WHY SHOULD WE USE LESS PLASTIC?
Are you aware of the amount of plastic infiltrating our food?
I don’t usually buy fashion magazines. The clothes featured are not really suitable for my post-paid work lifestyle, the make-up is mostly directed at younger or working women, the issues of dating and relationships don’t apply to me and the features are so often about film stars or sports stars and that’s not part of my life.
This month’s Marie Claire magazine was a big surprise, packed with information about plastics in the environment and features about women working towards cleaner oceans and waterways. It made interesting reading.
Just consider:
* more than 8 million tonnes of plastic enter the world’s oceans every year
* a rubbish truck load of plastic is dumped into our seas every minute
* by 2050 plastic will outweigh fish in our oceans
Thanks to Marie Claire for drawing attention to these frightening statistics. The article about women trying to address this looming disaster and their passion and determination made interesting reading.
There are easy changes we can all make to reduce our use of plastics. Make or buy lightweight bags for putting your fruit and vegetables in at the shop, use your own non-plastic shopping bags, buy your skincare products in glass jars which are easily recycled, return all your contact lenses materials to your optometrist who sends them off to be recycled and only buy bread wrapped in tissue or paper. Look for other ideas online; there are so many you can slowly implement.
I’ve found one of the hardest plastics to replace in the home is cling wrap. I’ve actually given up on beeswax wrappers and rely on containers with their own lids or use silicone stretchy lids. These are very good but a bit of a fiddle to stretch taut over some cups, bowls and containers but I’ll persist.
Yesterday I was really pleased to receive this month’s issue of Country Living, an English magazine, sealed in a paper envelope. It arrived safely with no damage. One less piece of plastic. Well done Country Living!
RECOVERING MY MOTHER’S POUFFÉ
Do you call it a pouffe, an ottoman or a footstool? Whatever you call it, it’s for resting your feet on or an extra seat.
My mother has had this pouffé for many years and the cover was brittle and cracking. We went to several shops looking for a replacement but she’s not a very tall person and all the foot stools/foot rests/ottomans available were too high for her to use comfortably.
The lining had also worn off the base and it was starting to fall apart. I offered to recover it.
Cleaned up the base and glued the remaining lining down and left it two days to cure. Tested all around the glued edges and it was quite secure.
My mother chose a fabric with a slight stretch in it which made it easier to fit the rounded edges.
Glued some advertising brochures together to make a sheet big enough for a template. Traced around the pouffe and cut out the circle.
Folded the template in half and placed it along the fold of the fabric, pinned and cut out the top piece.
Cut a length of fabric to wrap around the pouffé, leaving a hem allowance at the top and enough to fold under at the bottom. Stitched up the short edge to make a circle. Pinned and sewed the top to the side piece, clipped and trimmed the join.
Added a casing on the bottom edge to thread with elastic for a drawstring.
This will allow the cover to be tightened if it stretches or removed and washed if necessary.
The finished pouffé!
October 26th is PUMPKIN DAY. Is it Pumpkin Day just because of Halloween? I wont be carving a pumpkin, but I’ve already cut some up with other vegetables to roast for dinner tonight.