Choose to ReUse
The YMCA Thames Gateway in Romford hosted Havering Changing’s Choose to Reuse on September 11th. They invited the public and residents of the YMCA to get involved in creative activities designed to help us be more mindful about reducing our waste, and some tips and ideas on how to reuse or recycle it instead.
Here’s some of the great ideas and inspiration we discovered!
Do you have a jacket you don’t wear because the sleeves are too short?
Patricia Murphy on the Make Do & Mend stall showed how us how easy it is to add cuffs to sleeves to make them longer and to give a jacket (or shirt) a new lease of life.
Patricia demonstrated what and where to measure, how much to cut and how to stitch the new cuffs to create sleeves that are tailored to your arm length. A little bit of time and effort can save you from sending a piece of clothing to landfill and allows you to wear and be confident in your upcycled clothing.
Patricia was joined by June Fitzgerald who gave tutorials on knitting and crocheting simple pieces for those who wanted to learn.
Don’t Waste your Veggies make a Pizza instead!
Mark Borrell and Debbie Lee from love food hate waste taught participants how to work up crispy pizza dough from scratch, the best and quickest way to chop up veggies and make a simple sauce and how to put it all together to make a delicious and nutritional meal – all the while saving the vegetables from going to waste!
Here is the super simple recipe so you can make your own Dough: https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipe/classic-pizza
One participant said: “This was a super fun, quick and tasty way to get the vegetables in my diet, I will be doing this at home.”
Don’t let your cardboard go to waste!
Instead of letting your used cardboard go straight to recycling,reuse it by making models, a great weekend activity to get your creativity flowing! Tim Neath’s workshops gave great tips for assembling a model such as :
Use masking tape to hold the model together
Use a glue gun to fix the sides together
Remove the masking tape then add more glue
You can never have enough glue!
A great skincare routine doesn’t have to come with a huge price tag!
Abiola demonstrated how effective ingredients found in the kitchen can work to exfoliate, cleanse or moisturise your skin and even treat some conditions.
We learnt some simple concoctions you can make from household ingredients including:
• Sugar and lemon mixed is a great skin exfoliator. Lemon juice has antibacterial properties cleansing your skin and removing bacteria. The grains of sugar will gently remove any built-up skin or debris leaving your skin feeling soft and smooth.
• For an anti-inflammatory moisturising cream use turmeric, fresh ginger with coconut oil, and add a splash of honey to the mix - honey helps your sin absorb moisture. One participant tried this on her hands where she suffers from arthritis and reported that she noticed an easing in the pain the next day.
These homemade skin products can save you from buying overpriced and un environmentally friendly produced skincare products while giving you the same effects.
The Choose to ReUse event turned into a really sociable day, a great way to meet new people, learn new skills and be more mindful of the waste we create!
