Zero Waste Guide

PLASTIC WRAP

Plastic wrap, more like GLAD I got rid of that! Plastic wrap is a killer for the ocean, with many fish suffocating and choking on this plastic. There’s more microplastic in the ocean than there are stars in the Milky Way, hence why food wraps are another super smart invention!

Our Plastic Free Recommendation:

Little Mashies Reusable Stretch Food Wraps! Made from food grade silicone it can be easily stretched over bowls, cups and plates to keep food fresh. It’s designed to go on clean, dry surfaces but we have even used it on produce (chopped pumpkin and chopped watermelon). The set of 3 wraps (15cm, 20cm & 25cm) are so great to have in the kitchen you will be buying multiple sets and telling all your friends!

Little Mashies Reusable Stretch Food Wraps

 

REUSABLE STRAWS

There’s nothing more cringeworthy than getting your drink back with a gross plastic turtle killing straw! Recently an Australian diver, Kasey Turner, went snorkelling in Manly beach and found a whopping 319 straws after just 20 minutes in the water. 24 hours later, she found 294 more straws in the exact same spot.

Australia is becoming more and more conscious about the plastic straws, but it’s still not enough - considering they take 200 years to decompose and like all other single use plastic they never actually ever break down!

Our Plastic Free Recommendation:

There’s a couple of ones out there, so get a feel for what one you like best! There’s metal straws, glass straws, bamboo straws, and our favourite, the silicone straw!

Little Mashies silicone straws

The Little Mashies silicone version gives you the same feeling as those nasty plastic ones we’re used to ie they aren’t hard like stainless steel, glass and bamboo. It comes with a straw cleaner/brush and IS BPA free, Phthalate free and PVC free. They can be thrown in your handbag for cafe adventures, picnics and drinks on the go with no plastic stress!

https://littlemashies.com/products/reusable-silicone-straw-set

 

COMPOST

When you discard food scraps into landfill they aren't able to properly break down.

Which means they rot and produce tonnes of Methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas which is 28 x more potent than carbon dioxide.

Around 3% of Australia's total greenhouse emissions are caused by rotting food waste. 3% doesn't sound like much but it's the same amount as Australia's aviation industry, so it is actually quite big! And it's something each household can easily fix.

Our Plastic Free Recommendation: Create your own compost bin

Buy a big compost bin and lay some bricks inside it. Then place some planks of wood and cover with straw, hay, shredded cardboard or paper (these are all sources of carbon). Now that the first layer is down you can start using it. Pop food scraps and plant material in it and then cover that with another layer of carbon (so shredded paper, cardboard, hay, straw, wood shavings etc). Each time you add food scraps to the compost heap you need to add a layer of carbon on top. Things that can go in the compost include things that will be easy for worms to eat with their little mouths and not too strong in flavour. For example fruit and vegetable scraps are good but hard things like avocado seeds are a bit tough for the worms. Egg shells, coffee, tea, tissues, paper, hair, natural fibres, grass clippings are all fine. Large amounts of citrus and garlic can be a bit strong for the worms so we prefer to keep those separate. Meat and bones aren't a good idea because it may attract animals. You could bury those somewhere separate.

 

GROW YOUR OWN FOOD

It’s the most eco friendly and trustworthy way! There’s nothing more exciting than when the first little tomato spurts out, and the kids love it too! Garden days with the kids are very rewarding (plus they also are more excited to eat their veggies which is a bonus :P)

Little Mashies organic cotton bags

Food travels roughly 2500km before it even reaches you, so not only are you saving carbon footprint, you also avoid supporting pollutive industries or consuming pesticides that are used on conventionally grown crops.

The best ones we love grow are tomato, cucumber, zucchini, kale, strawberries, blackberries, spinach, and then cooking becomes so easy! From kale chips to amazing berry smoothies to put in your Little Mashies, you’ll have an endless amount of options!

Our Plastic Free Recommendation:

To get your start in the garden here’s some helpful tips from Gardeners.com https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/how-to-start-seeds/5062.html

 

REMOVE THOSE NASTY MICROFIBRES IN YOUR LAUNDRY

It’s crazy how many people don’t realise all the microfibres released just from washing! To be fair though, they can’t be seen to the human eye but are released down the drains of our washing machines into our waterways every time we wash our clothes. There’s over 5.25 TRILLION micro and macro plastics floating and polluting our oceans, and this nifty catcher helps every bit!

Our Plastic Free Recommendation:

Inspired by ocean coral and made from 100% recycled plastic, the Cora Ball catches a third of microfibers per laundry load and you just chuck it into the machine and it does its thing! Check out here https://coraball.com/

Another tool is the ‘Lint LUV-R,’ which gets installed onto the taps of your washing machine but basically does the same thing! Here’s where to grab the kit http://www.environmentalenhancements.com/

 

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE DIGITAL AGE

There’s plenty of media out there that you can download instead of a hard copy these days. Think Playstation games, CD’s & DVD’s, they all add up with their plastics and paper, choose downloading instead!

Our Plastic Free Recommendation:

It takes an average of 5 liters of water to produce one piece of A4 paper, so sign up to use the cloud on your phone or computer instead of writing on paper. You can get really cheap deals on online storage platforms these days, with google drive charging $24 a year for all of their storage options (docs, sheets, gmail, etc)

 

GET SOME APPS FOR YOUR PHONE

There’s a bunch of helpful apps to help you be more environmentally sustainable, here is a list of our favourites:

Farmstand helps find local farmers’ markets in your area, including market open times and directions.

JouleBug is for the competitive ones out there, this app makes sustainable living a game, where you collect points based on how many environmentally friendly tasks you’ve finished. You can even enter national competitions and battle it out with people all over the country.

Sustain Me helps find you recycling solutions based on your geographical location.

ThredUP is basically an online thrift shop where you can also send them the clothes you don’t wear anymore and receive store credit or cash in exchange

 

A SEARCH ENGINE THAT PLANTS TREES FOR YOU??!

You know when you google “what do dogs dream of” and “why is my leg twitching, am I dying?” What if i told you that if you use Ecosia, you could be planting a tree each second you use it?!

They use the profits to plant trees and have so far planted over 42 million trees where they are needed most! It’s free to join so scrap the google bookmark and replace it with Ecosia and then happy virtual planting!

 

SAY NO TO JUNK MAIL

Junk mail kills 2.6 million trees a year and over, not too mention all the burning gas to deliver those pesky catalogues! How often do you actually look at your junk mail? 3 seconds to aim your throw into the bin? If you do love a good bargain, sign up and get them delivered to your digital mailbox instead.

Our Plastic Free Recommendation:

A ‘No Junk Mail’ sign on the letterbox also helps avoid that extra unnecessary waste, but our FAVOURITE THING EVER IS THE PAPERKARMA APP! They take care of all the annoying business of having to call the company to unsubscribe to the junk mail. Simply scan the junk mail on the app and they take care of the rest. Check it out here www.paperkarma.com

 

SHOP LITTLE MASHIES

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BABY feeding FAQS

Simply add it to the cart, pop in the coupon code, and it will remove 100% of the price.

At 6 mths of age you can introduce a range of puree's to your baby (see our baby food recipe book and use coupon code RECIPE to remove 100% of the price at the checkout).

For baby led weaning you skip the baby food puree altogether and start with large (2 finger sized) pieces of the food. We would of course do this on our Little Mashies sucky platter! So from 6-9mths of age in baby led weaning foods should be the size of about 2 fingers so that the baby can pick it up and self feed. They also need to be well cooked so they are soft, and with no loose pieces (for example tiny florets that can break off on broccoli, or a slice of apple that's so thin it can break when gnawed on).

From around 9mths with baby led weaning you chop the food very small (to avoid choking). I would suggest 2-4 grains of rice in size. It's a small piece so that if they swallow it whole they won't choke. In traditional baby food recipes this is the stage where we mash food so it has a little texture.

At around 12mths of age in baby led weaning the food goes up to bite sizes (and this is the same in non baby led weaning kids), about fingernail sized pieces. Of course some babies will be on a different timeline depending on whether they have heaps or a few teeth.

Every baby is different and you just have to watch carefully and get to know how your baby is with food. Never leave them alone whilst eating, and I also recommend sitting them at a table with you for all meals if you can. It helps set the expectation for later in life and you can be a role model for how to eat well. Around 18mths you can offer your little one larger serves again (so a whole apple for example) so that they can learn to take smaller bites themselves, to chew, and to swallow.

It is widely recognised that babies should start solids around 6 months of age. At this time reusable baby food pouches can be really convenient to take your homemade healthy puree with you when you are out and about. Spoon attachments are available so you can feed your baby directly from the pouch from 6 months old. Without a spoon attachment babies usually start feeding themselves pouched food around 8 months old. This is when they hit their independant phase and what to do everything themselves. A pouch is a lot cleaner than a bowl and spoon in these circumstances. We do however advise that you give your baby a variety of meals, not just ones that are in a refillable pouch.

Refilling your reusable yoghurt pouches is easy! Simply turn the reusable food pouch upside down and open the wide double ziplock at the bottom of the pouch. Once the zipper is open you can spoon yoghurt into the pouch or pour it in (out of a jug or bottle).

If you are concerned about making a mess you can use a kitchen funnel so that all of the yoghurt stays away from the yoghurt pouch zipper.

Another idea that we commonly do at home when filming videos (but it would also be useful when holding a baby in one arm), anyway.. the idea is that you put the pouch upside down in a glass (with the lid on), open the ziplock and the glass acts like a second hand, holding the pouch still whilst you spoon the yoghurt in. This is what I do when I only have one hand to use for the refill!I also tend to refill my reusable yoghurt pouches in bulk. I'll buy a good quality yoghurt from Coles or Woolworths and will fill a whole 10pk of pouches in one go so they are all ready for snacks on the go.

My kids always want to eat when they are out and refilling the reusable pouches one at a time just doesn't work for us. The only time i do that actually is when I've pureed a meal that my toddler refused, put it in a reusable pouch, and given it to her again. Oh and the other time I do singles.. there are two actually. When we go for ice-cream (it is so much cleaner when in a pouch), and when I have leftover smoothie (again, it stops me getting smoothie all through my car, pram, or playroom).

Little Mashies refillable yoghurt pouches are compatible with pouch filling machines that are on the market. Our spout is universal so even though we don't think you need a filling machine, our reusable pouches will fit. All of our yoghurt and baby food pouches come with anti-choke lids as standard.

Cleaning reusable baby food pouches is easy! We have designed Little Mashies refillable yoghurt pouches without corners so there are no places for food to get stuck (we would hate your little one to get sick from old food stuck in corners)!

When you open the ziplock you can see all the way through the pouch to ensure it is clean. If you have a dishwasher you can clean the pouch using that, otherwise you can wash your reusable baby food pouches by hand and this takes around 20 seconds. Little Mashies squeeze pouches are BPA Free and are safe to wash with warm water.

If you need some meal ideas for your refillable pouch you can find home made yoghurt here, baby food recipes here, and pouch smoothie recipes here.

Now, to clean your Little Mashies food pouches by hand simply open up the ziplock at the bottom and take off the cap. Run warm water through the open ziplock with the baby pouch facing downward so the water comes out of the spout and into the sink. The shape of Little Mashies reusable pouches acts like a funnel, pushing out food and making the pouch very easy to clean.

To start washing your reusable pouch, squirt some dishwashing liquid into the refillable pouch, then use a baby bottle brush to clean the inside walls (just like a baby bottle). To clean the spout use a straw brush (like the ones we have here), and clean it in the same manner that you would clean the teat from a baby’s bottle. Give the reusable pouch a rinse and place it over a kitchen utensil in the drying rack to dry. If you don’t have time to dry it fully place it in the freezer until you are ready to use it again. Do not put wet reusable food pouches in dark cupboards or draws. They are very easy to dry if you have removed the cap, and placed something inside the zipper to keep the pouch open (we use a whisk, tongs or a spatula).

Note that if you continuously wash your pouches in the dishwasher the high temperature will make the zipper wear out more quickly. At home we wash our pouches mostly by hand because it is so quick and easy and then just use the dishwasher when we have had loads of kids over and served reusable yoghurt pouches or smoothies to them all.

Oh and while I remember if you use the code RECIPE at the checkout it will remove 100% off the price of the baby food recipe ebook so you can get some inspiration for your refillable pouches.

Some parents start introducing a sippy cup or straw cup to their babies around 6 mths of age. This can make it easier to transition from breastmilk or bottle feeding around 12 mths of age. Most paediatricians recommend babies 18 mths or older use an open sippy cup rather than a bottle, so anytime before then is fine. This is why we have a 4 in 1 sippy cup, so that you don't have to purchase seperate products as your baby moves through the stages of learning how to swallow and drink. To shop the Little Mashies silicone sippy cup, check out our baby feeding range here.

All of our baby food recipes are contained within our ebook. You can get a free download by using the coupon code RECIPE at the checkout. Simply add it to the cart, pop in the coupon code, and it will remove 100% of the price.