Tuesday, March 8, 2011

What my dreams are made of...

With Earth Hour around the corner (26th March) people have been sharing their "beyond the hour" pledges of what they will do to make an even bigger impact on our environment. I found these incredibly inspiring...

"I have gone a year commuting by bike and bus. Am converting my lawn to a veg garden this Spring. Less water and fertilizer, more food. All lights are CFL. But most of all, THIS IS FUN!"

"I will commit to planting three trees each day through the Nature Conservancy's Plant a Billion Trees Program @ http://www.plantabillion.org"

"I am on the plastic diet and have given up non recyclable plastic. I am running a series of waste and recycling workshops but what am I doing? I decided to look at my own bin and come up with some strategies to limit waste going to landfill. I started a blog and asked kids to help with advise. I am now aiming for Zero Waste. Check out www.millenniumkids.com.au"

"I drive a BMW 3 series and this year I have decided to take my actions of protecting our planet and protecting our environment one step further by selling my pride and joy. I am serious about my carbon footprint. This is a very big step for me, but one that has to be done."

"I will use reusable bag instead plastic bag, bring my own tumbler & lunchbox, use public transportation"

What a bunch of superheros!

What will you do? Make your own pledge at www.earthhour.org.

What have I done?
  • Started a compost and worm farm
  • Reduced by half my non-recyclable waste
  • Begun to use glass rather than plastic
  • Committed to eating organic
  • Weaned myself from nearly all beauty products that harm the environment... just a few last habits to kick :)
  • Use an environmentally friendly lamp at night rather than normal lighting
  • Boycotted my air-conditioning
  • Pledged to not buy any new clothes for a year (replacement of items I need is ok!)
  • Planted out my veggie patch and planted a heap of herbs and fruit trees, vines and shrubs
  • Reduced to almost zero our packaged food consumption - this has made a huge impact on our budget, belly and the environment!
And for the future. What my dreams are made of...


Fully self sustainable home off the grid, environmentally friendly vehicle (one horse power!) and larger quantity of home grown food!

Dream big, live big, one wave does not shape the beach but a thousand will...

Love J x

11 comments:

  1. What about householding cleaning products??

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  2. Hi,

    Thank you for your question. Yes I am and have been replacing all of my cleaning products and even cleaning cloths with environmentally friendly products.

    I also use fresh herbs and flowers, candles and open windows to scent my home rather than air fresheners...

    I have far to go, but the past few years, since I fell pregnant, have been the years that I have most thought about my impact upon this planet.

    Its an evolution that will be perfected for the rest of my life.

    Love J x

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  3. J, How did you reduced to almost zero our packaged food consumption - this has made a huge impact on our budget, belly and the environment!

    Tips please A x

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  4. Hi A,

    Great question...

    I had never thought of where the reductions had come from so this will be a fantastic exercise. I think our major packaged food was snacks and also convenience food such as sauces and pastes.

    Here is our typical diet:-
    Breakfast - Oats with water, blueberries, goji berries, apple, sultanas - the only packaging here is the container the blueberries come in. Everything else comes in brown paper bags, even the oats.

    Morning and Afternoon Tea - Smoothie, Fruit and trail mix. I purchase the items for the smoothie in bulk so I only have packaging for those ingredients every 6-12 months. Milk is the base when I can’t get drinking coconuts but the cartons I get are recyclable. Trail mix is made from goodies from behind the counter at Organic Feast and they all come in brown paper bags. Fruit = package free!

    Lunch - Homemade veggie burgers and salad = no packaging

    Dinner - Curry using homemade paste, if we have rice it comes in a package which lasts about a month, but we don’t always have rice and with the spices, I purchase spices in plastic bags and transfer them into glass jars but we would only replace spices every few months if that. Some herbs we grow ourselves as well as the chillies.

    At Organic Feast you can take your own container for some ingredients, such as honey which is a big one for our household.

    Also I avoid the plastic bags in the fruit and veg section of the supermarket, unless for green beans etc, this helps reduce waste.

    In comparison to our 'pre-study diet' items that I used to purchase that came in packages were:- Cereals, tea and coffee, lollies and chocolate, margarine (now use avocado), muesli bars, portioned nuts and dried fruits, yoghurts, cheese slices, packaged ham and other meat, tinned tuna, pasta sauces, other sauces; tomato, bbq, mayonnaise, salad dressing, curry paste, pesto, packaged garlic, ginger and other herbs (only use fresh now), cakes and slices (occasionally), juice, fruit bread, muffins, crumpets and that’s all I can think of at the moment.

    Hmmm it's interesting isn’t it!? I don't consider that I have ever eaten an unhealthy diet but the above has an awful lot of packaged food in it and there are so many comparable options that don't require packaging.

    Hope this helps you.

    Love J x

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  5. ps. I am also just starting to make our own sauces, sweet chilli, pesto (inspired by Shell and Ben) and tomato, I have previously made jams and will get into that again once I feel the need to some jam... at the moment as little sugar as possible is the key, I have very little self control so its best to just avoid and my smoothies are really good at satisfying the cravings... with only 1/2 tbl spoon of honey per 1 litre thats saying something!!!

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  6. you ROCK girl! x

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  7. Oh J what do you put into your smoothies? If it satifies sweet cravings them I am in!

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  8. Hi,

    Thank you for your question, our smoothies change but at the moment this is the recipe...

    600ml rice milk
    2 bananas
    1 tbsp. extra virgin coconut oil
    2 tbsp. raw cacao nibs
    2 tbsp. raw cacao powder
    2 heaped tbsp. reishi mushroom powder
    1 tsp. spirulina
    1 tbsp. maca
    Handful of raw almonds
    1/2 tbsp. honey

    Sometimes we mix up the ingredients with - gojis, blueberries, strawberries, cashews you can pretty much put anything in!

    Both myself and my husband have felt profound effects from the smoothie as part of our diet/lifestyle change.

    For him it has reversed the 3pm tired slump, given him more concentration and endurance for the day and made him feel generally well and happy.

    For me it has contributed greatly to my ability to be active with our baby all day and then study all night and do this every day on around 6-8 hours sleep (I used to need at least 10!). I also am finding my sugar cravings are reduced and I have far better memory than I have ever had.

    Of course our results are a combination of all the other foods that we eat, but on the rare day that we don't have a smoothie we really notice the difference!

    Hope this helps.

    Love J x

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  9. Plesae write more, you used to write so often and i miss it...

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  10. Hello Anonymous Friend!

    Thank you for your kind words. Unfortunately the balance of motherhood, wife-dom, study, etc etc has taken up a lot more of my time these days and I have less time for this amazing creative outlet.

    However this is important and I will endeavour to write more often.

    Love J x

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  11. wow - all sounds so great and (most of) that smoothie sounds awesome :)
    what brand of rise milk do you prefer?
    where can i get some coconut oil and where is this Organic Feast you speak of???

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