Resources
for
Helping
the
Environment

For sustainable living, consider ways to  reduce, reuse, recycle. Here are local resources for doing that.

REDUCE - LOCAL REFILLERIES

REUSE - LOCAL RESOURCES FOR REPAIRING AND REUSING

RECYCLE - LOCAL RECYCLING POINTS

  • Plastic milk bottle tops - recycling bin at church
  • Aluminium foil - recycling bin at church
  • Tetrapak - Fleming Avenue, North Baddesley, SO52 9EP
  • Shoes - French & Sons, Bedford Place, Southampton
  • Fabrics - H&M take fabrics even with holes in them (they give you a £5 voucher when you spend £25)
  • Preloved clothes - John Lewis, West Quay, Southampton (bring in 5 items and get £5 off when you spend £20 on fashion or homeware)
  • Electrical items - Currys, West Quay Retail park, Southampton or  John Lewis, West Quay, Southampton
  • Computers, hard drives, monitors etc. -Jamie’s Computers (https://jamies.org.uk/) Mount Pleasant Industrial Estate, Southampton

OTHER LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES

Transition Southampton (https://transitionsouthampton.org/) has lots of links to resources for sustainable living

REDUCING YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINTs

Carbon calculator (https://carbon-calculator.climatehero.me/) is a good local resource to identify where to make changes to reduce your carbon footprint

VEGAN RECIPES 

 Apricot and cashew nut korma (serves 2 big people and 2 little people) (by Aileen)

Ingredients:

200 grams dried apricots

200 grams cashew nuts

400g can of chick peas (drained and rinsed)

1 cup of peas (cooked) or spinach

400g(ish) Jar of Korma sauce of your choice

Method: Mix everything together and zap it in the microwave for 2 minutes and serve with poppadums, nan bread of your choice or rice.

 Srilankan coconut Dahl (by Anna)

https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/recipe/sri-lankan-coconut-dhal

 Vegan pie (by Anna)

https://holycowvegan.net/vegan-pot-pie/#recipe

 Cauldron tofu recipes (by Anna)

https://www.cauldronfoods.co.uk/recipes/tofu

Our faves so far are the tofu and mushroom pie and the korma recipe, but there are loads to try.

Roasted Veggie Rice (by Jo)

Ingredients:

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

½ butternut squash

1 red onion

1 courgette

1 aubergine 

½ jar of sun-dried tomatoes plus oil

Optional - add seeds or nuts e.g. pumpkin seeds/pine nuts

400g rice

 Method: Chop all veg into small chunks and lay out on roasting dish. Coat in oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes. Roast at 180 degrees for 45-60 minutes. After 30mins add seeds/nuts to vegetables. Meanwhile boil rice. When everything is cooked, mix up together and serve.

 Beany mexican wraps with fresh guacamole (by Jo)

Ingredients:

1 can mixed beans in chilli sauce

½ can chopped tomatoes

1 onion

2 peppers

6 tortilla wraps

Guacamole:

2 avocados

3 fresh tomatoes

1tbsp olive oil

Salt & pepper

1tbsp lime/lemon juice

Fresh coriander leaf

Nachos and salad to serve

 Method: Saute onions and peppers in a pan. When softened, add beans and chopped tomatoes, and heat through. Meanwhile mash avocado and add diced fresh tomatoes. Mix in oil, lime/lemon juice, salt and pepper to make your guacamole. Warm tortilla wraps, and fill with beany mix. Serve with the guacamole, nachos and salad 

 Ikea Lattlagat plant balls with mashed potato, brocolli and sauce (by Jean)

(ready meals such as these are good value for anyone who is busy or for non-meat-eaters in a family of meat eaters)

https://www.ikea.com/es/en/p/lattlagat-plant-balls-with-mashed-potatoes-ready-meal-frozen-50506177/

Three Risottos (serves 4) (by Rachel)

Basic recipe:

Olive oil

1 onion

Garlic clove

300g risotto rice

150ml white wine

1.1l vegetable stock

 Gently soften the onion and garlic in a good glug of olive oil.
Add the risotto rice and stir for a minute to make sure the grains are all coated with oil.
Add the white wine and simmer until absorbed.
Add the stock a ladle-full at a time, stirring, until it is absorbed (this can take about 20 minutes or so).  The professionals keep their stock warm in a pan and stir constantly to make it extra creamy.  I usually just make the stock in two 550ml batches in a measuring jug.
Season to taste.
Serve on its own, or with salad and/or garlic bread (look for the olive oil type to keep it vegan)

Option 1: Creamy beetroot

Bunch of raw beetroot, peeled and cut into wedges

Rocket or watercress

Pine nuts

Optional vegan feta or hard goats’ cheese (if veggie)

Toss the beetroot in olive oil and roast at 180 (160 fan)/gas 4 for about 50 minutes to an hour until soft.  Chop half and blitz the other half in a blender (if you have one – if not just chop it all).  Add to the risotto at the end.  Top with cubes of vegan/goats’ cheese (if using), rocket/watercress and pine nuts.

 Option 2: Butternut and fresh greens

1 butternut squash, cut into 1-2cm cubes

Frozen peas

Frozen chopped spinach

Parsley, chopped

Juice of ½ lemon

Asparagus tips, blanched

Optional vegan parmesan (or normal, if veggie)

Toss the cubed butternut squash in olive oil and roast – depending on the size of cubes gas mark 5 for 30-35 minutes should do it

Stir frozen peas and spinach to risotto at the end of cooking until thawed and dispersed.  Then add the butternut, parsley and lemon juice and remove from heat.  Top with blanched asparagus tips.  Top with vegan/veggie parmesan, if using.

 Option 3 – mushroom (veggie)

This one is a veggie rather than a vegan recipe as it incorporates quite a lot of parmesan, and while vegan substitutes are good for adding a bit of flavour as a topping I don’t find they melt in well.

Ingredients:

10g porcini mushrooms

250g chestnut mushrooms

1tsp finely chopped rosemary

50-90g grated parmesan

Rocket

Before starting your risotto, soak the porcini mushrooms in 150ml of water for about 10 mins.  After soaking, add the soaking liquid after step 3 and chop the porcini mushrooms.

While the risotto is cooking, slice and pan fry the mushrooms. Add them at the end of cooking along with the chopped porcinis, rosemary and parmesan. Top with a handful of rocket to serve and extra parmesan if you like.

 MEAT AND DAIRY SUBSTITUTIONS (by Anna)

 Milk: there are plenty of milk alternatives which you can try and can be used as straight swaps for drinking or use in cooking.  For example oat, coconut, hazelnut, soya, almond, pea.

For workplace use you can use powdered oat milk to add to your hot beverage of choice.

 Butter: stork blocks can be used as a straight swap for block butter

 Margarine: flora varieties are 100% dairy free and the “buttery” one is very luxurious!

 Eggs: can be a little more complicated depending on what you want, but there is a straightforward powder substitute you can use in baking - egg replacement powder in the baking aisle.

Otherwise for specific egg dishes there are recipes online e.g. scrambled tofu (above)

 Cream: you can get vegan single cream and clotted cream to substitute directly

 Ice cream: there are vegan ice creams available, or go for sorbet

 Chocolate / sweets / biscuits: there are lots of yummy vegan chocolate brands usually in the “free from aisle”. Sweets there are some vegan brands, but worth checking the packets as some others are accidentally vegan (ie no gelatin or dairy). Biscuits again check the labels as some are accidentally vegan (I was very happy to discover bourbons in this category!).

 Cheese: vegan cheese is a bit variable and it is about finding a brand you like. Also be aware this isn't a good source of protein like dairy cheese.

I love violife cream cheese and “fauxmargerie” do a lovely cream blue “cheese”. For cheddar lots of options by violife or cathedral city depending how mild or strong you like it.

 Honey: easy swaps include agave syrup or maple syrup

 Meat: plenty of options here, including things trying to be like meat or lovely alternative vegan recipes like bean burgers of various kinds.

Even small petrol station supermarkets will have something, but you can buy vegan mince, burgers, sausages, ham, bacon to substitute for the real thing. Some substitutions are better than others and different brands may suit different people so worth trying your options. For example I was never very impressed with any vegan “bacon” until I tried “this isn't bacon” brand. If there is a particular form of meat you love then try the different options available.

 There are plenty of vegan recipes available online without any meat substitutes using whole plant based ingredients which are yummy and not difficult to make!

 A word about protein - on a full vegan diet you do need to think about this.  A lot of the substitutes for meats will have protein in them. Otherwise consider quinoa (the only plant based whole protein) or pair lentil dishes with rice to get all your protein elements.