Keepin’ it clean: Being green in the bathroom.

The bathroom is undoubtedly one of the most important rooms in the house. It is also a big source of our plastic waste. And have you even stopped to think what your products are made of and how they are made. Here in the green team we are going to show you some of our favourite products that are free from chemicals, reduce our waste and don’t test on our fluffy friends.

Hand soap

We all need to keep our hands clean, especially in the current climate of COVID-19. However, washing our hands doesn’t have to be bad for the environment. Solid soap bars are a great alternative and can be bought anywhere. In fact, it was only in the past 50 years or so that liquid soaps came into our shops. And if you are worried that solid soap is less hygienic, they have been proven to be as effective as liquid soaps, and bacteria does not travel between different people using the same bar.

Soap bars can be bought in most shops, and there are loads of options online. Be sure to check for ingredients like palm oil and testing practices to make sure you are buying cruelty free. Lush have loads of great options and brands like Alter Native that can be found in online shops. Want to shop local? Averil Mulligan’s “Wild About Soap” bars are divine and made using local (many grown by the lady herself) ingredients in County Down. You can find her on Etsy, or in local markets and fairs in and around Belfast.

Dental hygiene

Keeping our teeth clean is really important, and we should not risk our dental health while trying to be greener. Needing additional dental care would actually increase your impact, so keep brushing! There are a lot of options our there such as bamboo toothbrushes and toothpaste tablets which can help us reduce plastic waste. Bamboo toothbrushes are a great option, however the bristles can often be too soft so make sure you use one that suits you. If you want to try another option, Yaweco brushes are excellent. The handle is reusable and you just change the head, while this doesn’t eliminate waste, it drastically reduces it while ensuring you keep your teeth healthy. And if you use an electric toothbrush, you can buy recyclable heads from brands such as Live Coco. They recycle the heads themselves, so just send them back when you are done with them.

When it comes to toothpaste, there are loads of options too from traditional pastes to chewable tablets. Try to find a brand with fluoride which is important to prevent tooth decay, and be careful with products that us sodium bicarbonate which can be abrasive to teeth if over used. I use toothpaste tabs from Non Plastic Beach (a great online shop for loads of eco-friendly products) manufactured by DENTTABS.

Facial care and make-up

We all want to look after our skin and have a beautiful completion, and Lush is my go-to when it comes to skin care. They have everything from facial soap, scrubs, toners and moisturisers. All their products are cruelty free and natural, and if they do use plastic it is recycled. An added bonus, if you collect five of their black pots and return them you get a free fresh face mask. I also use Facetheory for their simple, vegan and cruelty free products which minimise plastic packaging. I love their affordable Jojoba or Rosehip oil for night-time body and face moisture.

Make up is another tricky area about trying to reduce your impact, and as much as I would like to not use is, I can’t help but reach for my foundation when getting ready. The website Peace with the Wild is a great place to start, with loads of make-up products to guide you on your way to being green. Such as the Vegan Mineral power which comes in a reusable metal tin.

Shower time

The shower is a sacred place and you might think there is no alternative that will live up to your favourite brand of shampoo or conditioner. Fear not! Solid bars have come to our rescue. Due to a surge in popularity, shampoo and conditioner bars are really easy to come across these days. You can find them online and in some shops, including my favourite – Lush. Because the Lush bars are packed full of natural ingredients, I don’t even need to use conditioner anymore. And if you can’t make the switch to solid, find brands that use recycled plastics, such as Lush. Or head down to Refill Quarter in East Belfast where you can refill your empty bottles, a great alternative if you love your liquids.

The same goes for body wash, solid soap is a great alternative or try refills. Love baths? Lush is renowned for their bath bombs and bubble bars filled with divine smells – great for you and the planet. You will always find a Sleepy bubble bar in my bathroom to relax after a stressful week.

Don’t get us wrong, it can seem like a daunting task to make all these changes. We hope we’ve shown you that if you want to go plastic and cruelty free you can. However, don’t be overwhelmed if it seems like too much. Even making one change makes a difference. Converting to solid hand soap could save approximately 10 bottles a year from going to landfill.

Suggested links:

Alter native https://www.suma.coop/alter-native-body-care/

Wild about soaps https://www.facebook.com/wildaboutsoaps

Yaweco at Natural Collection https://www.naturalcollection.com/shop/yaweco/

Non Plastic Beach https://nonplasticbeach.com/

Lush https://uk.lush.com/

Facetheory https://www.facetheory.com/

Refill Quarter, Belfast https://refillquarter.com/

Is there anything not on the list? Comment below with your suggestions and top tips for been green in the bathroom.

LEADING THE WAY IN SUSTAINABILITY- THE QUB ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME

Queen’s Environmental Leadership Programme is a Route A Degree Plus option for environmental volunteers at Queen’s. By taking part, you gain a wide range of transferable skills that are useful not only for becoming an environmental advocate, but also in the big bad world of employment. I thought I’d take this opportunity of writing for the blog to share my experience and hopefully encourage others to become future Leaders.

There are 3 key components of the programme. Workshops, which equip you with technical, congitive and communication skills.

Here’s me very casually participating in a workshop….

Volunteering, including time spent with environmental charities and helping Queen’s staff with projects and events like the Bio Green Team’s Waste Free Coffee Morning



or the Big Autumn/Spring Clean Up.

That’s me on the right!

Finally, Leaders are encouraged to create and develop a project of their own. Fellow Bio Green Team Member and Environmental Leader Shannon McLaughlin and I organised a Climate Change Conference to showcase the work being done at Queen’s and throughout Northern Ireland to tackle climate change and promote sustainability.

The School of Biological Sciences Climate Change Conference has been postphoned to a later date (TBC) so check back here for an announcement in the future!

It’s been challenging at times- its no easy feat balancing volunteering and workshops with a PhD- but it’s definitely been rewarding. Becoming an Environmental Leader has given me the opportunity to actually make a difference, not only within Queen’s but within the wider community.

For anyone thinking of taking part in the programme, I’d say go for it! The programme is perfect for anyone who is passionate about the environment or has an interest in environmental volunteering no matter your background or skillset and I highly recommend taking part. If you’re interested in taking part you can find more information here:

https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/EstatesDirectorate/Services/SustainabilityatQueens/

Or contact our Environmental Officer, Rachel at: carbonmanagement@qub.ac.uk or rachel.vaughan@qub.ac.uk

Worm farm on the farm

In light of the coronavirus lockdown, the SBIO worms have come west to sunny Fivemiletown, country Tyrone, and currently reside at my farm. The worms look to be fat and happy, especially with the warmer weather, they are making fast work of the food scraps they have been getting! They love to snack on carrot, apple and potato scraps 😋

Just look at how big they are next to this ‘real’ life sized chicken 🐓

*The term real is subjective

On a side note, from the apple cores, the worms were fed, lots of seeds have now sprouted too. I plan to replant these at a later date and who knows maybe we will have apple trees in the future!

Excitingly lots of eggs are also appearing and more worms on are on the way! Just look how many there are!

Things should only improve during their stay here at the farm, however I’m getting suspicious of how the guard rooster is looking at the worm farm….

Myself and the worm farm guard

DIY Plant Pots

The DIY plant pots are made out of recycled materials to reduce the amount of waste heading to landfill and reduce the amount of new plastics that we need to buy, even if they can be recycled.

Cutting up the empty bottle of your favourite drink into two halves can provide a mini-greenhouse effect to trap heat and help your plants grow to their full potential. We may not be able to go out into nature at this time but we can bring it to us ❀đŸŒčđŸŒ»đŸŒŒđŸŒ·đŸŒș.

Lot of items in your household can be transformed into plant pots, such a lunch boxes, yogurt pots, biscuit tubs and glass jars. This may also give new life to all those pasta sauce jars we have stacked up! 🍝

Making your own DIY plant pots is also a fun activity than can be done with all the family. It may also be a perfect distraction or just something to keep you occupied, especially during times like these.

So get your creativity flowing and your green thumbs out! Tweet how you get on @ https://twitter.com/BioGreenTeamQUB

Climate Change Learning Centre

Find us @ https://edpuzzle.com/open/bapanot

As you probably know Tanisha Waring and I had organised a conference dedicated to Climate Change, to be held on Thursday 19th March 2020. However, due to the outbreak of Covid-19, we took the decision to reschedule this event for next term.

In the meantime and given that the University isn’t conducting face-to-face lectures or any type of teaching, the Bio Green Team at the School of Biological Sciences will host a series of bi-weekly videos and quizzes that will run for the next 12 weeks to outline and encourage climate action, despite the current situation we are facing. 

I hope these videos (not created by me, or the school, but are hosted on a virtual teaching platform) will help us here at the School of Biological Sciences to continue our work to promote sustainability and change at Queen’s University Belfast.

A new session will be released every Tuesday and Friday, with the first video on Friday 20th March and the last on Tuesday 2nd June!

Stay safe everyone and look after each other.

You don’t need space to have a garden

Students on the second floor of the QUB School of Biological Sciences Building have been reusing plastic containers and coffee cups to make planters to grow chillies! From plastic bottles, sweet containers to foil trays, we use it all.

It all started from a chilli plant which grew 3 chillies; one was eaten and two had their chilli seeds removed to make more chilli plants. Chilli seeds were placed into a used muffin container (below) to build a DIY greenhouse to allow germination of the seeds and after a few weeks, we had lift off!

Stay tuned, other plants are on the way! Pepper seeds have been quietly germinating in an old lunch box! Watch this space…

Worms go Bananas!

Worms go bananas for bananas!

The worms at the School of Biological Sciences have been reported to be going bananas for bananas. They love the stuff! One bystander, witnessed a clew of worms attempting to conspire to rob the school of all worms on the premises. The attempted robbery was foiled when, after extensive negotiations, the Bio Green Team delivered bananas to feed the mass of hungry worms.

Be on high alert when consuming bananas near the worms and report any suspicious activity to the Bio Green Team! For a list of delicious worm food, see the list below and be careful of what you eat, for you never know when a worm is lurking….

Source: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/30680841193169802/?lp=true

***This is a fictional writing piece***

***Worms have not committed any crimes and are not dangerous***

Worms: One of your 5 a day….

No, worms don’t count towards your 5 a day (so please don’t eat them) but here are 5 cool facts!

  1. The Latin name for the Tiger Worm is Eisenia fetida but may also be called red wigglers!
  2. There are 28 native UK worm species
  3. They love to eat your food waste, including: fruits, vegetables, bread, cakes and egg shells
  4. Tiger worms live 6-24 months
  5. Worm casts (poo) are rich in calcium, which is important for nitrogen absorption in the soil
Worms in the School of Biological Sciences Wormery, December 2019

Feed the Worms, Save the Planet

We would like to welcome the newest members of the BioGreen Team to the School of Biological Sciences: The Tiger Worms!

15 tonnes of food as wasted annually in the UK. Most will end up in landfill, producing methane, which is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Food waste has been a key point of concern throughout the school and consequently, this academic year, reducing food waste will be a key focus of our green campaign.

The green impact team obtained funding from the school of biological sciences to install a wormery that would enable the school to reduce food waste while also creating compost and organic fertiliser that can be used for the SBIO garden and the Elms garden project. Tiger worms were chosen specifically for their appetite and reproductive properties.

A food collection bin was put in place on the 2nd floor of the School of Biological Sciences to trial the wormery.

So far the worms are enjoying their new home, especially all the food they get to eat their way through.

Stay tuned for more updates on our worms and don’t forget to keep it green!

We are the QUB BioGreen Team!

You’ve found the QUB BioGreen Team blog, nice one.

We aim to empower staff and students within the School of Biological Sciences (and beyond) to reduce their environmental impact by encouraging, rewarding and celebrating practical environmental actions and improvements.

This blog is dedicated to highlighting initiatives occurring throughout the school that aim to promote sustainability, including; social, environmental and economic.

Follow us on twitter @BioGreenTeamQUB or Email at smclaughlin44@qub.ac.uk or twaring01@qub.ac.uk

Thanks for stopping by and we hope to see you again!