23 Oct 2024
What do we like most about this month? Autumn colours, misty mornings, evenings by the fire… sadly we can’t forget the rain. October and November bring on average 16 days of rain or snow according to the Met Office, so there’s a fair chance it’s raining right now! In which case, as long as you haven’t got the laundry out on the line - why not grab a cuppa and settle down for some smoltalk? We’ve got techno hacks, recycling, unmade beds and even some politics! What more do you need?
October saw UK Recycle Week - a campaign that strengthens the will of businesses, governments and the general public to recycle more of the right things, more often.
Over 75% of us believe recycling is important,¹ BUT what keeps us from doing more is a lack of recycling services and the confidence to know what can be recycled, where.
So how about these 7 easy tips to help you recycle right!
- No plastic bags in your home recycling. They’re the number one contaminant; getting caught in machinery, shutting down equipment and causing havoc. Take them to designated recycling points such as your local supermarket instead.
- Small items mean big problems. Anything smaller than a credit card ie: straws, cutlery or paperclips are too small to be sorted and can jam recycling equipment. Plastic bottle caps are ok as long as they are firmly attached back onto plastic bottles.
- Clean and dry your recycling. Dirty items contaminate entire loads - including all the clean stuff your neighbours put out. If your recycling attracts flies or mice - it’s too dirty. Rinse and dry your items first. This one step could save tons of recyclables going to landfill.
- Know your plastics. The higher the number in the little triangle on your plastic packaging - the less recyclable it is. And remember, thin plastic film, crisp or cereal plastic that tears easily can’t be recycled from home. Search for your local supermarket recycling point instead.
- Stop wish cycling. This is when we optimistically put non-recyclable items out hoping for the best. In reality all we do is contaminate whole loads of otherwise recyclable items.
- Teach yourself and others. We can’t all be recycling experts but we can learn the basics and pass our knowledge on to others.
- Reduce and reuse before you recycle. Recycling is crucial but whenever we can - let’s reduce our consumption and reuse items instead! Swap to smol refillable products, avoid buying items wrapped in plastic and always remember your reusable bags when you’re out shopping.
Did you know your phone camera can help with laundry day? Okay, we’re not saying it’s going to wash, fold and put away… BUT it CAN help clear up any laundry confusion:
Here’s how:
- snap a clear photo of your garment label
- find the image in your camera roll
- click the info icon
Just like that, all the washing instructions you need will pop right up!
Try it for yourself! It’s a game changer and something we’re passing along to all who will listen!
Say hello to the wonderful Corrina, our senior designer because she’s putting herself under the smol spotlight for this smoltalk. It’s super lucky that she works for smol because our stain gel keeps coming to her rescue… so let’s find out why below.
can you give a brief description of your job:
I work in the creative team on all things design! Across print, packaging, social and on site.
what’s your favourite smol product and why?
I will never stop raving about Stain Gel, it has saved me in so many situations (my clothes like my food as much as I do). I even use it on my carpet and furniture, it really is a wonder product!
what’s the best bit about your job and working for smol?
I love working on campaign launches - bringing a product to life is so much fun and I love collaborating with different teams and touch points. Then of course there’s team smol itself - some of the kindest, most welcoming people I have ever worked with who continue to motivate and inspire me everyday.
what’s a handy eco-friendly tip you can share for household cleaning?
I am a serial accidental pan burner so I love to pop a smol dishwasher tablet in to soak with some hot water - give it an hour and then the burnt bits scrub right off.
it’s the weekend... where will we find you and what are you doing?
Probably taking my rescue dog Basil for a walk on the beach - or if I’m feeling extra crazy I’ll be at a bottomless brunch!
Did you know that UK teachers fork out £40 million from their own pockets every year just to keep the kids in their classrooms clean?
This shocking fact prompted us to join forces with The Hygiene Bank charity and teachers from around the UK to challenge our MPs to clean up child hygiene poverty. Which led us all the way to Westminster.
It was a great success (as we think our photos prove) and we delivered our message to Liz Kendall MP and Bridget Phillipson MP as part of the Child Poverty Taskforce.
What’s more, we’ve invited Liz Kendall to join us in a school situated in her very own constituency (Leicester West) where we have set up one of our very own 100 Suds in Schools sites with a free-to-use mini laundrette for children that are enduring hygiene poverty.
We believe the government’s Child Poverty Taskforce MUST agree that any child poverty strategy is INCOMPLETE without plans to clean up child hygiene poverty.
We will keep you posted but in the meantime if you’d like to learn more you can head to our Clean Up Child Poverty page right here.
Recent YouGov² research shows most of us wash our bedding once a fortnight because you can’t beat the feeling of clean sheets against your skin. But what if we could keep our beds cleaner for longer without doing any laundry?
Well, we can! We just need to STOP making the bed. That’s right. Great news for the messy or time-poor because it turns out we should be airing our beds daily and that means leaving it unmade.
With most of us shedding 1.5g of dead skin each day; much of it ends up in our bed, making the perfect midnight snack for dust mites. Combine this with the warmth we bring to our bed and it’s no wonder the average mattress can contain up to 10 million dust mites³.
BUT simply airing our beds each morning cools things down and the dust mites don’t like that!
So why not try these 3 smol steps to a more hygienic bed:
- Hang your duvet up. Yep, take it right off the bed and hoist it over the bedroom door. If it’s sunny outside - you could even pop it over the washing line. Dust mites hate natural light and fresh air.
- Shake your pillows to remove any dust. This will also make them nice and plump in time for bed.
- Make the bed after an hour or two of airing. This stage is optional! If you’ve been out at work all day no worries. Those dust mites have had all day to think twice about living in your bed, so when you grab your duvet at bedtime you’ll hopefully find things are a lot less crowded.
Now’s the time to take the floor into your own hands; with a refillable cleaner that gives gleaming results to match the big brands. No more single-use plastic bottles or the polluting transport of water.
Here’s what we think you’ll love:
- gleaming floors to match the big brands
- zingy bergamot & fresh green tea
- super for spray mops (and any other mop)
- pet-safe floors for paws!
- cuts carbon, vegan & cruelty-free
Grab your floor cleaner starter kit today and you too can join the refill revolution.
Remember to check out our smol socials, on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok; you can even join our private community group on Facebook: smol hacks tips and tricks. It’s the easiest way to keep up to speed with all things smol and we LOVE hearing from you there. You can also drop us a line with any questions at any time on help@smolproducts.com and if you’ve got some good ideas for our next smoltalk topics then we’re all ears…
1 World Economic Forum, SAP and Qualtrics 2021