The Bin Saboteur turns 5

Arrrr me hearties.

O'ive bin prakktising moi poirate speak today in honour iv the poirate paarty for our little bin saboteur.

He be 5 year old now, all 18.5 kilos of him. Gett'n old eh! An he'll be ready for them high seas before we know it.

He were only 3 1/2 when this here blog came into being. A zero waste bin saboteur if ever o'ive seen one.

But he be gett'n tha hang of it these days. Only yesterdee he be asking the cap'n where the compost caddy lay, since it be moved to accommodate the sudden immobility of the QuarterMaster - who you be more accustomed in familiarity as Yours Truly.

Poirate speak?

Blimmin' 'eck more loike Bristolian - oi'd say. You'd swear Almost Mr Average had taken over this blog, wiv his underlying Wess Country tones.

Arrrr, shiver me timbers an his too, oi need ta get back to me ol'self.

Right! And here I am - back from the surreal world of kids' parties, where I've been busy hanging bunting, making a cake, enjoying a birthday picnic in the sunshine and dropping small change in the local woods for the kids to indulge in a treasure hunt....all 9 of them....!

I noticed that this year's party was more expensive than last year's party for his older brother, when I managed to cater for a whole army of children at home for about £35, including party treats.

However this year's was a more fancy affair all round mainly due to the pirate theme. But it was money well-spent thanks to a few georgous goodies that I picked up from eco-party company Little Cherry, including fabulous reusable cotton party bags that are made in this country. Even with the little treats, it still came in at around £75 including food, which is really not bad compared to the prices I've paid in the past.

And from where I'm standing, it doesn't look like there's going to be any waste. All the packaging from the presents is recyclable, and any food that was left over is being reused for tomorrow's packed lunches...except the half-eaten rolls which will be fed to the chickens and the garden birds.

It's interesting to look at birthdays with fresh-eyes and re-evaluate traditions, making changes where you feel comfortable.

For example, after last year's experience of borrowing a picnic set, I did the same again today, saving money on disposable products or buying my own set. Instead I used my money to invest in bunting that's perfect for boys' parties and as a result for the first time ever I avoided buying balloons, which create more waste and more arguments than they are really worth.

Also, little T's presents were pre-loved brio accessories from Raspberry Rascals in Bury St Edmunds. They were in excellent condition and saved us a fortune on brand-spanking new ones from the toy shop. He didn't even notice they weren't in a merchandised box and opened his presents with great excitement.

But yes, I did use wrapping paper I'm afraid...only because it was old paper that had been knocking about the house for a long time, including a roll of drawing paper that must be at least three years old. These days, I am so concious of using paper unneccesarily, I can't remember the last time I bought any - with the exception of the recycled christmas paper in December.

So after a busy day waving the Jolly Roger, it's time to open the Chablis and toast what was a very eventful day, with the pride of a parent observing their little ones growing up and maturing.

And if I can manage a second glass, I might even forget the pain of having to resort to a couple of emergency E numbers to rescue what would have been a disaster of a birthday cake. At least it was a rare occasion and no-one bounced off the walls and Little T was very impressed with my creation.

So I suppose it could have been worse.

I could have offered them grog.

Arrrrr!

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Kids in a Fizz: Just in time for Christmas

This weekend, I took the children to their favourite cafe in Bury St Edmunds: Coffee 'n' Kids, in Langton Place, where we went to road-test their latest and most exciting party activity ever...making bath bombs! And my goodness, I would never have thought that making those fizzy things would be so blimmin' easy, or indeed so much fun.




All they had to do was gently rub a bowl full of bicarbonate of soda, which had been combined with a little citric acid. Then adding a couple of drops of yellow and blue liquid, they watched the colour of the powder gradually change before their very eyes.



They added a scent of their choice. The mixture was then sprayed with some water and scrunched together as if making dough, before being pushed into a mould, where it was left to harden. A process that didn't take long at all.




And eh presto! No sooner said than done, the kids had a couple of solid bath bombs to take home with them!


And don't they look great!

As you can probably guess, I had no trouble getting both of them in the bath that evening...or indeed the next!

Now that they are smelling a lot more fragrant than normal, the boys can't wait to have another go and experiment with the different moulds, to make hearts as well as the traditional ball.

And with Christmas around the corner, we've got just enough time to get cracking on some very special hand-made gifts that'll make a nice change from their home-made invisible bogie biscuits. You know the ones I mean...fingers in dough one minute - and when you're not looking - up the nose the next...

So you see, there's no doubt about it that these gorgeous bath bombs are a healthier option and much more pleasant too. Dried flower petals can also be added to make an extra special gift for all the aunts out there. So huge thanks to Jo, the lovely owner, for introducing us to this fizzy adventure and giving an extra special touch to our weekend. We will most definitely be back very soon.

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Party On Dude: The zero waste birthday party has arrived! (well almost)

So today I am a mother of a seven year old. How grown up do we both feel!

It all started with an early awakening. All I remember was that it was dark. And then there was the excitement at the Birthday Sack that had been left at the bottom of Little J's bed.



Thanks to an earlier comment on the blog, instead of buying wrapping paper, I'd bought the gorgeous sack from Cavern4 in Bury St Edmunds. At £12.00 I figured it would save me a whole lot of wrapping in years to come and that delving into the sack would be as much fun for excited young boys as ripping off wrapping paper.

His presents included a book from his brother, a box of figures from us and a digital camera bought with the money sent by his grandparents and other relatives. A Kodak 7.1 megapixel bargain at just £40, which will be far more longer-lasting than a blue plastic toy camera bearing a similar price. The camera was used for the photos on today's post, so you can tell the quality.

So off to school he went, with plans for a special birthday lunch, while I prepared myself for his low-key birthday tea!

Of course I wanted it to be as Zero Waste as possible. And as it happened, it was. More by fluke than good planning.

As ever I made it up as I went along, in my usual style, commonly known as flying by the seat of my pants! And this is how it all came together....

1. We only invited 5 close friends, plus his brother! Our parties are normally bigger, which means more food, more expense and more waste. I replaced written invitations with verbal invitations, which saved both paper and money.

2. We reduced the party food to just pizza, with tomatoes, carrots, cucumber and some Pringles, as well as pineapple, cheese and ham to decorate. I'm a busy working mum now, so I'm afraid this year I relied on the shop-bought stuff, but all the packaging was recyclable thanks to our local facilities. If it wasn't I would have stuck to sandwiches or home-made pizza. So thank goodness for our mixed plastic film depository eh - that got me out of a potential big hole!



3. For the first time ever I refrained from buying matching disposable tableware and reused some plastic cups, which I recovered from a school event last year. I've now got a supply that will last me years! The napkins and tablecloth are reusable too. The pretty plastic plates had been borrowed from a friend. I didn't want to buy paper ones and no way was I going to risk our china!

4. I went to great efforts to make the food look attractive, using a star shaped biscuit cutter to create ham and cheese stars. Great efforts indeed! It only took me five minutes! It also paid off with fabulous looking pizzas. The very few leftovers were bunged in the Bokashi bin. Despite my own hunger there was NO way I was going to pick at those, not with the tummy bugs that are circulating around school at the moment! My legs are already feeling wobbly!

5. The dessert was bananas. How boring you might think, but not yesterday's 'nanas! We turned it into a game, offering strawberries and sweeties as decorations, to see who could make the best banana picture. The plates were all cleaned up with the exception of a couple of leftovers, which ended up in the compost bin. Little T was the official photographer, so he didn't have time to peel his own banana but he still mustered a very quick effort.



6. We ditched the modern game of "pass the parcel with a prize in every layer" and replaced it with seven different party games. Each game had one winner, and we had an awards ceremony at the end of the party with just one prize for each category, including the best dressed pizza, best decorated star, best banana picture, best smile, best dancing. Yes, I know I'm an old cheapskate, but we also had good old-fashioned fun such musical bumps, musical statues and musical chairs.

7. The prize for each child was 10 penny sweets in a paper bag, bought at the local sweet shop that morning, followed by a lap of honour at avoiding the plastic Haribo multipacks! Yes I know I can recycle them, but it was one less thing to worry about!

8. I also ditched the party bag in favour of a tube of Smarties, which Little J wanted to give as a thank you to each child. I'm not sure I should admit that they were the large Christmas stocking versions that retail at £1. In retrospect, the little ones would have been enough but the kids thought they were fab as well as the pottery star that they'd painted as a party activity.



9. And finally, the cake, a Doctor Who Tardis, in packaging that I can recycle. I know I could have opted for a home-baked one, but I need more practice. I've actually had six years of practice but both the birthday boy and I thought he could do with a break! There's only so much lemon drizzle a young boy can take.


10. And nobody noticed last year's candles!

And as we waved goodbye to all the very excited little children at the end of the party, tootling off with their little balloons, I realised there was very little mess.

I also realised that for a party it had been very cheap.

Party food £12.
Sweeties to decorate bananas: £1.50
Prizes (little sweetie bags): 70p
Pottery stars £3.50
Smarties £7
Balloons (already blown up at the party shop because I'm a lazy old hag) £1.75
Cake £8.69

Total £35.24

Well that's the cheapest party we've held in a long time! There was a time when I would have spent £35 on party bags alone! So that's not bad for 7 kids. If I'd made the cake and the pizzas, I could have saved even more!

So today, we're celebrating 7 years old and 1 day. As well as a slim bin at home, the only thing in other people's bins will be a Smartie lid and a balloon, unless of course they know about composting balloons.

So I think I need a nice cup of tea to celebrate, not forgetting a piece of party cake of course, before I head off to another party this afternoon.

Life's just one big social whirl!

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