Category Archives: Going Green

Sustainable House Day

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Sustainable House Day is on this Sunday 12th September all around Australia. To find out where the open houses are in your area, click here.

Houses are open from 10-4 pm and are free. Just look out for the balloons.

You get to have a look at how different houses are rigging up solar panels, harvesting water, recycling, gardening and many more things. Lots of info to be had, and a good opportunity to find out what is happening in your sustainable living community.

Anyone in the Sydney area that is interested in having a look, a list here of all the houses.

10 tips for Eucalyptus Oil use

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To me, if you want to smell Australia. It means going into the bush after rain and breathing in deep. What you will smell is the earthy undertones of eucalyptus trees wet from a recent down pour or drizzle. It smells so wonderfully clean. There are hundreds of different varieties of eucalypts found in Australia. However due to them being introduced to all corners of the globe, you will also find them from Egypt to Chile. As they have been introduced to some areas that are not suitable for their growth and the fact that they are also large water suckers, not everyone is a fan of the old eucalypt.

10 reasons to become a fan of the oil they produce are…

1/ Stains in clothing can be easily gotten out with a paste of eucalyptus oil and liquid washing detergent. Rub it in to the stain with some thing like an old toothbrush, leave for 10 minutes and then wash as normal.

2/ Removing remains of anything sticky, eg. wax, sticker. Use oil straight and rub sticky business off.

3/ Feeling clogged? Or perhaps a toilet plunger to suction outgoing mucus sounds like a good idea? Try boiling some water, put the plug in the sink, fill sink with hot water and 3 drops of eucalyptus oil, and drape a towel over your head to breathe the vapours. The eucalyptus oil works as an expectorant and decongestant. DON’T add 2 tablespoons of the oil to the water, as your lungs will constrict and you will be blinded for approximately 5 minutes- you have been expertly warned.

4/ Underarms in clothing having a residual pong (smell)? Try the same oil to laundry liquid paste as no.  , leave and wash as normal. No residues from under arm body odour or deodorant build up.

5/ Freshens and deodorises anything that may need a little lift.

6/ Feet looking a little funky with a touch of athletes foot? Try soaking the foot in a bucket of 1 part vinegar/ 3 parts water, dry and then dab straight eucalyptus oil on to the infected area. Eucalyptus oil works as a fungicide. It can also be used straight on any discoloured nails that may have a fungal infection.

7/ A mixture of Eucalyptus, bicarbonate soda and vinegar can be made up and used for cleaning all parts of the bathroom, including the toilet. Its non-toxic for drains, and is great to disinfect, deoderises, and anti-bacterial.* [see this post for exact measurements]

8/ For dust mite control, add a cap full to your washing machine and wash sheets and mattress protector. Soft toys can also be washed in this way. This kills the dust mite and removes the allergen that the they produce which can effect asthmatics.

9/ Insect bites can be treated with dab of straight oil. eg. Mosquito or tick bites.

10/ When cleaning out cupboards. Get a 1/4 bucket of hot soapy water, with a cap full of eucalyptus oil, and wipe down shelves for clean and fresh smelling.

See here for 10 Tips on using Bicarbonate Soda. 

Little old man with big ideas

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There used to be a little old man that lived at the top of my street. His front of house filled with home grown edibles. Every inch of space was filled with some sort of recyled object that in turn had been filled with soil and had something growing in it. Australia Post mail tubs housed capsicum plants lining his brick wall. His footpath grass not present but instead a lemon tree surrounded by a seasonal selection of leafy greens. Every space possible was used for something to grow in. Recycled rusty tin drums were home to chillis and a worn out old metal box his compost. Every time we would past he would be either tending his loved plants, basking in the sun with his head tilted on his verandah (the tiny space that was still free for 1 chair) or waiting by the footpath for someone to come past, so that he could chat to them.

A greek immigrant he had been in the country for 60 years he proudly told me one day. 94 years old, not a speck over 5 foot and he still loved to garden. With his clothing that didn’t look like it had had a wash for quite some time, gnarled old fingers that hadn’t been washed for quite some time as well and dentures that kept popping out of his mouth. He wasn’t the usual kind of neighbour that a lot of people had.

He liked to stop me, and offer water cress freshly plucked from the side of the footpath, and then happily munch on it, until his mouth gave up with trying to masticate the trying greenery with those popping dentures, then he would spit it out enthusiastically towards the general direction of his compost.

Now why am I telling you stories of an eccentric little old man? Because that little old man had big ideas. Simple ideas, that have pestered me ever since he voiced them to me. Why (as he pointed to the multi level apartments located near him) do they not have a communal garden in there? Why do they not have a simple lemon tree? Everyone could be using all the things that they grow within their small shared space. Even a little lemon tree makes a difference. We eat everything I grow. So simple…

Why indeed my little old man… Living in a big city, I see building happening all around me all the time. Quaint historic houses making way for multi story apartment blocks. Beautiful 3 bedroom houses with one bathroom, making way for 2/3 bedroom, 3 bathroom multiple level apartments. I understand the need for more accommodation in big cities, what I don’t understand is why these changes can’t be made more sustainable. Sure they don’t have to be using any recycled object within its path to be made into a growing pot. But surely these newly built places could accommodate a food growing area, that can be easily watered by nearby water tank, and then utilised by the people living there.

But who will look after it, we don’t have time?… Usually these big blocks, (or even smaller blocks of only 4) will have a body corporate or an outside designated company that organises all maintenance of the outside areas. This garden area could easily be maintained by the same people surely? Or a rotating roster of people within the complex that would be more than willing to look after the gardens. So many people would like to dig their fingers into dirt and don’t get the opportunities due to city living constraints.

But there isn’t room on the ground for these garden areas? We need carparking!… It doesn’t need to be on the ground, there is a perfectly good rooftops with ample sunlight just begging  for a little urban edible gardening. Roof top gardens can be easily built on flat roofs or a low pitch roof, and have many added benefits besides providing food to tennants.

Erd House (below) is located in Switzerland, not really a city living dwelling but still magnificent, and I wanted to sneak it in.

erd house by Swiss architect Peter Vetsch

In the pipelines there is also Sydney City Farm. Still waiting approval at this stage….

Simple things like these roof top gardens, or shared edible gardening spaces within apartment living could have such a dramatic and positive influence on our environment and city living peoples lives. So many countries and people have embraced this way of living around the world. It would be so wonderful though, to be able to walk around my neighbourhood and see more examples of this happening…

A good place to start if you are interested in more information is here.

Chocolate cards

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(I’m going to stick with the gift theme for another post.)

This is a household that consumes rather a lot of chocolate. Not any old chocolate, but still vast quantities of the dark and luscious food of the gods. With that large consumption, comes wrappers. A lot of them.

So with all those wrappers accumulating, I started to collect them and turn them into things. The chocolate of choice that we generally buy is Whittakers, and the wrapping of it really is lovely to begin with, dark and gold with a lovely picture. First came the birthday card and then came the wrapping paper.

For the birthday cards, most people haven’t even realised it was once a chocolate wrapper. I match it with a couple of other coloured papers and card, then stick it down. For the wrappers, they are all just stuck together to make whatever size I need.

I really love beautiful wrapping paper, but hate to see it being ripped and torn as a present is opened. I either see it as part of the present itself or like to see it as something that can be more easily discarded. I was always one of those annoying kids who carefully peeled back the tape on a present, not ripping and then gently refolding the paper for another use. People would go to sleep while waiting to see their gift unwrapped.

I hope people don’t think I’m just being cheap when I give it. As I really do think it looks good and it’s something to do with all those wrappers….I could cut back a bit I guess on the buying and consumption…but nah, that’s not going to happen any time soon.

Honey Almond Nougat Gift ideas

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Gift ideas. Sometimes I can get completely stumped for ideas for gifts. I want to give something, but don’t want the present to be a token something. I want there to be some kind of thought behind it. A little present to say Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas or a simple I’m thinking of you.  Not something that screams… uh oh I forgot your birthday up until an hour ago, and this was the first thing I saw…Isn’t it pretty!

Here’s one idea for a gift. First stop, go to your local second hand store.

One Donna Hay tea cup and little white dish later. ($2 dollars spent, for perfect condition.) Add some recycled ribbons that I had got via a whole bundle from a LETS trade a while back. Now to fill them.

Kecap Manis Roasted Almonds

Your desired quantity of raw almonds, coat them lightly in Kecap Manis (Indonesian Soy Sauce). Then put them on a tray and slow roast them in the oven. Done when an almond is cut in half, and lightly browned through.

Honey Almond Nougat

2 cups caster sugar

1 cup glucose syrup

1/2 cup honey

1 cup toasted whole almonds

1 tps vanilla

2 egg whites

75grams softened butter

rice paper sheets

Mix sugar, glucose, honey, vanilla in a pan. Stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil uncovered until reaches small crack stage (a tps of mixture snaps when its dropped into cold water.) This usally takes about 6 minutes or until reaches approx 138C.

Beat egg whites until firm peaks form. With mixer running, slowly add hot mixture in a thin stream. Mix for 3 mins or until the mixture holds together, then add the butter. When combined add the nuts.

Quickly spread into greased and lined with rice paper tray. Smooth the top down and press the remaining rice paper. Wait until it gets to room temperature, and then cut into desired shapes.

Two easy hand made gifts that are made with love, using recycled dishes, and ready to be given to someone that needs a good present.

10 tips for cleaning with Bicarbonate Soda

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Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda) is great for cooking when something needs a little lift. All it needs is a little wet and acidity and whoosh! Instant leavening agent, (it actually gives off bubbles of carbon dioxide, which are trapped by the baking.) It can also be used as an acidity regulator, used in things like the Sourdough Oat Cakes.

Cleaning purposes- It is a naturally occurring product which makes it perfectly environmentally friendly when used for cleaning and, and neutralizing. For cleaning it’s similar to when used in cooking, whoosh!..and its clean.

10 Tips for what to do with your Bicarb Soda

* A mixture of bicarb, vinegar, dishwashing liquid and eucalyptus oil is my standard clean EVERYTHING solution

* A combination of bicarb and water mixed together to form a paste, then put on to clothing stains. Let it soak in for a while then wash as normal.

* For smelly shoes add a good sprinkling of bicarb soda over night.

* For smelly bins, sprinkle a good layer on the bottom, leave overnight and wipe clean.

* Deoderise carpets with a sprinkling over area and then vacuum. With stains on carpets, mix up a paste of bicarb and water, leave to dry and then vacuum.

* Polishing up jewellery and silverware, and chrome make a paste of bicarb and water, scrub with old toothbrush and then just wash off.

* Clothing whitener, add 1/4 cup bicarb to half bucket of cold water, leave clothing to soak overnight in a bucket and wash as normal. (No need for things like Napisan)

* For tea stained cups, add a paste of bicarb and water, leave for a little while and then rub clean.

* Sprinkle bicarb soda over cat litter tray. It absorbs any moisture and neutralizes any odours. Cat vomit on the carpet, same thing.

* Cleaning out your washing machine add, 1/4 cup bicarb to the soap area and 1/4 cup vinegar to the softener area- short cycle.

There are sooo many other things you can do with Bicarbonate of Soda. Its cheap, its environmentally friendly and it has a cleaning use for just about everything you can think of.

The best pet for small spaces…or big spaces

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Living in a flat sometimes you can be a little restricted with sort of pets you can have. Constrained because of space, landlords, body corporate, prying childrens fingers. All sorts of reasons.

This pet ticks all those boxes though. It doesn’t need regular walks, doesn’t need a kitty litter tray, doesn’t hog the bed at night time, doesn’t chew furniture, doesn’t eat a lot, don’t need costly visits to the vet and doesn’t take much to set them up in their new home.

So what pet is that?

A worm.

Actually a lot of them.

Thousands of the little critters. A worm farm may not be the most interactive of pets, but they eat your compost, don’t take up much space and provide lots of wonderful solid (castings) and liquid fertilizer for your garden or pot plants. Sure you don’t get to play with them, stroke their tiny baldy heads, and their recipricle loving attention is a little wanting but they are still cute in their own hairless way. (And The Monkeys still want to poke and touch them as they would any other pet.)

The average household garbage is about 50% compostable. So instead of going to landfill it gets chewed up and turned into liquid gold by these little fellas.

10 top tips for worm farms

1/ Needs a cool well shaded spot to sit in (easy for a flat or balcony).

2/ You can buy a ready made worm farm (usually made out of recycled plastics) or you can easily make your own. (Try local councils for ready made ones as they quite often have them at cheaper prices, may deliver it and set up for free, and also run free worm farming courses.)

3/ They don’t like eating acidic foods such as onion/ garlics/ citrus fruits. Also no meat/ grains or dairy.

4/ Worm farms shouldn’t smell. There should be a lovely earthy smell, if it does get a bit pongy (stinky) then just stop feeding them for a few days, let them break down the food a bit more. Loosen the food and castings- so its easier for them to manouvre through.

5/ The smaller you chop the food, the easier they can break it down. Saying that, you can also just throw in your scraps, it just takes a while longer to break down.

6/ You can toss in all your vegetable and fruit scraps, but can also pop in ripped up newspaper, soggy egg cartons, hair, tea bags, vacuum dust…. you can do dog poo, but not advised on using the worm castings for your plants afterwards though.

7/ The worm wee can be used as a fertilizer mixed with water. 1 part wee to 9 parts water, and then just watered in to your plants. Your plants will love you for it.

8/ If you were a fishing kind a person= live bait!

9/ Worms like a nice moist environment. The water from the scraps is generally enough to keep things at a moist level during cooler months. However during hotter weather, a little extra added water may be needed intermittently. Some moist newspaper on top of the food scraps (or a hessian bag) acts as a blanket and keeps things at a stable temperature.

10/ After the initial start up, there is no ongoing costly maintenance. The worms continue to multiply (as long as they are fed) and you can’t have too many of the useful little critters.

wind ups

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This is one of my favourite things in my kitchen. My little wind up radio and torch. No batteries needed, and no plug in. All I need is a little winding arm action, and my radio will play. It also has a quite powerful torch. If I am waiting for a pot to boil or waiting for the toaster to pop, one minute of winding action will give me quite a long time of radio play (I haven’t actually timed how long). No cords to be had and I can take easily where ever I am. The beam is strong enough for all our needs, (I’m not hunting rabbits though.)

The Monkeys wanted to make this their own, and I didn’t really want to share as much as they wanted me to, so they in turn got their own windups.

The penguin is a great kids present. All kids love torches, and again no batteries. Just a little hand pumping action that can easily be done by Monkey Boy, pumping side gets tucked away and let there be light.

Little Monkeys torch is much smaller, but probably more powerful than the penguin. It’s small, the windup handle tucks away, and it has three options for the beam. (flash continuous, slow and fast.)

the chocolate gene

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Chocolate.

Chocolate seems to play a very big part in this family. I wasn’t so fussed on it until I met my husband, otherwise known as Mr Chocolate. He doesn’t need chocolate, chocolate needs him. If he stopped consuming, the whole chocolate industry may just tumble down. So it’s safe to say after we first got together, he has slowly infiltrated my chocolate past, to a home now that is not complete unless there is a little dark something hidden away somewhere.

The monkeys came along and they too have inherited the dreaded chocolate gene. Other sweets thrown aside and scorned, their eyes only on the good stuff…. chocolate.

Monkey Boy is rather partial to a piece of dark chocolate, and will happily savour it, holding it in his hand and slowly nibbling at the outsides. The Little Monkey will suck up anything in his path to get to it. With a spark in is eye, and very fast feet… “Choklo! Choklo!…. CHOKLO!”

A friend recently challenged Mr Chocolate on a Chocolate Extravaganza (who could eat the most), I was quietly skeptical, but remained cheerfully optimistic. My pint sized girl friend had not seen my man in action you see. She thought her modestly gutsy efforts in consuming a packet of Tim Tams would match the “why stop when there is still more” attitude of my husband. The Chocolate Extravaganza was cancelled. Scared off, with the rather sombre face of mine, and whispered words of “You don’t have a chance…. you will NEVER win against him…”

When I first met Mr Chocolate, any chocolate would do. Sure he had his favourites, but when it came down to the line, he wasn’t that fussy. Years have gone by, and more than a few kilos of chocolate later, that line is in a completely different position. We try to be as mindful as possible, on what brands and types we buy. A sucker for dark chocolate, we really like Whittakers Dark Ghana. It’s a New Zealand company, that uses Fair Trade Chocolate, readily available and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. The Dark Ghana comes from Ghana (duh) and is bought through the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative. This Fairtrade certified cooperative of cocoa farmers has 45,000 members. Selling this way keeps the prices higher and more stable for the seller. Also investing in better farming methods that are more sustainable for their themselves and their industry.

Its great that there are more and more chocolate companies looking at changing their sourcing methods and encouraging fairtrade practices. This must mean that through greater awareness people are changing things with their spending dollars.  An example is Cadbury . Cadbury Schweppes is one of the largest producers of chocolate in the world  and has recently started producing a fair trade option for their Dairy Milk range in Australia. Be it a little controversially.

I know there are loop holes in these methods and problems will remain with things like child labour, but the more people talk about it and the more the consumer makes a choice with their shopping dollar the more, (I am ever hopeful) changes will come of it. There are more and more fairtrade chocolate options being made available, just have a peek.

Community Exchange System

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Todays post is about giving the local trading network a bit of a mention. Its a great concept, and if more people got involved who knows what could happen!

So what is it?

The Community Exchange System (CES) is a community-based exchange system that provides ways  for its users to exchange their goods and services, both locally and further a field. A global trading network that operates without money.

Say what?… No money?… uhuh.

The CES has no physical currency. So no money changes hands at all.

Around the world these systems may be called-  Community Exchange Systems, Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS), Mutual Credit trading systems or Time Banks.

Here where I am its called LETS. Or Local Exchange Trading Systems.

Every members time is of equal worth. One hour of time is worth 20 ‘operas’ (depends on the area is what they call the currency). Every member has an account that they set up on joining. When Jackson pays Mack 20 operas for a personal training session then it goes into the account. Jackson is -20 and Mack is +20. So Mack has just ‘created’ his own money. Which he can then use for a massage with Julia.

And so on and so forth. There is no limits. Everyone has something to offer and people always want something.

Some examples of what could be on offer.

House cleaning

Babysitting

Personal trainer

Kids face painting for parties

Cakes

Gardening

Holiday accommodation

The possibilities are really endless….

Rainy days

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What to do on a rainy day with 2 kids in a flat?

Over a period of time I collect all sorts of things that would usually go into the recycling bin and instead pop them into a box in the kitchen for a ‘rainy day’. Toilet rolls, patty pans, cardboard boxes, what ever looks like it could be turned into something else gets kept and thrown up on top of the kitchen cupboards. The boys love it when I get the box down and empty it out on the lounge room floor as it always changes and we can always make something new and exciting. So this is the rainy day activity box. Egg cartons become buses, toilet rolls become people, the carpet with the pattern becomes the road, and the flat becomes a recycling centre with things thrown about every where!

Another favourite is getting a few bigger boxes and joining them together to make a train for all their stuffed toys. Hours of fun in there.

I also pack away one box of toys that get stored under a bed and brought out as well. That way they can ‘re-discover’ their toys for the day and then that box gets packed away again. This can be rotated a bit so they never get tired of the one thing.

And when that rain won’t stop and it really is far too soggy to go outside, the dining table gets turned into a cubby house. Blanket over the top, and every available blanket and cushion for the inside. All cosy and squishy inside, perfect for 2 boys who love nothing better than to hide away and giggle.

 ….and maybe some space for a moment or two for Mama to lay a weary head down as well.

Why don’t I grow food in pots?

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Why don’t I grow food in pots?…

It really is a good question. I live in a flat, I have many pots that are empty and ready to be used. I certainly have the inclination. But…

I have been down this road several times before. So much so, that I have spent quite a lot of money on organic potting mix, seeds, seedlings, and pots. I have trawled the streets with my kids on the look out for pots during council clean up periods and still nothing to show for it. When we first moved in here I started off all gung ho and with lots of ideas of harvesting from all my bountiful pots.

What went wrong?

Not enough sun light in the court yard? Too much rain? Not enough rain? Then when they did flourish so did the slugs and caterpillars. A true feast for them!

So after numerous occasions of trying, it has just got the point where I am putting way too much money in to the potting project and just have to admit defeat. So for the time being I will stick to my succulents and my window box flowers that are supposed to be attracting good bugs and bees….

… just not at the moment.