Sustainable September 2018 - Day 3

Yesterday was all about water bottles. I was given some awesome information about a really helpful app that helps you find a place to refill your water bottles for free. infact the app actually rewards you for refilling. The app is called "Refill"! 

I don't know if the app is UK only or world wide, so let me know.

I have now officilly moved to Reading, England for my new job in archaeology. This is a little different because I am still looking for a permanent place to rent. However, I will keep doing my best to keep this short and sweet.

Back to Sustainable September...

Day 3 - Eat More seasonal vegetables 

This could be a whole lifestyle change to a plantbased diet, or it  could mean being a weekday vegetarian or even just participate in Meat Free Mondays.

As it is the first monday of Septembe, I thought it would be a perfect time to advocate for Meat free Mondays. If you cut down the amount of meat you are using, it makes a significant saving to your hip pocket and it makes a huge difference to the environment too.

“According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the livestock sector is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global”. The FAO estimates that livestock production is responsible for 14.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, while other organisations have estimated it could be as much as 51 per cent. World scientists on the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) agree that we need to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by 80 per cent by 2050 in order to avoid catastrophic climate change.” (Meat Free Monday 2018)

In terms of money saving the Meat Free Mondays website also has something to say about that… "According to Office for National Statistics figures for 2014, the average UK family spends £15.80 a week on meat and fish, with £4.20 and £3.50 being spent on fresh vegetables and fresh fruit respectively. The cost of meat has risen 10 per cent since 2007, yet most of the staples of a meat-free diet are comparatively cheaper: plant proteins such as dried beans or lentils typically cost less than the equivalent amount of animal protein. In fact, most of the world’s people eat a mostly meat-free diet made up of inexpensive commodities such as beans, rice and corn. Eat less meat + more veg = save money!” (Meat Free Monday 2018)

This is great news for us, because we can both save cash and save the environment. Then there is also the whole vegan/vegetarian case for the welfare of the animals that are being used for meat. I wont explore that here, but ask any vegetarian or vegan and ask why and you will get a range of reasons.

I often cook simple vegan recipes, and they are really easy. Check out my Instagram account for more ideas @daenaguest! Or check out the hashtag I often use #AccidentallyVegan.

All you need to do is type in "vegetarian recipe" or "vegan recipe" into ecosia/google and you will get an extensive collection of recipes.

I hope this finds you all well.
Love Daena

Sustainable September 2015 - Day Twenty Eight.

Hey guys and girls,

Has this month flown by? or what? We are almost at the end now. How have you been going so far?

Today I spent a chunk of the day helping my sister and niece cleaning up, sorting, rearranging and de-junking their house. I am absolutely exhausted but it was well worth it.

Todays Sustainable September idea follows on from yesterdays.

September 28: Create your own indoor scrap bucket. 

Photo via google images from 123rf.com

When you do this you can buy, make or recycle another container to re-purpose it.

This helps with getting your kitchen and garden scraps to your compost bin. We currently have an old yoghurt bucket (1kg bucket) that we use. We have a couple of these bins that we have so we can wash one out and fill another or fill with gardening bits too.

Mum has a bucket bought that she has ready for when she moves into a granny flat. It is a little metal bin (that's been painted teal) and has a simpler lid to open than the yoghurt buckets. She finds the yoghurt lids too hard to open sometimes, that the metal bucket will solve.

I like short and simple ideas like the one above. They make it easier for you to do, and simpler for me too! :)

The phot from the blog My Daily Compost. Check it out

KINDNESS IDEA: Barter or share your extra produce. 

My sister today traded some of her home made tomato sauce for some fresh produce from a local gardener & their small home-farm. This is awesome way to get what you need and give someone else something that they might not have.

I have to say the fresh produce was delicious. I cooked up some Kale and some rainbow chard with some garlic butter and it was divine. I cooked that together with some local backyard eggs (from a friend) and some delicious BACON!!!!! I know... bacon! again! It is the weekend though so as a Weekend Vegetarian it is allowed! ;)

I hope this finds you all well and excited about healing our environment.
Much love,
Daena x

Sustainable September 2015 - Day Eighteen

Hello again my lovelies,

I've been a bit better today. I spent the morning in bed resting. I felt a bit better this arvo so I did my Dejunking, from a couple days ago. So I took Marie Kondo's advice and grabbed all my clothes from around the house & dumped them in the lounge. I have to say it's quite confronting how many clothes I had. 

And this is the lounge after i'd finished!

See all those bags filled with clothes? Yes there are 6 of them. That's 6 bags less than I needed to have in my room, and in my closet! :D So happy. Some of my clothes will go to the Thrift Stores, others will be given to friends (we have a hand-me-up swap group for clothes) and my ball dresses will be going to a low socio-economic school that offers a "rental" service for it's students for ball dresses for their school ball/prom. 

I, still feeling ill, had some vegetarian soup for dinner too! :D which is a tribute to the idea I gave for today! Being a Weekday Vegetarian as inspired by Graham Hill.

It was delicious and exactly what I needed! :) mmmm soup! :)

So today's Sustainable September idea is something I've been doing a lot of this last week. 

September 18: Use a Handkerchief/Hankie. 

Instead of filling the rubbish bin or compost bin full of snotty tissues, use a reusable, washable, tough but gentle handkerchief! I have several hankies that I actually inherited from my dad (except the floral one - that was a gift). 

KINDNESS IDEA: buy some handkerchiefs to give to someone that needs one. that someone could be YOU!!! It could be a random person sneezing on the train, it could be a neighbour, a friend, a family member. I like to have one with me that I can give to someone, that I haven't used first. So generally I take at least two Handkerchiefs with me when I am out and about when sick. Just to clarify, I do like to make sure that I am not infectious before I go out whilst sick.  

You could also add a handkerchief to a "Get Well Hamper" with some soup (home made or packet soups depending on your skills in the kitchen and time constraints), a mug, some sore throat lozenges, Vics Vapour rub, a pair of warm socks, a good book and maybe a movie. All the things to survive a cold.

I hope you are all feeling well, 

Love Daena x

Sustainable September 2015 - Day Seventeen

Hello my lovelies,

I had to stay home from work today because I was so crook/ill/sick. I spent the day resting and healing, with lots of vegetable soup, hot tea, tissues/hankies and a couple good books. I think often when we look at kindness we forget ourselves. So today was a day for me to get myself healed and rested, a true kindness to myself. If I am not well, how can I act with kindness to others?
I admit I had had a very busy weekend, and I have not had a chance to slow down since returning from Sydney. I am so blessed that my boss allowed me the time off today to recover. I am not completely 'fixed' yet, but I am well on my way now. At least I hope so. :)

Sustainable September is always a perfect time for me to get in a daily act of blogging. Sometimes it is simple, sometimes a lot of research goes into a subject. Some ideas I have had for a long time and been meaning to add them to the list of possible Sustainable September ideas.

Tomorrows idea is one of those 'long time' ideas. This idea sprang from last years Sustainable September idea for a Meat Free Monday (which is an awesome idea to undertake regularly not just in September). I have been watching a lot of TED talks recently. I am learning everything I can on all sorts of issues. The one that stuck out for me was this one below.

September 17: Become a Weekday Vegetarian. 

I saw the video by Graham Hill on TED about why he is a Weekday Vegetarian. It is pretty good. Plus its only a short 5 minutes, as opposed to the video yesterday that was 43minutes. Here it is.. 

Now this sounds really hard for us meat lovers everywhere. However I love the benefits that becoming a Weekday Vegetarian can afford you.

Lets look at the financial benefits first. Meat is often the most expensive component of any meal you prepare. I often spend on average about $4 AUD per person per meal on the meat component of any given meal. Sometimes its less, sometimes more. The Vegetable part of the meal is often less... way WAY less. Plus with vegetables you can also often grow your own. Winning!

Then there is the part that it is better for the animals on this planet if we don't eat them. The cows, pigs, sheep and chickens in this world (the most consumed meats in the Australia, and perhaps the world), often are not treated as well as they could be. The smaller of the animals often stuck into intensive farms, that do not allow quality of life. Being a weekday vegetarian helps or reduces the impact on these animals.

Then there is the environmental impact of the meat. In 2006 the Independent News wrote that "A United Nations report has identified the world's rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife. And they are blamed for a host of other environmental crimes, from acid rain to the introduction of alien species, from producing deserts to creating dead zones in the oceans, from poisoning rivers and drinking water to destroying coral reefs. The 400-page report by the Food and Agricultural Organisation, entitled Livestock's Long Shadow, also surveys the damage done by sheep, chickens, pigs and goats. But in almost every case, the world's 1.5 billion cattle are most to blame. Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together." Read the article here.

Then there is the whole Carbon Footprint side to it too. What resources have gone into producing the meat?  How far has the meat travelled before it got to your plate? The distance your food travels from the farm to your plate, the better it is for the environment. Environmentally speaking reducing the amount of meat we consume and therefore demand for it, has to help. It might not seem like it but it does make a difference.

Then you look at the waste that the meat packing industry creates. I know I throw out a whole bunch of plastic, in either plastic wrap, plastic tray or even polystyrene tray form (i use the old meat trays after they have been washed, as pallets for my paint and my artworks - its a nice way to reuse something that would otherwise be thrown into landfill).

I love that on this Weekday Vegetarian lifestyle you can still eat meat, you don't have to give up Bacon! mmmm Bacon! You just save it for a treat on the weekends, where you have time to savour it, enjoy it and celebrate the deliciousness. mmmmm... bacon! Did I mention the bacon? mmmmm. Bacon! Bacon! BACON!!! Forgive me for my mild obsession with the deliciousness that is bacon. I know that for some religious people bacon is not consumed, so just imagine you have replaced all the bacon in this blog post with your favourite type of meaty goodness! :)

If you are looking for recipes for being a Weekday Vegetarian the simply google "vegetarian recipes" and thousands, probably MILLIONS of recipes will come up. You might be lucky too if you add what ingredients you have in your fridge/garden that you could add to the meal.

KINDNESS IDEA: Make a vegetarian meal to share. You could make it for a friend or family member going through a rough time. Or you could invite a friend, neighbour, colleague over for a meal to share something different with them. Be aware of some peoples allergies, and dietary requirement.

I hope this finds you all well. And if you are not well, that you are on the mend. And if you are not yet on the mend, that the tide will break soon and you will heal fast when you can. Sending healing love to you all.

Much love to you all,
Love Daena (Bacon) Guest

PS. I going vegetarian for 5 days straight is hard, start with Meat Free Mondays. It is a great way to regularly reduce the quantity of meat we consume.

Zucchini Slice Recipe... because i forgot in Sustainable September!

Hello my lovelies,

when I was doing sustainable September I was talking about what you can make food with the things that are in season. One of my favourite things to make when zucchinis are in season is to make Zucchini Slice.

I promised the recipe... so here it is! Finally! :) Lets think of it as my little kindness of today... but I'm sure I'll probably do something else too! ;)

Zucchini Slice

Ingredients:

375gm grated Zucchini

1 cup grated Cheese

3-4 slices of chopped Bacon

1 medium Onion

1 cup Self Raising Flour

½ cup of cooking oil

5 eggs, lightly beaten

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together. Put into a greased and lined tin. Cook in a medium oven for 30-40 mins on 180*C

For a vegetarian option leave out the bacon and add some grated carrot and corn kernels. 

Hope you enjoy! Because it is truly delicious! :)

Luv Daena