From 2011 to 2016 I was pleased to be able to have done 365days where I did a kind deed every day(& 366days in the leap year)!
In 2017 I am doing it again...my aim is to inspire others into action by showing them how simple it is to do kind acts for others. I do this by doing a kind act a day. I do this by sharing my story and some ideas for living a kinder life. Kinder for others, kinder for ourselves, kinder for the planet. Welcome to 365days of kindness!
Reduce what you already have (particularly any that are toxic) and replace them with homemade variations.
I love this simple Cleaning spray from Lauren Singer...
Here in the UK, I am yet to sort out a way that I can reduce the amount of plastic when it comes to using Vinegar in my homemade cleaning products. I am still setting myself up. But here in the UK white vingar (here its called Spirit vinegar) is used for very little and Malt vinegar is used for everything. So this Celiac has to be careful as malt is a wheat/barley derisitive and my body hates gluten contained in Wheat and Barley.
So white vinegar, Citric acid (to clean the kettle/and often in the form of fresh lemons), and bi-carb soda are my go to cleaning products. However I know there are a lot more that you could add. I also know, there are a lot more that you could do without.
My housemates in the path have had their own cleaning rituals, so i am responsible only for my own spaces. So keeping these clean for me is really important.
Today was my first day of work at the new job. And... it was good! I spent the day with my hands in a bucket of water cleaning the dirt off the mud covered finds that had come back from some of the excavated sites... it was so cool. I got to see pottery, glass, metal, shell and bone. It was so exciting.
For lunch i even took my vegan "mess" which was a lovely meal to have on Meatfree monday. It was also really yummy.
I love that my new job also ties into Sustainable September. As an Archaeologist I get to look at and excavate the rubbish left over from past generations. This always makes me wonder what future archaeologists will be excavating from our era. The truth is this will probably be referred to as the plastic age. And it is something we need to change. Now! So todays environmental kindness idea is... Day 4: Reduce your use of single use plastic –
First start like all arvhaeologists by looking at the rubbish you are producing in your house. My biggest plastic haul comes from food shopping.
I combat this by buying foods based on reusable packaging. I like to buy cool and interesting glass Jars instead of plastic. I then reuse those jars to store a whole range of things I need to keep in my pantry. Or I even use my jars for taking places. You will be surprised what foods you can get in glass or paper/cardboard even (that can then be composted).
If you get really enthusiastic you can ask the local butcher to put the meat you are purchasing into a reusable container you are using yourself. I find that meat is the hardest thing for me to get plastic free.
I have fallen in love with the jars that my Coconut Oil comes in. I use them for everything from storing my collection of weird and wacky dried foods, to use them to store leftovers, and I’ve even used them as bowls on the odd occasion. Bowls with lids! Winning! Normally it would cost a bunch to buy jars like these. The coconut oil jars tell me how much they can fit inside them. I particularly love them for preparing my fruit and coconut yogurt to take with me in the mornings. 250g is enough for a good desert/breakfast.
Why does this save you money? Well, for me it has meant that I haven’t had to buy new expensive glass containers, as I am setting up my Pantry in the UK. These jars are an added bonus for the products I have already - which is awesome. Free stuff is great. Particularly for someone like me who is still setting up their home.
I purchased pureed fruit (from the baby food isle - dont judge me) and there was a choice between glass and squeezy sippy bags. I only realised that the jars were not only cheaper but 30p (60c AUD) cheaper per little jar. And then I can reuse the jars for spices or snacks. Perfect for me.
I hope you are enjoying this shorter Sustainable September series.
love Daena
ps. For a kindness idea - save any jars that you dont think you can reuse, remove the labels and donate to a zero waste store like The Wasteless Pantry (in Western Australia). If you dont have one near you, local schools with art departments are often looking for glass jars for paints and paintbrush cleaning. So call a local school and ask if they are interested before dumping them off.
P.P.S. For more Zero waste stores check out places like Wasteless Pantry (which is about to open two more stores), Hetu (London) or The Source Bulk Foods (in both Australia and the UK). And Ripple_Living is going to be arriving soon in Wales (as a not for profit - Exciting).
It's that time of year again, where you can count on me to be here every day... sharing what I lovingly call Environmental Kindnesses during Sustainable September.
I thought I would answer a few questions to set the coming month in motion...
Why do I do Sustainable September on a Kindness blog?
One of the things that people often forget is that kindness doesn’t have
to be only for other humans. It is a gift that we can give to creatures great
and small, ourselves and the environment.
This earth sustains life. Our lives. It
seems like a small thing to take one month out of every year to help give back
and help preserve the environment for future generations. That is a kindness to
our children too. Kindness can simply be making the world a better place for
those who are yet to be born, or those who are yet to grow up.
We can kindly
make the world a better place for others and for ourselves. But most of all we
can choose to live more sustainably so other people, plants, organisms and
animals have a better chance at living their best lives.
How long have you been doing Sustainable September?
So for the last 4 years I have been working to create a Sustainable life for myself, and to inspire others to make simple changes for the benefit of all. It is important to be kind to ourselves, each other, other living things and particularly the environment which sustains us.
What will Sustainable September Focus on this year?
One
of the things that stops a lot of people with regular old kindnesses
(not that there is realy a thing as 'regular' or 'old' about kindness)
but that they think it requires a lot of cash to do it. That is simply
not true. However, this year I thought I would share money saving ways
to help the environment AND put some money back in your pockets to save
up to do that kindness that you have been wanting to do for ages. Or to, you know, help you pay the bills.
What is new this year?
So in May I moved from Australia to Wales, and I am
currently preparing for a new move to England.
I have just gotten my first job in Archaeology in the UK. And I am super excited!!!
I have been pretty lucky that I could get work in my field of study after such a long time of study.
So while we will be doing Sustainable September together, we
can explore our own cities, or in my case a new city, and find eco-friendly
options.
This month I will be attempting to share
some of the things I am doing or have started here.
One of the things I would like to take this sustainable
September to look at is how living environmentally friendly can actually save
you money. It doesn’t have to be an expensive lifestyle change. In fact it can
actually save you a lot of money and I want to show you how.
What have you learned in the UK?
I used my last 3 months in Wales to learn about and support the
first Zero Waste stores in Cardiff. I am so excited that there will be a not
for profit Zero Waste store opening in the coming months there. You can follow
@ripple_living on Instagram, and i even supported their Kickstarter campaign.
On a side note: I will be returning to Cardiff regularly (as that
is where my boyfriend lives). So if you see some of the things I share
it will be a mix of England and Wales.
Where else can I find out about Kindness?
There are literally hundreds of amazing websites, profiles, pages and people who promote Kindness in this world. I encourage you to seek them out, share them and encourage them. It will make a huge difference to them, as it does to me.
If you want to find out about the 365 Days of Kindness Facebook page click the link here.
You can also follow me personally on Instagram (which is pretty new for me) @daenaguest. I must admit there is a lot of posts about good books, yummy food, kindness and sustainable practices on there already. I am also on Pinterest (but not as much these days). So feel free to check either social media account out, and if it aligns with your values, please follow me, if not... Thanks for thinking about it.
I want to thank you all for reading this far and I wish you all the best in whatever you do. I hope you keep checknig out Sustainable September though. It's pretty awesome, if I do say so myself... and I do! hehehhe.
If you have any more questions please don't hesitate to ask.
Welcome Back Everyone.
There are only a few more days of Sustainable September so I am making sure this counts. Yesterdays blog post (for today) was all about making some reusable swaps like saying no to disposable razors in favour of reusable Safety Razors. There are so many awesome ideas for yesterday and I am sure there will be people telling me that there are more that could be done too. I welcome those challenges.
Today's blog post idea (for tomorrow) is a big one... so I hope I do it justice. It is all about Slow vs Fast Fashion.
Sustainable September Day Twenty Seven: Give Fast Fashion the flick.
Lets start by explaining what Fast Fashion is... before we talk about what we can do about it.
What is Fast Fashion?
Fast Fashion is simply the high speed turnover of clothing so that when you buy a "Trendy" item it will be out of fashion by the time you wear it. In the past, in my grandmothers era, there were two seasons of clothing to buy for: the warm season and the cold season. Then there were four seasons of clothing: Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring. Now Fast Fashion is generating 52 Seasons of clothing every year...One for every week of the year (some brands are going even faster than that).
When I worked for an Australian fashion brand, ten years ago, we would receive new shipments of clothing every week. Each week there was something new to entice people in. What I witnessed then was that any of the old stock that had been reduced to clear (but hadn't sold) had the tags removed (identifying labels for the brand) and then it was either thrown in the bin or donated to charity. There was a lot of waste. A LOT! But I didn't think much of it at the time. I wasn't aware then of how fast fashion worked. I wasn't aware about how bad it was for the environment to make these items. I didn't realise how bad it was for the planet as a whole when it came to disposing of these items, nor for the workers who make these items AND also how bad it is for our wallets (that is a conversation for another time).
If you shop Fast Fashion now and still have nothing to wear then check out this video on Fast Fashion
Here are some quick Fast Fashion Facts...
The War on Waste
Australian TV show did an amazing job of showing off the impact of fast
fashion. If you aren't in Australia you won't be able to watch the
episodes. But there are a lot of other amazing documentaries and programs that show you what the Fast Fashion Industry is all about.
So how about you check out this Video from TED talk.
The key points of this TED Talk is that 10% of the worlds carbon footprint is coming from the Fashion industry. The fashion industry is the Second Highest polluting industry behind only the oil industry. 4 Billion Pounds of textiles end up in land fill every year. Polyester is made from micro-plastics which means that every piece of polyester that has ever been made still exists, even if it has been thrown into landfill.
There are so many other challenging facts about Fast Fashion. If you want to learn more about Fast Fashion and the implication it has for our planet and all those who live here... check out the documentary called "The True Cost". It is available on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon and to download on your computer. It is really worth a watch.
After you watch the implications of the Fast Fashion industry you have to ask yourself... What can we do about it? And it is a very good question.
Be Kind, Choose Slow Fashion, Choose Fair Trade (Ethical brands), Buy Second hand or Vintage, and Upcycle. I won't cover all of this here because it is a massive task, however, I will look at a few of these points.
Firstly, for a kindness advocate I had to look at the importance of Kindness in my consumption of fashion. I don't just mean Eco-kindness either, oh no, this is kindness to fellow human beings all over the planet. There are many people who work to make our clothing. In many countries these people are living in poverty and do not earn a decent wage for what they make. This is something that I have started paying more and more attention to over the years. I want to make sure that the people who make my clothing are in safe living and working conditions are not subject to slave labour and have enough food to eat and water to drink.
Sometimes this means that I have to pay a few more dollars for the clothing I buy. Those extra dollars buy me peace of mind.
I have a few different Apps to help me make conscious choices about where I want to spend my money. The one I have used the most is an app Called "Shop Ethical" (Available on Apple and Android). Another I use is called "Good on you"(Also available on Apple and Android). I have these apps available on my iPhone at the touch of a button. For more Ethical Apps check out this link to an article on Ethica.
To continue making a different and steer away from Fast Fashion there is now a movement toward slow fashion.
Slow Fashion - What does it even mean?
Slow Fashion means being deliberate with your money. Every dollar you spend is basically a vote toward the future you want to create. Spending money on fast fashion, means you are voting for the continuing ethics and attitudes behind it. Spending money on ethical, fair trade, vegan (cruelty-free), environmentally friendly brands, you are voting for those types of businesses and products you want to continue. Changing your focus from consuming, to making the world a better place with your purchases, is a type of conscious kindness that we need more of. It ultimately affect us all.
I used to find shopping fun. I used to go to cheap stores and buy a bunch of sale items. I would spend about $20 to $50 every week on fast fashion. But now I am more conscious of what I buy, where and from who. I make sure that the money I spend, when I do actually spend money on clothing, is going to support the type of industry that I want to have.
One of my most recent Purchases was two pairs of jeans from JeansWest over 3 months ago. One is skinny blue jeans and the other is straight leg black jeans. They cost me $99 for the two pairs. This is more than I would have bough for jeans in the past but already they have well and truly earned their keep. As they are so well made they will last a lot longer too.
When I went to purchase my jeans I checked on my Shop Ethical App and discovered JeansWest were good when it came to their ethical wages & conditions for workers. They have started working on reducing environmental impacts too.
I also saw that they have a return and repair shop when I bought them (in Sydney), so I can get them repaired if, say, a button goes on my jeans. I have worn them almost everyday for the last 3 months and they are amazing. I know that they have a long way to go, but I chose them deliberately for their clothes and because I really needed to get some jeans.
Note: I had purchased some JeansWest jeans second hand (from Ebay) a while ago but they didn't fit. So I opted for convenience. At the shop I could try the jeans on so I knew they would fit me AND last a while. Next time, I might go in and try on jeans in a range of styles to see what i like and what suits me best. Then I can look for the right size and style second hand on eBay. It just takes a bit more time to figure it out, so I admit I went for the easy option with this purchase.
Choosing Fair Trade is linked to all of these. I have talked about Fair Trade on this blog before so I won't go too far into it. Here is an Inforgraphic to explain it to those who might have missed my previous blogs.
What I will say is making choices that are going to help not only your hip pocket but help those who are making and growing the ingredients/products you buy, is a start.
The Sustainable September idea for tomorrow is to say NO to fast fashion. This can be hard at first. So here are 10 Fashion Tips to help you give fast fashion the flick.
So check out this video below for more inspiration:
Did you know: There are companies around the world who are taking up Sustainability and Zero Waste practices in the world. There is even a design award that promotes and encourages Zero Waste and Environmentally Sustainable Practices. You can check out more info from this link...Video: Eco Chic Designing Award - Cutting Waste out of Fashion.
ACTIVITY: Do not buy any new clothes for a week. Instead take the time to research what you really need. Check out tomorrows blog for ideas about how to figure out what you REALLY need, when it comes to clothing.
I hope this post doesn't overwhelm too much. I did my best to keep it short and sweet. However there is just so much information about fast fashion and its impact on our environment.
Good Day!
How are you going? Did you have any luck or have any fun making your own beauty products? Did you find a more environmentally friendly version for yourself to use now or in the future?
The idea for tomorrow is still on the Fashion and Beauty theme...
Sustainable September Day Twenty Six - Find Environmentally Friendly reusable products.
You may wonder what I am talking when I say reusable products. I mean finding replacements for single use items like disposable cotton make-up pads, disposable razors, even tampons.
Disposable make up wipes/pads. I used to buy single use wipes and make up removal pads. WHich is kind of funny because I dont use make up very often, but when I do I usually stick to mascara, eye shadow and eye liner, with a coloured lip gloss. I like to keep it simple. My skin (on my face) doesnt like foundation or concealers so I just dont use them unless it is for promotions work. But when it comes to my eye makeup, unless i want to look like a panda in the morning I use make up removal pads to get it off with eye-make-up remover. I got given some commercial Eye Make Up removal creams a long time ago, and instead of wasting it, I am VERY slowly using it up. That means i am still using make up removal pads... however they are no longer disposable. I bought a set of 5 make-up removal pads from Undisposed.
These little babies are amazing. I use my 'regular' make up remover on them and they work a treat. I rinse them off after my make up comes off, then throw them in the wash (in a cloth bag so i dont loose them) and put them through the wash. Simple. They often share a cloth bag in the wash with my handkercheifs and reusable feminine hygiene pads.
You could also make these if you wated too. I just find its easier to buy mine... and 5 is enough for me because i dont use make up very often, however you might need more depending on your makeup and facecare regime.
Disposable Razors is an interesting one. I haven't used a razor for a long time. As my best friend is a beauty therapist she would constantly tell me how bad shaving was for the skin and hair I wanted to remove. So i used to get her to do all my waxing. However she now lives in Melbourne so I can no longer just pop over to get her to do it for me. So I had to come up with another idea.
So I researched Epilators and ended up buying one at christmas time in the boxing day sales. This is not the ideal. There is a lot of plastic that came with my Epilator and even though it is reusable and rechargable there isnt really a way to recycle it when it no longer works for me. I will keep using it until it dies.
There are other options though. For those who haven't got a problem with shaving there are things called "safety razors" that are made out of all metal with a replacable blade. They vary in price from about $20 -$250AUD (in Australia) so shop around and check out online stores too. Finding one that doesnt come packed in plastic would also be a good outcome.
Another option for those who like to get treated to having their eye brows or other body parts hair free... threading. I have given this a go a couple times. It is the least waste I have seen of all those who do hair removal as a service. They use cotton (like magicians) and basically pluck out the hair in your arms/legs/lips/brows. I dont think they do private areas though. Mind you it is facinating to watch... like evil hair pulling magicians. hehehe. Maybe not evil... but it feels like that even though i find it completely facinating to watch.
Tampons & Menstrual Pads- There will me Too Much Information (TMI) shared here so you can skip the next two paragraphs if this doesn't apply to you. - So the last few years i have talked about the zero waste option of not using disposable tampons or menstrual pads. I bought some reusable menstrual pads and love them... but what I mentioned but didnt give a go until this year was this awesome thing called a menstrual cup. I am a menstrual cup convert. Why? well apart from the fact that there is no rubbish that i need to get rid of every few hours for the week that i get my monthly menace... the best part is that i can go 12 HOURS... yes you read that right... 12 HOURS... without having to change on a regular day! For me that is the best thing in the world. It also lines up nicely with having showers twice a day. I dont like to empty my menstrual cup down the toilet if i can help it because the blood often sits at the bottom of the toilet and can make for some interesting conversations. So i find a quick shower to empty it out and wash it in hot water with soap, rinse and then reinsurt works well. It also makes me a happy lady! For me I need to use my reusable pads for the first few days of my period because it is super heavy and will overflow my menstrual cup... but not by much. So a mix of the two works so well for me. But by about day 3 Idont even need to wear a pad... no leakage!!!! Woooohoooo!!! okay... yes... TMI... but for those who go through some stuff like i usually go through with periods, you might like to give these a go. They cost about $50 AUD but last several years. And considering i was spending about $5-10 per month on disposable feminine hygiene this is a much better investment for me. I love my Diva Cup. Never thought i would say that.... ehehhee.
There are a range of menstrual cups available on the market too... depending on price and what you are looking for...
And this is just a few... I think there are a few different options here in Australia too. So that is pretty interesting! There are also a whole heap of reusable menstrual pads and free patterns avaiable on the web to make your own. I have saved some links in my Eco and Environment Pinterest Board if you want to check them out there.
Extra Swaps. There are also a few other things that you could swap out in your beauty and fashion regime. Like cotton wool buds. They are often little sticks of plastic with cottonwool attached to the ends. They are used for all kinds of things. I recently found (at the Wasteless Pantry) that you can get bamboo Cotton wool buds, that come wrapped in a cardboard container so the cottow wool buds can be composted after they have been used. Next time you go to buy these little things, buy the eco friendly ones instead and then compost them! :)
ACTIVITY - look at where you could make a swap immediately. Do you need to buy some new cottonwool buds (not balls)... then get the Bamboo ones instead! Need to buy a new pack of tampons or a new razor... how about getting ones that are eco friendly and plastic free! Make a simple swap today! :)
I hope this finds you all well.
Much Love,
Daena
ps. I am about to have a bath with the epsom salts I got at the Wasteless Pantry the other day... My body is complaining after i did bootcamp today! oh the joys of being fit and energetic! :)
p.p.s A friend of mine shared with me a new Zero Waste store that has opened up not far from her in Halls Head (Which is the other side of Perth City to me). It is called The Glass Jar - A Wastefree Eco Pantry! Their catchphrase is so cool... "Saving the world... one container at a time!". So if you are south of Perth, Western AUstralia and The Wasteless Pantry is too far from you... check out this shop. It is only about a month old apparently... so they need all the support they can get!!!!:)
Hello again,
I am feeling much better today. So I hope you enjoy this blog post as much as I enjoyed writing it.
I spent some time today cleaning up and sorting out my clothes. In the last few months I have changed shape a lot. I have lost two to three dress sizes. This means I have a lot of clothes that are not comfortable or even the right size. I spent some time giving a lot of my clothes a go, seeing what fits and what doesn't. It was kind of sad to realise that some of my favourite clothes are actually too big for me now. Which is also a blessing. This will actually lead on to the next weeks theme of FASHION AND BEAUTY. I'm giving you a day or two advanced notice. It is a huge theme so I hope I do it justice. Anyway... back to todays idea and this weeks theme of cleaning.
To end off this weeks theme of cleaning, i wanted to talk about dishwashing.
Sustainable September Day Twenty Three - Sustainably cleaning dishes.
Often there is a lot of plastic when it comes to washing up. Either the washing up liquids you buy come in lots of plastic containers or the dishwasher tablets come wrapped in plastic too, and often wrapped twice in plastic.
There are some different ways to reduce waste and make the way we do our washing up more sustainable
1) buy in bulk. This reduces the amount of plastics that go into landfill. For example, Where you would buy 3 x 330ml bottles plastic bottles of washing up liquid, you could buy a single 1Lt bottle of liquid instead. It is not a huge difference to make but it can actually make a pretty big difference. And this can be done with dishwashing tablets too.
2) Buy an eco friendly brand. If you currently use a heavy chemical based dishwashing liquid, you could simply change to one that uses less chemicals and uses sustainable practicises in its packaging and bottling. If you are not sure what some of these brands are you can check a local (to you) Facebook group that does Zero Waste, or Environmental sustainability. I am part of a few Perth based Facebook groups and i am so amazed by the collective knowledge that this group of people has.
3) Refill a container. I know this because i have done it before. I had one of those previously mentioned small plastic bottles of dishwashing liquid that I took to The Wasteless Pantry. There i got it refilled (which basically made it zero waste. That was one plastic bottle of dishwashing liquid that i didnt need to purchase, and one that didnt have to end up in landfill or at the recycling yard either.
4) buy plastic free Dishwashing tablets. We are yet to find a wonderful option for this, even though we do use dishwashing tablets at home (unless we hand wash stuff - which I tend to do a lot of). We buy an eco brand in bulk (where possible) but the packaging still has plastic, so I wouldn't recommend them here. However if anyone knows where I can get dishwasher tablets without plastic wrappers I would be so grateful.
5) Make your own dishwashing liquid or dishwasher tablets. This is actually the ACTIVITY for today too.
Now I know this wont work for everyone. Apparently some recipes can be a little temperamental so some experimentation is required. But give it a go.
Zero Waste Liquid Soap/ Dishwashing Liquid - This is made with Soap Nuts!!! I mentioned them in the last two blog posts, so if you havent read them yet... check it out.
Note: You dont have to have colouring in this recipe either... it just gives it a nice way to differenciate the dishwashing liquid from other cleaners in your home.
Zero Waste Dishwasher Tablets - look pretty easy and she shows you how to make Washing soda from baking soda.
Note: you can make this into a washing up powder if you want to- just dont add water to recipe.
I would love to see what you have made and how it looks!
Here is a video about Zero Waste Cleaning. I thought I would include it here because tomorrow is the last day of the Cleaning Theme and I didn't want to miss anything. This is from Kate Arnell from EcoBoost. It is about 20 mins but it is worth it.
I hope you have enjoyed the cleaning theme and look forward to the next one! :)
Apologies for the late Sustainable September post. I've been a bit unwell and I've been unable to get my post out as early as I would have liked. I'm always working to be the best I can be. I always talk about being Kind to yourself, so I'm taking time now and being kind to myself. Whilst also getting this done! Hence being late.
I went to the Wasteless Pantry today and bought myself some Soap Nuts. If you are interested in finding out more, look at yesterday's post.
This little jar should last me quite a while! And when the nuts get brittle they can go in my compost bin, so they are basically Waste free. Yay!
Today's idea is again on this weeks theme of cleaning.
Sustainable September Day Twenty Two: dry your clothes in the sun.
Did you know that the sun has the ability to disinfect your laundry? Well you do now! It is great to simply & safely kill bacteria without the use of harsh chemicals.
It is also a really a simple power saving (& therefore money saving) tip.
Want more reasons to dry your clothes on the washing line? Check out this website... The Spruce. It has some awesome ideas too.
ACTIVITY: Hang your washing out to dry. If not outside (it's been raining here this week) then inside on a drying rack! By reducing the amount of power you use by putting on the electric dryer you are helping the planet by reducing the amount of fossil fuels needed to power it.
Not sure how to hang something? Then here is a handy little guide to help you line dry your clothes.
Hope that's everything you need for today. I love keeping it short and sweet.
Like me, I hope you are being kind to yourself. Look after yourself. Eat healthy, do some exercise, drink plenty of water and get some sleep. Like I plan to do... right now. Please don't forget that the reason we do Sustainable September is because we want to be kind to our planet and all those who live here! That includes ourselves!
Yesterday was a bit of a milestone for me. I finally reached 300 posts on my blog! Which was super exciting! It's taken many years and lots of failed attempts at writing to get that many up and running! I am so glad it's such a wonderful milestone.
Thank you to everyone who supports me with the blog, particularly my close friends and my super supportive family. Much love to you all!!!
Window cleaning was yesterday's idea. I was going to do a before and after shot of my worst window but after photographing it several times and still not being happy with it I decided that telling you about it would be better. It was in a terrible state... it looks much better now. All because I cleaned my window with vinegar and newspaper. It's nice to have a clean window. All I need to do now is clean the other 20 or so! Bummer we have so much glass in our house! It might take me a long time to get it done.
Sustainable September Day Twenty One: do your laundry sustainably.
What does that mean? It means looking at the following video and learn how to care for you clothes better, so they last longer and look better too!
What you can do to reduce the amount of waste you make in the laundry? or how can you reduce the amount of harmful chemicals you are personally putting out into our waterways? Laundry can be done simply and so environmentally friendly.
Interestingly, my family all does it differently, depending on their own abilities and preferences (some of us are further along on our sustainable and Waste free journeys). My brother in law buys the best Eco brand of washing liquid he can find and buys it in bulk (thus reducing waste). Mum gets the old laundry detergent refilled (in the plastic container She bought ages ago). I use whatever I can and then vinegar as I would a fabric softener (1/4 cup in the fabric softener drawer or centre pillar in our top loader washing machine) and it's awesome. However, I have also used Soap nuts when I was house sitting for a friend. I quite like them.
I need to purchase some for myself. You need to make sure they are in a fabric bag with a tight drawstring or a zip before you chuck them in because they can come out of their bag and attach themselves to your clothes... which isn't very fun. I know from experience. Whoops. So use a small bag and they are really good.
Here is a little video from a zero waste advocate... she uses a few different options in her washing routine. So it's worth a look.
ACTIVITY: do a load (or 3) of washing using as little detergent as possible, as well as using the least amount of waste as you can. If you are feeling brave you can also check out soap nuts too! It's on my shopping list for tomorrow at The Wasteless Pantry.
Anyway, I hope you are learning new things and enjoying sustainable September this year. I keep leaning more and more each year... building on the knowledge from the year before. I keep implementing new ideas each year too. Sometimes I feel like I'm moving forward on my journey and other times I feel like I'm going backwards. But even if I just keep to the small changes I make... it is making a difference.
Welcome to day Nineteen of Sustainable September 2017.
Last week I talked about buying or making some "bees wax wraps". I had bought some a while ago and after a house sitting trip they had mysteriously gone missing. I had thought they had been thrown out. So I purchased some more when I went to the Dwellingup Bespoke handmade craft and art market over the weekend. I got some new wax wraps from the same wonderful ladies Undisposed, to replace the last lot that went MIA. As I was cleaning up today though I found a single bag of stuff that hadn't been unpacked since house sitting and guess what was inside? My old wax wraps! So now I have 4 wax wraps all to my self! :)
Which also means I owe an apology to my family for assuming they had thrown them out! Sorry guys!
Whilst I was waiting for the Internet to be fixed here (fingers crossed it's done now completely) I spent some time using today's idea "use vinegar for cleaning". I scrubbed the communal kitchen stove with vinegar. And it's before and after pictures are pretty cool. But please don't judge the before pictures too harshly.
The idea for tomorrow is something that builds on today's idea.
Sustainable September Day Nineteen: use bi-carb soda.
Today when I was using the vinegar I had some really tough grime cooked onto the stove so I had to pull out my trusty super Bi-carb soda to help with it. Sometimes vinegar alone doesn't work as well, particularly with stubborn grime like this.
As you can see the cook rings were caked with grime. So I soaked it with vinegar and added some bi carb for an awesome reaction.
Look at all that bubbling... Glad to know it was working.
This is what they looked like afterwards with some scrubbing. I didn't do heaps of scrubbing because I wasn't feeling great (still had the headache from yesterday). But it came out pretty good!
You can see the difference here between the front one and the back one. One with baking soda and vinegar the other without.
That is probably way too many photos of my stove top. Hehehe.
But the point is that Bi-carb can be a wonderful addition to any household cleaning routine for tough and stubborn stains.
Here is a heap of uses for Baking soda in cleaning...
ACTIVITY: use one idea from the video above to test out. Find out how simple and easy it is to use baking soda in your environmentally friendly cleaning routine!
That's all from me today folks. I hope you are all enjoying Sustainable September.
If you have any other uses for bi carb or vinegar of you have any other cleaning tips and tricks that are environmentally friendly and sustainable, then let me know. I would love to hear about them.
As you can see the cook rings were caked with grime. So I soaked it with vinegar and added some bi carb for an awesome reaction.
