Homemade Soap - Updates

One of the best workshops I attended was a soap making course put on by Homesteaders Emporium. It was an evening workshop and it gave me all the confidence (lye can be scary...and I respect it very much) and skills I needed to make my own soap! 

This was near the end of 2013 if I remember correctly. Below are photos from my most recent batch (batch #3). This time, I did the cold process, but didn't add anything - just left it as is to harden into mold (see below). It has a bit of a green tint to it and I'm not entirely sure why....perhaps the olive oil since it's yellow-ish but I have not yet looked it up.

Then, I grated it down, re-melted it on a double boiler and added essential oils, and spices for colour! All direct from nature :)

 Actually, I first tried to melt without the double boiler, and I added too much water (because I didn't want it to burn/stick) and it was a foamy mess! But, still turned out okay (see below) just a bit more water in it so it will take a while to "set" and be ready for use.

This is a minty bar (though it looks a bit fruity!), peppermint, spearmint, tea tree
...plus ground oatmeal/bran/clove.

I could use it now but...it's soft and would disintegrate within a few uses....so I'd rather wait and prolong its life.

 I used old almond milk/hemp milk containers as molds and they worked great! #upcycling  and a container I had lying around (made with silicone) - not actually a huge fan of it for food so glad I can use it for soap making! 

A few more pictures of the process.

This has rose flowers (which were rescued on their way to landfill)
plus essential oils of jasmine, ylang ylang, and patchouli. 

Tumeric is what I used to get this colour!

I added poppy seeds to the yellow one for exfoliant awesomness (they were poppy seeds I rescued from their way to the landfill, so it seemed like a good fit!) The scents in it are tea tree, lemon grass and a bit of patchouli. 

I actually had help in making a video while doing the cold process - and at some point I will edit it and perhaps post it online....it was made for my cousin, and is super low key....but maybe will be helpful. 

Swap Shelf 101 - Sharing and keeping stuff out of the landfill - WIN WIN!

What do you do when you find a perfectly good shelf in the alley, whilst walking home from work? 

....And when you've been racking your brain for months on how to have a good system so that people waste less...and give/share more? 

Why you implement a SWAP SHELF - that's what! 

Found these in the Landfill bin...all still perfectly usable - heart breaking...but it was time to no longer sit by idly as I watch people toss perfectly good stuff! While diverting this..my head was racing.

......found in bin - once destined for landfill

I was a bit weary because I had been burned in the past....I tried to start something similar before, a year or so ago....and was met with a bit of opposition i.e. someone ripped my sign down, still unsure where it went....so perhaps a bit more than a bit of opposition.

This was my first attempt - perhaps a bit too much writing....
and there was never any shelf set up...
I had placed the sign on wall, to the right of the landfill bin.

But I figured, it was worth another shot, and I finally reached the point where the pain of not doing it and watching what goes into landfill was now greater than the pain of being shut down when I had tried before. 

So I figured, I'd take what I learned, and make it different this time, and hopefully people will use it and benefit from it.

This time I decided to keep it short, and sweet....but with my verbose nature ...it was hard to keep it simple. After a few iterations, I opted for this....a play on "have a penny leave a penny.." that reminds me of my childhood and sharing our cents to make peoples lives easier at the check-out. :)

The sign on the right placed on the door to the "recycle room" (formerly know as "waste room" and renamed (not officially but I refer to it as this)....by yours truly...language is important....many subtleties) - it lets people know if they have stuff - they have THREE options 1) Swap Shelf 2) Location of nearest thrift shop (5 min walk, if that) 3) Diabetes Association - Clothesline Program (offering free pick-ups!) 

Minutes after it's set up....the stuff on here is all stuff I found in the bin....but soon enough (same day and day after)...the items change! 

Yay!! Someone added their boots! 

Some items gone, some more items placed....a beautiful ebb and flow
 - keeping it out of the landfill low and our hearts full! 

If you have any questions or want to chat about starting something like this in your building....I'd be happy to help! 

Soon we will have electronics recycling, battery recycling, light bulbs, and soft plastics....can't wait! It's been a looooooooong time coming. But sometimes, things can only work best when the people are ready to have them.... it's a bit of an ebb and flow itself. 

I'm feeling super grateful for the positive feedback both verbally from folks in building, including our security staff, and in action (by placing and taking items), I've received.... yes to everyone! 

Giving your shoes a new life, and keeping them in circulation - drop them off at Quick Cobbler instead of the garbage!!

We all get to a point where our shoes  have so many rips/holes they simply can no-longer be worn.

But what happens if we're unable to repair it ourselves or with the local repair groups ( here in Vancouver we have....Vancouver Fix It Collective & Repair Matters)? Donating them is of course not an option since they are not really wearable at this point (at least for me). And more often than not, paying to have them repaired costs more than the shoes! What do we do?

I'm a huge fan of fixing....ourselves, but supposing we simply don't have the time or whatever else may be the case.

Are they destined for the landfill???

Nope! (phew!)

If you are close to Vancouver BC, you can take them to the Quick Cobbler - when you walk in you'll see a black round container that says "Shoes for Donation" (Or something like that) on it.

Quick Cobbler
Located at 430 W 2nd Ave
unceded coast salish territory
604.682.6354

Place them in there, and they will mend them then donate them.

This is a win win because it allows their staff to get practice, and train, it gives shoes a new life - keeping them in circulation for those who want/need them, and it keeps stuff out of landfill.

I'm a big fan of Win-Wins! :)

Don't live nearby? Call around to your local shoe repairs and see if they might like to implement this awesome initiative!

Hide the garbage cans - the rest will follow aka 100% ZERO-WASTE Events

YEAR 1 (for me) - 2013

The Neighbour Savour IV Potluck was set to occur October 8, 2013 from 6-9pm. This year, I noticed that in the event write-up, the words Zero Waste appeared, that of course caught my eye! I was delighted to attend, especially because I saw the words "Zero-Waste" appear in the title.

I was excited to see how the evening would unfold, and how zero-waste would be approached - as the concept can have varied meanings for many people.

There were re-usable cutlery, ceramic plates, glasses, and mugs - a sure sign we were off to a good start. But then it came time for clearing the plates. I realized quickly that there was no spot for compost and my heart broke. I quickly decided I'd convert the glass container I brought my potluck item in (as it was now empty), into a compost holder, surely we wouldn't have that much assuming none of us were wasting food on our plates!

Unfortunately, someone thought that was a dirty bowl that needed washing, depite the sign next to it which read "Compost", dumped it in the garbage, and proceeded to take it to the kitchen. I had walked away and was cleaning up other stuff so I was not there to witness this or of course I would have explained the situation. But as I walked up to check on the scene, this is when I noticed my bowl was gone, and there was a lot headed into the garbage!

Asking people if they knew where it went, or what was going on, I was matched with looks of confusion and chaos as if I was speaking a different language. This confused me utterly because generally folks at a Village Vancouver event, especially one with Zero-Waste in its title would be more aware than most....

Long story short - I ended up taking the garbage  bag home with me (and to be fair, 1 big black garbage bag for 200+ people isn't so bad but....of course we can do better!)....and sorted it at home.

My roommate certainly wondered what the heck I was doing but she knew me well enough by now to not be too shocked to see me walk in the door with garbage - most people leave their front door with garbage.... I like to do things a little different. Actually I don't like it.....because it is the result of humanity being on auto-pilot, and of course it's entirely unsustainable for me to take garbage home, sort it, and clean the recyclables (waste water, no less)  that have been soiled with food waste.

Here are some pictures, diversion rate after I was done with it? 100%....

For comparison sake, what's Metro Vancouver's diversion rate, you ask?

The stats I have, as at the most recent Sustainability Breakfast in Dec 2014, showed a current diversion rate of 60%, which they would like to be at 70% by 2015 (I guess that's this year...felt a lot further away in December 2014), and 80% by 2020.

While it sounds admirable, I say...we can do better Metro Vancouver! Why not aim for 100%? Even if we don't reach it, isn't it better to have a goal of 100%? I think so! And 100% IS possible, I live it every day (so do the other members of the collective house I'm living in), and we did it at these events, too.  Photo evidence, below...it IS possible!

This was the bag that came back home with me. We rode the bus together, along with my friend Peter. A great zero-waste ally. 

Boo was my little helper. She is a zero-waste kitty warrior. :)

This is showing the contents now diverted, bag emptied (was washed to be re-used, as you can see foodbits in the bottom), and the food waste to the right, which was taken to the compost. 

Had this all been sorted before it hit the "garbage", it would not have required as much washing - which is of course why proper set-up is key!

 Here's what we ended up with when all was said and done.

Here is everything that was generated at the event - so all in all a very small load which is great! In large thanks to the re-usable dishware/cutlery. But ALL of it can be diverted from landfill, 100% diversion rate. The plastics/foil-lined/unnumbered hard plastics, and numbers that city doesn't take went to Pacific Mobile Depot through Village Vancouver monthly plastic drop-spot, The remainder composted and that's about it!  

YEAR 2 - 2014 - Better Equip, Lessons Learned

The following year, Neighbour Savour V, and I was ready. I contacted the crew and let them know I'd take the reigns to create and manage a zero waste station. I know what we went through last year, and I didn't want the same thing to occur.

Having these re-usable plates and cutlery is incredibly key! (We did have these last year, too!)

Got there early, and set-up shop, having the help of my good friend was incredibly useful too, her and I sat there a good portion of the night and helped people sort their materials into the proper bins. I also went back and forth into the kitchen to explain that soft plastics with food had to be first rinsed/washed before we could recycle them.

The ultimate step 1? Hide all garbages.  I can't stress this enough. When people cannot find the garbage then they start to think "what can I do with this?" They usually find a better solution to the auto-pilot garbage bag toss. We have become so accustomed to tossing stuff that when a garbage is present, even if it's next to a recycling bin and a compost bin, it will, more often than not, end up in the garbage....we get on auto-pilot, too many other things running through our minds. I get it. So just hide the garbage cans and it will save you a tonne of frustrations and grief.

Our zero-waste station. My friend and I sat on either side, and helped people when they came with materials to renew. 

I made signs for the station, but I made signs in other places too - the bathroom, for paper towel (ideally we'd have a re-usable towel roll, or mini hand towels but we worked with what we had).

This was in the upstairs bathroom (the only one I thought existed until mid-way)

Where the garbage used to be, I put this sign as I figured folks may have remembered from last year a garbage here. 

Shhh, don't tell: Garbages were sill around, (in the below photo they are at the very back and to the left), but no-one will search that hard for a garbage....however, just in case.... I put a little sign on it. Gotta play it safe. 

Garbages hidden? Check

It wasn't until mid-way through, as people started showing up, I learned there was another bathroom, downstairs, this time, genders were seperated. So, I made some signs, ensured the men's was clear and replaced the garbage with the compost collector. :) Phew, close call!

 So - what did we end up with?

City recycling (blue bin, and yellow bag), compost (green and white buckets), and one bucket of soft plastics/foil-lined recycling to go to Pacific Mobile Depot. I was able to take the recycling, and compost as I was living super close to the hall at the time, and Ross was able to take the soft plastics. Thanks Ross! 

A BIG thank-you to everyone who attended the event, used the system in place, and participated in a zero-waste potluck. We couldn't have done it without you! 

200+ people served. 

ZERO-WASTE. 

That's how it's done, yo, that's how it's done. 

Here are some other photos from the Green Party Gala - 2014 Fundraiser; also a zero-waste event. Warms my heart! :) Especially nice to meet and work with the event coordinator who was equally as passionate and dedicated to zero waste as I am - what a treat! 

Garbages? Hidden

Diversion Rate? 100%

...And, of course, Elizabeth May - doing her thing. :)