is a rickety Victorian house with no right angles and lots of drafts. It …

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How to create a self-sufficient vegetable garden

This is a contributed post and may contain affiliate links Self-sufficiency is a dream that many people have, whether it be in financial terms, professional terms or in life in general. The ability to live without constant dependence on other people and at the mercy of wider society is an attractive prospect for some. Self-sufficiency in food and nutrition is …

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Key Actions Your Family Business Can Take to Become Environmentally Friendly

This is a contributed post and may contain affiliate links Environmental concerns have become extremely prescient this year, as the UN reveals international climate policy has not been enough to reduce the rate of global temperature rise. Ahead of COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, more eyes than ever are on the actions of government and business alike to reduce greenhouse …

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A guide to recycling batteries

This is a contributed post and may contain affiliate links In the world of reduce, reuse and recycle, throwing something away is almost criminal now. Nearly everything can be recycled or repurposed, but some things have to be disposed of in the right way. Batteries are a commonly confused object when it comes to disposal and recycling – but it’s …

4 Ways to Take Care of Your Fruit Trees

This is a contributed post and may contain affiliate links Growing your own fruit at home is incredibly rewarding and it will always taste better when it has come from your own tree, but taking care of fruit trees is not easy and you need to know what you are doing if you are to enjoy the literal fruits of …

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6 simple ways to use less energy in the home

This is a contributed post and may contain affiliate links As the short days and cold weather of winter approaches, so does the prospect of higher energy bills. This is especially true this year as average energy bills skyrocket in the UK following 18 months of sharply rising gas and oil prices and limited fuel supplies, both exacerbated by Putin’s invasion …

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Sustainable gardening: Why is it important and what can be done to make gardens more eco-friendly?

This is a contributed post and may contain affiliate links. The need for sustainable gardening is more important now than it ever has been before – carbon emissions are at an all-time high and modern gardening practices are stripping resources from the environment without making efforts to replenish the land. As an alternative, sustainable gardening focuses on improving the quality of …

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Upcycling Projects For Old Window Blinds

Image by Jan Mateboer from Pixabay This is a contributed post and may contain affiliate links Before throwing out your home’s old blinds and replacing them with new blinds, you should look at ways you can repurpose and upcycle the materials in your old blinds. By repurposing different parts and materials of your window blinds, you save them from ending up in an …

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Grow some salad and reuse plastic

Today’s free worksheet is from Sustainable Summer. Written with The Frugal Family it has 42 eco-friendly, planet saving worksheets. Available as a printable PDF or in glorious colour paperback. If you don’t have a packet of seeds try something from the store cupboard. Mustard seeds sprout well and coriander seeds grow into delicious leafy additions to salads or toppings for …

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Free personalised online veg garden planning calendar

In a nutshell – gardenfocused.co.uk have a free grow your own fruit and veg planning calendar that you can personalise. It even helps you plan crop rotations Unless you are growing indoors under lights you will need to pay attention to the seasons. I forget from year to year what I need to do in the garden and when. Books …

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Starting a compost bin in a tiny garden

I have a very tiny garden for growing fruit and veg and relaxing in. I’ve just got a second compost bin and this is how I’m getting it started. I’ve got a pretty good system going with composting at home. Old teabags, leftover food and veg peelings go into a container during the week as I cook. When it’s full …

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You don’t need a garden to grow your own with IKEA Live LAGOM

What is Live LAGOM? Three years ago I was chosen at random because I answered an email from IKEA asking me if I’d be interested in learning to live more sustainably. I was interested to hear how a brand would be able to help me save money, simply by sharing their advice on day to day routines at home! Live …

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A green and ethical alternative to sending greeting cards

Birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Weddings, Births…. all these things are made nicer when we know that our loved ones are thinking of us. The traditional way is to send a greeting card and we have been doing it since the ancient Chinese sent Happy New Year cards. Ranging from home made with love, through to super thrifty in Poundland up to …

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Hiring a Bristol Yo Bike – is it cheaper than the gym?

This is about my first adventure with a Yo Bike. I do own a pushbike. It was my present to myself on my 40th birthday and it was built by the very lovely John the Bike who is no longer with us.  He measured my legs, looked at how I used a bike and carefully sourced me loads of second …

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What to do with a veg box in April

Every week I get a vegetable box delivered and I find myself staring at it thinking, ‘what can I do with all this veg?’ To save myself the agony next year I’m writing down my ideas every month. It is turning into a seasonal food diary and the little bit of planning is saving me lots of stress. This is …

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How can I make time for myself when I should be doing other things?

  A couple of questions came up in the less-stuff Facebook group about making time. “How can I create time for working on my mental health when all other matters feel more pressing?” “How can I make time when I keep being asked to do things like form filling and change electricity suppliers and stuff?” This post is about how …

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How to have a perfect mindful camping holiday

I call my car an escape pod, and the most frequent escapes  are for an overnight camping trips. Staying away for longer involves cat sitters, worrying if the fat one has taken his medicine and if the little one has done a dirty protest in a very inconvenient place. An overnight camping trip restores me and recharges me for a …

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Trigg Life Mapper – Journal review 3 months into the year

When Nero’s Notes aka Pocket Notebooks became site sponsors they asked me if I would like anything to review. I begged them to send me a Trigg Life Mapper after the Procrastination Coach got one. I had a serious dose of journal envy from day one. [adrotate banner=”11″]   I’ve already written a little bit about how I’ve used the …

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March 2018 – life audit

What I’ve been doing and enjoying this month. A record to keep me on track of what I’ve done and what I want to do. Reading: Nothing, I have forgotten how to read. I can barely read a magazine article without checking Facebook so I’m trying to keep Sundays social media free. Learning: Ancient Philosophy: Aristotle and His Successors and …

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Get away from your online social networks

  If you are trying to have a break from Facebook etc, and stuck for something to do or watch – here are some ideas: Something creative – gardening from leftovers Something you can change now – your body language shapes who you are Connect with someone – Can you meet someone for a coffee today? If not, phone someone, …

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Try these alternatives to social media

  Here are some ideas for different things to do today to keep you away from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Just for a change! Something to do – Cook something different with very few ingredients. 34 Insanely Simple Two Ingredient Recipes has some ideas that are sheer genius. Do you have peanut butter and bananas? You could have Peanut …

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3 ways to slow down when you write

Why slow down? Most days I turn the computer on to a hundred or so emails, despite my control methods to stop junk mail. I check Facebook to be met with a barrage of things that need my attention. Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest all lure me to gather more information and ideas and occasionally the phone rings with more pulls …

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Will being ethical make you happy?

In 7 months time I’m going back to college to start a MA in design. I did my degree about 25 years ago so I’m a little worried that my brain is rusty. I’ve been dipping into some research for another book about gentle decluttering over the last year though and one google link after the next led me to …

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3 free and easy ways to stop using so much plastic

Refil your bottle – cost £0 Your single use plastic water bottle can generally be refilled at least 10 times. If you want something sturdier on a budget I like Ikea’s Behallare water bottle for £2. It is sturdy and does not leak. For a posher version that comes with a lifetime guarantee I love my Klean Kanteen bottles. From …

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Stop food waste beautifully and organically with BeeBee Wraps

One of the most popular posts on less-stuff is the tutorial for reusable wax food wraps. They are brilliant alternatives to cling film and super fast to make. My wax wraps have one problem though – they crack after a while, which is fine as long as you don’t mind putting them back in the oven to melt the wax …

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It is cheaper to cook chickpeas from scratch than buy tinned

  Cooking organic chickpeas from scratch costs less per 100g than buying non organic chickpeas in a tin, unless they are on special offer, in which case you save a few pence. We eat a lot of chickpeas. They go in curries, soups, with rice, pasta and mashed up to make falafels and hummus. Leftover curried chickpeas make fantastic pastie …

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Eco To Go Reusable Rice Husk Coffee Cup Review

I’ve been on the lookout for a re-usable coffee cup for a while now. I work from home so I try to get out of the house for a walk every day. In the winter I’ll go to a coffee shop but when the sun is out I prefer to sit outside. Building on the success of giving up plastic …

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Mend something!

Scroll down to enter a competition to win a Home Hacks Kit from Sugru! Before you throw it away…. Visible mending can be really beautiful and there is a whole website devoted to it – visiblemending.com. Jen Gale has written reams about visible mending on mymakedoandmendlife.com too with loads of handy links to tutorials. Things you can fix quickly Squeaky …

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Natural salt deodorant balls. zero waste and plastic free

Guest post by Lindsay Coldrick of NRG Healing What is in your deodorant? Many people are still unaware of the hidden dangers in the active ingredients of modern day deodorant. They can contain some potentially hazardous chemicals which are then sprayed/rolled on the underarms as a way of reducing perspiration and odour. The primary ingredient used in most antiperspirants is …

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The happiest tote bags are made from bouncy castles

When I was little, my favourite stories were about objects that had a life of their own. The idea that our possessions are infused with their own history is one that still enchants me. My home is full of stuff that has a story, whether it be one I know or one I’ve invented. [amazon_link asins=’B01FIZAORU,B0000CM1CH’ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’lessstuff08-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’3833f081-251c-11e8-9ada-9faacf7bd78d’] …

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Roadtesting glugglug Reusable Silicone Straws

glugglugplanet sent me 2 packets of reusable silicone drinking straws to review. I shared them with my friend Jo and her son and we set about thoroughly road testing them. What are glugglug straws? glugglug straws are washable, reusable silicone replacements for the polluting plastic straw. They come in two diameters that can be cut to length if you want …

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Happerly 7 Day Know Your Food Origins Challenge

With the synchronicity of the internet that only the algorithms of social media can evoke, we were just talking about shopping locally in the Less-stuff Facebook group when this 7 day challenge came to my attention. Happerley is a new way of certifying food producers and suppliers that lets us consumers trace where it came from.  They are running a …

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What to do with all those pears

The fruit and veg market was selling large bags of pears for 50p so I am officially in a pear glut! They are still pretty firm, with some dodgy outer bits that can be cut off. The less-stuff Facebook group came to the rescue with some great ideas. Thank you to Heather, Angela, Marion, Bróna, Anna and Jenny for all …

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