Good morning everyone!

Today, you have the utter joy of not having to listen to me! Today, the brilliant Joanne O’Connell is here to talk to you all about how to celebrate the release of her brand new book, Beauty and the Bin!

“Laurie’s home-made beauty recipes are no secret. The secret is that her eco-warrior family get their ingredients from the bin.
Laurie loves her family and she wants to join them in making the world a better place, one home-made bath bomb at a time. But right now, she doesn’t want to be fishing her food out the bin. She just wants to go for a hot chocolate with her friends after school and be a normal kid. So when a competition comes to Silverdale High looking for the next best ‘Business with a difference’, and the most popular girl in school, wants to team up to sell Laurie’s lotions and potions, she can hardly believe her luck. But can she find success and popularity without losing sight of her true self?”

***

My book, Beauty and the Bin, is about a girl called Laurie, who makes her own edible beauty products from everyday kitchen ingredients. She whips up lime and peppermint bath fizz, chocolate orange face masks and wild rose and strawberry moisturisers. What I loved about writing this, is how doable the recipes are. In fact, making skincare products at home is something I do myself. Laurie and her family have also got lots of other cool eco ideas. If you’d like to try some yourself, here are a few of my favourites…

Be a food waste warrior!

Around a third of the food produced worldwide is lost or wasted. This is having a significant impact on climate change. But we can all do our bit to cut waste. We can transform leftovers into tasty meals; use up what’s in our kitchen before we go shopping; store our food properly so it lasts longer (did you know you can freeze cheese and milk, for example?). And if there are foods that are past the edible stage – some dusty oats, for example or a banana too squashy for a smoothie, why not be like Laurie and make a face pack instead of throwing it away?

Grow your own food

In Beauty and the Bin, Laurie’s family live in a biodynamic growing farm. There’s camomile, lavender and roses growing on the bedroom walls, and a cherry tree behind the sofa. Most of us can’t go this far (though there are some incredible urban growing farms in real life!) but growing some herbs and leaves on your windowsill or in a pot outside helps us cut down on food waste – no more soggy lettuce going off in the fridge – and connects us to what we eat. You don’t need extra space for this – I once grew lots of cherry tomatoes in my bedroom!

Be fashion savvy

Laurie and her sister Fern love clothes and dressing up but they know fast fashion has a huge downside. It’s estimated that a £140 million worth of clothing goes into landfill each year. Instead of always buying new, why not try a fashion app (such as Depop or Vinted); swap clothes with friends; research ethical, eco brands, customise your clothes to give them a revamp, or have a go at making your own?

***

A massive thank you to Joanne for this brilliant blog post! I am always looking for ways to be better to the world! A massive thanks also to the brilliant Sabina at Pan Macmillan for inviting me to be part of this blog tour!

Why not check out the rest of the blog tour?

S x