Buy Nothing New Round Up

We have all been really sick with colds, throat and ear infections this month so it has been pretty easy to stay away from the shops and buy nothing new.

Except for this...

Sewing For Boys, 24 Projects to Create a Handmade Wardrobe by Shelly Figueroa and Karen LePage

I saw this in my local patchwork shop window and could not help myself. The projects look really easy and simple but have that lovely handmade look about them that you will never get from store bought clothing.

These are called treasure pocket pants. Just imagine the gorgeous fabrics you could use.

Otherwise, our month went by without any purchasing. We didn't need to buy anything though so I can't give you any insight into how we scoured our local area for second hand items. And we (especially me) have been so sick that we didn't really venture out all that much and so haven't been tempted by the shops. I find that is my weakness - all the beautiful things available for the house and the kids. I am the main spender in the house so with me being out of action, we didn't buy anything except groceries, doctors bills and medicines.

I love these hats. It is the first thing I plan on making from the book.

October 2012 is Buy Nothing New Month

I know its the 8th October but I have decided to pledge to buy nothing new for the rest of October.

Christmas is not far now and I know I will be throwing myself into the usual frantic consumerism that Christmas usually entails. I think spending (pun intended) the next 3 weeks not buying anything new will help to put November and December in perspective. The amount of money we spend as a household on things we really don't need it crazy and frankly a little obscene. And I've been trying to limit our spending anyway to keep our budget under control. It will be interesting to see how we go.

A couple of guidelines for the month:

• Food, Medicines, Bills, Hygiene Products are all OK. ie, any essential items (a new pair of shoes are NOT an essential item no matter how I try to spin it).
• Second hand, swapping, freebies are the preferred method of acquiring things.
• Unnecessary wastage is also to be avoided in the name of the game. I will aim to use all the food in the fridge before buying more (for example).

If you are interested in joining Buy Nothing New Month you can pledge here.
 

Earth Hour 2010

Just a very quick post as we prepare to turn off our lights (and power points) for Earth Hour.

I don't think I need to talk about what Earth Hour is about. What I want to do is show my support and add my voice to the many others participating.

So, how many others are joining in for Earth Hour and what are you doing in that time?

We are going to sit by candle light and chat. Things have been super busy this week and it will be nice spending time together.

For more information, check out the Earth Hour web site.

Plastic - Evil Or Just Misunderstood?

Did anyone watch Addicted to Plastic on the ABC last night? It was a documentary on the problem of waste plastic and what people are doing to solve the problem.


One person interviewed said that the plastics industry isn't evil and planned to swamp the earth with toxic plastic waste, but rather we all got caught up in post war consumerism. Plastic was marketed as the great time saver. Mum's could have more time to themselves because they wouldn't have to wash up. (More time? Yeah right.) And coming from the frugality of the war time, you can understand the desire to have a life that was very different from the reminders of war.


Since then, our desire to accumulate more stuff has grown exponentially. We want our lives to be 'simpler' and require less work so we look for disposable items, pre-packaged foods and other convenience items which means heaps and heaps of plastic being thrown out each day. Even the idea of a plastic bag that is used once then thrown out (or put in a cupboard to multiply) sounds ridiculous when you consider the alternative of a re-usable fabric or canvas bag that can be washed over and over again if needed.


Throughout the documentary, I kept thinking that the problems we have with plastic is not because of the plastic but rather because of our behaviour and attitude towards plastic. If everything that was plastic was made out of say linen, (imagine for a minute that this linen is rigid and is just like plastic - only linen) our attitude to packaging would be very different. Imagine using a tea towel once then throwing it away.


I think plastic has it's place and can be useful (think of tupperware - mmmm tupperware) but we need to let go of the idea of plastic as a disposable substance. Every time you throw out a piece of plastic remember that plastic will always remain plastic - and it has to go somewhere, forever. Now that doesn't sound very disposable.


So, what can we do about it?


I understand that changing the way you think as well as unconscious habits can be extremely difficult, but with some effort on our part there are things we can do.

• Stop excessive buying. Plastic is in everything so the first step is to reduce spending. If you buy less new stuff and repair what you have or search out second hand items, then less plastic will be thrown out and some of the plastic that is out there will remain out of land fill for longer.


• If you do buy something new, choose products that have minimal plastic packaging. The most obvious items would have to be fruit and vegetables that are in a plastic tray and then wrapped in plastic. What's with that? Other things to consider are individual serves of snacks and biscuits. Try to avoid other purchases such as clothing that is wrapped in plastic sleeves.


• When you buy a plastic product that will be thrown out, choose a product that is made from a recyclable plastic. All councils have different plastics they will take for recycling but you can usually check what they are from your local council website (most plastics have a little number on them - that's how you can tell what's what).

Are you getting a theme from the above points? Yep it's Reduce, Reuse, Recylce. A simple but very effective way to solve a lot of our waste issues, not just for plastic.

So why not start reducing the amount of plastic you use today. Say no to a plastic bag. Better yet, keep a plastic bag from home in your handbag or car. That way you will always have a bag with you and you will be keeping one more plastic bag from being tossed away.

If you missed Addicted to Plastic you can check it out on ABC's iView.

Permaculture St George

After months of searching, I finally found the details for a local permaculture group (turns out I had the wrong name, duh).

So tonight I went to my first meeting. I had a great time and went home with lots of food for though as well as an aloe vera cutting and some cos lettuce seeds. They meet each month and membership seems to also include some other bonuses such as LETS membership.

Here is the web site if you are interested and live in the southern Sydney area:

http://permaculturestgeorge.ning.com/


On the weather front - it is freezing. Who would have thought the beginning of winter could be so cold. Was it like this last winter? Each summer I believe it will never again be cold and each winter I believe it will never again be hot.

On the way home tonight the car registered the outside temperature as 9oC and this morning Miss Berry's room was 13oC. I think I might make more of a note of the temperature in this blog so I can look back next year and compare the temps. It has also been pretty windy. We haven't had any rain for a week or so and the wind has really dried everything out - I must water this weekend.

Thankfully we don't get frosts in this area. Although the veggies have slowed down I can still plant throughout the winter without worrying about frost damage.

Thriftyness Here We Come

We are reasonably new to the art of thrifty-ness but I think we reached a milestone yesterday. We were driving home and I spied some polystyrene boxes on the side of the road.

Perfect.

We are renting at the moment and our lease is coming up for renewal soon. I didn't want to plant my garlic and leeks in the garden just in case we move before harvest time - they are too valuable to leave behind. I already had two polystyrene boxes which I filled with white garlic but I needed more boxes and I was planning on making a trip to the local grocer to see what they do with their polystyrene boxes.

Polystyrene boxes I planted white garlic in - if all goes well I will have about 25 bulbs comes spring.

The point being, I made asked Mr Berry to pull over and put the hazard lights on as I jumped out and put the boxes in the boot. We got home and I gave them a bit of a clean and they are now ready for my leeks and probably a few onions.

There is something really satisfying about reusing items - especially when you have saved it from being rubbish (or even better when you have cleaned up the roadside). I could have just gone and bought some plastic pots at the nursery or even at the local discount store. That would have been easier and quicker - I have been on the lookout for some boxes for about three weeks - but the satisfaction I get from sourcing the boxes in a frugal and environmentally responsible way is huge.

Although we have been moving towards living consciously, frugally and sustainably, it wasn't until I was able to pick something off the side of the road that I really felt like we will get there.

As long as we don't get run over first.

Challenging the Way We Think

As part of our journey to a simple and eco friendly life, I have needed to challenge the way I think about most things. There are so many things we do in life that are just accepted as the way things are and I don't think these things are particularly good for us.

As an example, I spoke to someone the other day when I was making spaghetti bolognaise for dinner and they asked me what jar of sauce I use. When I told her that I make it from scratch she seemed surprised as if the idea to make it from scratch never occurred to her. This person is a fantastic cook and 20 years ago she would have only made bolognaise from scratch. Perhaps it is advertising and marketing that has drummed into us that the only way to make certain meals is to use a base product from the supermarket shelves.

I don't mean to single out this one conversation (or meal for that matter). There are a lot of other foods and products that people assume the only way to get them is to buy them ready made - breakfast cereal, custard, snack foods, pasta and bread (including ready made bread mixes) are just some from a very long list.

I can understand why people use ready made ingredients and there are days I resort to them too, but I think it is much healthier for ourselves and the budget if ingredients are as close to their original state as possible.

It also makes it easier to control what I am feeding my family. Try to find a jar of minced garlic or ginger that doesn't have sugar added to it (or preservatives for that matter). All I need is garlic, so why do I buy a product that has sugar and preservatives added to it? Why is it that I am finding it so hard to source a local supply of real garlic? I hate to use a cliche but it seems the corporations or perhaps we should call them the powers that be have successfully drummed into us that the minced garlic in a jar is the only garlic we should use.

So, what do we do about it? Well, whatever we do it is going to be hard. I am finding choices are limited unless I am prepared to drive all over Sydney (which defeats the whole not driving thing - another post eh?). I am trying to question everything I do and ask myself why I am reaching for that particular product and if there is an alternative that is better for my family, the environment and my budget. If you think about all the things we do in a day that are automatic, that is a lot of habits that need to be questioned and more than likely broken.

And habits can be hard to break. Especially habits that have ingrained into us for years. I don't think I will ever be able to sit back and assume I don't have to question things and neither should you. Even if you decide to continue down the path you are on, at least you have made that decision for yourself.

So, why not open your kitchen cupboard and pick up a jar and read the list of ingredients. If you picked up a can of peaches for example, are the ingredients just peaches and peach juice? Are you happy to be eating all the other ingredients? I know I'm not.

Reducing Our Food Miles

One of the ways we are trying to reduce our carbon footprint is by buying locally produced food. We do not seem to have a farmers market in our area where the stall holders are actually farmers so until I can find a really local source for our food, I am aiming for Australian Produce.

The term ‘food miles’ refers to the distance a food has travelled from the time of production to your plate. Obviously, the further your food travels, the more energy is consumed and the higher the carbon output. Food miles does not take into account the amount of energy needed to produce the food which can vary widely, but I think that is an issue for another day.

In Australia, we have two labels to look out for and they each mean slightly different things - Australian Made and Product of Australia.
Australian Made means that a product is ‘made’ in Australia and at least 50% of the cost of production occurs in Australia. This can mean that a lot of the raw materials may be sourced from overseas and made into the product you will buy in Australia. Of course it can also mean that the majority of the raw materials are from Australia.
Product of Australia means that the main ingredients are made in Australia and the manufacturing or processing is also done in Australia. This label signifies that the majority, if not the entire product comes from Australia.
There is another label you sometimes see that is Australian Grown (I also see Produce of Australia). This one is pretty self explanatory and means that the major ingredients have been grown in Australia. If this label is on a product with more than one ingredient, be aware that there can be some imported ingredients but they won’t be the main ones. If you are looking at a product that only has a single ingredient such as fruit and veg then you will know that they have been grown in Australia.

When you look at the definitions of these three labels, it seems that the Australian Made label is a bit of a joke. They may have put the bits together in Australia, but if the bits come from all over the world then I think it really defeats the point. I am looking out for Products of Australia or Grown in Australia and am looking for alternatives when I can only find products from overseas.

We are starting our local buying in the supermarket and will move to other areas from there. Just adjusting your supermarket purchases is a big task and it is one that will make a huge difference. So far I have found about half of our grocery items are already products of Australia and 99% of our fruit , veg and meat is from Australia.

I go to a number of different supermarkets to do the grocery shopping including Coles, Aldi, Franklins, IGA as well as my local butcher and grocer. My butcher only sells Australian meat and the grocer clearly labels the origin of their produce.

I was surprised that Aldi had a lot of Australian products, as do the other supermarkets, but there are some things across all shops that I am having trouble with - the main ones being canned vegetables and beans. I haven’t checked Coles yet, but I am yet to find canned tomatoes, beans or legumes that are from Australia. The majority of them come from Italy. I am not sure what to do if I can’t find Australian canned tomatoes as I use so many, especially in winter. I haven’t needed to buy dried legumes yet so I am not sure if I can use them as an alternative to canned beans and lentils.

So, I will keep searching and hopefully, over the next month or two my trolley will only contain Products of Australia and our carbon footprint will be reduced even further. I must admit, it is not an easy task as it requires a complete rethink of the way we do our shopping but I definitely believe the effort is worth it.

Where have I Been?

I know it’s been a while since I have written much of any interest (assuming of course that at least some of my previous posts were interesting). I have been feeling a bit disconnected to my surroundings lately. The weather has prevented me from doing much in the garden – first it was too hot and then it rained. The heat also melted my brain somewhat and most of my usual housework chores were put aside.

I am also using the car a lot more than I used to. I am finding I am driving almost every day. Last year I was having two or three car-free days each week. I am really unhappy about the amount of time we are using the car but I am not sure what to do about it as public transport isn’t an option.

I know that by using the car for say 30 mins each day I am not exactly raping the earth (we have a low emission car – not a hybrid though), but that really isn’t the issue. If we all had the attitude of “it’s not much – how can that possibly make things worse” then all out little actions would add up to a huge action. I am deeply concerned about our society’s detrimental impact on the environment and that as a whole we aren’t really doing too much about it. I feel guilty about using the car. I feel it is wrong and I should re-adjust my life and my daily habits to reduce my driving time.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons I haven’t written much lately. I feel a bit like a hypocrite writing about my eco-driven life when I actually think my life is becoming less eco-friendly, not more.

I just read that last few sentences and it sounds really extreme. That’s ok. If we don’t feel passionately about something, we are less likely to do anything about it.

So, I am going to work my way back onto the eco-wagon. This weekend I have gone back into the garden and played in the dirt, talked to my worms and admired my compost (I would have squelched my toes in the mud but – eww). The house has had a good clean and a bit of a de-clutter we are thinking of how to re-arrange our lives to reduce my driving.

My inspiration - current issues of Organic Gardener, Earth Garden and Gardening Australia.

I am also looking to books and magazines to give me inspiration. I splurged on some magazines and this week I will head to the library and see what books they have on the subject.

I suppose that when we are trying to live a life that is so different from society’s norm, it can be a challenge to stay on that path. So, for anyone else that is having the same problem – you are not alone. Remember your ideals and stick with them.

Reduce Reuse Recycle

I believe we throw out too much. There is disposable or single use everything. Not only that, but I think it is expected that you use a disposable item. Perhaps people see reusable items as old fashioned and what ‘poor’ people do because they can’t afford the ‘better’ single use item.

Well, we used to think like that too, but I came to the conclusion that that idea stinks (sorry, had to be done). Each week our bin was so full we had to jump on it to fit the last lot of rubbish in on bin night. We still recycled, but our recycling bin was also full each fortnight.

We have reduced our rubbish output dramatically over the last few years as we became conscious in our everyday lives and now our bins are rarely full, but our goal this year is to only ever have our garbage bins half full.

So, how are we going to do this? Here are a few things that will help us to achieve our goal.

Our worm farm and compost bin. 90% of our food scraps go to our worms or to the compost. Apparently Australians throw out a ridiculous amount of food each year and I know I used to buy too much and then had to throw some of it out at the end of the week. Now I buy less perishable items at a time and by putting food scraps in the worm farm or compost we have pretty much eliminated food going into the bin.

Cloth Nappies. I must admit to not using as many cloth nappies as I should and some days I am really slack, but using cloth nappies will reduce your garbage volume significantly. I will point out that it is important how you wash your cloth nappies. If you use a hot wash and bleach and huge amounts of water in the wash then it may be doing more damage to use cloth. Just another thing to consider. I have talked about my cloth nappies here.

Being aware of packaging. If you are cooking from scratch you won’t be purchase food with lots of unnecessary packaging but you should still be aware of this as it can sneak into your trolley at times. For example fruit and veg that have been wrapped on one of those trays or putting 2 apples in a plastic bag.

Reusing things. I know I spoke about reusable things instead of single use items, but reusing also means thinking of a new use for something. For example, I shred any non-glossy paper that comes into the house and add it to my compost and use it as mulch on the veggie garden. I also use the punnets that the strawberries come in to start off my seeds. Before you throw anything away, ask yourself what else it can be used for.

Stop buying stuff. I know I seem to harp on in almost every post about this but really, we buy way too much stuff and most of it isn’t built or designed to last.

If anyone has any other ideas on how to reduce our garbage volume I would be happy to hear from you.

A Quick Drop In

This is just a very quick post today. We have been away for the last few days and of course today will be spent washing all the clothes – why do they seem to multiply when you are away?

Anyhoo, for those interested we went down the coast to Merimbula and stayed in an eco-cabin. We had a lovely time surrounded by bushland. Miss Berry met kangaroos, a goanna and lots and lots of birds.

One of the local beaches - we were the only ones on the beach.

Miss Berry chasing the ducks outside the cabin. They were not impressed.

These two roos came right up to the back door looking for food.

An absolutely stunning open garden called Foxglove Spires at Tilba Tilba.

So, I am refreshed and ready for the new year. Because it was an eco-cabin it gave me a lot of food for thought about how we can reduce our carbon footprint even further this year. Our first step is to get a couple of chooks.
Chicken tractor here we come.

Petrol Prices

I heard on the news last night that petrol was selling for under $1/L in Western Sydney today. Apparently this is the lowest it has been since January 2007.

Obviously this huge drop in price is going to be a welcome relief but I wonder what people will do with the extra money. Will it just get re-absorbed into their general day to day spending? I suspect that this is what will happen in the majority of cases.

Another possibility is to put aside the extra money pay off debt. Even $10 per week can make a huge difference to a getting rid of personal debt and it was money that was being used for petrol anyway, so it shouldn’t be missed. Sure, the budget will still be tight, but it was like that last month and the month before that right? And it won’t take long before you notice a drop in the interest you are paying – especially on credit card debt.

And what about those of us that are debt free? Why not boost (or start) your savings instead, or salary sacrifice the amount and get a tax benefit too.


For those of us that have reduced their car usage and walked to the shops or used public transport, why not live consciously and keep walking and enjoying the fresh air. I know I will.

Brown Paper Packages

What a lovely surprise I found on my doorstep yesterday. Julie from Towards Sustainability has a 500th post giveaway and I won and my prize arrived. Brown paper packages tied up with string really are one of my favourite things – thanks Julie.

When I opened it looked so lovely, everything was arranged just so.

There were so many things – books, gardening gloves, heaps of seeds, chocolate (yum) and some grocery bags. It is so inspiring and motivating. The books look really good, I have almost finished reading my current book and will move onto one of these next.

My motivation does ebb and flow but when it comes to sustainable living it doesn’t take much to get me going again.

Often reading about other people’s lives is the best way to be inspired. You know that if other people are doing it, so can you. I read a few blogs on a regular basis and they all inspire me to continue my journey towards a simple life. Let’s face it, sometimes it is hard to say no to that little consumer voice that says I really do need that new pair of shoes and hand bag even though I rarely go out. Reading these blogs regularly help me stay on track.

Here are some of the blogs I read, I hope you can be inspired by us and in turn inspire others.

A Vision Splendid

Before Our Time

Consumption Rebellion

Down To Earth

Notes from the Frugal Trenches

Simple, Green, Frugal Co-Op

Simply Suburbia

Towards Sustainability

Bread and Biscuits

I have had a really slack week on the housework front and so yesterday I did all the housework. I usually like to spread the jobs over the week to keep the house looking somewhat respectable.

If I get everything done by Friday then nothing has to be done over the weekend and we can spend it as a family and do things we enjoy without having chores hanging over our head.

It wasn’t all hard work though, I did some baking in the morning so when Miss Berry went down for her nap I made myself a pot of tea and sampled my efforts.

Home baked bread with jam and oat and apricot biscuits

Both Mr Berry and Miss Berry have pretty much polished off all the bread I made yesterday so it looks like I will have to make some more. That’s the problem with taking the time to bake things – they get eaten!

Rain has been forecast all weekend but the sun is out at the moment and I am getting ready to venture into the garden and do some much needed weeding. I also have some winter vegies that are well and truly gone to seed and need to be pulled up.

When I am out the back my fingers just itch to pull up some of the many overgrown weeds we have. The back garden near the vegies is really overgrown and I don’t think it is safe for Miss Berry to go down there with me, so the weekends are the only time I can get stuck into it. Here is a picture of the area I am talking about.

Electricity and Water Update:

For the past 2 days our electricity usage has averaged 6.5kw and our hot water 8kw. This is down from 9kw each from the previous day. Our water usage has gone from 330L to 280L.
I thought we have been pretty good with our energy and water conservation but it just goes to show you that you can always do more if you try.

The big change we have made with our electricity use is to turn off the computer and any other appliances we can at the power point. Now the lady at the electricity company told me not to bother as it doesn’t save you much money over the year and maybe it won’t, but it has reduced our usage by 18%. We may have been a tad more diligent in turning off lights as well but it is still a huge reduction.

After reading the comments on my last water and electricity posting here, I had a look at the todae site that Sarah recommended – thanks Sarah!

Our toilet is very old and has a lever on the side rather than a button so I need to check that I can use a cistern weight but I have filled 2 soft drink bottles with water and placed them in the cistern (the cistern is so big that they are well away from any parts). This means that we are saving 3L every time we flush our toilet. It is making small changes like this that will add up to make the bigger savings.

Thank you to everyone for your comments and suggestions.

Plastic Bags – Update

After talking about reducing my use of plastic here, greenfumb recommended this site for fabric bags to hold your vegies. I thought I would let everyone know about this great alternative.

Thanks greenfumb.

The Great Water and Electricity Challenge

Rhonda from Down to Earth has challenged us all to monitor our water and electricity usage in the hopes of trying to reduce the amount we use.

I have taken up the challenge. Over winter we received a shockingly huge electricity bill - $600! We have never had a bill over $200 for winter. Turns out the increase was due to our heaters. We were in a new home and had 2 heaters going; obviously a lot more than we normally do.

So, after that we began to monitor our usage and we had dropped right back down again. I haven't looked at the meter for a couple of months so lets see how we are doing.


Here are the readings from 7am this morning (Sunday 16/11/08)

Electricity: 72524
Off Peak Hot Water: 50774

Water: 1499

Gas: 4573


Here's hoping I have read the meters correctly. When we started checking our electricity meter both Mr Berry and I read the meter wrong for a few days and were getting really worried about our huge spike in usage!

If you want to join the challenge hop on over to Down to Earth and leave a comment on Rhonda's blog.

Plastic, Plastic, Everywhere

As part of our move to be more sustainable I am working on reducing the amount of plastic my family uses and throws away. Like all of the changes we are making, it has been hard because plastic is such a bit part of our modern lives. We automatically reach for plastic – glad wrap, containers, and packaging – and it can be difficult to find an alternative.

Difficult mainly because of habit. Only a couple of generations ago, there was no glad wrap (it was invented in 1953) and obviously people survived quite nicely without it. But to suggest not buying glad wrap and using a non-plastic alternative it kin to suggesting we should rip our toenails out because cutting them leads to kilos of land fill each year (most people wouldn’t believe either suggestion is serious).

Once again my solution to this has been to make small changes over time. The first obvious change is to use those green shopping bags instead of plastic bags. If you have little ones buy the funky Sesame Street or Wiggles ones (I started with these funky bags before little ones, how can I resist Shrek?)

My collection of shopping bags

Keep them in your car so you will always have them when you do your grocery shop. Don’t forget to use them for your fruit and veg, bakery items and meat (I have a separate one I use for meat). Once this becomes a habit, stop putting your fruit and veg into separate plastic bags (why do we do this?). You are going to wash them anyway, why not bung them in the one big bag? Don’t forget the grapes too – no need for a plastic bag for them either.

Once I was doing this all the time I became conscious of the other plastic bags I was using – my non-grocery shopping. Since the green bags are in the car, why not use them for all purchases? I have now learnt to say “don’t worry about a bag thanks, I'll just take the receipt”. Sometimes I forget and they put it in a plastic bag but as I said this is an ongoing process.

I think these steps are the easiest beginning steps to take in reducing our plastic use. From here you will become much more aware of how much plastic you are using and disposing of.

You might be asking: “What do you line your kitchen bin with?” This was Mr Berry’s question when I suggested we make this change. We don’t line our kitchen bin. We made this change at the same time we started our worm farm and compost bin so our waste was mainly dry. When we empty the kitchen in it gets washed and now there isn’t any wet waste or food scraps as they all get composted so the bin doesn’t get yucky. I will admit we are lining our council bin with a plastic liner but it is on the list to get rid of that too – baby steps.

Fake Plastic Fish - Beth has just written about a group of bloggers concerned with reducing plastic usage. She has links to their sites.

Jorth - Here is an Australian blog

Here are some articles of interest:
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Choice article on Plasticisers