Happy World Oceans Day

We thought we would celebrate World Oceans Day by heading down to the beach and having our own cleanup.

The beach we chose is one that we go to with my Dad, usually as the sun comes up to see if the fish are biting. We were a little later today and the carpark was choc-o-block.

The main difference I noticed from last week was the number of smaller pieces of plastic which really reminded me of a video I saw earlier in the week called A Bottle's Odyssey.

I was also amazed with the number of cigarette butts that we found. According to data collected across Australia, butts are the biggest form of littering by number. After this morning, I can see why. These were everywhere!

No undies were in our haul this week but there were a few strange bits and pieces.  We found a plastic soldier, four empty condom packets and a bong. Luckily we were prepared with gloves and long handle grabbers.

I was feeling a little disheartened as the area was so busy and still a lot of litter that we didn't manage to collect, but then a little boy rode past with his dad and I heard him say, "I want to do that too, Dad. It's good for the environment."  I wanted to go up and hug him but thought that there are laws against random ladies hugging other people's children. Instead I just gave the dad a smile.

We finished the morning with a coffee and hot chocolate that we had brought from home in thermoses and a snack that I had picked up from the bakery on our way down. At the end, we packed everything back in the cooler bag and headed off home. We were all in dire need of a hot shower.

We didn't weight this week's collection but I think it would have been at least over five kilograms. Not as much as the eight kilograms last week but the pieces were much smaller.

It is nice to feel that we are making a bit of a difference. A small one, but a difference.

What did you get up to this weekend? Did you spend any time at the beach?

Take care.

More Solar Cooking (and a giveaway)

With the mid-to-high 30 degree cloudless days we are having here on the west coast at the moment, there are so many opportunities to get the sun oven out.

Dried fruit is a bit of a favourite as it can be snacked on at any time in the drying process.

I came across a great step-by-step tutorial for making a pizza box solar cooker. Super simple and just in time to fill in the last week of the Australian summer holidays. Make sure to let me know if you have a go.

If you live around Perth you might even be interested in a workshop being run at the Lockridge Community Garden. I am on their mailing list and received this earlier in the week.

Sunday 3rd Feb

Solar Oven Cooking

Come & see how to cook in & build a solar oven. Free energy to cook your food at home or when camping is very handy so you won't want to miss this one. Taste tests included!

- 10:30am - 12 noon

- Cost $5 p/p

- cnr Arbon way & Diana Crescent, Lockridge

- Fresh homemade pizzas from the Pizza Oven & sausage sizzle on the day

On another note, this blog has just turned two and this happens to be the 200th post. It has been such a great way to connect with people as well as being a way to diarise what we are doing to try to live a little greener.

So time for the giveaway.

I am giving away a copy of Homemade Pantry by Alana from Eating From the Ground Up. You may remember I made the mustard from here. Delicious!

Just leave a comment in this post and I will randomly select a winner on Friday 1 Feb at 9am Perth time. I will send this anywhere in the world.

Take care and thanks for reading.

Getting Ready for Christmas - Tealight Holders

I am joining in with Fiona again but am running a little late.

A couple of months ago an email landed in my inbox asking for people who would be interested in running an activity for an Earthcarers Christmas workshop. The idea being to demonstrate how inexpensive gifts could be made fairly easily. I remembered a Mothers' Day activity I ran last year and thought this would make a great Christmas gift. (Just to let you know that I found this over at Noodlehead - make sure to check out all of the fabulous tutorials)

The first part of the task was to get hold of timber. Buying new timber was never an option so I needed to start thinking about how I would get hold of the materials. I tried a couple of salvage yards but they only really seemed to have jarrah, which is a really hard wood, too hard for this activity. I was sent from one possibility to another and ended up at a sawmill. They let me drive up to a pile of offcuts at the back of their yard and fill the boot.

I chose the pieces that I thought would be the easiest to use and headed over to see Dad. He is one of those mechanically minded people who can build amazing things. He has the right tool for just about any job, as well as the skills to go with it. Every time I use his tools, it reminds me that I want to read What's Mine is Yours.

He cut the pieces to square the corners and then taught me to sand and router the blocks. It was such a lovely way to spent time together in him man cave.

So last Saturday I loaded his ute and headed to the Karrinyup Community Centre. 

It was a slow start to the morning so I decided to use the time to mark where the holes needed to be drilled. This preparation made the 'making' time of the activity a little shorter and more people managed to make a tealight holder.

Dad suggested we put a piece of tape on the 38mm spade-bit drill to the depth of the candle. This way we knew when to stop drilling and the candle would sit at the right height.

All that was really needed then was to sand the holes and either stain or oil the timber.

This piece was oiled. I am not sure what the timber was but with the oiling it looked absolutely beautiful.

 This is one that I had prepared earlier to show what they look like lit. I had stained this one with a jarrah stain.

It was such a great day and thankfully the rain didn't get in our way too much.

Have your Christmas preparations started yet?

Take care

Conscious Living

I spent a lovely few hours on Saturday at the Earthcarers stall at the Conscious Living Expo. It was lovely to once again be able to talk to people who are interested in living sustainably.

There was an example of worm farming using polystyrene boxes,

how to make polystyrene wicking boxes,

as well as general composting, waste reduction and doggy poo composting.

There is so much interest out there and many people generally want some information and encouragement to get started in taking that first step.

One small step at a time.

Take care

Another Day at the Royal Show

I was back at the Perth Royal Show for another day at the Earthcarers stall and what a great day!

The weather was much milder and it was so lovely to spend time talking to interested and interesting people about reducing waste. As I said before, it seems that so many people are wanting to live more sustainably, but have a barrier of not knowing where to start.

So here is a look around the Earthcarers stall.

 One of the Earthcarer mascots, made completely of reused materials.

 Another mascot in the backgraound. The face is made of an ironing board so the legs of the board can be moved to open and close the mouth.

The wicking bed in the middle has been made of materials found in bulk rubbish, as were the esky gardens in the front.

 Here are a couple of the worm farm options: the front one is a DIY polystyrene option and the other being a commercial farm.

(Doesn't every wheelbarrow need a knitted cover?!)

A game for kiddoes to categorise waste.

E-waste display.

The fridge wormfarm. This really got a lot of people interested.

(A great step-by-step here, just scroll down the page a little.)

The solar oven. This was one of my highlights. We tried cooking a cake and were off to a great start but then the clouds closed in and the rain started to fall. Oh, well.

At the end of my shift I went for quick look around some of the other exhibitions. I had been to the dogs and poultry displays on Monday but knew what else I wanted to see.

The baking and preserves!

Chutneys! 

Scones! 

Fruit cake!

And the cake decorating.

What an amazing cake. It is an hanging, tiered wedding cake.

Feeling peckish, and a little uninspired by most of the fast food options, I stumbled across a gozleme stall on its own, away from the other food outlets. I was filled with excitement knowing that I could have a freshly made, vegetarian snack full of real ingredients. And what else do you do when eating a piping hot gozleme? Watch sheep dogs, of course.

It was a great afternoon and I didn't even have to set foot in sideshow alley to have a fabulous time.

Take care

At the Royal Show

Being the first week of the October school holidays, the Perth Royal Show is up and running. It is that time of year when any Perth child can tell you the price and contents of every show bag and which rides in sideshow alley are scary but not too scary.

(I think I am showing my age when the two exciting purchases for the day were a jar of chutney and two CWA tea towels.)

I spent a lovely three hours yesterday as an Earthcarer volunteer in the Landcare area (map E7) talking to so many interesting people about trying to reduce the amount of waste our households produce.

Amy from WMRC Earthcarers setting up the display.

(I have borrowed this photo from their Facebook page)

The stall includes worm farms, wicking beds, using materials found in bulk rubbish, a small pallet garden and games for the kiddoes.

I spent most of the time yesterday talking about wormfarming and compost. Most people were interested but didn't quite know where to start, which is such a huge barrier. It can be daunting to change a habit of a lifetime. With a little reassurance and some information, I hope they left with a little more interest.

I am back there again tomorrow so I will remember to take some photos to give you more of a look around.

Take care

Homestyle

You know things are going along nicely when you start the day with homelaid scrambled eggs with homemade English Muffins.

I thought I would share an inspirational Ted Talk with you today from Pam Warhurst on how we can eat our landscapes.

You may even want to read a little more about Incredible Edible or watch another lovely video.

Take care 

Plastic-Free Preparations

As a way of getting ready for Plastic Free July, I have been looking closely at the plastic we use around here. We are all pretty conscious of plastic but there are still the bits that manage to make their way into the house.

One of my greener aims this year was to make all of the bread that we eat. Generally there are rolls in the freezer ready to be defrosted, filled and packed for lunches. I find rolls to be a better way to go for us as this way I don't need to worry about trying to cut even slices and there is a lot less no waste of leftover bits of a loaf.

Some days I need to rely on the local bakery for rolls and bread, and here is the dilemma. I had been trying to go for the compostable option of a paper bag but still wasn't happy with the production aspect of the single use bag. I know these can be reused, and generally are, but they still have a limited life span. With a perfectly good sewing machine sitting on the bench and fabric scraps in a box I thought I would have a go at a reusable fabric bread bag.

As is my usual way of doing things, I made a start by drawing a rough sketch using some size estimations, cutting the fabric, sewing some seams and then looking for a tutorial.

I was pretty much on the right track which was a relief. I decided to make a drawstring version (which had nothing to do with the fact that the bag would have been too short for the tie in the tutorial)

I used it for the first time this morning as I generally find that wet, cold weather and a sick child aren't really the best conditions for baking bread.

Edit
Linn reminded me how fabulous tea towels can be to store bread so I thought some of you might be interest in these gorgeous little tutorials.
I Eat Food Bread Bag Tutorial
Double Layer Storage Bread Bag from Mousy Brown's House
Midwestern Girl Drawstring Bread Bag Tutorial
Our Wee Farm

Plastic Free July Update
If you have signed up for the challenge, you should have received a Survival Guide email today. In case you haven't signed up, you may be interested in some of links that were included.

• Olive on Blonde has included 5 steps to be plastic free.
• Earthcarers have included some recipes for being plastic free.
• If you live in Perth, you might want to head to the Jude Blereau cooking demonstration on 30 June. Make sure to RSVP if you are planning to atttend.

Take care

Weekend Chickening

I love a long weekend.

I have been meaning to get to the Lockridge Community Garden for many months now, but as it is about 20 kilometres away, I never seem to be organised enough to get there. After reading about a workshop they had planned, this was the motivation needed to go and have a look.

Welcome signs written in a variety of languages are attached to one of the raised beds.

These gorgeous little eggplant made me envious (and hungry).

The workshop we attended was on keeping backyard chickens, and took place out in the wonderful grounds in a limestone amphitheatre. For an hour and a half we listened to the great advice of the speaker and useful tips of other chicken owners who attended. (It sounds like Neem Oil is something we should have on hand).

After some extensive reading of two great books, The Chook Book and The Joy of Keeping Chickens, I now feel that by going along and hearing someone talk about these topics that we are on the right track regarding animal husbandry.

One of the highlights for me was seeing the treatment of scaly leg mite. Seeing this first hand certainly made me feel more confident if I ever need to try this on our girls.

Our girls seem very relaxed and happy wandering around the yard and finding somewhere for a dust bath. After this photo I quickly decided to harvest the crop of three chillies remembering Gavin's experience with chickens and chillies.

Take care

Less is More Festival

If you live in Perth and are looking for something to do this Saturday, head to The Grove in Mosman Park for the Less is More Festival. 

Illustration by Sarah Long

from the Less is More website

This event is a celebration of anti-consumerism, designed to inspire you to get more out of life without spending.

It looks to be a wonderful day.

When: February 18, 2012

Time: 10am-4pm

Where: The Grove Community Centre, 1 Leake St, cnr Leake and Stirling Hwy, Peppermint Grove, WA

Cost: Free!

Ages: All ages

What: Skills workshops, Eco Faeries, participatory art, potluck snack table, you name it!

I'll hopefully see some of you there.

Take care

A Sense of Community for 2012

This month marks a year since I started blogging.

It has been such a wonderful experience learning and sharing with so many wonderful people. For a long time I had been a bit of a lurker, watching from the sidelines, but thought it was time that I should get involved. What a great decision it has been. It has been so much fun to share things that have worked for me in my attempt to live a little greener, but the advise and inspiration from others encourages me to try new things. There is an amazing group of like-minded people out there wanting to connect with others; wanting to be part of community. It is such a thrill to be part of it.

With 2012 now here, and our Berlin journey very quickly coming to an end, I have been thinking about the year ahead. Returning to one of the most isolated capital cities in the world really makes me think about how important community is to me. The need to support and be supported by local groups is something I will certainly be making more of an effort to do this this year.

Just before the end of a year, I usually have a look to see what the upcoming International Year will be. This one got me quite excited at the possibilities. The International Year of the Co-operatives seems like it could be a great way to bring the idea of supporting the local community to the attention of many people. I suppose one of my concerns is that people who are already trying to follow this ideal will be the ones to find out about it, but the information will not reach the unintentional supporters of multi-national corporations.

There is some great information about what is happening in Australia and internationally, as well as inspiring stories from communities all over the world.

I think it is all about planting a little seed to get people thinking.

Take care