mumarandom

Green clean

2010-07-28T22:34:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm back to cleaning the house myself again (no more cleaning lady - sniff) I've been experimenting with some homemade cleaning remedies. We had previously been using 'eco friendly' citrus based sprays from the supermarket, but I figure even these come in plastic bottles and still tend to contain a long list of unidentifiable ingredients. I tend to think more now about what I'm wiping on the floor with The Booba spends crawling round on it (and then sucking on his hands...). So I've been having a crack with the old white vinegar and bicarb - and I'm happy (and a bit surprised) to announce that they actually work! Apparently vinegar even has strong antibacterial and antiviral properties, so those hooked on 'sterilising' their homes can feel comfortable with this alternative too. Here are some 'recipes' that have been working well for me:

* add a cup of vinegar to a bucket of hot water to mop the floor
* use vinegar neat to clean the toilet
* use vinegar neat to wipe shower tiles (apparently it has mould inhibiting properties)
* to clean the microwave add 1/2 cup vinegar to 2 cups of water and cook on high for 3 minutes. Then wipe out the inside of the microwave.
* to deodorise and disinfect a stinky cutting board soak in vinegar for 5-10 minutes.
* to clean a smelly drain tip down 1/2 - 1 cup of bicarbonate of soda then slowly poor down 1 cup of vinegar. Follow with water.
* for an all purpose cleaner that is particularly good for cleaning the bathroom sink add 2 tablespoons of bicarb to 1 tablespoon of vinegar and use it to scrub with. I've found this is much better at getting rid of that black gunge around the base of the taps than standard spray cleaners.
* put vinegar in an old spray bottle and use to wipe down the highchair and the mat that lives under the high chair.
* wet a newspaper with vinegar and use to clean the mirror (yes I used to think this sounded stupid too - but its fantastic at getting rid of those little white toothpaste spots).

Some of these ideas have come courtesy of a booked called 'Clean Sweep' by Alison Haynes (2008, Murdoch Books Australia), and the rest from www.frugalfun.com/vinegar.

Toy shopping

2010-07-27T21:53:00.001-07:00

I know I've been getting a bit "off topic" lately what with being so busy on my soapbox (hey, I did call this thing "MamaRANDOM" for a reason!). How is the no buying new stuff thing going?..........well, I'm happy to report its actually feeling pretty easy right now. The trick seems to be not to expose yourself to temptation! - and now I'm just out of the habit of shopping in 'new stuff' places. When I do, I'm a lot more conscious in my purchases.

No, I can't claim to be pure - especially in the case of things for The Booba. He 'needed' a ride along toy recently (at a friend's kid's birthday party he wouldn't leave hers alone - and then when we got home he kept trying to 'ride' all his little toy trucks. It was too pitiful). I did find one at Salvo's but it was a little bit suspect in the safety stakes. So off we went to the toy department of a certain large department store, not my favourite destination.

Most of the kids I could see around seemed to be pretty whiny and miserable, and I don't think it was just a case of wanting all the toys they saw. That place made me feel pretty miserable too! - a sea of technicolour plastic bleating various hollow electronic ditties and leaching an artificial malodour. Hugely overstimulating yet at the same time completely devoid of warmth and soul. Feeling hugely optimistic I sought out the 'wooden toys' section. There wasn't one - other than a mealsy assortment of attractive but massively overpriced pull-along wooden dogs from Europe. When I finally escaped the department - flashing and singing ride along fire engine in tow - I felt exhausted and a bit hypocritical. But The Booba and his engine are inseparable.

I had a much more pleasant toy shopping experience recently when looking for a gift for my nephew in our local Oxfam shop. No plastic. Interesting colours and textures and a story behind each piece. And of course, not a whiff of a sweatshop. Nephew liked his little handpainted Peruvian tambourine and the Indian bells for tying around his ankles when he dances.

I've been making a few toys from upcycled materials lately for various babies' birthdays. I'm not much of a sewing afficionado so they don't bear terribly close scrutiny but I had a ball making them and the babies seem to have liked them. Just got a bunch more wicked fabric from the local opshop, so working on a few new designs at the moment...When I can find the camera I'll post some pictures!

Carrots come in purple?!

2010-07-26T21:38:00.001-07:00

Yep, it would appear so! I know these guys are a bit paltry, but I'm still at the point where I'm pretty pleased to be able to produce anything at all! Current culinary stylings at our house are along the lines of '100 ways with carrot'. Can recommend grating a carrot up to make a salad with lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar and salt and pepper (this recipe comes courtesy of a Swiss friend).

And now for something entirely different....Its been ages since my last post. This is probably a bit to do with the fact that The Booba has been going through a little bit of a 'challenging phase'(read: he's being a little toerag) so when he's not been needing immediate attention (when he's asleep) I've pretty much just been collapsing in a heap and zoning out infront of Masterchef. Excuses aside, despite the maternal angst I have had some pretty major bees in my bonnet lately that I've really been wanting to share with you all.....

Uranium mining in W.A.! I was aghast to discover relatively recently that since our illustrious State Government lifted the moratorium on uranium mining in this state at the end of 2008 several major mining companies have basically been champing at the bit to get started. There are several projects due to start operations in the next few years. Why is this so scary?..

* Uranium mining produces large quantities of radioactive waste. There is at present no satisfactory system for disposing of it safely. The government regulations for how this should be managed are depressingly scant.
* The statistics for rates of cancer in workers in uranium mines are frightening. And there is currently no national register keeping track of how much radiation these workers have been exposed to.
* Despite popular belief many people do actually live in the outback of W.A. Why should they and their kids be getting irradiated?
* Uranium mining consumes vast quantities of water
* The products of uranium mining get used to make nuclear weapons. Not cool.

While no uranium mine is yet operational in W.A. theres still time to do something about it. For more information and to get involved check out www.anawa.org.au.

'Boat People' are human beings too!

2010-07-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

Next time you hear someone crapping on about how 'boat people' should just 'join the queue' and stop trying to 'illegally immigrate' to Australia, perhaps you'd like to share the following facts with them . These come courtesy of Amnesty International.

* There is nothing illegal about seeking asylum. It is a human right that is officially protected under Australian law.

* Anyone reading the papers or listening to talkback radio lately could be forgiven for thinking we are suffering a veritable hoard of asylum seekers arriving by boat everyday. No, we're actually not. Asylum seekers arriving by boat only make up 1% of our annual immigration intake. The vast majority (96%) of refugees seeking asylum in Australia do not arrive by boat.

* More than 90% of asylum seekers arriving by boat are subsequently round to be genuine refugees.

* A 'refugee' is someone who is forced to flee their own country as a result of severe persecution perhaps on the basis of their ethnicity, their religion, or their political affiliation. These people fear for their lives. I think I'd probably be jumping in a boat with my baby too if I honestly thought we'd be tortured or killed otherwise. Is it really fair for us to be casting these people as criminals?

Lets all just approach this issue with a bit more compassion.

More supermarket trolley politics...

2010-06-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

Further to my previous post about the paucity of available sustainably fished tuna in Australia, I found some....at around $8.00 for a tiny tin! Think I'll stick with going without for the time being, but if you love your tuna so much its worth the premium, check it out at www.fish-4-ever.com. I came across this at the local organic farmer's market we've been going to each Saturday morning. Contrary to my previous assumptions, the fruit and veg here is actually not all that much more expensive than that available at the local supermarket. And they taste so much better! They also have stalls selling 'upcycled' goods and the obligatory rock crystal deoderants and, newly, a cafe selling excellent coffee (organic fairtrade of course) in compostable cups. Eco-geek heaven.

As if things at the supermarket weren't ethically fraught enough, I've just become aware of another issue to bear in mind - palm oil! Apparently the vast majority of our palm oil is sourced from plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia. Unfortunately the clearing of native rainforest for palm oil plantations is apparently the main cause of loss of Orangutan habitat. For more details check out the Perth Zoo campaign website at http://www.perthzoo.wa.gov.au/Get-Involved/Dont-Palm-Us-Off-campaign/

Palm oil is used in up to 50% of processed consumer products - from chocolate to shampoo. I went to buy some supposedly 'green' dishwashing liquid the other day - until I saw that it had palm oil in it. Unfortunately in Australia we're generally currently kept none the wiser as to what contains palm oil and what doesn't - usually it will just be labelled as 'vegetable oil' (which could be pretty much anything). A 'Truth In Labelling Palm Oil Bill' will be brought before our Australian Parliament in August of this year. If successful, all products containing palm oil will have to be labelled as such. This will give the consumer the opportunity to put pressure on manufacters to use only Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO). Worth a letter to the local MP, I think. In the meanttime, a 'Scorecard' has been produced by WWF rating different companies according to the sustainability of their palm oil use - check it out at http://www.wwf.org.au/publications/palmoilbuyersscorecard.

We're just monkeys living in a plastic world

2010-06-17T04:54:00.000-07:00

I've been giving a lot of thought lately to how it is we've all ended up living in a way that seems to be so bad for our bodies and our planet - and why we're so resistant to change. Having evolved to survive times of scarcity, our instincts tell us to accumulate resources. Our monkey nature tells us to eat lots of high calorie food when its there, to acquire things when they are available, to insure ourselves against time of need. And for those people on our planet who continue to go hungry, these instincts are probably appropriate. However, for those of us who live in the world of Happy Meals, living like monkeys is backfiring. Consumption has spun out of control because we're not living the life we were designed to live. This is no revelation - I'm far from the first to say this! But I think if we're ever going to work our way out of this mess, it bears repeating. Obeying our instinctive avarice and greed is no longer adaptive. Sustainably navigating our plastic world with our monkey brains is going to require instinct override - conscious consumption.

Raj Rocks

2010-06-14T01:06:00.000-07:00

I've finally got my hands on a copy of Raj Patel's 'The Value of Nothing' (from the library, of course - sorry Raj). I wouldn't exactly call it light reading - especially for me as I don't really know all that much about Economics - but so far it certainly provides a piercing examination of the basic assumptions upon which our free market world has been built. In an analysis of the relationship between material wealth and happiness, Patel makes the observation (based on the results of research) that "after a certain point, more money doesn't make us happier. Instead, we find ourselves on a hedonic treadmill, in which happiness is about matching our level of consumption with our peers". This rings true to me. How sad.

To have and to hoard

2010-06-14T00:39:00.000-07:00

I am so messy. Something that has struck me lately is that messiness leads to needless consumption, and waste. Because when I'm messy, I can't find things, and/or I forget that I had them in the first place. So then I end up needing to buy more things - that I wouldn't have had to, if I'd been more neat! This goes for the dismal state of our pantry, to our woeful bathroom cabinet, to the 'stationary drawer' which has somehow turned into a 'stationary room' - in manner of opening door, closing our eyes, and tossing things in that we can't be bothered putting away (now exacerbated by the fact that the state of said room has deteriorated to such a state that we're embarassed to look at it, and wouldn't be able to find the drawer to put things away in it even if we wanted to).
I've come across some really interesting blogs pertaining to sustainability and 'simple living' lately. Some strike a tone of 'thou-shalt-not'-ness which jars a little for me (and I agree with them - imagine the response of those who don't! Hardly receptive, I would think). Anyway, the point is one particular blog I've come across is written by an Australian woman who has vowed not to buy ANY clothes for one year - a 'fashion fast' (see link below). She has also recently committed to not purchase any more pantry items until her cupboards are bare. I like this idea. I think I'll try applying it to my bathroom cabinet, which bears an embarassing excess of various duplicate lotions and potions (I didn't like the smell of this one, that one made my hair frizzy....etc). Its self indulgent really, isn't it? And a waste of money to boot.
I might even clean out that stationary room one of these days too.

A fishy business

2010-06-08T21:35:00.000-07:00

I've never really been a big fan of seafood, but I do enjoy canned tuna. Whoever knew the consumption of a good old tuna sandwich should really be a guilty pleasure? Apparently, we've tuna-sandwiched ocean stocks of all but one species of tuna (the Skipjack) to critically low levels. Oops - sorry, guys. As if that weren't bad enough, the indiscriminate method used for catching most commercial tuna - dirty great big nets -results in the death of devastatingly large quantities of innocent marine bystanders such as turtles, dolphins and whales. Hmmm....might rethink that next tuna mornay. Luckily Greenpeace have generated a scale of the least to most offending canned tuna providores (and I found my favourite brand - Sirena - ranked as the naughtiest! oh no!). Check out the link below. Thanks to said Greenpeace website for the sad photo too.

"The opposite of consumption isn't thrift.....

2010-05-25T21:15:00.000-07:00

....Its generosity" - Raj Patel. This esteemed Economist was interviewed on the radio yesterday, discussing his new book 'The Value of Nothing'. He estimates that if the standard $5 hamburger were to be priced according to its true social and environmental cost, it should cost in excess of $200. Borrowing the words of that wise social commentator, Oscar Wilde, he observed that “nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing”. Imagine if all that 'cheap' plastic 'Made In China' tat you see in the shops actually cost our wallets what it cost the planet in resources, what it cost the human spirit of the sweatshop workers who made it....Something to think about. Here's hoping the library is going to get a copy of that book in! Please find a link to Raj Patel's website (its well worth a look) below.

Madame Blackthumb is in luck

2010-05-18T21:05:00.000-07:00

I'm managing to do pretty well in the growing things stakes at the moment. Probably something to do with that blistering Perth summer sun finally having abated. Radishes, anyone? These have to be the best 'vegetable growing for dummies' plants around. Since sowing the seeds I've basically just thrown a bit of water at them occasionally and otherwise ignored them. Its a bit of a pity that I don't actually like the taste that much, but the BH enjoys them. At the moment I'm growing the 'French Breakfast' variety (shaped like a miniature sweet potato), but I also have some seeds for a black skinned radish which will be novel.

On the 'I'm only buying secondhand clothes' front, I'm struggling a little at the moment because its getting a bit cold! I've found that its hard to get long sleeved T-shirts (my usual cold weather staple) in secondhand shops - I guess because they probably don't stand the test of time too well. So I'm still living in a couple of long sleeved tops I wore when I was pregnant - needless to say they're rather stretched and have generally seen better days. I'm sorely tempted to go and get some new ones but I'll stand firm and go on an op-shop mission this afternoon with my fingers crossed.

The woes of consumption in a world of ice doughnuts

2010-05-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

In the Weekend Australian Review Magazine this weekend (May 15-16, 2010) there is an article - 'The Hungry Mile' by Christopher Allen - discussing an exhibition of photographs taken during the Great Depression. It diverges from a general discussion of life during the Depression (as related by the photographs) to a general diatribe regarding the ills of consumerism - the relevance of which is a little questionable - but nonetheless it seems to express many of my own feelings on the topic much more elegantly than I ever could. I'm sure Christopher Allen won't mind if I share some of his words with you.

" The lesson drawn [from the exhibition]....is how little we need to survive and even to be happy; the contrast makes the bulimic consumerism all around us look absurd as well as indecent. The trouble is that it is not only individuals but whole societies that end up addicted to this voracious appetite for the superfluous....Advertisements urge us to borrow the money we are told we need to enjoy ourselves; freedom and spontaneity are the promise, but the reality is the servitude of indebtedness....it isn't a conspiracy, just something that is the logical consequence of the way a consumer economy works......the explicit axiom of this ideology is that our level of consumption is an index of our level of wealth, success and happiness. It is a version of the almost instinctive drive to eat as much as we can, with the dim sense that if we eat more we are more, an instinct that may promote survival in the age of cavemen but leads to self-destruction in a world of ice doughnuts....Consumerism, in the same way, gives the illusion of wealth....In reality it destroys wealth"
Here here!

The shopping diet

2010-05-11T21:28:00.000-07:00

In response to a previous post where I had confessed to seeking comfort in shopping during a rough time, a follower helpfully pointed out that shopping triggers a release of a neurotransmitter called dopamine in the brain. This is our pleasure response - whether it be caused by sex, smoking, alcohol, chocolate, or, as we now know, buying something - when it comes down to the nuts and bolts of whats going on with your neurons, apparently its all pretty much the same. So it makes sense that Psychiatrists are now starting to discuss shopping addiction in the same way as we already think about gambling addiction, compulsive eating, and so on. So this is why we shop! It triggers the release of our natural happy brain juice.
Interesting, isn't it, how the other things we do that trigger our pleasure response - taking drugs, having sex, eating chocolate - have been cast in various ways as 'naughty' or morally reprehensible(to varying degrees), yet shopping hasn't. Its not to say that smoking and eating high fat foods don't come with their attendant risks and draw backs, and I'm not advocating these, but if you think about it, shopping for and buying things you don't technically need isn't really all that good for us either - in terms of the effect it has on your bank balance, your home (who else has a paucity of storage?), your planet, those Chinese sweatshop workers......Thing is that buying things makes the world go round, huh, so noone really wants us to think that maybe its not quite ok.
Think of the multibillion dollar dieting industry. What if we were to funnel some of that focus and effort to control our impulses into buying less stuff? Maybe we should all let ourselves eat a bit more chocolate and try to go on a bit of a shopping diet instead.

Is it wrong to be in love with a pair of jeans?.....

2010-04-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post where I shamelessly proselytised about the merits of secondhand clothes shopping (who, me??) , I confessed to being dubious about finding good secondhand jeans. Well, I stand corrected! I visited one of my favourite local opshops a few weeks ago, and was surprised to find they were having a 50% off sale. It was almost embarassing, everything was so ridiculously cheap. Anyway, along with a heap of other great stuff, I stumbled across the jeans of my dreams - for the princely sum of $4. They fit like a dream, are evidently hardly worn (if ever at all), and have the unusual distinguising feature of being embellished with little white paintings of birds and other doodlings. Sounds wierd, I know - and the BH reckons they just look paint splattered (thanks, hon) - but I'm in love. These jeans were made for me. A quick internet search just revealed they're actually from some fancy surfwear company which I'm way too uncool to have ever heard of, and wouldn't have come cheap to the original owner. Score, huh?

On a totally different note, heres the latest development in my gripping garlic saga. I couldn't order any snazzy heirloom varieties bulbs to grow online afterall due to some pesky quarantine issue. I was a bit bummed about this, but then figured it shouldn't make any difference if I just planted some garlic sold for eating in an organic food shop (ie minus potentially growth retarding sprays etc). So the bulbs have been sown, and even lovingly administered sheep and poo and blood and bone, as my sources instructed. Five have now sprouted...so far, so good.

A garlic gathering expedition gone sour

2010-04-15T04:51:00.000-07:00

One of the triumphs of my so far rather dramatic and varied motherhood experience is that The Booba loves garlic. I mean he LOVES garlic. The other day when we went out for some Indian food I found myself fighting him for my seriously potent garlic naan bread. This is convenient as its a staple ingredient around here. So we go through a fair bit of it. I didn't really used to think too much about where the garlic we bought was coming from until I got into this local eating lark and started reading labels - did you realise that most of the garlic in the local supermarket is imported from China? And - scarier - that all imported garlic is routinely sprayed with methyl bromide? This is a nasty little number that has the temerity not only to be toxic to the ozone layer but also to the human body - trust me, Google it if you feel like a bit a fright. This is definately not something that you want anywhere near you, let alone in your food.

So for these reasons I usually buy Australian grown garlic, even though its about a gazillion times more expensive than its cousins from far flung shores. The other day I was thrown into a bit of a panic when I found the household garlic holding receptacle empty. So I trundled The Booba in his chariot down to the local supermarket where I was a little taken aback to find I had the choice of Chinese or Spanish garlic and nothing Australian grown. I took the ill advised step of asking the vegetable shelf stockist man about it, only to be treated to a long winded rant which started off with some fairly reasonable commiseration but ended with some borderline racist and kind of bonkers comments about Chinese market gardeners that had me backing away and nodding with a nervous smile on my face. But he could offer me some useful insight into the Australian garlic situation - the reason why there is a paucity of it and why its so crazily expensive is that apparently its so labour intensive to grow that not many around here can be bothered. So I'm going to be bothered. I'm ordering my own garlic heads from the Diggers Club tonight with the intention of trying to grow my own in pots. I'll keep you posted.

The prodigal return of a very mediocre gardener

2010-04-15T04:40:00.000-07:00

I have recently been subjected to the torture that is prolonged lack of internet access - ah, the trials of modern living, what hard lives we do live in this country! Anyway, I wrote this on the 6th of April...

My garden has been even more neglected lately than my blog – if that was possible. Seriously, if my garden – or blog - was a child, I would have lost custody loooong ago. In my defence, I've had other things on my mind. Not wanting to divulge too much personal information here – I'm an old fashioned girl at heart – lets just say that February and March were not good months. Hey, lets be frank - they were really, really shit. And when I'm going through a hard time, my creative juices just dry up. I guess its an energy conservation thing. Anyway, so realising I didn't have much time left to get my spring 'crop' in (ha ha) I've just turned my attention to my garden for the first time since January, and what a sorry sight it was. A chaos of dead tomato plants and lettuces seriously gone to seed, and, as always, a really vibrant and healthy crop of weeds (I've mastered the art of growing those!). I've cleared the summer garden graveyard and sown lots of seeds – dwarf snow pea (a hit last year), Warrigal greens, radish, carrots and a couple of exciting newies – BLACK Tuscan kale, PURPLE cauliflower. Yes, I got suckered in by heirlooms in exciting colours this season! I tell myself its to trick The Booba into consuming more vegetables, but really its for my own entertainment ( I want to see what purple cauliflower cheese will look like!). Being a self confessed crap gardener, I'll be easily pleased by the results because going on past experience my expectations are loooow. Fingers crossed.

And how is the pledge not to buy new things coming along? Well......something else I've really come to realise from coming through this difficult period, is that shopping is COMFORTING! Its weird, I can't quite figure out why that should be, but its definitely so. The Booba has had some new toys and some other bits and pieces that make life easier. Some glossy magazines have been purchased but then donated for the enjoyment of others, so I figure that way it doesn't count. I've indulged in some new knickers and pyjamas – but hey, I needed them, and who wants to wear preworn ones, so I forgive myself that. All in all I don't think I've done too badly. Still no new clothes, and I continue to do very well on the secondhand front there. We needed more coathangers and I managed to pick up a whole swag for pretty much nothing from my favourite opshop. However my all time favourite opshop find for the last couple of months would have to be a set of dessert dishes – which we needed (very bad for the waistline eating icecream out of noodle bowls!). The BH is a bit dubious but I think they're sweet in a retro shabby chic kind of a way. I'd love to post a pretty picture but our long suffering camera is on the blink - again.

Junk Mail Funk Continues

2010-03-30T22:36:00.001-07:00

OK, so this is getting ridiculous - in my letterbox today there were not one, not two, nay not three or four, but....EIGHT advertising catalogues! And because I was in a rush to get inside and therefore couldn't automatically deposit them in the recycling bin (conveniently just next to the letterbox) like I usually do, I had to bring them inside, and then I found myself READING THEM. I couldn't help it - hats off to the designers of those things, they draw you in. Its interesting how when the temptation is there, right in front of me, how much I suddenly 'need'. Just goes to show - if you don't want to buy things, don't go shopping. I really must go and get another No Junk Mail sticker!

In A Junk Mail Funk

2010-03-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

According to The Weekend Australian Magazine today, the average Australian adult receives 16 junk mail items per week. Eeek - what a waste of paper! And I'd like to take a bit of a straw poll - do ANY of us actually read those endless supermarket catalogues? I have had a long term battle of wills with my local junk mail letter box filler people - an endless stream of stickers applied to my letterbox expressing my desire not to receive junk mail in varying degrees of fawning politeness seem to be steadily ignored and then, mysteriously, removed. When the unwanted advertising catalogues do inevitably end up in my letterbox, they don't even make it through the front door, let alone get read. If anyone has more success than me getting their "No Junk Mail" sticker to be noticed - whats your secret?!

Batteries and evil eggs

2010-01-28T18:31:00.000-08:00

I had to go to the local supermarket the other day to buy a new battery for the smoke alarm. I know, necessary evil. Unfortunately I've never seen a rechargable in the ginormous size required required for this purpose. I did however recycle the old one for the first time in the carton thats been set up in local library. Apparently 18 million household batteries are thrown away each year in my state alone. When batteries end up in landfill there is a risk of the potentially dangerous elements they contain - such as arsenic, mercury and lead - eventually toxifying the environment. Not good. Luckily Australia's first household battery recycling initiative was recently set up in W.A.. Apparently regular alkaline batteries are composed of about 20% zinc which can be recovered and reused to make things like street lights and automobile parts. Cool, huh?

While I was in the supermarket buying the battery I overheard a father talking to his two young children as they selected a carton of eggs. He was explaining to them why he chose to buy a carton of freerange eggs rather than a carton of battery farmed eggs.
"See, these guys are horrible to the chickens, so we buy these others ones and make 'em go out of business"
"Why don't we just tell them to stop it?" the little boy asked his Dad.
"No, that won't work!" Dad said vehemently, "we gotta make 'em go out of business!".
"Yeah!" agreed the little boy with relish "thats eviller!".
Enough said, don't you think?

See link below for more info on household battery recycling in W.A.

Making a gorilla's day...

2010-01-26T21:06:00.000-08:00

My mobile phone was recently liberated by a quick fingered opportunist. While I was a bit shocked and stressed out at the time (more so by the contemporaneous liberation of my wallet and keys) now I'm not so sure that I miss it that much. I was notorious for never having it charged, or, if I did, never hearing it ring anyway. However, The B.H. points out, fairly, that I probably should have a mobile phone in case of emergency. Its true that when I went out and came across someone in need of an ambulance the other week, it probably would have been best if I hadn't had to leave them and run to a fish and chip shop to make the call.

We have a 'spare' phone at home available for use but, I must confess, its just not as appealing as any of the multitude of shiny new upgrades available. Whats the point of a mobile phone if it can't also provide me with internet access, MP3s and blowdry my hair while its at it, right? And it looks like I'm not the only one tempted. According to the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association most people buy a new phone every 12-24 months, and there are an estimated 14.3 million unused mobile phone handsets being stored in people's homes or at work. Assuming people aren't storing useless handsets, this suggests to me that many are replacing perfectly functional phones.

So, these are some reasons I've collected to reinforce my resolve not to break my pledge not to buy new things by needlessly upgrading my mobile phone:
* think of all that metal and plastic embodied in a mobile and the energy it takes to make and import them.
* a vital ingredient in electronic capacitors is coltan - the industrial name for columbite-tantalite, a metallic ore. The majority of the world's coltan is found in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Unfortunately, apparently mining of coltan in the DRC has resulted in deforestation and loss of eastern lowland gorilla habitat - unsurprisingly, between this and the poaching, their numbers are dwindling. Furthermore it has been postulated that the mining, smuggling and trade of coltan in the DRC has helped finance ongoing civil conflict which millions of people have already been killed.
* mobile phones contain potentially hazardous chemicals such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury and brominated plastics....ie best not in landfill!
* call me old fashioned, but if I need to check my email....I've got a laptop! If I need to listen to music....I've got an i-Pod!

To address some of these problems the AMTA has set up a mobile recycling campaign - "Mobile Muster". I think that I've seen collection boxes in my local Post Office. According to the AMTA over 90% of the metals and plastics contained in a recycled mobile phone can be recovered and reused to make things like plastic fence posts and batteries. In 2008 famous gorilla conservationist Jane Gooddall also launched a mobile phone recycling program at Melbourne Zoo.

So I guess I'll be putting up with the boring old household 'standby' phone for now.....and when it dies and goes to silicone heaven* it'll be reincarnated as a fence somewhere.

See link to Mobile Muster campaign below.

References:
Tanya Ha, ABC The Science Show, Nov 2009
Stephen Cauchi, The Age, March 22 2009
Mobile Telecommunications Industry Statement Of Commitment to Mobile Phone Recycling, found at http://www.amta.org.au

* for anyone to whom this reference is foreign....check out the BBC series Red Dwarf

On the love of the preloved and the sanctity of stuff

2010-01-24T03:39:00.000-08:00

I was in a "getting things done" mood on the weekend. We capitalised on this rather rare occurrence by finally relieving ourselves of the boxes of unwanted books that have been mooching about in our spare room. Some were freecycled. Others we took to a secondhand bookshop - a rather bizarre establishment. There was barely standing room for all 72 000 (at last inventory, apparently) books stacked precariously upon eachother in vast teetering towers. I was a bit worried about triggering a book avalanche.

I felt a bit bad leading the rather eccentric owner into temptation with more potential stock that he clearly did not need - he was obviously suffering from a serious book habit! But I could relate to this, I love secondhand books too. They have a special smell, the pages are thick and soft from repeated handling, there may be intriguing personal inscriptions made by strangers....Needless to say a couple of special specimens insisted on coming home with us.

We then took the remainder of our unwanted books to the local charity warehouse. This particular place has a good collection of old chinaware - which I'm also a fan of. I discovered a beauty - an old English cup and saucer patterned in a white and navy oriental design. Maybe its because I used to have a casual job in a department store selling new homewares (which I came to despise) but the used variety have so much more appeal for me. They have a bit of character, or soul if you like. A story to tell.

I used to pride myself on not caring about 'things' - I equated this with being 'anti-materialist'. I think thats why, as I've said before, I'm notorious for trashing and losing my possessions. But the realisation I've come to is that while we shouldn't lust after what isn't ours or let our things define us, we should care about them. Material goods are made up of the Earth's precious resources, and should therefore be treasured. As Colin Beavan writes in his book No Impact Man, "Our problem is that we see the material - and the associated planetary resources - as base and trash it, treating it as though it has no divine value". Food for thought.

Confessions of a Chocaholic

2010-01-21T19:23:00.000-08:00

I have pretty a serious chocolate habit. I need a fix everyday. And its a pretty simple equation for me to get my hit - go and buy some, consume it, happy belly! Right? Well, lately its not so simple for me. Even less so since I just did a bit of research about the implications of non-fairtrade chocolate. I already had an idea that, as The European Fair Trade Association has reported, the average cocoa producer in a developing country receives only 5 cents out of every dollar spent on chocolate. This might leave them with barely enough money to feed their kids or to buy their family medicine if someone gets sick. What I wasn't so aware of is that apparently the West African cocoa industry is guilty of widespread use of child workers who may be victims of child trafficking and slavery and working in unsafe conditions. Suddenly that chocolate doesn't taste so good, huh?

Something I've been thinking about lately is that in this strange capitalist world we live in the most powerful political statement we can make is what we do or don't spend our money on. We vote with our wallet. So is it a bit over the top to make such a song and dance about what chocolate or coffee or tea I consume (the latter two industries having equally dubious track records)? I think not. Whether I choose the fairtrade chocolate which guarantees fair labour conditions and a fair price paid to producers or the chocolate made by the unscrupulous multinational corporation ....well, that choice does actually affect other people's lives somewhere down the line, whether its convenient for me to think about it or not.

See links below more more info on fairtrade and the cocoa industry.

Of Pest and Post

2010-01-19T18:20:00.000-08:00

Well, in my last post I was celebrating the fact that The Booba's sleep habits were permitting me some time in my 'garden' in the evenings. Ha! If there's one thing I've learnt over the last 11 months in baby-world (the parallel universe we enter when we become parents), the only constant is flux! Negotiations with The Booba over when he will go to sleep in the evening have recently deteriorated to the point where the B.H. and I are eating our dinner in shifts. Thus, unfortunately, not much time left for blogging (or, in fact, much else). As I often say..its just as well he is so cute!

Its probably time once again to take stock of how my 'no new stuff' excursion is faring as a whole. Well, so far I have to say its a positive experience for me - honestly, at the moment I don't feel deprived at all. This sounds corny but if anything I feel like its probably enriched my life. Having a 'no new stuff embargo' has forced me to be more creative, and its certainly freed up some time (not to mention cash). We have never been diehard shoppers, but still quite often precious weekend days seemed to be consumed by seeking out one thing or another that we 'needed'. When we recently went to Melbourne - shopping mecca - we had a more relaxing time than we otherwise would have done, I suspect, because we didn't feel pressured by that special opportunity to go and acquire things.

Other than Christmas gifts my only misdemeanour in the last month took place yesterday - and I think you'll agree it was justifiable. We're currently under siege by wasps - I've had to kill three that I've found in The Booba's bedroom over the last two days (not a nice feeling). I did try to lure the wasps with a D.I.Y. trap constructed from a cut up soda bottle and some apple juice laced with dishdrops (manna from heaven for a wasp, supposedly) that I put outside. However this was met with upturned little waspy noses - our cats' outdoor water dish clearly offers a much more highly rated wasp beverage. So off I went to the local hardware shop in search of heavyduty wasp-murdering equipment which the B.H. put to good use yesterday evening. I'm disappointed to report however that the new fandangly 'irresistable to wasps' plastic traps that I purchased are, at this point, rather lacking in the dead wasp department.

In between anti-wasp missions yesterday I went to the Post Office to send off a birthday package, regretting the fact that I didn't have any old parcels to send it in. I used to think that reusing old parcels wasn't 'allowed' or something, but, emboldened by receiving one from someone else, I sent off my Christmas gifts in old packages I had luckily been saving for no apparent reason (as is my wont). Anyway, yesterday I was pleased to find that you can now purchase parcels at the Post Office made from 100% recycled paper. Unfortunately the lady working behind the counter considered it her duty to inform me that "they're heavy you know" and that it would therefore be costing me, I don't know, a whole extra 50 cents in postage. When she then went on to tell me that my not-at-all-urgent parcel would be taking a whole extra day to arrive than if I was using the 'Express' post option I started to feel a bit ratty and said as lightly as I could "oh well, it doesn't matter, its worth it". I was annoyed by the assumption that the extra 50 cents and the day's delay in parcel arrival would deter me from choosing the more environmentally friendly option - and a little saddened by the suggestion that for this lady at least, it would. Lets face it, unless you're on the street, 50 cents isn't going to break the bank, and maybe its ok if sometimes things don't happen as instaneously as they possibly could. Ok, rant over.

I got the guts to plant a garden....

2010-01-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

Remember those straggly little 'Tomato Boobas'? Look at them now!

The last few nights The Booba has gone down to sleep with minimal protest (only to awake at midnight and howl for an hour or two, but that another story!). Anyway, this has left me with a little window of daylight to myself that I've been spending in the garden. Its turned into my favourite time of the day.

We live in a little complex of 'villas' (this word brings to mind visions of something whitewashed and Mediterranean....so far from the truth!). There is a strip of garden bed that runs along the driveway - kind of communal but really the bit opposite each property is the responsibility of that house. Our landlords are meant to look after our bit but ever since we've been here its been a fairly uninspiring, largely vacant patch of sand. A couple of weeks ago a tomato plant sprung up there - thanks to our Italian neighbour's tomatoes which last summer hung over the fence at this spot. This inspired me to try and grow other things there. Being a bit of a goody-two-shoes I was a bit nervous about it, but buoyed on by The B.H. who insists that noone will care, I've embarked on a bit of psuedo guerilla gardening. After working in some manure and other bits and pieces to try and make the sand a bit more palatable to plants, I've installed some capsicum and chilli seedlings alongside the tomato. Now I just have to remember to water them!

I'm still awaiting my parents' verdict about converting their front lawn into a vegie patch. I came across another fantastic frontyard edible garden the other day which renewed my enthusiasm. Couldn't see a lot without actually scaling the front fence (as it was I was probably pushing the bounds of etiquette!) but I made out a great swathe of silverbeet, beans and what looked like a persimmon tree.

The latest new old loot haul...

2010-01-12T19:28:00.000-08:00

I went op-shopping with my mum and my sister last week. It really is such a fun social activity. Got a particularly great swag of really nice clothes for me and The Booba this time, along with some toys and cute antique plates (all for next to nothing, of course).

I've had a yen for sewing lately but haven't had appropriate fabric for the projects I've had in mind. Since shunning haberdashery shops my stash has been running a bit low! So I went to my favourite secondhand haunt yesterday to investigate my options. Going through the section of tablecloths, doona covers and pillow slips I discovered what amounted to vast lengths of fabric which was in great nick and often in cool retro patterns. Even came across some cloth napkins (unused, I suspect) - which helps me with my mission to break the paper napkin and tissue habit. Hurrah for secondhand!

Concerning 'Convenience'

2010-01-10T04:24:00.001-08:00

I've raved in a previous post about the book No Impact Man (Colin Beavan) and the blog of the same name. When I enthuse to friends and family about same I tend to be met with a bit of a dubious response. I think people get the impression that by attempting to live with no impact, Colin Beavan was trying to spread the message we should all be living that way. This isn't the message I got. I think the point was to strip back the nonessential aspects of life - the trimmings, if you will - in order to actually examine what is necessary, and whether it makes us happy, and then to put things back in a mindful fashion, and not just because its 'the way we do things'.

This brings me round to today's musing....It seems to me that we often defend some environmentally unconscionable practices by saying "its convenient", when in fact it probably isn't actually all that more convenient than a more sustainable alternative - its just habit. Maybe it just takes a little bit of mindfulness to break that habit and then the new, more sustainable practice will become the new 'default mode'.

Take, for example, taking canvas bags to the supermarket. I think (hope) most of us try to do this these days at least most of the time, but there was a day when it was a bit unusual, and many people defended their use of plastic bags as more 'convenient'. But is it really that hard to stick a handful of canvas bags in the car before going to the shops? Probably not. I think the real problem was that we just used to forget all the time. Now we don't, because its a habit.

I often come across this issue when people question my use of public transport. It seems to be assumed that its such a burden to me, especially with a baby in tow. Its really not, because I'm used to it. Plus I don't have to worry about parking, petrol, traffic....and The Booba loves it (so many new faces to stickybeak at!). I was on the bus last week when I saw a heavily pregnant woman with not two, not three, not four, but FIVE other kids. Travelling in this way would be my idea of a nightmare, but from the look of the woman and children, who were all being remarkably well behaved by the way, it was clearly an everyday occurrence and really nothing to make a fuss about. Probably just as well as they'd need to own some sort of bus otherwise!

So what 'convenient' habits am I going to try to be more mindful of? Well, I'm going to start with paper napkins and tissues. For a household that carefully saves every potential bit of scrap paper, we tend to think nothing of mindlessly accepting the great wad of paper napkins provided everytime we get takeaway, for instance. Is it really that much less convenient to just use a cloth napkin at home? Well, no...especially now that I've started to sew some more. So the other night when I went to pick up our kebabs, for the first time I knocked back the napkins. Hopefully this'll soon be a habit for us.

A little review for you....'Who Killed Dave' by Linda Cockburn

2010-01-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

I credit my first spark of real interest in living a bit more sustainably to a book called 'Living The Good Life - Tried and Tested Strategies for Sustainable Living' (Hardie Grant, 2006), which documents efforts made by Linda Cockburn and her family to live self sufficiently. This inspirational and at times very funny story was written with great skill, humility and warmth. So its been with great interest that I've followed Linda Cockburn's ongoing work as regular contributor to the ABC Organic Gardener Magazine, and her blog, which documents the ongoing 'good life' from a block in Tasmania where the family are building a strawbale house.

Needless to say, I was very excited to learn that Linda Cockburn had published a novel, 'Who Killed Dave?' (tOgether Press, 2009). The tOgether Press is committed to producing books with a minimal carbon footprint, by planting trees to offset emissions created by production as well as using 100% recycled paper and vegetable inks. Linda kindly offered free copies of this book to followers of her blog who were willing to review it.

So for all of the above reasons, I really wanted to love 'Who Killed Dave?'......and I did! Despite its virtuous origins, it is not, as one might expect, used as a vehicle for disseminating environmental propaganda, its just a really funny, well-written read. The main character, Robyn, is a feisty, Stephanie Plum-esque tarot card reader who gets entangled in a mess of mystery and intrigue involving the colourful characters in her street after one of them is killed in bizarre circumstances. Yes, the figures who populate this novel have clearly been crafted with a nod to inclusivity - the blind phone sex worker for one, or her African refugee friends - but not self consciously so. And with a dark and brooding cop in the picture, this book is sexy too (maybe not one for Grandma). I for one was very entertained by 'Who Killed Dave?' and I would certainly recommend it to you all. Anyone interested in chasing up their own copy should head to the tOgether Press site (see link below).

'Who Killed Dave?' cover art appears courtesy of the 'Living The Good Life' blog.

Regarding re-carding

2010-01-05T05:32:00.000-08:00

Call me old fashioned, but I've always found the whole concept of regifting a bit, well...rude. Re-carding, however, is another matter entirely...A relative of mine has a birthday coming up so I wanted to send them a card today. Usually I would make a card myself...but as this particular relative is a professional artist I feel a bit self conscious sending them my own crap pseudo-artwork! Given my commitment to not purchase things like new cards, this posed a bit of a dilemma, until I rummaged around and came across a 'merrygoround' card given to me by a friend recently. These really are such a great concept - the area of the card where you write your message is fitted with a replacable slip of (recycled) paper, so that the card can be reused by removing the slip with the original message and replacing with a fresh slip of (provided) paper for your own message. Neat, huh? Some quick cutting and pasting enabled me to reuse the envelope, too. See the link to merrygoround cards below.

On a different note, in a previous post I lamented that my pledge restricted me from going out and purchasing my newly discovered 'funeral music' (ie some music I heard that I liked so much I wanted it played at my funeral). For the record, this was 'Solveig's Song' - from Peer Gynt (Grieg). Well today at the local library I was browsing through some old stock they were selling off and what did I find? A recording of Peer Gynt - for $1! (And only marginally scratched too).

I had a cool Yule

2010-01-03T23:08:00.000-08:00

Well I have been a rather remiss blog-mama of late, haven't I? Too busy eating! Yep, thats Christmas for you. I really did have a very nice time (and don't you all love my highly original pun?). A highlight for me was that it seems that people have been taking more notice of this blog than I had thought. Some friends and family obviously went to great lengths to source recycled gifts for us for Christmas - such as a large carry bag made from recycled billboard, shown above (see link to haul below). I was really touched. And when someone recognised the paper I'd used to wrap her present as the very same paper she had used to wrap mine last year (whoops), she took it with very good grace!

One of the best things about the holiday period was that, with others around to help with the wrangling of The Booba, I got a chance to catch up on my favourite of all pasttimes - reading. My favourite holiday read was No Impact Man by Colin Beavan, published in 2009 by Piatkus. I loved this book! This writer spent one year attempting to live with minimal environmental impact in the New York City apartment he shares with his wife and baby daughter. No rubbish, no non-local food, no power, no mechanised transport....Yes, interesting! And if you expect there would be a lot of sermonising holier-than-thouness here...you'd be wrong. Just a very frank and humble examination of modern life, and a question - does it really make us so happy that its worth the Earth? The blog of the same name is also well worth a look (see link below).

Finally, my sunflowers, when I thought they'd never stop growing (surely these plants inspired the story Jack And The Beanstalk??), have finally flowered. Pretty, huh?

The little horrors of shop

2009-12-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

Much as I enjoy the Christmas season and love giving people presents - the process of acquiring said presents leaves much to be desired! What is it about shopping for Christmas - a season supposedly about human kindness and goodwill - that brings out the feral in people? From mithered monotonous shop assistants to grim sourpuss co-shoppers the process can be an ordeal. I am, however, happy to say that despite having to bend the rules of my pledge a bit, I think I've struck a fairly happy compromise between appeasing my conscience and actually being able to give people things they will appreciate (hopefully). The wrapping of said gifts within my self imposed constraints has been a little interesting - I found myself constructing a sort of old Christmas paper patchwork in most cases. Despite looking a little rustic I think the effect is actually kind of cool (see pic).
And onto another kind of shopping... Since vowing in this public forum to attempt to stick to locally produced, seasonal, free range, fairtrade, minimally packaged food, supermarket shopping has started to bring a bit of a sweat to my brow! So, to touch on the realities of sticking to each stipulation.....in most food categories its possible to find a 'within-state' produced option - it just takes a lot of close label reading. The exception seems to be tinned tomatoes - most brands seem to contain at least some imported ingredients. Sticking to the seasonal hasn't been too hard - this usually just means avoiding whatever is ridiculously overpriced. Finding free range eggs and chicken is also fairly easy - luckily I think they're pretty mainstream these days. Fairtrade is a little tricker and a bit of a bone of contention between myself and the B.H. - being a Pom, he likes his tea, and fairtrade tea is vastly more expensive than unfairtrade tea. We have got back into the habit of buying tea leaves rather than bags (to reduce packaging) and this reduces the cost somewhat. Likewise, fairtrade chocolate tastes fantastic but comes at a much higher premium than unfairtrade chocolate. I've taken to opting for the 70% cocoa solids variety, which I'm inclined to eat less of, so I figure it evens out in the end. And packaging? Its been quite valuable to be more mindful of this point....no more polystyrene trays of avocado wrapped in plastic (or the like). Buying things in bulk (eg a giant bottle of canola oil) has also helped reduce overall packaging consumption, and is cheaper too.
On the topic of canola, an extra factor has been brought into the ethical supermarket shopping mix....as of 2009 genetically modified canola has been used to make oil in Australia - and canola is used in a wide range of processed products including margarine, bread etc. Anyone else interested in boycotting genetically modified foods should check out the 'truefood guide' which identifies which products on our supermarket shelves may, or do not, contain genetically modified ingredients. See link below.
And on a final note, has anyone else found it hard to know what to do with those annoying thin little handle-less plastic bags provided for fruit and veg at the supermarket once you get them home? I try to just take my fruit and veg to the checkout loose when I can, but this can be impractical and result in (understandable) sour looks from the checkout person. A friend just gave me the best gift which provides a perfect solution to this problem - 'Fregie Sacks'. These are like the canvas shopping bag equivalent for your fruit and vegies - little mesh bags you take along to the supermarket with you for packaging your fruit and veg. Check out the link below.

Come on Copenhagen, what about Charlie?

2009-12-15T21:02:00.000-08:00

I have to confess to being overcome by despair when I heard the latest reports from the summit in Copenhagen on the radio this morning. Now I'm no political expert and I can't claim to be abreast of all of the details, but I get the distinct impression that things are not going well. And there are only two days left. So I was in real need of a lift when I was granted the gift of this sweet little encounter...

I often take The Booba down to one of the local parks - he loves being outside and ferkling the equipment, but most of all he loves getting to see other kids. And other kids seem to love seeing him! True to form this morning, he'd been at his favourite station spinning the giant naughts and crosses beads for a few seconds when three little kids appeared, drawn like moths to the flame. "Hello baby!" they all cried. The Booba offered up an excited squeal and the 'proto wave' that he's been fervently practicing at random intervals for the last week or so.

The eldest little boy introduced himself and proudly declared his age of 4 (as 4 year olds always seem to do!). He proceeded to tell me all about 'his' baby (his little sister)- who can apparently say "dada" and clap her hands but doesn't crawl yet because she is "a bit lazy". Then we got onto the inevitable topic of Christmas presents. 4-year-old enthusiastically declared his desire for "some leggo and a Starwars light saver". "A Starwars light sabre?" I clarified. "Yes, a Starwars light saver!" he responded.

Then 4-year-old needed to know "what is [The Booba] going to call his little babies when he is a Daddy?". A little surprised, I said I didn't know and that it would probably be up to him. Curious, I asked 4-year-old what he planned to call his babies when he is a Daddy. "Charlie, Joch and Ta" he quickly told me . Charlie, I'm told, will be a little girl. "I think Charlie is usually short for Charlotte when its a little girl" I suggest. 4-year-old looks at me for a minute, thinking hard, and then decides "no, there won't be any Charlottes in my house, only Charlies".

I thought this was really cute, and it made my day, but it also got me thinking. Poor Charlie. I worry that her life might not be very pleasant due to the state of the planet we might be bequeathing her. And as for all those Charlies in the developing world?...it doesn't really bear thinking about. Its easy to start to feel a bit hopeless about the whole thing. Well, as I often do, I'm going to borrow the words of a very wise lady named Eleanor Roosevelt, and remind myself that "it's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness". I also find solace in the words of Colin Beavan (a.k.a. 'No Impact Man'*) - "The question.....is not whether I can make a difference, but whether I want to be the type of person who tries". So true.

* See the link to No Impact Man's site below

Did you know that.....

2009-12-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

....if everyone in the US declined a receipt each time they made an ATM transaction, the paper saved would be enough to circle the equator 15 times?

No, niether did I. I picked up this statistic from 'The Green Book - The Everyday Guide To Saving the Planet One Simple Step At A Time' written by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen and published in 2007 by Three Rivers Press. My local library has a good range of 'green' books, so I thought I might start doing some little reviews. This one in particular was apparently a New York Times Bestseller, so I guess that tells you that a lot of people liked it! - but here's what I think anyway.

What I liked about this book:
* It is one of the most user friendly sustainable living guides I've come across. I'd say it was written with the kind of person in mind who cares about the environment but doesn't have a great deal of spare time and just wants to be told in very simple terms what to do! It is broken down into 12 chapters which cover most areas of life: Entertainment; Travel; Communication/Technology; School; Work; Shopping; Health and Beauty; Sport; Money and Finance; Building; and finally Going Carbon Neutral. Each chapter gives 3 'Simple Steps' that a reader can undertake to live more sustainably. For example, in the 'Work' chapter 'The Simple Steps' are "1. Double-side your copies 2. Carpool 3. Use a ceramic mug for you coffee".
* It explains in concrete terms to the reader exactly what effects their behaviour has upon the environment. For example, in buying a conventional antiperspirant you are also consuming the immense amount of energy required to mine the aluminium contained in this product. Apparently the energy saved by buying an aluminium free deoderant is enough to power a laptop for 30 minutes.
* Its short and sweet and not expensive - I've found it on Amazon for around $10 US.
* Its printed on 100% postconsumer recycled paper and production energy was carbon offset.

What I liked less about this book:
* I guess I can't blame the authors for seeking to target their local audience, but from an Australian reader's perspective (mine) it is very US focussed.
* They've tried to 'sex it up' by including little snippets from Hollywood celebrities. Did you know that Jennifer Aniston only takes 3 minute showers? Do you care?...A particular low point is the rather fatuous Forward co-written by Cameron Diaz.
* Surely some of the suggestions they make are just so incredibly obvious so as to be obsolete? I really hope so, otherwise its very scary! For example, readers are encouraged, when buying bread, to "find loaves that are packaged in only a single wrapper" - ?!
All in all though, I think this book is well worth a read. In fact, it'd make a great Christmas gift.........

The grass may be greener but it doesn't taste so good....

2009-12-14T03:19:00.000-08:00

I've just come back from an evening walk around the neighbourhood. I love stickybeaking at everyone's gardens. The highlight of this evening's garden review was coming across a newish frontyard vegie patch. This particular house is very large and, if I remember correctly, used to be fronted by a large sweeping lawn. This has now been replaced by a big (waterless) fountain from which fans out a number of small paths, like the spokes of a wheel. Between the paths numerous edible plants are obviously lovingly tended - tomatos, corn, pumpkin, onions, rosemary, sunflowers, coriander...those are just the ones I could identify without actually scaling the fence. I would have loved to take a photo for you all but that probably would have been construed as being a bit rude (and illegal?). Needless to say this sight brought a real smile to my face. There were a lot of cars in the driveway (which in and of itself did not bring a smile to my face) but I had romantic visions of a large family all tending this garden together and then enjoying their delicious homegrown produce together all sitting around a big table..ok maybe I'm getting a bit carried away!

The point of all this is - how much better is that big vegie patch than a stupid big lawn?! It struck me that so many people in my neck of the woods have enormous front lawns that, other than guzzling a lot of water and requiring regular mowing, do what exactly? Noone seems to let their kids play in the front yard these days for fear of stranger danger. I've never seen someone having a picnic on their front lawn. In fact I hardly ever see anyone in their frontyard full stop. Yes, I guess lawns are kind of pleasing to the eye - I think some kind of inherent European-ness has ingrained this into me - but really a well loved vegie patch looks so much better. And it has a point! I figure that if you're pouring water onto the space anyway, you may as well get it to feed you in return.

This has got me to thinking....we don't have a lawn ourselves, we rent a place with rather a lot of paving instead (and of course I would NEVER dream of lifting a couple of bricks occasionally to surreptitiously expand our meagre garden beds - who me?!). My parents, on the otherhand, do have a lawn. A really big one. And they live 5 minutes walk away. Hmmm....

The joy of giving stuff away

2009-12-13T19:09:00.001-08:00

dw
In November I put up a post raving about Freecycle (see 'One man's 'trash' is another's treasure'). I have now donated five items to other Freecyclers which were otherwise clogging up precious storage space in our 'shed'(read outdoor cupboard) or gathering dust in our none too spacious home. I've also aquired two items we really needed that were doing likewise in other Freecyclers' homes. So we've saved some cash, saved the Earth's resources by not buying new things, saved useful things from ending up in landfill, cleared up some space at home.....its win-win-win-win! And its really really easy - believe me, I'm really a bit of a lazy wench at heart, so I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't.

There's another side to this story...giving stuff away feels really good! In fact once you start it can be a bit hard to stop. I think at one point The B.H. was getting a bit nervous that he'd come home one day to find all the furniture gone! But I really only Freecycle things that we have no use for. I've always been a bit of a hoarder so this is long overdue.

And an update on the water saving front.....just from collecting the water that we used to run down the drain whilst waiting for it to get hot/cold, we're saving about 20L a day. Not bad. And that leaking outside tap has finally been fixed - too bad for that greedy mint!

P.S. Thanks for the comments! :)

The penny drops and the sap rises

2009-12-12T03:22:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling a bit silly. After whining to The B.H. (in manner of spoilt teenager) about the new CDs out that I'm "not allowed" to have - as discussed in a recent post - he tactfully pointed out the bleeding obvious. I-tunes! Seems I was the only person in the universe not to know that you can actually purchase albums this way, and a lot cheaper than buying them in CD format too. Apparently even my DAD does this! Ahem.

On an entirely unrelated note our little garden is just going bananas at the moment. The sunflowers and tomato plants in particular seem to be stretching themselves up toward the sun before the very eye. Lots of flowers on my tomato plants too, which is promising...perhaps all that sulphate of potash does actually work (as Peter Cundall promised it would - I should have had faith!).

My two cents worth on Christmas gifts

2009-12-10T21:51:00.000-08:00

Well I know I'm probably not the only one who has just realised that Christmas is really rather soon and that it would probably be wise to start thinking about gifts!
When I took up my pledge to not buy any new things, I knew that Christmas time was going to pose a challenge. I love giving people presents - its fun, and, if the gift is well thought out and meaningful to the recipient, its a great way of showing someone that you care about them. However Christmas shopping doesn't usually equal fun and warm fuzzies, it equals stress! - and a vague feeling of disquiet about the Christmas consumer frenzy all just having got a bit out of hand. And the thing is that while it may seem oh-so-very-moral-highground to not give people anything for Christmas other than a breezy comment that you've donated to a charity in their name...most people want something to open! So I've given a bit of thought to ways in which we can give the people we love gifts at Christmas time, without generating yet more unwanted junk that costs the planet, clutters the house, and will probably be destined for landfill in the not too distant future....

Mumarandom's thoughts on gifts:
* My favourite way to buy a gift is from a not-for-profit organisation such as Unicef, Amnesty International or Oxfam. If you check out their online catalogues you'll usually find a really interesting range of stuff, often including environmentally friendly/recycled products. And the added bonus is that you get that warm glow from knowing that your cash has gone to good cause - the gift that gives twice, so to speak. Oxfam and Unicef in particular have great stuff for kids.
* Someone very wise once said that everything in the home should be either beautiful or functional, preferably both. I think this is a good rule of thumb for gifts too. Nothing worse than being given an ugly knick knack!
* Why not pool your funds with other family members so that you can get someone one bigger and better gift between all of you? For a friend's 21st birthday I once invited all of the party guests to contribute to buying the party boy a set of golf clubs. Who knows if he still uses them, but it sure beat 50 cocktail shakers!
* Why not make your own? Even if you're not a creative genius, at the end of the day, its the thought that counts, right?? - well, I guess that depends on the recipient! I've been knitting a scarf for a particular relative for about 6 months now - no, I'm not crazily organised with my Christmas presents, it was meant to be for her birthday last June! Due to the fact I got a little overly enthusiastic at the beginning with the width of the scarf, and the recipient is quite tall (and therefore the scarf needs to be very long) its still not finished. I guess it seems a bit odd to give someone a woollen scarf in the middle of summer, so perhaps it'll have to keep til her next birthday. Hmmmm.
* I think houseplants make great presents. I've received a few potted cyclamens over the last couple of years which are really pretty, and just keep going on and on producing gorgeous blooms. These probably weren't that much more expensive than a bunch of cut flowers, but they've lasted a whole heap longer.
* A nice box of fairtrade chocolates usually goes down a treat. Oxfam stock a nice range of these.

By the way, I've had a few emails over the last week or so from people telling me that they're reading my blog and enjoying it. Thank you all, this means a lot - feels a bit bare and lonely sending messages off into the electronic ether without any feedback - or even knowing if anyone is reading it at all! What would REALLY float my boat is if you left a comment, and hey, if you like my blog, why not become a follower?

P.S. is anyone else just a bit excited that we've just launched our very own first Australian made hybrid car?? see link below to see the full ABC news story

More new old loot and new challenges

2009-12-09T03:10:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd show you the best of the latest haul from my favourite charity shop. I've discovered something - they hide all the trendy stuff on the 'teen rack'. Perhaps I'm totally self deluded and just a complete "mutton dressed as lamb" but most of the clothes on this rack seem pretty adult-appropriate to me (and in adult sizes too) - ?! If the op-shop ladies think that these clothes are only appropriately worn by those less than 20 years of age they must think I'm a complete tramp! Oh well.

Have to confess to having my resolve not to buy new things a bit tested of late. I've just found out that two of my favourite female musicians - Norah Jones and Angie Hart - are bringing out new albums. Oh the pain! Its made me think more about my friend M's comment about how art should be exempt from my pledge.....I do want to support these artists, but there's still no denying there's a heck of a lot of embodied energy in a compact disc. Hmmm. Perhaps a good compromise would be to forego the CD (for now) but promise to try to make the show when they tour? (if either of them come to Perth that is - ha ha). I've heard that musicians make most of their money from the touring anyway (not from CDs - apparently most of this money goes to the record company).

If anyone else is also needing a bit of encouragement to stay on the sustainability bandwagon, I thought I might share a bit of this with you....Earlier this week the ABC Radio National's Book Show broadcast a recording of the esteemed Sir Nicholas Stern giving a presentation at The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival. I'd urge you to download the full audio yourself (see link below), but the main message that I took away from the presentation was this:
There is a 50% chance that, by the end of this century, there will be a 5 degree celsius rise in global temperatures (in comparison to pre-Industrial times).
The effect of this temperature rise on the world's water will be the main problem, resulting in the displacement of 100s of millions of people. For example, Bangladesh will be underwater. In Sir Stern's words, these shifts will bring about "a severe, prolonged global conflict" which will be "catastrophic" and that "the idea that we will adjust to whatever comes along is...fatuous". Scary, huh? And how do we avoid this? According to Sir Stern, in order to hold global temperature rises below 2 degrees celsius (the threshold for big risks of catastrophe), the developed world needs to cut their carbon emissions by 80% per capita - 80%!
Fingers crossed for Copenhagen, huh?

No-Mile-Salad....."Smug Mode"*

2009-12-08T03:13:00.000-08:00

I can't help showing off what The B.H. has just christened "No-Mile-Salad", otherwise referred to in our household as "Smug Salad". All of the ingredients were either grown by ourselves or our nextdoor neighbours - silverbeet, lettuce, basil, spring onions, green beans, tomatoes (yes, not very many! - these are my first of the season), sometimes strawberries. An innovation we've just come across is adding mint. Ironically, this is probably our most successful crop yet we completely ignore it. We didn't even plant it. We have a chronically leaking outdoor tap (I know thats bad....I'm waiting for the landlords to fix it) - the silver lining of this situation is that the mint that grows itself beneath the tap is going absolutely beserk with all the water (as mint will do).

To be honest we don't garden with enough skill or on a large enough scale to produce much more than a nightly salad for ourselves, but this cannot be said for our neighbours, who are an elderly Italian couple with the most amazing fruit and vegie garden I have ever seen. The man of the house is out in his garden without fail for most of the time between dawn and dusk - even when its raining. He looks fighting fit. They grow a huge array of produce including papaya, the most incredible tomatoes I've ever tasted (which last summer hung copiously over our side of the fence he he he...we picked them with permission and didn't need to buy any for months), green beans, cucumbers, strawberries, lemons, oranges, chillies....you name it. I suspect that they are entirely self sufficient in fruit and veg with plenty of excess - which they give away. What strikes me is that it has recently become quite trendy for people like me to try growing our own food, but people like my neighbours have been just quietly getting on with it for generations - it seems to be a part of their culture, a way of life.

The lady of the house and I have regular rather limited but enthusiastic conversations over the fence - she doesn't speak a lot of English, but it certainly beats my Italian, which can just about stretch to the occasional tentative (and probably very poorly pronounced) "Buon giorno". For the year or so we've lived here The B.H. and I have been optimistically looking forward to the time when we might commence (likely rather lopsided) food 'swapsies' - and this has just begun, hurray! The green beans that crossed the fence the other day made those you'd find in the supermarket seem like a cardboard imitation - these tasted like the ultimate essence of green bean. Yum.

* Anyone not familiar with the derivation of the term "Smug Mode" really needs to do themselves a favour and familiarise themselves with the hilarious BBC series "Red Dwarf".

Numpty-head Day

2009-12-07T22:34:00.000-08:00

I'm having one of those days where I just feel like a bit of a numpty-head. Think we all do sometimes (well, I hope its not just me, anyway!). Just discovered there is a whole heap about household water recycling that I did not know. This was through the fabulous Sustainable Gardeners Alliance website. Basically the message I get from their excellent greywater summary is that the only untreated household waste water you should really be using on your plants is that collected from taps/shower while you're waiting for them to get hot and that used to rinse fruit and veg. But please don't take my word as gospel (ha ha - never trust a woman who can practically count on her fingers and toes the number of times she's slept a full uninterrupted night in the past 9 months - most of the time I barely know what day of the week it is!) - check it out yourself by following the links at the sga link below.
What led me to this discovery in the first place is some blogs that have just come onto my radar (see links below). Just when I was beginning to think that the Beloved Husband and I were the only adults in the known universe not to own our own home, I've happened across a site devoted to renters who want to live green entitled, logically, greenrenters - yay! And then there is the incredibly impressive and inspiring No Impact Man. I've been feeling a bit glum over the last few days in response to all of the media discussion around the summit in Copenhagen. Given the grim forecasts being thrown around about our collective environmental future, its been making me wonder if my efforts to live a bit more sustainably are just a little bit futile. I suppose I've been feeling a bit pessimistic. Having a look at No Impact Man's blog was just what I needed to lift me out of my nihilistic funk.

So much more fun than washing up....

2009-12-06T20:32:00.001-08:00

I really should be doing the dishes. But I really can't be bothered. I am too engrossed in the most marvellous book that I've come across for ages. And no, I remain consumer-chaste, I didn't buy it! - it comes courtesy of the generosity and thoughtfulness of a complete stranger. My Dad is a therapist. On learning that I was interested in going to Italy (a lifelong dream....not yet fulfilled), and that I have a baby, one of his clients thought that I would be interested in reading Four Seasons In Rome by Anthony Doerr - a memoir of a year that the author spent in Rome with his wife and infant twin sons. The loan of this book, via my Dad, has turned out to be one of the best gifts anyone has given me in a long time. It doesn't really have anything to do with environmental sustainability per se, but it has a lot to do with developing a certain appreciation of the experience of life that has absolutely nothing to do with 'buying more stuff'. And the writing is sublime - Anthony Doerr, I am sure, would never ever begin a sentence with the word 'and'. If there is actually anyone out there reading this (hello?), do yourself a favour and track down this book!

Taking stuff stock

2009-12-03T20:29:00.001-08:00

Well its been nearly one month since I made my pledge to buy no new stuff for one year. One twelfth of the way there! Its probably time to take stock of my progress...
Misdemeanours:
Well, remember how I mentioned that my purse had died and was pooing coins everywhere? I did make an honest effort to track down a replacement made from 100%recycled materials, I promise. I did a bit of research and traipsed into town with The Booba in tow (who, might I add, was decidedly grumpy that day) to the only shop in Perth that I could ascertain sold such a thing. I had optimistic expectations of the purses made from 100% recycled plastic bags and 100% recycled tyre inner tubes that had been advertised. Sadly, said articles did not live up to my expectations. They just would not have been functional (eg. only 2 slots for cards???). So I went for the second best option of purchasing a "new-materials" purse made by some sort of women's cooperative in India, from a shop run by a not-for-profit charitable organisation. Must admit I still feel a tiny bit like I've broken the rules every time I take my wallet out. And I must also confess that a very quick google search has just revealed countless alternative options for purses made from recycled rubber for sale online (see link below to vulcana bags as an example) - I'm sure I would have found a suitable purse pretty easily. Oh well. Lesson learned. I won't be so hasty next time.
I'm happy to say, however, that that has been the only infingement that I can think of. Not bad, huh? Thats not to say I haven't been tempted! Which leads me to....
Challenges:
1. Baby stuff
Every week I catch up with a group of other Mums in my local area for cups of tea and commiseration. This is held in a room at the back of a local baby things shop, so every week I'm exposed to a sea of uber-cute but environmentally pretty naughty baby stuff - for which I am entitled to a sizeable discount. Very tempting!
2. Plant pots
As I think I've mentioned before, we rent a place with a largely paved outdoor area, so we're forced to mainly grow things in pots, and a short while ago I ran out! I persevered with using the bottom of 2L milk bottles and yoghurt containers (with holes poked in the bottom) which work ok, but they're not really that big, and to be frank don't look all that great. Then one day last week I was taking out the rubbish to the bins we share with our neighbours, and found our neighbouring household had chucked out a whopping stack of at least thirty plastic plant pots. Score! Problem solved.
All in all I think I have found this endeavour a little easier than I had expected as I've just tried to avoid putting myself in temptation's way - what is the point in going shopping when you know you are "not allowed to buy anything"? Perhaps the relentless acquisition of and desire for new things was merely a habit that needed to be broken? Or is it human nature to want new things all the time? - I'm hardly immune to it, I still love going to secondhand shops, and it would be difficult to argue that I actually need the things I buy there - its just fun, and I permit myself because I see that it doesn't come at such an enviromental or ethical cost. Some might argue that those in developing countries who are seemingly happy living with very little material goods refute the theory that its human nature to seek to acquire things that may not be absolutely intrinsic to our survival or basic comfort. But I in turn would argue that this probably just reflects a lack of opportunity and exposure to the big wide world of 'shopping'. What is it about us as human beings that makes us want 'things' so much?
Human nature or not, I have felt a bit of a shift in my attitudes over the past month. I heard a really beautiful piece of classical music I had never heard before on the television the other night, and then, by complete coincidence, the exact same piece of music on the radio the next morning. I honestly felt that this was one of the most gorgeous things I had ever heard, and made a mental note to inform the Beloved Husband that I would like it to be played at my funeral (morbid I know, but everyone thinks about their funeral music - don't they?). My usual impulse, in the 'new stuff era', would have been to seek out a recording of this music, to possess it. But having already made a commitment to myself not to do things like this, I actually found that I was content to just have the experience of hearing this piece of music those two times, and to hope that perhaps I would happen to hear it again some other time. I think this made me more fully appreciate the experience of listening to the song while it was playing, rather than anxiously planning how I would acquire it, planning some future time when I would enjoy it. I guess in self-help speak this is called 'being in the moment'.

Secondhand clothes rule, OK?!

2009-11-24T23:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, here is a bit of unabashed proselytising for the purchase and wearing of secondhand clothes. I have intuited from the looks people often give me when it comes up that I buy a lot of my own and The Booba's clothes secondhand (ie like I am growing a second head) that many are dubious as to their merits. Here are some of the reasons I've gathered regarding why people don't buy wear secondhand clothes, and my responses to them:
1. "They are dirty"
True, some charity shops seem not to wash garments before offering them for sale, and yes, this is a bit yuck, but I think by and large most reasonable people wash clothes before giving them away anyhow. I think most reasonable people would also wash any clothes they've bought secondhand before wearing them too (I do). And by and large I have to say that 99.9% of the clothes I come across in secondhand shops are clean. So I call that myth busted.
2. "They look 'raggy'"
People might think this because we all tend to chuck own raggy clothes in charity bins. However charity shops don't offer raggy clothes for sale (because, lets face it, NOONE wants to wear your threadbare old T-shirt covered in paint splatters or those clapped out old pyjama pants with no elastic left in the waist - even the destitute still have some pride). What I've learnt is that some of these sort of donations will get sold to industry as rags, some will get thrown out.
3. They are out of fashion and 'nanna-ish'
Well, I have to concede this point, a lot of the clothes in secondhand shops are not exactly at the cutting edge of fashion. Whether or not you want to wear 'the latest' is, I guess, up to you (and this is an issue I've touched on in previous entries). Some people actually like to wear 'vintage' clothing - and this has become fashionable in and of itself. It also has to be said that if you sort through the nasty polyester skirts and 100% acrylic cardigans in the average secondhand clothing shop you are also likely to find a fair representation of clothes that are no more than one or two seasons old - probably thanks to the uber-fashionable who will not rewear styles beyond this point. You'll even find a fair amount of clothing with the original tags still in place.
4. They are stigmatised
When I was in highschool I had a good friend who was a big fan of op-shopping. Her mother despaired. "We don't need to dress like paupers!" she said. It seemed that she considered the wearing of secondhand clothing when one didn't 'have to' to be an affront to one's pride or dignity. Well, as long as the clothing is clean and not falling apart I don't see the reason to be ashamed for wearing secondhand clothes, I really don't. Its all a matter of perspective. Without wanting to sermonise overmuch, when one considers the conditions under which a lot of new clothing is made and what the people who make it are actually paid for their labour, I think we all need to think twice about what is shameful....
This leads me on to my next list, in no particular order)...
Reasons to wear secondhand clothes:
1. You know that you are not supporting sweatshop labour.
2. It is recycling. (Cotton for one is considered by some to be the 'dirtiest' crop in the world due to the heavy use of synthetic insecticides and water. For more info check out the OTA link below).
3. When you buy from a charity shop, you are supporting that charity.
4. You will often find more interesting clothes that will no longer be available 'new'. For those of us not heavily invested in looking exactly like everyone else, this is a definate plus.
5. Op-shopping is fun. Its like a treasure hunt.
6. Its SO much less expensive than buying new clothes! I think this is particularly pertinent when it comes to buying secondhand baby clothes. Most of The Booba's secondhand clothing has cost me $1-$2 per piece (that which hasn't been generously hand-me-downed, that is). When you consider that new baby clothes seem to cost almost as much as new adult clothing, this is a significant saving. Then when you also take into account the fact that babies grow out of their clothes at a rate of knots, and that as long as its comfortable they really don't give two hoots what they're wearing - you have to ask yourself why would you NOT buy baby clothes secondhand? I guess for older kids it might be a bit more problematic - image is everything, right? For the record, though, I clearly remember being taken op-shopping a lot when I was growing up, and alot of my clothes were secondhand. It never once occurred to me that this should be something to be embarassed of, or that at times we may have been doing it out of financial necessity. Conversely, I remember being encouraged to see looking for secondhand treasures as something fun and exciting - so to me it was, and still is.
And my last list for the day...Mumarandom's Tips For Secondhand Clothes Shopping:
1. Charity shops in more affluent areas tend to have better clothes (and are less 'pickied-over'). However, for some reason, the ultimate creme de la creme of charity shops will always be those in country towns. Trust me, these are always well worth a look if you happen to be there.
2. Take the time to sort through the junk. Its usually worth it.
3. Go for charity shops rather than "Recycled Clothing Boutiques". Sure, the latter will have a higher concentration of trendy, nice clothes, but they will also be a lot more expensive, and you won't be supporting a charity. These are a good option, however, if you are time poor.
4. Don't be put off an otherwise desirable item of clothing by a missing button or loose seam. These can be easily fixed.
5. Beware stains. Chances are the previous owner has already tried to shift them.
6. Take cash. Most charity shops don't have EFTPOS or credit card facilities. Don't worry, you won't need much!
7. Its probably best to take the approach of regular checks in your favourite haunts to see if anything interesting has cropped up, rather than going on a hunt for a particular item that you need (that you most likely won't find).
And lastly, for all my newfound holier-than-thouness given secondhand things, there are still certain categories, despite my pledge, where even I draw the line - shoes, bathers, underwear, sleepwear. I've also never found a good pair of secondhand jeans (although my unusual proportions may have something to do with this...I have a hard enough time finding them new!). Guess I'm just going to have to make do with what I've got in these categories for the next little while!

By the way, I've noticed that from the times attached to my blog posts it looks like I am a super keen middle-of-the-night blogger. I'm not! These days, being a bit old and boring, I wouldn't dream of being anywhere other than in bed asleep at 3am - (if I'm not on duty leaning over The Booba's cot trying to shoosh him back to sleep that is!). Not sure where these random times are coming from - ??

Stinky cutting boards

2009-11-24T20:09:00.001-08:00

I am beginning to rue my rash decision to throw out all but one of our cutting boards - this was shortly before committing to buy nothing new. To be honest it really had to be done as they smelt strongly like feet - I didn't want them anywhere near me, let alone to cut up food on them! And no, no amount of hot water and bicarb would shift that stink. But now the Beloved Husband and I are left fighting over one measly little (non-smelly) cutting board whenever we cook together (which is often) - think this is reflective of the fact we both constantly vie for position of king of the kitchen! Anyway, I did a little internet search to see if there was a such a thing as a cutting board made out of recycled materials (which would be allowed) with little optimism - and was pleasantly surprised. (For the record, I have no idea if secondhand cutting boards are available - probably - but don't think that even I want to go there). There are two sites which offer cutting boards made out of 100% recycled PVC, and one of them also offers cutting boards made out of a product called 'Paperstone' which apparently is formed from 100% recycled paper and makes a great cutting surface. Unfortunately I think that both of these sights are US based but, oh well, you can't have it all. Am going to investigate these options and will keep you posted as to the results. See links to Greenhome and Preserve Products below.

One man's 'trash' is another's treasure

2009-11-23T21:47:00.000-08:00

I've made a very exciting new discovery - Freecycle! This is an amazing online network devoted to the exchange of unwanted stuff within your local community. What a fantastic way to keep usable things out of landfill, and save a bit of money too. This has been a lifesaver for me with respect to my managing to blow up our stick blender for the SECOND time in a matter of weeks. This leaves me without the means to provide The Booba with pureed goodies, but according to the terms of my pledge a new one would be verboten. Thanks to Freecycle I've already located a replacement that was otherwise sitting unwanted in someone else's kitchen cupboard. Yay! Check out the link below.

Homemade toys

2009-11-19T21:38:00.000-08:00

On the excellent programme 'Life Matters' on Radio National this morning they had a talk back segment where people phoned up and talked about their favourite childhood toys. Many people named toys that had been handmade for them by their parents. One woman in particular who had grown up during the Depression with several siblings had had toys whittled out of soap by her Dad! (hopefully this was after she was over the sucking everything phase that The Booba is in at the moment....). This spurred me on to finish a project I've been working on for The Booba for several weeks now. I've been driving The Beloved Husband nuts with all my sewing detritus spread everywhere, so I'm sure he'll be happy! In the lower piccie you'll see a play mat made from scraps from my fabric box - true to my pledge, no new fabric has been purchased for this project. Its backed with two old cot blankets I picked up for next to nothing at a charity shop and then sewed together (after being thoroughly washed, of course). Using scraps has made it hardwork, needing to construct a patchwork of sorts, but I like the effect. I guess that was the origin of patchwork in the first place, wasn't it? - constructing things from existing scraps (not buying specially bundled squares of fabric from haberdashery shops like people do these days). Larger patches have been made mostly from some of my clapped out old flannel pyjamas - by the way this kind of fabric is actually great for making bibs too (very absorbent). I've sewn in little loops so that I can attach The Booba's various little rattly objects for ferkling*. I'm hoping that maybe when he is too old for playmats and in a big boy bed this might double as a bedspread. In the upper piccie I've shown a couple of samples of the other toys I have made for The Booba. Please let it be known that I am in no way attempting to show off my creative prowess here - if you could take a closer look at these pieces you'd see just how slapdash my sewing is! I just want to share some ideas - I'd love to hear or see some other people's too.

* "ferkling" - to engage in that distinctive combination of fondling, very intensely examining and chewing an object that babies seem to spend most of their time doing.

Food waste woes

2009-11-16T20:36:00.000-08:00

Nothing makes my blood boil as much as wasted food. Yes, brace yourselves, I'm going to have a little rant - sorry. Did you know that approximately one in every five bags of groceries the average Australian household takes home will end up getting thrown in the bin? That surveys have found that up to 50% of the average Australian household's wheelie bin will be filled with food? When you consider these statistics in relation to the fact that every year roughly 15 million children die of hunger, its enough to turn me off my lunch.
We used to waste a fair bit of food, particularly when we were going to a fruit and vegie market and would tend to get a little overexcited buying more than we could ever use (because it was so cheap!). Now I try to plan meals around what needs using. I would like to say that I have a carefully constructed shopping list based on a weekly meal plan before even going to the supermarket in the first place, but I'm really just not that person!
I think its helped us to waste less vegies now that we are growing some of our own. For example, we used to be in the habit of buying a lettuce and then letting is moulder away in the crisper. Now that we grow our own lettuce, we just pick what we need for each meal.
I've also picked up a few tips for what to do with bits of leftovers that seem too good to throw away. I think these all originally came from Nigella Lawson (my culinary guru) - they work well for us.
* Freeze the rind of used up lumps of parmesan and then add them whole to a pot of soup during cooking (and remove before serving!) - it adds a great flavour
* If you don't fancy the last couple of mouthfuls of your glass of red wine, freeze it in an icecube tray. These small portions of wine come in handy for cooking and for marinating meat.
* If a recipe calls for egg yolk only freeze the egg white. It'll always come in handy at some point.
We've also recently developed some constructive ways of dealing with our food scraps. I used to think that sending food scraps to landfill didn't really matter because it would break down, but what I didn't realise is that this sort of organic waste will actually release a lot of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. I am now a proud worm mama. The Beloved Husband thinks I'm a bit strange, but I think my earthworms are cute, and I enjoy feeding my worm farm scraps from the kitchen. The added bonus of this is, of course, that worm poo is great for the garden. Whatever the worms won't have (they're a bit fussy) goes to my parents' chooks in return for the occasional egg.
The trouble with having such a bee in my bonnet about food wastage is that when you're trying to feed a Booba you can end up throwing a LOT of it straight into the bin! I once heard someone say that you cannot force a baby to do two things - eat or sleep. So true! So it can feel very frustrating seeing so much waste when it is to a large extent out of your control. However the following are a few useful little pieces of wisdom I've gleaned regarding trying to minimise the amount of baby food that ends up in the bin:
* It seems fairly obvious, but its probably worth stating anyway - don't prepare too much! Err on the side of preparing less than you think they'll eat, and then you can always whip a bit more of something else if they're still peckish. I think that huge mountains of babyfood will probably exacerbate your own feelings of frustration if they won't eat it all, and overwhelm the tacker.
* If you wouldn't eat it, a baby probably won't either! Sometimes I think when we get so wrapped up in concocting nutritious little somethings for our darlings we forget about the taste factor. Occasionally when I have been getting frustrated at The Booba for not yumming down whatever feast I have prepared for him I have eaten a spoonful of his food myself to demonstrate how 'delicious' it is - and then struggled not to gag! So I'm trying to make it my new rule of thumb that I will not serve The Booba food that I would not countenance eating myself, and I always taste it first. The added benefit of this is that, if he won't eat it anyway, at least I can finish it off myself.
* Don't even bother trying to feed solids to an overtired baby. You'll just end up scraping it all off the cieling. When The Booba is a bit tired or grizzly I err on the side of offering him his favourite familiar flavours in minimally challenging textures (ie puree) because I know he will be much more likely to eat it.
* Prepare your own baby food. There are numerous reasons, both nutritional and environmental, for not feeding a baby processed food. For the sake of this argument though the main point would be that it can be a lot more difficult to control portion sizes when dealing with food that comes in packets. The Booba only has homemade food but its really not as much trouble as it may sound. I tend to make large batches and freeze them in ice cube trays (often this will just be a set aside portion of our own meal, prior to seasoning, which has been blended). A 1 kg tub of natural yoghurt in the fridge means I can serve him just as much as I think he'll eat. When it comes to fresh fruit I grate or mash his portion and usually finish the piece of fruit myself (I think my diet has actually been improved this way! - I never used to eat fruit).
* Be patient. Babies take ages to eat, especially if its food they have to chew and they don't have many teeth!

New Old Loot

2009-11-16T03:53:00.001-08:00

Well, my tomato seedlings survived the night, phew! In fact, they're looking rather pleased with themselves, as if they've stretched their little legs and breathed a sigh of relief (I was instructed by the guru, Peter Cundall, to get them root bound - and they certainly were!).
The Booba and I headed down to one of my favourite local charity shops this arvie. Its in one of the less savoury necks of these woods, with lots of unusual people wearing bizarre ensembles walking strangely etc, but its worth it because the shop isn't totally picked over (perhaps because the locals are not quite with it?.........). Had a particularly good haul today - check out our new loot in the photo. We got all of this for well under $20, and its all in really good nick. The little toy car in particular I'm pretty certain has never come into contact with a child before (or if so an extremely clean and gentle one!). We're going to give this to The Booba as part of his Christmas present, I think he'll love it.
Must own up to being freshly in possession of a new new book (as opposed to a new secondhand book). It was a gift from the Beloved Husband who was interstate over the weekend - a collection of poems by my favourite poet, E.E. Cummings. Hey I think I deserved it because The Booba kicked up a major non-sleep flavoured stink in his absence! Its mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful and I promise to cherish it forever (I'm referring to the book, but I guess that applies to The Booba too, despite his curent penchant for nocturnal histrionics).

Tomato Boobas

2009-11-15T03:18:00.000-08:00

This evening I planted out ten of the tomato seedlings that I have lovingly reared from seed (see photo). My instructions as per Peter Cundall's advice (in the wonderful Organic Gardener Magazine) were to stress out the seedlings prior to planting them out in order to encourage early flowering and therefore more fruit. Well, may have overdone the stressing out and am now a bit concerned they might just all cark it! Hmm, fingers crossed.
Have had it pointed out by my good friend M, herself a published author, that the pledge not to buy new things is a little unfair to local artists, authors etc who would otherwise benefit from my purchase of their work. Point taken. Let it be known that if I am in the mood to buy a painting or such, I will not be stopped by pledge (but probably will be by lack of funds!).

The Nitty Gritty

2009-11-07T22:23:00.000-08:00

You'll have to forgive me for being a bit hazy and rambling today - The Booba has rediscovered an enthusiasm for 2am, 3am or 4am snacks (its a booby smorgasbord around here!). Well, at least there was an 'or' there - was a time when it would have been an 'and' (2am the apperetif, 3 am mains, 4am dessert, perhaps a little after dinner mint at 5am....all a warm up for the main event of breakfast at 6.30!). Ok, in all fairness its only very rarely been THAT bad, but all in all I think I can say that sleeping seems to have become a bit passe for babies around here lately.
I digress. Its time to think about some of the practicalities of my pledge not to buy any new stuff for a year. There is a part of me that is quite optimistic (naive? deluded?) in predicting this may even be a bit too easy. We are hardly shopaholics as it is, and we do already make a bit of an effort to minimise our carbon footprint where we can. But then we're certainly no paragons of ecological virtue either, and there is probably a large element of living in an environmentally responsible way until it gets a bit inconvenient, or we really want something...having a Booba certainly comes in handy as a readymade excuse in this regard (and I don't think we're the only ones!). So here's a brief rundown of where I think we're going ok, and the areas where theres probably room for improvement:
Virtues:
* Most of mine and The Booba's clothes come from secondhand shops, are hand-me-downs or are homemade (by a very devoted Grandma - I'm not quite that talented). I actually find op-shopping a lot more fun than buying things in mainstream shops - perhaps its the thrill of the hunt. Contrary to popular belief, there is actually a bounty of good quality clothes in secondhand shops if you know where to look and don't mind doing a bit of sifting. Most of the clothes I have sourced in these places actually look new, but at a fraction of the financial and environmental cost(with the added bonus of giving money to the needy if the Op-Shop is run by a charitable institution).
* Most of The Booba's toys are sourced like his clothes. Of course it goes without saying that preloved toys are washed very thoroughly and checked for safety hazards, but as with the clothes, there is a surprising bounty of good quality secondhand stuff available out there. As for making toys at home, this has actually become a new hobby of mine. Some examples of things I have recently made for The Booba include a rattly cube made from scraps of fabric; a plastic bottle filled with the plastic tabs from packets of bread (well secured with electrical tape); and a small takeaway container filled with hundreds and thousands. He seems to be equally entertained by these (or an empty paper bag) as by his shinier new toys.
* We are fortunate enough to have a fantastic local library within walking distance where we source most of our books, CDs and DVDs. They have a particularly good selection of baby books (just as well because I get bored reading the same ones over and over again!). Must confess to having bought the new Adrian Mole book (by Sue Townsend) when I saw it in a bookshop last week though - how could I resist?
* We pay a little bit extra for 100% Green energy
* We use mostly biodegradable, phosphate free and grey water safe cleaning products.
* We use mostly organic and non-petrochemical based lotions and potions on ourselves and The Booba. In fact I've discovered a great line of Australian made, mainly organic and carbon neutral products which don't cost anymore than their mainstream counterparts - see the link the Sukin below.
* I don't drive so The Booba and I do a lot of walking and catching Public Transport. This has the added benefit of giving me enough incidental exercise (particularly when I'm lugging an extra 8kg of baby around) so that I don't have to worry about gym memberships and such (must confess to being a bit allergic to walking on treadmills etc....).
* We're trying to grow some of our own food. We're a bit limited by the fact that we rent and therefore are mainly limited to growing things in pots. That and the fact that I for one seem to have a black rather than green thumb so the degree of effort put in doesn't quite seem to be matched by my degree of success. But we're learning.
* Most of the time we remember to take canvas bags to the supermarket
* We use mostly recycled paper products.
Well, if you think that all sounded a little bit smug, here are some aspects of our lifestyle which I'm less proud of:
Sins
* Number One most deadly sin with big flashing lights around it would be the fact that we use disposable nappies. Yes, ahem, mea culpa.
* We tend to leave lights on that we don't need.
* We leave lots of appliances with flashing lights on all the time.
* We leave mobile phone chargers and laptop chargers plugged in even when charged item has been detached - apparently this accounts for a lot of wasted power in most households.
* I have a bit of a shiny women's magazines habit (and, lets face it, these are basically just glorified advertising catalogues....thus giving more impetus to the desire to buy STUFF). I do actually think its a bit important for things to be aesthetically pleasing (not VERY important in the scheme of things, but a bit). However I find it quite irresponsible how the Fashion industry seems to promote a throw-away culture. Its equally regrettable how we are encouraged to equate surface appearance with fundamental worth. Again, I digress. I'll get off my electronic soap-box and back to the point!
* When we go to the supermarket we tend not to give much thought to how items are packaged or where they have come from. When we went shopping yesterday we found that with not too much anally retentive label reading required we managed to get about 50% of our shop from within W.A. and nearly all of it from Australia. Not great, but its an improvement. We've also just recommenced getting our dry goods in bulk (less packaging) - but then most of them do seem to be imported.....
* We eat meat. I fell off the vegetarian bandwagon when I was pregnant and became severely iron deficient (and iron tablets make me sick) - so I don't apologise for that. However some meats have less ethical and environmental repercussions than others. I've only just plucked up the courage to try kangaroo (pathetic, I know), and discovered that as far as meat goes, I quite like it. So we've pledged to not eat any other red meat. For those unfamiliar with the environmental, health and ethical benefits of eating kangaroo relative to other red meats, please see link to macro meats below. We also stick to free-range chicken.
* We use tissues and paper napkins when people come over to eat. I've just bought some fabric to make some cloth napkins, but can't get over the fact that I find the whole concept of hankies quite repellant...
* We tend to waste a fair bit of water. Our shower has an annoying habit of taking ages to get hot - we've just starting using a bucket to catch the waste (which we put on the garden).
* I don't look after stuff. The Beloved Husband is excellent at this, and in fact there are several items in his wardrobe he has been wearing for over a decade. So he despairs at my propensity to wreck things, and he's right, although its not deliberate it is a form of wastefulness. I think I need to take a leaf out of his book - and if i'm not buying anything new for 12 months, I'll have to. Ironically, in order to consume less things, I'm going to have to start showing more care for them.
* I love buying things on the internet! In particular quirky T-shirts and kitsch items printed with photographs of The Booba. Theres nothing quite like the thrill of finding that package waiting on the door step....This is going to require a lot of self discipline (especially when producers of said items email me every other day with special offers and new lines - hats off to them for clever marketing!).

Of course its all very well to beat myself up and promise to henceforth be perfect, but this wouldn't be very realistic. Although I have pledged not to buy anything new for 12 months, there will have to be a few exceptions. I will do my level best to limit these to the following:
* Toiletries - where possible to be organic, biodegradable, in recyclable packaging. The nappies are a big issue here - hmmm....I have no desire to enter into the very well worn 'Cloth vs Disposables' debate, and am well aware of the facts and the options out there, just experiencing a little bit of wanting to stick my head in the sand on this point right now!
* Household cleaning agents - as above
* Food. Although it would be lovely, we are never going to be self sufficient living in our current circumstances! We will however do our best to:
- boycott items that are excessively packaged
- choose locally produced and seasonal items
- purchase only organic and fair trade tea, coffee and chocolate (I can highly recommend Green & Black's)
Of course some of the above items will be more costly than usual, but hopefully this extra expense will be offset by not buying other things.
* Essential gardening items such as seeds, manure, etc
* To a certain extent, gifts. The fact remains that not everyone is as enthusiastic about pre-loved or homemade goods as I am.

The first test of my pledge is that my purse has just fallen apart and keeps pooing coins etc. all over the place. Hmmm...this may be related to my aforementioned tendency not to look after my stuff. I haven't cleared it out in a year or too, and its been so bulging with ancient receipts and random never-looked-at-again business cards I haven't actually been able to clip it shut forever.

The Beginning

2009-11-06T03:46:00.000-08:00

Well, here is the very first entry on my very first blog. Yes, I must confess to being a complete blog-virgin, so please bear in mind that I really have completely no idea what I am doing and to a large extent will be making it up as I go along! But there is a purpose to all this....
First of all:
Roughly eight months ago I was catapulted from the life of a busy, full-time working 'Professional' to that of full time at home mother to a beautiful baby boy, hereafter The Booba. Whilst I adore The Booba beyond words and continue to feel very committed to caring for him myself full time right now rather than paying someone else to do it, to say that this whole lifestyle shift has been a bit of an adjustment would be quite a remarkable understatement! I guess to say that having a child has changed your life a lot is hardly an earthshatteringly original revelation....but when you're living it, its pretty profound. One of the aspects of being at home full time with a baby that I have struggled with in particular is feeling a bit like, as far as the 'outside world' is concerned, I have kind of ceased to exist...Perhaps I am just missing the ego massage of my old job and this is all just a bit self indulgent (and indeed the Beloved Husband has suggested that blogging is a form of "vanity publication"...ouch) but I see this blog as my little 'yoo-hoo' to the big wide world when my immediate world is feeling a little shrinkwrapped.
Second of all:
One of the many positive aspects of being at home with The Booba is that I've had the opportunity to pay much closer attention to the impact of our lifestyle on the environment. There is nothing like having to look a member of the next generation in the face all day to make you think twice about taking the slack, naughty option in matters of making your Carbon Footprint. To a certain degree this has been a case of making a virtue out of necessity - in most cases it seems to be a lot less expensive to live in a more environmentally sound manner, and I don't have an income anymore. The upshot of all this is that I have decided to make a Pledge: I will not buy anything new for the next year. .
As The Beloved Husband has pointed out, I've made commitments like these before and they've fizzled pretty quickly (yes, I can be a little impetuous).....thus the blog. This time, you're all going to keep me honest .... and hopefully even give me a few tips along the way. And I know that this notion is not really all that original or 'out there' in the scheme of things (its no "Little Brown Dress" every day for a year, thats for sure! - check the link below)...but thats not really the point for me. The point is to try and tread a little more lightly on the Earth, and hopefully learn some new things along the way.