Salad Bar - no more plastic bags of salad.

This year I have started to grow more veg and salad.  It amazes me how quickly my small space is filled up, and how much we get through as a family - I am a long way off fully feeding the tribe.

My most successful planting has been my salad bar.  Fed up of buying salad in plastic bags I started growing pea shoots on my window sill over the winter.  I use these to add a little green to sandwiches and to top off dishes of Ramen.  With a rolling planting of three trays there are always some available.

As the temperature has warmed up I have managed to plant almost enough salad leaves for our  family.  I think I still need a few more trays to keep us fully in the stuff, and have to plant on a rolling basis to keep a good stock.  Cut and come again leaves are working quite well, but each time you cut them (and as a family of four we eat a whole tray in one sitting!), it takes about 3 weeks of growing to get a new crop.

With a bit more organisation and a couple more trays I should get to the point where we don't buy any more plastic bags of salad :)

Epic Fail Shampoo Bar

Perhaps I should have researched before buying my first shampoo bar, but alas I made an on the spot purchase of the Friendly Lavender and Tea Tree Shampoo Bar.  

Shampoo (and of course conditioner) are in high demand in our teenage household, and so they are  products I am keen to find greener alternatives for.  

The Friendly Lavender and Tea Tree Shampoo Bar does have excellent green credentials, and not an ounce of plastic in its packaging; it is paraben, plastic, cruelty and palm oil free.  Unfortunately, that is where the positives end for me. 

I must admit to smelling it in the shop and not being completely convinced, but in my new wave of enthusiasm I put my reservations aside - it does smell like grandma's sock draw.  Trying my best to ignore the sock draw smell, I had a go at using it this morning. 

Tentatively I lathered up my bar, and gave my hair a wash. The bar lathered quite well and I tried not to use too much.  My hair immediately became stiff and stuck to my head, like it was coated in something. The shampoo left my hair feeling terrible.  

Having had such a bad experience I did take a quick look at on-line reviews for the product and found many others have had similar experiences.  Some have mentioned persisting for a week or two (respect!), but then giving up.  I have no intention of persisting for longer, but will look around for another version.  

My daugher mentioned that Lush have some good shampoo bars, and first glance at on-line reviews do look more positive, so maybe that is my next stop! Any recommendations gratefully received :) 

First change...wait for it....kitchen cleaner.

Today I took a quick visit to my local health food shop, The Healthy Life in Devizes.  I must admit to only previously shopping there in the past for milk alternatives, as my eldest teen is allergic to the stuff.   Recently, I noticed that they had started to sell unpackaged items and given my new aim this seemed a good place to explore.

I love little shops like The Healthy Life, with endless packages and pots of an amazing array of things.  Like visiting an old fashioned haberdashers with it buttons, ribbons and threads you almost don't know where to start. After a mooch around the shelves I settled on purchasing some kitchen cleaner, basically because I needed some.

I need to find basic, every day items that are effective and affordable but also meet greener credentials than my current stuff which carries numerous health warnings and admits that it is 'harmful to aquatic life with long lasting effects' (scary).

I chose Ecover spray, which still came in a plastic bottle, but the shop sells refills.  What I would not have known if the shop keeper had not told me, is that buying the bottle in the form I did it is more expensive, and in future it was suggested that I brought in my own bottle and purchased concentrate and mixed this with water into my spray bottle (time and mess might need to be considered here).

Since returning home I have tried my new surface cleaner and I am a bit surprised at how good it is. It smells nice, and has worked well on my wooden kitchen top.  So, in terms of quality it seems to be a good choice.

As I don't have endless funds (shame), cost also has to be a consideration and this is where I tied myself in knots.  I would love to show you a graph of ml for ml cost of products, but frankly my head hurt trying to work it out! Clearly buying the diluted bottle I did, from a local shop was actually more expensive than my normal choice (particularly as I often choose items on sale and am not a slave to brand).  However, as advised I would be able to cut this cost and reduce plastic use if I purchased the concentrated refill.

Then, of course, I began to wonder what happens if I buy it online?  To cut a long story short, I can buy ecover in a 15L box (to dilute and refill my spray bottle) from Amazon for around £1.90 a litre, which is a lot cheaper than my current cleaner and results in far less packaging.

What opens up to me now is a different dilemma. Whilst cost is really important to me, I also really enjoyed visiting my local shop, chatting to the staff and being able to have a look and see/smell items. Which do I go for, a cheaper buy or buying local?  I have not quite come to a conclusion yet in terms of this product, but I know for sure that one way or another I will continue to support The Healthy Life as it was a lovely shop to visit.