Sustainable September 2016 - Day 4

Good day beautiful people. 

How did you go today saying 'No' to receipts? I had a wonderful day out and about in Canberra. And we must have said no to about 15 receipts. It's was pretty cool. Think how much paper we don't have to get rid of now! How awesome?! 

So we went out to an amazing Tea House and I got spoilt with Chai poached Pears with citrus sorbet, Chai Syrup and a caramel garnish. I got to taste test some amazing loose leaf teas too. So yummy and right up my alley! 

Me at a Tea House in Canberra.
Do KeepCups come in this size? I need a mug like this at home for my tea. Hehehe.

Today the Sustainable September is actually fairly simple. 

Sustainable September Day Four: Look at where your food comes from. 

Consider these questions: Where do you buy your food from? Where does the products and fresh produce actually come from? What is its country of origin? What is its state of origin? How many food miles does your food travel before it gets into your tummy? What is it packaged in? Is it organic? Is it from an environmentally sustainable company? Is it from a local farm? Is it from a farmers market?

The reason I want you to look at this is because if you can reduce the distance your food travels from food to table then you are significantly helping the environment. 

To calculate food miles check out the Food Miles website. For more information about why this is important see below in the "Front Lines section".

Kindness: Buy a meal for another person. 

You can do this in the style of Suspended Coffees at a restaurant. Or ask someone, a friend, family, stranger, a homeless person, if you can buy them a meal. Then do it. It could cost a lot or a little depending on what you are willing to spend. 

Another option is buying a supermarket voucher. It depends on what you want to do. 

You can take further inspiration form this Pizza shop in America:

Front Lines: Food Sustainability movements. There are a lot of people who want to talk about where our food comes from and what we can do to help the environment. 

So here is an explaination about "What is sustainable food?"

Here is a TEDx talk done in the USA by the amazing 11 year old, Birke Baehr. 

He is looking at the current food market and helping kids and adults alike know what is the best way to live a sustainable life. Not only for the people but for the animals and land that is being intensively farmed. 

For those who have had a little more to do with this sort of thing then you may be interested in the idea of Food Justice which Alison Cayne talks about in her TEDx Talk on "What the Food movement can learn from history".

And here is an article from The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia about "The Quiet Revolution: Sustainable Food Movement Flourished in Suburban Backyards"

There are so many things about our food that we do not often think about. Do we know where our meat comes from? Was it prepared using pesticides? What are we really eating? I often struggle with this question. But my family and I are working to know, more and more, where our foods actually comes from. Althought knowing where your food is actually coming from is a huge start to looking to make changes at all.

Our family now mostly order in Bulk (with a bulk buying group) from an organic butcher who gets meat from a local organic farm. It is the closest thing we can get before buying from the farmer directly. We often get other organic food in bulk through the bulk buying group.

If you want to know more about sustainable practices and food you can check out one of the first programmes I ever saw on television about how to set up a Sustainable Farm "River Cottage". Now there is even a "River Cottage Australia". These are shows made for Television but i really enjoy them.

I hope this finds you all well.
With love and kindness,
Daena x   

Sustainable September 2015 - Day Twenty One

Good Evening my dears (for those in Western Australia) and a time-specific-greeting to you too (wherever you may be),

How did you go at the Farmers Market? Buy anything delicious? Mmmm... foood! :)

Sadly, my nephew had his Soccer Grand Final today so I missed the farmers market! On the plus side, he and his team WON!!! Yay! Go kiddo! I am a super proud Aunty (and not just now either!)! I enjoyed the fact I was there to watch it.  So I guess that just means...next weekend I'm off to the farmers market. 

The Sustainable September idea for today is...

September 21: to find a local bulk supply store and buy what you need for your pantry! 

I recently discovered a bulk buying store called the Wasteless Pantry. Mum & I went there the other day & bought a few things.

The Wasteless Pantry can be found in Mundaring, WA, Australia.

So many things to choose from!!!!

The Spice cabinet part of the Wasteless Pantry!

Buying the Almond meal I need to make a delicious Almond and Orange cake! mmmm.

For our first trip we only bought a few things I knew we needed (whilst staying at my sisters house & for home later too).

The best part was we could bring our own jars and containers and they would just weigh them and then we filled them up and re weighed them. We paid the difference! So awesome! Prices were pretty good & we got exactly enough to fit in the containers we had! Pretty great of you ask me. :) no waste! No packages to return to our homes to them be chucked in the bin! They had a HUGE range too! They are fairly new in Perth, WA! One awesome feature was that they had a couple boxes of glass jars of all shapes and sizes that were clean and that could be used if you forgot to bring your own. They also had matching ones you could buy... but i love the rustic look, and I know now another place where I can take my excess jars to be used instead of ending up in recycling! :)

When I was in Sydney a few weeks ago I found another store just like it! It is called Scoop Wholefoods :)

Being my first experience at a store like this it was kind of like Daena Heaven or Nirvana! :) Paradise!

One of the cool things was they had paper bags for you to use and you could also buy little cotton bags too. I bought one for me to use again here in Perth.

These were the jars at Scoop that you could purchase. All of them looked so Pretty!

I got SO excited they had WHEAT FREE Licorice! I know Licorice isn't everyone's favourite sweet. But i love it. Technically now that i am grain free its still off the table of things I can eat, but its great to know other options now exist for others with weird food intolerances.

I wanted to taste all of the delicious grain free goodies. I however didn't have enough time to sample them all and probably not enough money at that point either! hahaha. So good!

So much deliciousness! I loved this store in Sydney! :) I love these stores generally too! We need more of them around! :) I love the whole waste free idea! 

I mean it all fits in to the Zero Waste Home idea too! It is one of Bea Johnsons biggest suggestions! :) I am almost finished reading the book now and I cant believe that I am still learning so much. I was so proud of myself when I went to the shops yesterday to meet my best friend for "coffee" (neither of us actually drink coffee), and I only bought two things. Both of them for other people. My sister needed some dishwasher tablets that are environmentally friendly, and I went to buy a birthday gift for a friend. Usually when I go shopping I have lots of things I buy. None of it is vital. Its just bits I think I might need, things I can usually do without! Using Bea Johnsons book has helped me plan a bit better too. And I like that! I am now a more conscious shopper.

Anyway, I need to head to bed now. The cooler weather has not helped me coughing! It must get better soon, i have stuff to do! Things to achieve! :)

I hope this finds you all well, 

Much love, 

Daena x

Sustainable September 2015 - Day Eight

Beautiful people, welcome!

I got home last night from Sydney after an awesome week away. So this post is a little late. My apologies.

The photo from the train platform at Circular Quay - my sister took this one. Thanks Vandra! :) xx

Mum and I have walked a large chunk of Sydney now. My sister joined us for a day yesterday,a s we swapped destinations. She arrived in Sydney as we were heading home to Perth. WE had about an 8 hour cross over. We took our reusable water bottles with us and found refill stations all over the place.

September 8: Swap a single-use plastic water bottle with a reusable refillable water bottle.

Brita Fill and Go Glass Waterbottle

EcoTanka Stainless steel range of water bottles.

This is one that is possibly the simplest swap you could make. I love this particularly because of the range of reusable water bottles out there. You could get an ecotanka, or a brita water filter water bottle (the water filters are disposable though), or you could get one with almost anything on it. Just choose what type of water bottle you want and go from there. I have two aluminium reusable water bottles and two reusable plastic ones (one from Tupperware and one from somewhere else - a camping store I think).

One of my favourite ideas for travelling is to take an empty reusable water bottle (as full ones are not allowed through security on international or some domestic flights). What you may not know is that in most airports, through security and near boarding gates, there are water fountains and refilling stations for water bottles. So if you have an empty water bottle you can refill it before you board the plane. I have also had amazing air-hostesses fill my reusable water bottle on a few different flights. It is awesome because I have water when I need it and its also not going to spill like the Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny little cups they give you on flights that have a huge open mouth that you can spill all over yourself, like I have actually done a few times.

KINDNESS IDEA:  If a friend of yours is travelling buy them a reusable water bottle or a keep cup to take on a plane, train, bus or car. In Australia when people go on road trips, service stations provide coffee or tea for the driver so that they do not fall asleep at the wheel. Often these drinks are provided in polystyrene cups that are very bad for the environment. If you have a KeepCup with you, you can reuse the cup and protect the environment. they often have a place where you can refill a water bottle.  

I hope you are all well.
So much love,
Daena xx

Sustainable September 2015 - Day Five

Hello my wonderful Sustainable September people. 

How are you today?

Sydney is stunning. I've been watching the sun rise over the city and watching it sparkle on the sea as it rises. It is a pretty new experience watching the sun RISE over the Ocean here in Sydney. Considering I am a Western Australian girl, the sun always SETS over the Ocean there. So seeing and getting used to the Beach and sunrise/sunset has been a really interesting scenario. 

Today's sustainable September might seem strange at first but bear with me as I explain why it is a good idea. And why you should do it in the long term, not just today. 

For interesting facts about tea visit How Benefits Tea

September 5: Change teabags to Loose leaf teas.

 

Don't drink coffee? Then you are a lot like me. Do you drink Tea instead? Or maybe you just like the occasional cuppa before bed. A good camomile can help with sleep... trust me on that one! 

 Did you know that many tea bags are actually made out of fine plastic? Here is an article from The Guardian in 2010 about the UK. A lot of the same companies have tea bags here in Australia. 

How can you change that? You can change Tea Bags for loose leave teas and reduce the plastic in your life. All you need is a tea strainer and some delectable loose leaf teas! Yummy. 

I have a HUGE collection of loose leaf teas at home. Depending on my mood I can either make a cup or a pot and because I have so many delicious flavours there is one for every occasion. The advantage is less waste, particularly if you buy in bulk, and plastic free tea! Plus the tea leaves can then be chucked into my compost bin. win/win. 

IF you want help on how to brew Loose Leaf Teas check out the following website, appropriately labelled Tea Galaxy 

KINDNESS IDEA: Brew a pot of tea at work or home and invite a neighbour or collegue to share it with you.

I hope this finds you all well... and with a warm mug in your hands.  

Love Daena xx 

Those things I promised... FINALLY HERE!!!

Hello my beautiful people,

Wow... the last few months have been a whirlwind and are showing no signs of slowing down. The Kindness a day i have been doing for years now has become almost second nature. I have stopped recording the kindnesses everyday (mainly because I have not been journaling for a while now). I have NOT given up on my kind acts. Sometimes it can be as simple as inviting a neighbour in for a cuppa, leaving your boss a block of chocolate (for while you are away and he will need it - i did that today!), and or Sending a message on Facebook to someone having a hard time.

I apologise again for not sharing the following images with you sooner. It was a pain in my buttocks that the App on my phone didn't work for those blog posts (two that I had posted - one in April, one in May (whilst I was gallivanting around Europe). So here is my attempt to resend them. Or basically start from scratch... again! :S Oh well...

As many of you know in April I cut all my hair off and donated it to charity (Pantene Beautiful Lengths Campain) and then dyed it for another charity (Worlds Greatest Shave).  I have been PROMISING photos from it for a couple months ... okay... more than a couple now. So let the showing begin!

This was my hair to start with!

 I had a video to share... And of course I cant find it now on my computer. Eeepp! Sorry guys! I think it is on the Facebook Page if you want to have a look?! If not I will try edit this post later with the video in it (assuming I can find it this time).

My kneck was naked! NAKED I SAY!!!

My new 'do' from the side. SO SHORT!!!

JUST A LITTLE EXCITED!!!

 I went immediately and posted my hair off to the people at Pantene's Beautiful Lengths Campaign. [insert photo of me with my hair in a bag ready to post - yes this photo is MIA too].  I had a hilarious conversation with the guy at the post office. When I explained what I was posting, to whom and why he showed all his fellow staff and some of the customers too. He was such a sweet guy. I was pretty happy that I had brought awareness to these project, some people had never heard of the donating hair idea before.

THe little money box you get in the pack given to you from World Greatest Shave! :)

The Hair colour for Worlds Greatest Shave.

Even Better I reached WELL over my goal! :) Awesome huh? 

I was so pleased that I could support two FANTASTIC organisations who make such a difference to people with Cancer.

A few weeks after I sent my hair in to Pantene I got a beautiful letter in the mail thanking me for the donation of my luscious locks. I felt very appreciated and was also super glad I didn't send it to the wrong place. talk about an awkward misdirect if that happened. i can just imagine it now... "honey, there was a package in the mail... i think its human hair! OMG!!! WHYYYYY?" (maybe I just have an over active imagination! hehehe).

I have to admit that my hair is growing back pretty fast. I measured it before it was cut off and discovered it grew at about 1.5cm a month. Seeing as its been a few months since I posted I am back to having medium length hair. And i can finally tie it back wihtout having to pin it a hundred places.

So what else have I forgotten to share? Lets not beat around the bush, it was quite probably a lot!

I went to Wales, UK for a friends wedding and while I was in Europe I managed to also visit friends in Germany. Plus I went to France and England. So lovely, these places are.

Then I had my 30th Birthday party. Sheesh I'm starting to feel old! hehehe.

On the work front I did a crazy work week (on top of my usual work week) when the people I work for had a National Triennial Conference that was last held in Perth ... 20 years ago. I have never worked so hard in my whole life. And it took me about 3 weeks to recover.

I also went to the CWA (Country Women's Association) State Conference. I was a delegate. I had no idea what I was doing. I WAS, however, under the watchful eye of some of the long standing members of the branch, so I couldn't get up to too much mischief. Sadly. At the conference Mum was installed as the new CWA of WA State Community Co-ordinator, of which I am very proud of her. I have spent a bit of time helping mum with this role. Taking mum and her stuff to and from CWA House in the city and bringing things home again. Helping her pack shelves. Being her chauffeur. I have made a whole lot of "Thank you" cards for her to give to all those who have donated time, money and 'things' to CWA since she started the role in June. And if you think I make only a couple, I made a dozen to start with and she has already used almost all of them. So time to get back to making thank you cards for her to pass on, I think.

I have been rather unwell. Suffering from extremely painful Endometriosis and pelvic adhesions. I have recently spent a LOT of time in bed or in front of the heater with a heat pack on and under large doses of pain relieving medication.

The next exciting thing is that I am going to Sydney, NSW, for a conference ... TONIGHT!!! Squeeee! Excited! :) I will be gone for 10 whole days. So my life is a little rushed at the moment.

I have been putting together some things for Sustainable September too. So forgive me if they are very short. I am working on them before the conference starts.

I hope this finds you all well.
Much love,
Daena 

The September 2011 Kindnesses...

Here are the Kindnesses for September!

In September 2011 I traveled to Armidale, New South Wales to attend the "in house" university work for my Archaeology degree. So i had to fly from Perth, Western Australia to Sydney, New South Wales and then travel for 8 hours by train to get to Armidale. It was a lot of fun as I love trains and train rides! but i was exhaused from going on the "midnight horror" plane to catch the train! i stayed awake for a long time! lol!

In Armidale, i had a lot of fun. I got to meet lots of people that i had only talked to online and its always lovely to meet people you've talked to for so long! :) I had lots of people do wonderful things for me whilst i was there too! One of my classmates took it upon himself to pick me up from my accommodation every morning and drop me home as there were no buses on the weekend. So THANKS to him, a literal life saver!! I almost froze my butt off over there... and for those who think there is no snow in Australia, i have to let you know that there DEFINITELY was over there and whilst i was there! :)

I had some old friends of mine take me in for a night in Sydney, so that i didn't have to buy a night in a hotel. And i had a great time catching up with them and was so immensely grateful for their comfortable couch! :) You guys rock! :)

So thats just a little about what i was up to in September 2011.
Hope all is going well for you! :)
Cheers,
Daena x

P.S. Thank you to all of those who have checked out this site, even though you don't know me personally! My page views have jumped from the 300s to the 500s in only a couple of days! So thanks for all your support! :) I look forward to hearing from you! :)