5 things I no longer buy

Over the last year or so becoming a sustainable, environmentally-friendly business has been at the front of my mind. During the process of creating a show-stopping wedding cake there is so much packaging and consumables involved and I’ve tried to reduce this although it has been very difficult. Life during the CoVid19 outbreak has also made me think about living with less. So here are several ways that I have tried to run my business and my life with the environment in mind and several things I no longer buy...

Laundry detergent

Over a year ago I began to use the ecoegg Laundry Egg that I originally purchased from my local HomeSense store. The ecoegg replaces laundry detergent and fabric conditioner and contains no harmful chemicals, just natural minerals whilst also reducing single use packaging. The egg takes much less space in my cupboard than the large washing powder box and less money spent overall especially since this combines washing powder and fabric softener, about 10p per wash. It has been cleaning very effectively to the point that I have not noticed any difference between this product and the previous regular laundry detergent I used. A big sell is also the reduced water pollution created by synthetic chemicals found in washing powder and fabric softener. I chose the fresh linen fragrance and I have since purchased refill pellets. I also have the wool drier balls and sometimes add a few drops of essential oils to them to give my laundry a little fragrance.

Brillo Pads

Cleaning cake tins requires the use of a lot of elbow grease, washing up liquid and previously metal/plastic scouring pads that were regularly replaced once they became ineffective and messy. I have been using this inexpensive natural Muji Palmwire Scourer (£1.25) for over a year and it still has lots of life left in it as well as doing a great job cleaning my cake pans and dishes. I am still yet to find a great eco-friendly dish soap so if you have been using one that you recommend I’d love to know, comment below. I also use a dish cloths and tea towels in the kitchen that I regularly chuck in the washing machine, creating zero waste.

Chemical cleaning sprays

When I purchased my laundry pellet refills I also purchased several other items from ecoegg including these microfibre cloths that really do a great job of cleaning with just water. I use only tap water in a spray bottle and this is really effective in cleaning my mirrored wardrobes and other areas around my home. For tougher jobs, I recently invested in the eco-certified, toxic-free Koh Universal Cleaner - Home Starter Bundle Deal after watching my friend demonstrate how great it was on her oven. The product has no harsh chemical smell, in fact, there is no smell at all, it is actually just a solution of potassium mineral salts and purified water! The £19.98 bundle contains 4 litres of cleaner, 4 huge cleaning cloths and 4 cleaning sponges as well as a spray bottle and I got it within 24hrs of ordering it. The spray bottle doesn’t seem to use a lot of product so I feel that as well as being able to refill the bottle about 8 times with the 4l of product it will last quite a while and I will also phase out the use of other cleaning products around the house. Get £5 Off

Cling Film

To replace the amount of cling film I use, I have replaced this with a set of airtight silicone lids which are easily washed and reused and can be stretched to use on different sized containers. It also fits over the top of my Kenwood kMix mixing bowl, great for proving bread dough, food prep or covering over buttercream in between filling and covering cakes.

Dirty Energy

I currently have my electricity supplied by Bulb which is 100% renewable electricity from solar, wind and hydro which makes me happy. Their gas supply is also 100% carbon neutral. The cost per month is less than my previous suppliers and they only have one tariff which makes their services simple to use and understand when you get your monthly bill. You can try it yourself and receive up to £50 if you switch using this referral link: Refer a Friend.