Zero Waste took a mammoth hit during C**id and Our Planet suffered for it. The sheer amount of single-use masks and disposable plastic gloves that were used… *Ugh* I shudder… And that’s just the tip of the Disposable Planet Ice Berg!

We made life-changing decisions during this last season.. We sold up our suburban life and made the move to the countryside, literally.

We exchanged a 600sqm block for 40 acres. Swapped Modern convenience for a 70-year-old farmhouse that needs renovating and Tank Water.

And we COULD NOT BE HAPPIER

Life is different here in the country. Nothing moves fast. Life is at a pace that people living in the city could only dream of. We still run our business from home.

(The one modern convenience we still have is the internet , Praise God!)

We have dairy cows, chickens, a goose (long story) haha

We have embedded ourselves in the local church and community. The local op shops now know my children & me quite well, as moving always brings cleaning out and needing to replace items.

Miss 14 (how did that happen?!) sews crochets and has a passion for dance…

Master 12 loves anything that involves basketball weapons (hunting, wood chopping etc) and of course gaming haha

We have had my parents living with us for the last 16 months as they were building their own residence on our farm. Praise God that’s now complete and they’ve relocated to their new place and we are re-adjusting to having our home to ourselves

Homeschooling is still our thing, hello two highschoolers for 2024

We practice what we preach as best we can. We have multiple compost heaps, veggies and seedlings constantly on the go.

Our chickens supply our family and a couple of other families with eggs

We collect any bottles, cans etc that enter our home and use the “Containers for Change” program that’s available out here.

We cook from fresh ingredients and try to create homemade versions of everything we need/want.

Christmas just past was homemade/homegrown/locally sourced gifts once more.

Our family and friends are starting to finally get used to our way of gifting.

They now expect bread, relishes, eggs, something sewn with love or thrifted with care.

Hoping to do more posts as time goes on, however, life is always moving and sitting still to write is a luxury that rarely happens…

Feel free to email me with any questions/queries – zerowasteliving.com.au@gmail.com

Running a zero-waste household can be challenging, after all, modern living seems to be at odds with a zero-waste lifestyle. But it can be done. By making simple changes in the way you buy, use, and dispose of items, you can drastically reduce the amount of waste your produce.

To get you started, here are six keys to a zero-waste household.

1. Start in the kitchen

The kitchen is the most wasteful room in any household. Getting a handle on your kitchen waste is key to drastically reducing your waste.

Buying food – food is one of the main culprits of over packaging. When buying food, choose produce that is loose and free from plastics. There are many places that you can take your own containers to fill up. Buying local seasonal produce also cuts down on the environmental impact of food transport.

Brown bag it – instead of going to work and buying a prepackaged lunch on your break, make your own food at home and bring it with you.

Store food without the waste – cling film, tin foil, and plastic food bags may seem like a good way to preserve and store food, but they are incredibly wasteful as they can only be used once. Instead of using these, invest in some reusable silicone sheets for baking and reusable bags for storing food in.

Food waste – the scale of food waste in developed countries is shocking when you consider that areas of the world are starving. By switching your buying habits to unpackaged, fresh produce, you should start to reduce the amount of food you waste. There will inevitable by some waste in the form of uneaten cooked food and fruit and vegetable peelings. Instead of putting these in the trash, start collecting them in a compost bin. You’ll be able to reuse it in your garden and plants.

2. Clean up in the bathroom

After the kitchen, the bathroom is high on the list of rooms that produce waste. Almost everything you buy seems to come in a plastic bottle. While you might think that you’re doing your part by purchasing recycled plastic bottles, the truth is that most plastic is only recycled once or twice before it ends up in landfill. Additionally, the energy it takes to recycle plastic is not insignificant. To reduce the amount of plastic waste you use in your bathroom, look at the following:

Change to bars – lots of toiletries can now be bought in a bar form, like soap. From shampoo and conditioner to deodorant. They are often made from organic, natural ingredients and come with minimal or no packaging.

Bamboo toothbrushes – dentists recommend that we change our toothbrush every three months. That’s a lot of toothbrushes over a lifetime. Switch to bamboo toothbrushes which are biodegradable.

Facecloths – how often do you take your makeup off with a disposable face wipe? Swap your pack of wipes for a reusable makeup cloth and a packaging-free cleansing bar

3. Buy and donate pre-loved items

We’re too quick to throw away household items when they have slight damage, or even if we’re just redecorating. Always look to sell, give, or donate clothes, furniture, electronics.

Similarly, if you’re looking for something new. Have a look at the usual online market places and see if you can pick it up for a bargain.

4. Bringing up baby…waste-free

A new baby will generate so much waste, you won’t believe it. There are some ways to massively reduce this. Reusable nappies will not only save you putting hundreds of dirty bags of nappies into landfills, but they’ll also save you hundreds of dollars. The same goes for baby wipes. They are packaged in plastic and aren’t biodegradable or flushable. Buy reusable ones and save yourself a lot of money.

5. Clean up

Everyone likes to have a clean home. But at what cost? Not only are you using harsh chemicals, but all of the products also come in plastic bottles. There are many homemade cleaning products that can do the job with just a few household items like white vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice.

6. Always be prepared

Making changes within your home is one important step, but you can often find yourself caught out when you’re out and about. Try and be prepared by always carrying reusable shopping bags, a water bottle, a travel cup, and a straw. That way, you can still enjoy eating and drinking out, without having to miss out. Many coffee shops also offer discounts to those customers who bring in their own cups. So you’ll save money too!

Conclusion

Creating a zero-waste household isn’t easy, but it is very rewarding when you realise just what you can achieve with mindfulness and planning. If you have young children, you’ll also be teaching them the importance of reducing their impact on the world, making them far more likely to carry this on in the future.

I hope you’re all well and safe. We are thank God.

I’m sorry I haven’t been writing here, I’ve been doing life and all it’s constant changes.

So, an update…

At the end of 2019 we made the decision to bring our 2 children home to be educated full time. This decision had been a long time coming – between our son being bullied ruthlessly every single day and our high-achieving daughter developing a stress disorder thanks to the ever-mounting pressure from the school, wanting to use her to bump their grades average up, it was just a matter of making the changes in our work situations so that our dream of homeschooling could be achieved. After many discussions with the children and as a couple, I chose to make a major work life change and dive into being their “teacher.”

Before anyone has a go at me – I was homeschooled my whole upbringing. My mum did an amazing job of juggling the office side of my dad’s business and schooling 3 kids! Super woman! So I have had much experience with it all. I knew exactly which curriculum I wanted them to do (the same as myself) and I applied to the home-educators course so that I was qualified to do so.

Fast forward to March 2020 and the whole world is basically homeschooling and the people who said I was doing the “wrong thing” by my kids had to eat their words

Our Children are thriving. They have their confidence back, our son is smiling and laughing and active.

Our daughter no longer has issues with anxiety or stress, is also smiling and laughing and no longer worrying.

They’re both ahead of “schedule.”

Our Zero Waste journey continues, despite the huge pay-cut with my only doing small hours of work now. Our budget is tighter than ever and yet we’re the happiest we’ve been so far. We are using our tight budget as a challenge to learn to make so much more from scratch.

We use it as part of our school day, remember home economics class at school?

The kids have learnt how to feed themselves when they move out of home one day. They can now make for themselves healthy, nutritious, simple meals that will serve them well for the future.

We have established a family “games night” each week. This guarantees we spend relaxed time together and have fun while doing it. We collect all kinds of whacky board games and card games from op shops and market stalls.

We have established an even bigger garden this year and finally added chickens to our yard. We have been planning this for a while, and with us now being at home to school, the chickens have added so much education to the children’s day. They’re learning all about life cycles and animal care.

We are not only feeding ourselves the majority of our green vegetable needs, but also our elderly neighbours. This teaches the children about community and caring for others. Eggs are also shared with others, thanks to our happy chickens .

The 2 meat eaters in the house have made a conscious decision to reduce their meat consumption. We were already buying meat the Zero Waste way, taking our Pyrex containers to the local butcher. This just reduces our reliance on others a little bit more.

We have found a great place that supply’s us with bulk flours/sugar for a good price. We share the 12kg bags of flour amongst our family and this helps everyone have it available.

We have found a local-ish made toilet paper that’s 100% recycled. It is manufactured only an hour from where we live. It’s name is EARTH CHOICE.

Many “environmental “ toilet papers are manufactured in China. Do yourself a favour and check where yours is actually made. While these companies claim to be environmental, shipping their products half way across the world isn’t in my books. Just because their Australian owned and their office is here, doesn’t mean they’re doing all the right things.

We have made the conscious decision not to eat out this year either – unless it’s a special occasion and we can take our own containers to place the food in if we want takeaway or we can sit and use real crockery etc. This decision was made before COVID-19 haha, what a coincidence. Needless to say, this has been an easy decision to follow since nothing has really been open.

We have been pooling our chore outings so that they’re all done at one time. We plan our route so that is the most efficient and we don’t have to double back.

We have established a good relationship with our local Coles green grocer manager, who puts aside boxes of green scraps for our chickens this saves it from landfill and our ladies are well fed.

With it being PLASTIC FREE JULY (already) we established 5 more things we would like to change over to be plastic free.

• Deodorant – finally converted everyone.
• Tortilla Wraps – once again, finally convinced the sensory eater to give them another go home made
• Homemade Mascara for myself and my daughter. It’s working out great so far
• Crackers – thanks to a friend who has mastered a great recipe, we haven’t purchased packaged crackers in a couple of weeks! This is a big deal. While the packages are recyclable, we wanted to go fully zero waste with these.
• Pasta – this made sound odd, because it’s readily available package free – however, our sensory eater is specific about the types, and we finally found a local bulk store that sells “approved” types. (Yay!)

So far the only things purchased “new” this year in my wardrobe are:

1. Organic Cotton Leggings because my other pair had lasted 4 seasons and had no elasticity left.
2. Work shoes – TOMS brand – not ideal, however better than so many. My last pair lasted 18 months being worn nearly every single day, so they’re good quality. Next time I need work shoes, which shouldn’t be for at least another year, I will have saved to buy a pair of Etiko’s or such. This will be an even more ethical, environmental choice..

Other than that, we have been just doing every day, one day at a time. Taking each change as it comes. No worrying or stressing, it does no good to. We have faith. We have hope. It gets you so much further than the previously mentioned.

Hope you’ve enjoyed our little update. Hoping to get back into writing a little more regularly in the near future.

Stay safe. Stay well. Look after each other. Peace

This year we are focusing on Zero or Low Waste, mostly homemade gifts. I have a list of family/friends/work colleagues that I would like to give something to and now I’m working out my plan of attack so to speak.

For those who I do not have a suitable homemade idea for, I will be Op Shopping or scouring the local Saturday markets for what I seek.

Below are the simple homemade ideas that will be on high rotation in my gift giving…

1/ Home baked Bread I have a heap of rosemary, basil and oregano growing in my garden currently, so I’ll be adding these yummy herbs into the bread dough to give it that special something.

2/ Pickled Beetroot perfect accompaniment for summer salads during the Christmas season. Here is the to the free recipe I’ll be using. https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/pickled-beetroot/7cd01ff9-0fdb-4f96-a6a8-bd387947150f

3/ Rosemary & Peppermint Sugar Scrub. This smells divine and is great for people who work on their feet all day. Rubbing this into their feet and then letting their feet soak in some warm water will have them relaxed in no time here’s the recipe link. https://www.iheartnaptime.net/rosemary-peppermint-sugar-scrub/

4/ Spicy mixed Nuts we are a family of “snackers.” We graze throughout the day, so mixed nuts are the perfect gift.

https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/spicy-mixed-nuts/2327d843-2be1-47cb-a346-e346ab4f139f

5/ Shea Butter Body Cream. These days Men and Women alike enjoy something nourishing for their skin. This body cream ticks all the boxes https://www.fairylandcottage.com/single-post/2019/11/17/Shea-Butter-Body-Cream

6/ For Vegan friends I’m making cookies ! Finding cookies that taste great and that are free from all animal products still isn’t that easy depending on where you live. And if you do find decent ones, they’re normally expensive $$. Making these will have your mates hugging you through to New Year and beyond. https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2018/05/21/vegan-chocolate-chip-cookies-recipe/

7/ Washing Liquid. I have been making and using this amazing washing liquid of Rhonda Hetzel’s for over 3 years now and it’s never failed me. It makes 10 litres at a time, making it the perfect gift to bottle up in reused Jars with some twine and hand out at the Family gathering of relatives that you have no idea what to buy them haha. https://down—to—earth.blogspot.com/2010/08/homemade-laundry-liquid-revisited.html?m=1

8/ Framed Name Meanings.

Do you know the meaning of your Name? Have you ever googled it’s heritage? It’s an incredibly interesting activity and you’d be surprised how many people love it when you’ve gone to the effort of searching out the details and making gift out of their name. I op shop the photo to suite the size of the piece of card or paper that I’ve created the gift on and Ta Da. I truly unique gift.

9/ Basil Pesto Tis the Season for Basil in abundance in my garden. This means pesto for gifting I personally make Vegan Basil Pesto so that it can be fed to most people. Here is the recipe I use.

1/2 Cup Salted Roasted Cashew Nuts

1 Bunch of Basil

1 Garlic Clove

Pinch of Pink Himalayan Rock Salt

1 Lemon, Juiced

125ml Olive Oil

*Optional Extra if you’re used to the taste of Parmesan cheese in your pesto is 1 Tablespoon of Nutritional Yeast*

Put all ingredients into your Nutri Bullet/Food Processor and blitz. Add a little water if you need to make it a bit more liquid consistency. Depending on your personal preferences, you can add a little more garlic, salt or lemon juice. It’s all a matter of balance.

Simple and YUMMY

10/ Personalised Edible Treats. Find out what your loved ones really enjoy as a treat to eat and set out to make it for them. My dad loves Melting Moment Biscuits So my sister and I always make him a batch. My husband would walk a thousand miles for Choc Chunk Cookies so that’s what I’ll be making him… You get the idea

I hope this little look into my Homemade Christmas has helped you with yours

Make sure you watch out for my next blog post – 2020, big things are happening

Merry Christmas Stay Safe and enjoy this season.

Valentines Day – Like it, Hate it, or indifferent towards it, it comes every year. My love & I like to celebrate it as another excuse to be mushy with each other,(insert vomit noises from our kids here haha.)

Thought I’d share a few Zero Waste Date Ideas & a few Zero Waste Gift Ideas for you all, in case you want to be mushy like us

Zero Waste Date Ideas:

1. Star Gazing… I have an app on my phone that has all the information you could possibly need on the sky above us, simply activate the app, point it to the sky & it will tell you all you need to know…
2. Picnic in your Valentines favourite location – Beach, Bush, Lake, Museum… You name it Make your own food, refill a Wine bottle or returnable Kombucha bottle and let love have its way
3. Mountain Climb/Bush Walk/Hike to a Waterfall… It’s about spending TIME together! Take the time to do something Technology Free & enjoy each other

Zero Waste Gift Ideas:

1. Make their Favourite Snack food from Scratch The Internet is filled with every possible recipe there is, put aside a couple of hours & make your Valentine some super yummy treats.
2. Write them a Poem, a Song, a Story of how you met & fell in love
3. Make them a Handmade Voucher for A Massage ‍ ‍ Or their favourite Dinner made when the ask etc etc
4. Go pick them Flowers from a field or the forest it will mean so much more that you’ve collected them yourself
5. Plant a Seedling & dedicate it to your Valentine, give them a note explaining that you want to watch the plant grow, just like your love together

Enjoy your Valentines Day & remember, the most important thing your Valentine wants, IS YOU

(gah, mushy stuff haha )

Today I read a horrifying statistic: In Australia we spend approx $11 Billion a year on Christmas with $4 Billion worth of the stuff being returned in the week following and another $4 Billion worth being thrown into Landfill.  The average return is worth at least $68 

Now, I don’t know about you however I cannot fathom spending that much money  on stuff, let alone the fact that half of them are either returned or thrown out 

Here are my Top 8 Zero Waste Christmas Tips :

1/ EXPERIENCE OVER STUFF… A National poll found that the average Household here in Australia has collectively over $60Billion worth of stuff in them!!!  I mean really?! How about instead of adding to all that WASTE we give experience over stuff…

*For Children I suggest 

lessons for their favourite sport,

tickets to the movies,

concert tickets,

Be a Zoo keeper for a day – the list is almost endless and will suite most budgets

*For Adults

Pretty much the same experiences, just adult versions, it’s not hard 

2/ Handmade/Homemade Gifts 

My dad has these “favourite biscuits “ that my mum used to make him when I was young – now either my sister or I make them for him every year, along with chutney & rocky road = every happy Dad! Find out what your family / friends enjoy as a treat & set out to make some especially for them, it will mean so much more than a mass produced plastic wrapped item from a big chain store…

3/ Homemade Voucher for Favours/ Services –

Are you naturally talented at massage?

Do you have a passion to bake or cook?

Do you love animals so much that you don’t care who owns them you just wanna pet them & hug them?

These are all things you could put on a voucher for a someone eg: “This voucher entitles you to a 1hr massage at a time that suites you” or “This voucher entitles you to 6 cakes baked throughout 2019 of your choice”… You get the idea…

4/ Find out if they actually “need” anything – My Work Shoes are literally falling apart from use. I wear Toms as they’re supportive, comfortable & easy to slip on & off (no I’m not sponsored, they’re actually that good lol) so I’ve asked my love to purchase a new pair for me for Christmas  Bonus is the giving that Toms gives from every pair purchased. Here is the link to their website if you’re interested – www.toms.com

5/ Op Shop first! If you want to actually purchase a thing, Op Shop before you shop. Honestly you’d be amazed what you can find in an op shop, I’ve managed to find pretty much anything I’ve needed.

6/ If you can’t find what you’re after in an Op Shop, Search for a  Locally Made version of that Item in your area. This is always my next option after the above ones. I found a great Bike for my Daughter this year at our local bike shop, it cost slightly more, however supporting a local who has served in my home town for over 25 years means way more to me & to him than supporting the big chain stores. This was done after searching for the last 5 months for the bike she needs (specific for personal reasons) on second hand sites/ Op Shops etc… The decision was not made lightly.

7/ Search Online for Handmade version of what you’re after if it’s not available locally. This could be a way of making someone’s Christmas by supporting them from far away & purchasing their hard work. This comes after all the other options above. Make sure to ask the seller to use Environmentally friendly wrapping for sending the item(s)

8/ Donate money to a Charity in your love ones name ️ My grandpa does this every year for the whole family. He donates $10 per family member to Compassion Australia. And writes us all heartfelt cards with loving words. It means so much to us.

Hope this helps, all it takes is a little time & thought. Merry Christmas 

You can read the first 25 ideas here:

25 Zero Waste Living Tips for Families

Here’s the next 25 on our list –

26. Stop using cotton buds

Cotton buds are usually made with plastic, and they’re single use too. They’re not actually particularly good for your ears anyway, so giving them up is best.

27. Swap to bamboo toothbrushes

Instead of using plastic toothbrushes, consider switching to bamboo brushes. They’re much more eco-friendly, especially as you should get a new brush every few months. Recycled plastic is another alternative.

28. Buy loose fruit and veg

Instead of buying fruit and vegetables in packaging, get them loose. You can take small bags shopping with you and bag up what you need to avoid using plastic bags.

29. Use cloth napkins

Whether you’re having a dinner party or just a normal family dinner, get a set of reusable cloth napkins and placemats, instead of using disposable paper ones.

30. Keep kids clothes

Are you planning on having more children? If your family isn’t complete just yet or your kids are still growing, keep clothes that are still in good condition to be handed down.

31. Make water more exciting

Drinking tap water is OK here in most parts of Australia, and it’s way better than better than buying bottled which almost always comes in plastic! But water can sometimes be boring. Grab a filter and fill your own bottles. Or make it even more interesting by using a SodaStream or adding fruit and other infusions.

32. Keep a reusable safety razor

Use a safety razor in the bathroom, instead of plastic razors. It will last a lot longer, and you can replace or even sharpen the blades to keep them going.

33. Flush less

Avoid using too much water in the bathroom by flushing your toilet less. You can install a double flush button or reduce the amount of water used in each flush by installing a gadget in the tank – or just a plastic bottle filled with water.

34. Plan your meals

Meal planning helps you to reduce waste and shop smartly. If you know what you’re making, you know exactly what to buy. You can also avoid giving into getting a takeaway.

35. Share baths and showers

Conserving water by sharing baths and showers can be a great way for young families to reduce waste. Of course, at some point, the kids are no longer going to want to share with either you or each other! But the grey water can often be used for other things afterwards.

36. Use refillable pens

Disposable plastic pens aren’t necessary when you can get fountain pens and refillable ballpoint pens. Some use cartridges, but others can be filled straight from a bottle of ink.

37. Get rid of junk mail

Start saying no to junk mail by removing your address from mailing lists. Even just a sticker that asks for no junk mail can work – if it’s ignored, don’t hesitate to contact the people responsible.

38. Compost garden waste

After you’ve been gardening, make sure your garden waste goes on a compost pile or bin. You can then use the compost to fertilise your garden and keep the circle of life going.

39. Give up single-use straws

Straws might be convenient to have, but many people don’t really need them. Unless you have a medical use for them, plastic straws can be replaced with alternative materials or ditched altogether.

40. Swap out plastic lunch boxes

Taking a packed lunch to school or work is a good first step. Go even further by replacing plastic lunch boxes with alternatives, such as bamboo and other sustainable materials.

41. Store food properly

Storing your fresh food in the right way should help it to last longer so that you end up with less food waste. Some things should go in the fridge, while others might need to be stored somewhere cool and dark.

42. Get multi-purpose items

Having items in the house that serve more than one purpose can help you reduce how much stuff you have. A canvas shopping bag might also work for storing some produce, for example.

43. Ditch wrapping paper and birthday cards

Instead of using wrapping paper, you could reuse newspaper and packing paper. Gift bags are also a good idea because they can be reused. You might even want to consider no longer giving birthday cards or buying recycled ones.

44. Use makeup remover pads

Rather than cotton wool or makeup removing wipes, you can get reusable pads or cloths that help you remove your makeup without the waste. You just need to wash them before you reuse them.

45. Buy biodegradable poop bags

Pets are part of the family too. If you have a dog, you can buy bags for picking up their waste made from biodegradable materials.

46. Get pet food and materials in bulk

Another tip for pet owners is to buy food, litter, bedding, and other materials in bulk. Try looking for a bulk store where you can refill containers.

47. Ask for alternatives to material gifts

When gift-giving occasions roll around, consider alternatives to material gifts and ask friends and family to do the same. An experience or time with someone you love is even better. Last birthday I received 4 tonnes of dirt for my veggie garden. Gorgeous!

48. Reuse packaging

If you can’t avoid buying a product with packaging, or you get a gift or delivery with excess packaging, see if you can find a way to reuse it.

49. Upcycle broken items

If you’ve broken something and it can’t be repaired, you might not have to throw it away. You could give it new life if you’re creative enough.

50. Turn down receipts

Refuse receipts when you shop, unless you really need one for a big purchase. Some stores will now email you your receipt for large purchases, so you don’t need a paper one. Add these zero waste tips to your lifestyle, and you can start living a greener lifestyle.

A Typical Day in our Home is as follows:

5:30am wake up at the latest (4:45 on Friday/Saturday’s as I open the cafe)

Lunches / breakfasts prepared while I drink my tea

Kids dressed & ready by 7:30am leaving them time to play/create/chill

I’m out the door by 7:45am as I start at my family’s cafe at 8am, hubby does the school drop off run & heads straight to his office.

Work til 12/1 depending on the day – bike home to get dinner started, eat lunch, spend 30mins or so with hubby if he is home (he works from home but travels for meetings, speaking engagements)

2pm : head to the school as parking is atrocious, take paperwork/current book I’m reading so that the 45mins wait til school is finished is not wasted. While waiting I check emails, write blog posts, do paperwork for either the cafe or the Martial Arts branch that I run.

3pm: Home with the kids, afternoon tea, homework, spend some time with them cooking/crafting/playing.

5pm : On Training Nights I’m out the door to Teach a Martial Arts Class – on my way to my class which is 25 mins from our home I drop the kids to their Class as they train under my superior Instructor, this way there is no clashing between us as Parent/Child during class

6pm: Run Class (SUPER FUN!) this is what I classify as “me time” as I love what I teach & get so much out of it.

7:10pm : Leave Class to collect kids on my way home again. I have an amazing Assistant that packs up my hall & attends to any remaining students so that I can leave on time.

7:45: Home, quick Dinner that I prepared at lunch time for us all

8:15: Kids in bed  – dishes, clean up, prepare lunch boxes for following day, finish up any paperwork needed for following day, do any top up cooking to baking needed for the following day.

10:30-11pm : BED

Hahahaha, when you look at it, it looks like a big life, and truth be told it is, but it’s all worth while for the future ahead.

I use any spare moments among the chaos to research, read, study & learn about my passions ( anything Zero Waste focused, saving the planet focused etc) and I do my best to implement 1 new thought/idea into our world every 1-2 months so that it’s well used so to speak by the time that I share it with you guys.

We own a very cute 3bed, 1 bath post war cottage that we love – our mortgage is well under the Australian average, we are very blessed to live in what is still classified as a “country town” so land prices are not as absurd as the rest of the Sunshine Coast… Hubby & I keep our earnings separate, so we take turns paying the mortgage payment, and split life’s costs between us for the rest of it. We deliberately chose to live in a smaller town as this keeps our day to day living costs down & this way we can save towards our future

We choose to buy all fresh produce package free, 80% unpackaged staples & make as much at home as possible, this really does keep our costs down as we’re not paying for the convenience of it being made for us.

When we were buying plastic wrapped bread for example, it was costing $4 a loaf for the good quality wholemeal or seeded bread. Now that I bake it at home it costs $2.90 a loaf & the slices are huge therefore we eat 1/2 as much as we used to, making the loaf I bake last longer than the bought one did…

I use Sunday afternoons to bake/cook up a storm for the week ahead. Cookies, bread, at least 3 nights worth of dinners, any other snacks we need etc. a big salad for lunches & whatever else is needed. This takes me 2-3 hours but it’s “me time” once again as I’m happy in kitchen because I know exactly what’s in the food I’m nourishing my little family with.

Each night I make sure the kids uniforms are ready for the next day, their bags are cleaned out, their lunch boxes are empty ready for the next day. Any books/activity items etc that are needed are placed close by for the following day. I try & remember to prepare snacks for myself for work the next day so that I’m not tempted by all the yummy treats we sell at work

I have most Sundays off which means this day is used for anything & everything I enjoy – walking the beach, exploring a rain forest, chilling at home, reading etc. Down time is the only way I keep going each week – it is SO important

I also make it a priority to “date my husband “ – this is essential to our lives running smoothly as without a happy marriage, life generally goes to crap (speaking from experience) now our dates are not extravagant or expensive – most of the time it is simply cooking something I know he will enjoy & know has been made especially for him. We will put on some nice music & just sit n talk about life, laugh at the silly things we’ve done that week ( I’m always doing or saying something that turns out to be mixed up & therefore quite amusing) sometimes the night turns into deep & meaningful conversations, every now & then heated discussions and just about all the time it ends with us both feeling closer together again & ready for the next week ahead…

I make sure my reusable bags are always ready, my jars are washed as soon as they’re empty & put aside ready for my next trip to the Bulk food store & that their are reusable cups & produce bags in my handbag, the basket on my bicycle & in the car… this stops us needing to use plastic or single use items… We all take our Water Bottles EVERYWHERE and if for some reason they’re forgotten, we ask for a glass of water wherever we are rather than buy a plastic bottle or we make do til we get somewhere that we can get a glass of water…

I think that’s just about everything, if you have any questions, feel free to email me or contact me on Instagram.

Peace

How We Did It (The breakdown)

1/ I found my daughters flower girl dress at one of our local op shops for $8, it was a little big, but a friend of mine who is a seamstress took it in as a wedding gift to me, free of charge.

2/ My sons outfit was collected over a 3 month period – He was adamant that he wanted a suit jacket with tails (adorable) so I searched and searched – as I was about to give up, I found one for $1!!! Local op shop, definitely a homemade job, but he loved it – success!

3/ My shoes were from the local oppy, $4.

4/ My husband wore the one good pair of shoes he owns for business engagements – we did purchase his sports coat new – but we chose very carefully so that he can use it on a weekly basis for work – I consider a coat like that a good investment.

5/ We hired the tent/chairs for our wedding day. Turned out to be well worth it as it thunder stormed right throughout our ceremony.

6/ We had platters made by the local chef of the area who sourced everything locally, and the very little that we had left over she kept for us to eat the next day.

7/ We provided the drinks – in glass – so that it all could be recycled.

8/ We requested no gifts – some of our lovely family gave us money towards life after the wedding. We had just purchased a home (the week of the wedding it settled and we moved in, crazy right!)

All it took was a lot of thought and asking myself the ever present question “how can this be done Zero Waste Style?” And most of the time, the answer was relatively painless and affordable (haha).

I encourage you with any event to ask that very question – you’d be surprised by the answers you receive.

It saddens me that we as a society are raising kids that simply expect that this is the way that life is. Just because we no longer particularly love the item, or we’ve seen something better, prettier, more flashy, these days that means we simply shove our previous items in a cupboard or drawer, and go buy the latest thing. How very, very sad…

Anyway- I feel it’s our responsibility, both to our Planet, our Children and our Wallets, to stand up and say NO! No to always having to be seen with the latest anything and YES to a more sustainable alternative.

Now, I know things wear out, break, get lost etc. so now that my rant is over (haha) here is my practical guide to “Back to School Zero Waste Style”

1/ Assess what you already have – this should always be the first step – do the uniforms still fit? Can they be handed down to the next child if they don’t? Most schools these days have unisex Shirts/Polos for everyday wear – whenever my eldest grows out (or should I say up) of a school polo, it goes in my youngest’s wardrobe for when it’s needed. Same with Shoes etc. IF uniforms are needed, your local Op Shop is pretty much guaranteed to have your local schools uniforms racked up and waiting for you. My son’s entire uniform the first year of his schooling was op shopped for $6 in TOTAL! Shirt, shorts and Hat! I even got him a school jacket for winter for an extra $2. Shoes are the same, so many people now to the pressure of winging kids and buy new ones each year, happy news for people like us, we get a selection of barely worn items to select from. Also, the school is bound to have ways of getting you second hand items, be it through your P&C or the school notice board/Fb group. Someone always has something they’re willing to sell/give away.

*Backpacks DO NOT NEED TO BE REPLACED EVERY YEAR unless they are worn out beyond repair – my eldest has had hers since she started school, only this year has it finally gone beyond help and so for Christmas she received a new one. I searched and searched til I found one that I am sure would be practical for her growing load of work she brings home and will fit everything else needed in it. IF a new one is needed, OP SHOP BEFORE YOU SHOP! My Son’s Spider Man backpack came from an op shop for $4, he loves it, his mates think it’s cool and I didn’t have to spend $$$ unnecessarily.

*Lunch boxes are the same – again, if it’s not broken, don’t replace it! And if it needs replacing, OP SHOP for one! Both my children have op shopped lunch boxes, they cost me $1 each and are all they need. My daughter took to hers with stickers to “girlify” it. This stops the need for evil PLASTIC bags that cost us money and then get thrown away without care or thought. Water bottles are a Dime a dozen in op shops too.

2/Stationary Lists are tricky, but can be done fairly Zero Waste if you have the patience- now this isn’t for everyone, but for those of you who really are stepping up your sustainable game, Op Shops once more to the rescue. The sheer amount of stationary items that get dumped on op shops is astounding. People don’t know what to do with the extra items that get sent home at the end of the year, so they normally just donate them. Folders, pencil cases, scrap books, exercise books all of this, scissors, rulers etc… Trust me, it’s all there! Other than that, ask again at the school, many people don’t even bother collecting their children’s spare stationary at the end of each year, so this could be an option for cheap/free stationary for your child.

3/ School Lunches  

Yikes! The amount of WASTE that is generated by school lunches scares me. The lunch boxes that I op shopped for my kids have multiple compartments so that plastic zip lock bags are not needed! I bulk buy snacks like dried fruit bites, soy crisps, veggie chips etc. On Sunday nights I bake either muffins/banana bread/cookies of some sort – package free of course – they get fruit, a sandwich, some snacks and a baked item each day – plenty of nutritious, Zero Waste food to fuel them for learning/playing. Now, I totally get that not all of you out there bake or cook etc. – there are SO MANY ZERO WASTE OPTIONS for lunches out there. You can buy baked goods from bakeries, 99% of them are happy to put the items in your own container/bag. Bulk Stores like I mentioned have many snack options, package free. Farmers markets these days include many people who bake and make delicious, package free goodies that you can purchase, take home and portion out into containers for the week ahead.

All it takes is a little planning, thinking ahead and Ta Da!

I hope this has been informative and helpful, please, let me know if you have questions. Drop me an email, hit me up on my Instagram page etc.

This is a journey, it takes a village and that’s what this Zero Waste community is all about.

Best of luck in the 2018 school year for you and your munchkins now, someone pass the wine!