Sustainable September 2018 - Day 4

Sustainable september 2018

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).

Sustainable September 2017 - Day Sixteen

SEPTEMBER 17 (SUNDAY)

FOOD & STORAGE - REUSABLE PRODUCE BAGS

Hi everyone,
Sustainable September is all about 'Making life a little kinder for our planet and all those who live here'. So i am looking at fun and hopefully useful ways to make your life more environmentally friendly but also kinder.

I have only just started this next one this year. Because i always forgot to pack them... but i do it all the time now. And it is one more way i am illiminating plastic coming into the house.

Sustainable September Day Sixteen : Use reusable Produce bags.

You can get them from a range of places. They are often made out of sheer curtaining or calico/100% cotton fabrics. They come in a range of sizes. The few that I have bought have come from Onya Bags.

You can check them out or even buy some on their website whose link is above.

However I tend now to make them myself. Which leads me to the days suggested activity.

ACTIVITY: Make your own reusable produce bags.

I use old bits of netting and old curtaining to make my own produce bags. I tend to make them fairly small because I dont like to buy too much of the nice things I want like dried fruits or even dark chocolate coated sultanas for a family member. You dont want to buy too many of them when they can be quite expensive, and they are are not the greatest for health in large quantities.

However you can make the bigger ones too. I just havent needed to yet because i already have the ones from Onya! So when they wear out i will be making my own.

At the moment we are having internet problems so downloading and uploading blog content is a little trickier. I am hoping to get them sorted out by tomorrow.

I Hope this finds you well,
Enjoy this short and sweet sustainable September blog post!
Love Daena xx

Sustainable September 2017 - Day Fifteen

SEPTEMBER 15 (FRIDAY)

FOOD & STORAGE - GET RID OF PLASTIC WRAP

Welcome back everyone,

This year for Sustainable September I am focusing on 'Making life a little kinder for our planet and all those who live here'. One way I am doing that is reducing the amount of plastic I use. So that means finding alternatives.

Sustainable September Day Fifteen: Get rid of Plastic Wrap.

There are a few ways to go about this. Like I did last night with a family members dinner plate. I just upturned a second plate to use as protection instead of using plastic wrap.



I recommend this when you are heating stuff in the microwave too... although be careful when cooking in the microwave, because... it is HOT!!! Steam can burn just as badly as direct heat... so always be careful when using heat.

You can simply use reusable containers too. we have a whole heap of reusable plastic containers. Yes I know I have spent a lot of this month already talking about how bad plastic is for the environment. I do believe I can do better in the future. But there is no point in me throwing away reusable plastics to replace with glass yet. My main problem is with single use plastics but I am still minimising other plastic that I'm brining into the house. I will continue to use my already well used reusable plastic containers until they die, then replace with glass only when I need to. Throwing away something that is useful to become 'more eco-friendly' seems a bit backward. However, when the plastic reusables we have do break or become unhealthy (some reusable plastics we have start bubbling at the bottom) then we recycle it and then, and only then do we buy a more environmentally friendly option.

One of the other alternatives to plastic wrap I have started personally using recently, and LOVE, is Bees Wax Wraps.

What are Bees Wax wraps? They are fabrics (cotton, linen or silk) that have been cut and coated in liquid beeswax, then dried. They can then be used like you would use Plastic Wrap, but instead of the plastic wrap automatically sticking to itself, the warmth of your hands helps the wax soften so that it adheres to itself. this makes it so much easier to use.

I bought two smallish Bees Wax wraps from Undisposed, a local company promoting reusable eco-friendly items like my cutlery set (which i also got from them). I love them. I would have photographed them to show you, however they have recently gone missing. I used them all the time when I was house sitting but I'm not sure what happened to them since. I suspect one of my eager cleaning housemates may have disposed of them thinking they were rubbish... but i am yet to know for sure (so i hope they can forgive me if i find them later somewhere else).

You can purchase Beeswax wraps from a range of places. I know the local bulk foods shop I go to regularly, and love, The Wasteless Pantry sells them too.

You can wrap almost anything in them... like this...

You can also use the Beeswax wraps like oragami in a way! The following video shows you how to make a sandwich pouch from Beeswax wraps. 

The only thing that is not postitive about Bees Wax wraps is that they cannot be used in the microwave (hence me giving you the ideas for using upturned plates). The wax melts and causes problems in the mircowave if you use them in there... hence not recommended. But apart from that... they are so easy to use. 

ACTIVITY: Make your own Beeswax wraps.

 

I hope you have a wonderful day. 

Sending lots of love, and big hugs to you all, 

Love Daena 

Ps. I don't get any kickbacks or money from the places that I recommend here. I recommend them because they bring value to my life and I really enjoy their products and services. Just so you know! 😘❤ X

Sustainable September 2017 - Day Thirteen

SEPTEMBER 13 (WEDNESDAY)

FOOD & STORAGE - CHOOSING FOODS BASED ON PACKAGING

Hello everyone,

How has your day gone? How have you gone with creating a compost bin? or how have you gone talking to friends and family about creating one at their house? or using an existing one? I haven't had as much time today as i expected to get my compost bin rejuvenated. It is pretty smelly and needs a lot more of the 'brown stuff' (twigs, paper - carbon based stuff) to reduce the smell and pests, but i have hope and i now have the knowledge of how to fix it... at least i hope so!

Today I took my own Activity advice from yesterday and had a visit to Kings Park. For those not from Perth, Australia, it is beautiful inner city Parkland that would rival Central Park, New York. And yes, i have been to Central Park! Kings Park overlooks the city and is just a lovely place to visit all year round.

I was sitting in a cafe with mum, in Kingspark, and noticed that there was this one raven that was just sitting on a tree stump like some kind of statue.





He was beautiful and stayed like that for ages. So I had to photograph him.

Anyway, back to Sustainable September...

Sustainable September Day Thirteen: Choose the foods you buy based on packaging.

I have talked about Packagaing on Day One of Sustainable September, because the best way to REDUCE the amount of packaging that comes into the house is by REFUSING it and REDUCING the amount that comes into your house.

This year I decided that using videos was a great way to help educate people, including myself. I'm not yet ready to make my own, so using other peoples videos is a wonderful way to share other peoples perspectives and experiences. Like Ela Gale, a New Zealander who took on the 55 Day Waste Free challenge. Her notes and experiences are invaluable.

Food is one of the areas in life that is the epitome of too much packaging. Almost everything these days is packaged.  And a mojority of it is packaged in plastic. You just have to walk into the main supermarkets to see how much packaging is used.

I have talked about RECYCLING in the past also and some of the things that food comes in can be recycled, but a lot of it cannot. So the best way to reduce the amount of waste through packaging is to choose carefully to start with.

I do the best I can but I am limited in getting some things package free because I have to adhere to a very strict Gluten Free diet. If something says 'may contain traces of' gluten then i have to avoid eating it, as is enough to have me crawling into the foetal position on the floor. So best to avoid it completely.

I have been buying some meat in packages (like gluten free, dairy free, grain free sausages) that they occasionally sell in the deli sections at supermarkets. Becuase they are in the same cabinet as other wheat containing things, they are no longer okay for me to eat. All it takes is someone to accidentally drop one of those pieces of wheat on or near food and if I ate it I would be sick. So until I find myself a gluten free butcher, who is willing to use my containers to bring it home in (not prepackaged) then I have resigned myself to still haveing some waste. Mind you, what I have been doing is limiting the amount of food that I buy like that.

It is a special occasion rather than an every day occurance for me to buy packaged things. I like to make sure it ends up in recycling (plasic wrap in soft plastic recycling and the plastic base either reused as a palet for my art or finding another role for it, or recycled if it is able to be).

If i look at what I purchase, and decide that everything I bring into my home has to have its own home in the house (other than the bin) then I am much more aware of what I buy. Because i dont have heaps of space and i dont want to crowd it with stuff i cant use.

I also know that I am not perfect and neither is my household. There are days when we as a household make some crappy choices about waste, but the aim is to reduce it where possible. The best way to reduce waste is to not even let it in, in the first place.

ACTIVITY: Do your shopping with no plastic rubbish. Now this is more than an activity... it is a down right challenge. What people don't realise, is there is a lot of hidden plastic. Buy a cardboard box of cereal... it has a plastic package that holds the cereal. Want to buy meat... there is plastic wrap on a polystyrene tray. Buy vegetables, sometimes they come in plastic netting. So choosing food that has no plastic will take paying attention, but if you treat it like a game rather than a chore... it can be quite entertaining.

I hope this finds you all well.
With Kindness and hope,

Daena x

Sustainable September 2017 - Day Three

SEPTEMBER 3 (SUNDAY)

RECYCLE: PLASTIC, GLASS, BATTERIES, SOFT PLASTICS, COMPOST

Hello Again,

Well how are you going with “Reuse”? I am reusing a whole bunch of old jars to store stuff in my pantry. I particlurly love using the 1Lt Pickle jars or putting my specialty flours in. I am reusing old clothes as rags and also upcycled into other things. And when it comes to laundry, im always glad to have my old cloth rice bags. They work very well. It is amazing what you can use and then reuse. Reduce and reuse are the first two parts of this wonderful trilogy last being....

Sustainable September Day 3: Recycle.

Today (for tomorrow) I have included a few different activities that you may want to do all of, or just choose one. It is up to you.

In Australia, recently, there was a program on the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) called “War on Waste” and after watching it, I realized how much regular Australians don’t know about their waste. Particularly what is happening to their things after they discard it. Here is the advertisement for the 3 episode show.

If you are an Australian and havent seen it yet I suggest you check out IView and watch the program there.

Normally I would link the program to the blog however sadly, the links to the website won't work for those of you over seas. You may be able to find a copy on Youtube if you really want. However, I know that they did a version of this in the UK too so if you are in either of these places check it out!

Waste and recycling go hand in hand. But only before we have reduced and reused what we can. All of this occurs before our rubbish ends up in landfill (hopefully none of it has to if we are careful).

I watched this short Vide from the SBS tv show “The Feed” all about recycling in Australia and really enjoyed it. Be warned there is a bleeped out expletive.

The thing is that in lots of places each city council or district has a different I list of recyclable materials. Some have road side collections others have drop off recycling. So even though I want to give you all a broad perspective of what can and can't be recycled, you need to check with your local council for the specifics.

ACTIVITY: Research what and where you can recycle your waste.

PLASTIC: In my area there are two type of Plastic recycling. Hard plastics and soft plastic. This section will look specifically at Hard plastics however it is clear that the two are made of the same product so they are often talked about as one topic.

If you want to look further into the role and damage that Plasic is doing in the world there are a few documentaries to check out.

1) Plastic Paradise: The great Pacific Garbage Patch, (Warning: graphic images)
2) Plasticized Documentary, about a research trip across the Pacific monitoring Plastic in the ocean.
3) The Plastic Age: A documentary featuring Pharrell Williams.

The first two documentaries talk about the problems with plastic waste ending up in our oceans. One way we can prevent plastic ending up in the ocean is to reduce the amount we use in day to day life and therefore the demand to make it, and the second is to make sure we know how to recycle it.

I really like a third documentary, partly because its only like 20mins long, but mostly because it has hope. it gives us hope that someone is doing something on a larger scale to change the plastic that ends up in our oceans. I also love it because it talks about plastic in terms of Archaeology (The Plastic Age).

The biggest thing we can do to stop Plastic ending up in our oceans, in our fish (that we consume) and on our beaches is to reduce the amount we use, reuse the things already in existence and then recycle the things we can to make them into new and exciting things.

ACTIVITY: Choose a documentary to watch and learn more about Plastic in our oceans.

SOFT PLASTIC RECYCLING:  This was something fairly new to me. In my house we have only just started doing Soft Plastic Recycling. I was actually inspired to start this type of recycling after watching the War of Waste Australia program. I take my soft flexible plastics to Coles who use REDcycle. REDcycle then turns the old plastic bags, chip packets, and other soft plastics into something that will be durable and long lasting, like park benches and equipment.

I have a soft plastic bag beside the rubbish bin where I can put all my other soft plastics. Then the next time I go to the shops I can take my bag with me to deposit at the REDcycle deposit bins. here is the handy PDF resource that REDcycle shares on their website. I've just turned it into a picture.

BATTERY RECYCLING: Battery recycling is something that our local school does to get kids to pay attention to recycling. Basically any old batteries (single use and reusable ones at the end of their lives) get donated and recycled.

I am loving finding great videos online that are both hilarious and environemtnally friendly. Here is another one about how to recycle your batteries.

ACTIVITY: Create a “battery recycling bin” in your home. We use old 1Ltr Yogurt Buckets to make our battery recycling bins. Either that or plastic take away containers (not that we have very many of them in our house, but if we do, they get used for other purposes).

GLASS RECYCLING: For this I grabbed a video from Devon in the UK. Now i love that the type of videos that are being created internationally can educate us all. Hopefully they can inspire us all to make a bigger effort to make sure glass ends up where it needs to be so it can be recycled. 

COMPOST: I will be talking about this later in the month in more depth. However, i wanted to give a little video about food waste and composting because it really fits under the "Recycle" banner of Sustainable September. This comes from the War On Waste Kids videos. Ilove that they have made several of these videos and that they are on the theme of "Im a celebrity get me out of here" but instead are "Im Recycleable get me out of here!" So cute and a funny.

FINALLY: There a lot more different things that can be recycled. Mobile phones and devices, toothbrushes and toothpaste containers, and so much more. I just wanted to give you a taste of what Recycling can be like. It doesn't have to be too complicated and it doesn't have to take a lot of time. But it really makes a difference.

To finish up... one more video from South Australia...which is the state next to mine and a pioneer in Australia when it comes to recycling. They made a great video on what goes in which bin. In my old Council area of Stirling they had a three bin system like this one, so im sure it will help any locals to watch this video. 

I hope you have learned something and if not, i hope you are using all that amazing knowledge to help other people, yourself and the planet. 

Enjoy,
love Daena