Spring cleaning & where to offload/upcycle unusual items so they can be used again (if you dont want to recycle or dump at an op shop)

There is no time like the present to do some decluttering. I always recommend finding someone you personally know who could use what you can't. That way you know it won't sit in an op shop collecting dust. Why not organize a swap picnic where everyone brings their unwanted random items. However not everyone will want your cast offs so here are my recommendations if you don't know anyone who could personally use it nor want to rely on recycling.

(I have made easter chicken wings out of scrap fabric, a produce bag & handkerchiefs out of baby muslim wraps).

 

(I have even cut up old clothes to make pajama pants for Kobe & even a cooking apron, small fabric scraps can go in the compost).

• Flannel pajamas- cotton rounds (for cleansing) or covers to wrap sores then paper tape.
• Old clothes- tshirt bags or if still in good condition dress up box or dish cloths.
• Sheets to cleaning rags.
• Baby blankets- sew into produce bags.
• Old costumes/dress up clothes to school kindy or pre-primary.
• Muslin wraps- fairy wings, capes (thanks Sam for the idea:)), produce bags, handkerchiefs.
• Old towels- again to animal shelters. There was an outbreak of parvovirus a few years back at an animal shelter so they had to burn all the bedding. They were so grateful to receive.
• Buttons/ wool- school or local craft groups (some are advertised in the local paper you just need to drop off).

• Egg cartons to Fruit loop (in Pickering Brook). Time it for fresh fruit or a lunch at an eatery. They do have a cafe onsite too.
• Empty clean jars to a bulk food shop like Wasteless Pantry in Mundaring.  Wasteless pantry has also put a call out for empty essential oil bottles. Although I took a stack to the school as they had a call out for jars. I have some lovely friends (thank you Louie & Haelee) who keep their empty Moccona jars for me, I'm mad for using these to store flour & pantry items.

• Books- host a book exchange, or I saw a bookswap at Dome café & my local library, plus Save the children host an annual massive book drive.
• Magazines to school art or kindy (double check first).
• Newspaper- school art class or cleaning the BBQ. I give my Sunday times newspaper to my sister for a second read.
• Gift cards; upcycle to gift tags.

• Tyres to DIY compost. Its what I do to deal with extra fruit/veggie waste. I now have a worm farm too (thank you Kaysey for the worms:)).
• Any stall holder at your local market would happily take any unwanted plant pots.
• Broken plates- mosaic project (you could jazz up a plain plant pot).

• Toys- community playgroup.
• Puzzles- good condition ones to Kindy or Preprimary.
• Stuffed toys- the hardest to get rid of. I wouldn't recommend to a dog shelter as they are easily ripped up then go to landfill. I have reused the stuffing from my pregnancy body pillow for a bean bag. I have had to store the bean bag away until I am certain Dylan won't drown in it.
• Pet toys- good condition rubber toys to animal shelters. It would brighten up the day to any neglected animal.

• Canned food- Foodbank or Ayla are desperately chasing some tin goods for their hampers. (Racheal your amazing for your beauty donations:))
• Personal care products- Again Ayla are chasing some for their hampers.

If all else above fails; advertise on Gumtree or Facebook what you have to give away.

I hope this helps to save items out of landfill & if you have any more ideas please share in the comments below.

Happy Tuesday friends!
Grace

Some simple tips I do to cut down on wastage at fairs & festivals

Organization the night before is the key. If you pack everything just before leaving or morning of you will definately forget something.

Ideas to cut back on wastage are;
*Cloth bags, so compact once folded to bring. Plus you never know when you may buy something.
*Cloth napkins, say no to paper napkins. This isn't easy at an ice cream stall though.
*Eat everything to avoid food waste or bring a container to haul leftovers home.
*Pack snacks for the little ones. It will save you impulse buys. (They will still whinge over the sweet treats on sale).
*Bring container to receive food.
*Keep cup or ceramic cup for beverages.
*Byo egg cartons if you buy local eggs.
*Bring stainless steel straws.
*Avoid buying packaged goods. Say no to food/ produce wrapped in gladwrap.
*If you know there is a drink fountain at the event, utilise it. Even top up your reusuable water bottle.

I pack my "Byo cutlery set". This is such a saviour; some napkins (or a teatowel), stainless steel cutlery, stainless steel straws, & bibs. I wrap all the cutlery with the napkin & tie with some ribbon (ribbon was given to us in a gift but any tie would work fine). And usually a container/ plate to purchase food with an extra bag to haul dirty dishes home in. I packed this to a food truck event last week, we still ended up with foil & a plastic fork (as I walked away to order at 2 foodtrucks hence I didn't see them preparing so I couldn't say no to foil or fork;() so I washed both with the foil being recycled & the plastic fork to go to utensil drawer (eventually this will go to landfill when it breaks from usage). I brought the coke can for Luke from home as a family member brought us a carton when I was explaining to her if she bought cans over bottles, the aluminium is infinitely recycled. She drinks soft drink like water so I was trying to hint at using less disposable bottles used. The message was misread:(

 

 

If this list is too overwhelming, don't fret just do a couple things off the list which you feel comfortable with & gradually add.

I would love to hear your waste free festival tips so feel free to share in the comments below.
Happy Thursday friends!

Grace

Quiet time after school activities

Ok so you cant associate quiet time with most kids (including mine:)) but I thought I would share some activities we do to keep these munchkins asking for ipads & tv when they are bored (which is mostly Kobe as Dylan is too little for ipads & tv although he loves Teletubbies).

1. Construct a maze using furniture, trees & a ball of wool. I set this up one school holidays at my mums house. I kept rearranging it every time Kobe completed it. You could easily set this up inside with the dining table & couches.

 

2. Its mega hot here & if you have the energy to take the kids to the beach after school to chill then this activity is the one for you. Burying dinosaur treasure (or anything really) at the beach. I previously made this pirate map that goes perfectly with this activity.

 

3. Ice fossils. This is a super easy activity that just requires you to place some toys in a container of water then the freezer overnight to set. Kobe unleashes his inner destructive child & thus this activity does not last long but is super fun!!!

 

 

4. A good old fashioned activity, all you need is a blank wall outside & some sidewalk chalk then let the little artists loose. Plus the rain cleans it. Yippee!

 

5. Boxes, seriously what kid doesn't love to play around in a box? You can get them free from Bunnings. One day I will build that box ice cream parlour for the kids, until then they can use their imagination.

 

6. Help build a DIY cake emporium (Kobes description). He is mad for these Trashpack figurines so to keep him busy I helped him build a fancy place for them to hang out. I found the mini bins at the markets (& clearly I was more excited that this cake emporium has a recycle & compost bin).

 

7. One for the "Wheres Wally" fans. I hid a sticker of him somewhere different everyday of the school holidays.

 

Feel free to add your favourite kids activities in the comments below:)

And for more ideas, a friend of mine posts fun learning activities on Teacher mum facebook page.

 

Happy Wednesday friends!

Grace

Adventures with DIY dyeing

I was determined not to buy Kobe a new school hat to replace his faded hat from last year, it turned from a navy blue to a faded grey (I blame harsh uv rays from the sun). And a kind friend gave me a Spotlight voucher to use so I bought some fabric dye. I would of loved to experiment with dyeing with nature but unfortunately nothing is naturally blue, the closest I could think of is blueberries which is purple which isn't the school colour ( Although I could easy dye my clothes with spaghetti, I could just put it on Dylan then feed him lol).

So I settled on Rite dye in a navy blue. I found a couple pieces of stained clothing that could also be frreshened up with a new colour. I love the shorts, the cut is so abstract, it's just a pity Kobe had a blood nose & wiped his nose straight on them. The white shirts had stains on them.

Dyeing wasn't as easy as I first thought & I'm not sure if I will attempt this ever again. Even though I may redye the shorts if I do another attempt.

I'm lucky I had a stock pot which I use to mix diy laundry powder which I could use to soak the clothes in. I had to sacrifice a bowl to mix the dye in hot water before it goes in the stockpot.

Another thing I had to buy was plastic gloves, which I have washed & will reuse as cleaning gloves to get more use out of them. I had some elastic bands (from vegetables like baby carrots & broccolini) which I tied to the shirts to get the tie dye effect.

I stuffed way too many things in the stock pot & didn't stir enough so the dye came out unevenly which was ok with the tie dye as it was that effect anyway. The hat miraculously turned out ok. The shorts I was hoping were going to be an even colour but were patchy:(

The packet instructions said to wash under warm to cold water the excess dye but instead I washed outfront with hose quickly then left in rain to wash out excess dye.

I worried if sweated the dye would leach onto skin but so far in this heat, no blue stains on the skin.

According to here, the carbon footprint of a t-shirt is 20 times that of its weight. Considering how much resources it takes to make a new garment; taking into account water to grow crops, energy to manufacture t-shirt & fuel to transport a cotton garment. It was more sustainable to dye these items then buy new. It will be even better if I could naturally dye them. The dye chemical ingredients were sodium chloride, anionic & nonionic surfactants & I have a tiny patch in the garden that I poured the excess chemicals onto. Its where I also pour the oils/fats from the kitchen & dirty water from soaking nappies, I did not pour to pour these into the drain). I shall be experimenting with more stained clothing in the future dyeing naturally with coloured flowers & anything of colour I find in nature.

I would love to hear your dyeing/upcycling stories.

Happy Sunday friends!
Grace

Thoughts on reducing plastic packaging whilst living with someone who isnt on the same page (yet)

The past couple weeks, our house has been rift with tension as I try to further reduce wastage in the house whilst being met with some resistance from Luke. I know we can't change each other's habits or values but I do try to live by example & hope he follows but most the time he doesn't see the extra steps I take to reducing plastic. I wished more people cared without having to be pushed or nudged into making better choices to reduce plastic consumption, sadly people rarely do anything out of their comfort zones & think that recycling will solve all. And its starting to grate on me.
Luke and I are the complete opposites, he is the ying to my yang. He is easy going to me being slightly highly strung. I take forever to make decisions about buying any new products as I like to make sure that said product is ethically, financially or sustainably made (and hopefully all 3). And this can annoy the heck out of him (among others).

Spoiler alert; this is the part where I unleash all my worries & stresses in a sh1tty tone

Vices
*Luke has a love of single use plastic in the kind of bought water bottles & coke in bottles. I made him watch "Bag it" documentary with Kobe & now they both refuse them & take their own water bottles (which I pack or they will be forgotten). Kobe willingly but Luke doesn't want to deal with me complaining about the single use bottle being brought home. It use to be 3 plus a week...
*When he takes Dylan over to his parents with a cloth nappy & brings it home in a plastic grocery bag. He now takes an empty bag (from our stash people have brought into our home (see next photo)). 
*I usually do all grocery shopping but on the few times, I have forgotten one or 2 things & he has to run to the shops, he has brought them home in yet another plastic bag. After a few upset words, he now either takes a cloth bag or carries them as is to the car.
I'm going to secretly squirrel away his single use bottle slips up to show him at the end of the year . 
**After rereading vices, I know Im being hard on Luke & am grateful for any effort he makes to help reduce what we send to recycling/landfill:))

Compromises
And because it wouldn't be a fair relationship if I had my way all the time, there has to be a healthy balance so here are our compromises.
*Takeout every 10 days. No combination meals unless they come with a can not bottle.
*The occasional ice cream in a plastic tub (I keep these as good to make more from scratch, my raspberry sorbet turned out ok).
*We like to go out for fish & chips every 3 weeks. So I make a conscious effort to pack cutlery, stainless straws & condiments. And a spare container to take home the salad for lunch the next day.
*1 juice bottle a month, he hasn't complained we haven't had any in fridge the last 2 months. We do have oranges & grapefruit on hand to juice manually. 

And because vices don't stop at Luke (sorry grandparents!)

Grandparents vices
The biggest issue to date is in dealing with others close to us bringing unwanted plastic into my life.
We see both sets of grandparents on a weekly basis (or they will have my head on a stick for denying them their grandchildren)... Its not without stress.
Both are fierce lovers of all things plastic wrapped. From tiny teddies & cookies in individually wrapped packets, Arnotts cookies, Grainwaves, plastic wrapped strawberries, yoghurt pouches, Lesnak, the list is endless... Im all for spoiling grandkids in moderation & prefer home baked treats, this generally falls on deaf ears:(
I have had to suggest cutting down on what they give the boys which they are happy to do when Im there (they feed them what they please if Im not). But the wastage truly adds up.
So my parents are limited to giving the boys one packet of Grainwaves, Arnotts cookies once a month, & yogurt (from a large tub) weekly. They use to give once a week but we ended up with so much & I couldn't cope with it.
If the kids have these treats at the grandparents, wrappers go straight to the bin where I try to salvage the wrappers to take to the special bins at participating Coles store once a month.
They both have bottles of bought water in their fridges so with Luke & Kobe now refusing, there are 2 less people drinking out of the single use plastic then maybe they will cut down on buying it. If the tap is there, they shall drink water out of a glass out of that.
This past week; I have gracefully accepted leftovers (I hate cooking) in a Pyrex bowl covered with glad wrap. I rewashed & covered some cut cheese to give it second life until it breaks plus my mum brought over some take out also in plastic containers which I have kept & cleaned & can use for bakeswap.
I know the grandparents mean well, its just hard for me to sit back & watch no change. But life has obstacles & I shall overcome it. I just have to remember that I cant change people I can only hope to inspire change.

(Example of plastics brought into our home from family in a week, it may not look like much but times that by 52 (weeks) & it certainly adds up).

I now strongly refuse other peoples plastic bags as I'm not helping them by encouraging them to not change their habits of accepting their plastic instead of reducing/refusing it. Plus Im sick of hoarding it.

Now time for the less bitchier part where I share easy tips for how I reduce packaging

 

 

An example of a few simple things I do to cut back on wastage
*By using brown gift paper drawing instead of cards (it can be composted easily).
*Baking bannana bread with super ripe bannanas instead of composting/binning.
*Taking cloth bags everywhere.
*Making handkerchiefs out of old baby blankets to save using tissues for snotty noses & grotty faces
*Embracing cloth nappies half the time (when Dylan is at home or a short play date).
*Sewing a dress (instead of supporting fast fashion, using my basic skills to sew clothes from my fabric stash or preloved fabric).

And some more ideas
*If you can't go without your coke or takeout, consider cutting back on how much you consume. Or instead of buying softdrink in bottles, buy cans as aluminium is infinitely recycled. Or go from buying 600mls to 2litre bottles.
*I can't go without milk so I try to get the 3 litre bottle & put a ban on buying the tetra packs. I shall be trialling out making my own almond milk too.
*Don't buy any new beauty products for a month/6 months.
*Bulk shop & go in with friends/family.
*Pack your own cutlery & stainless steel straws. Unfortunately not all eateries will remember NOT to give you a straw no matter if you ask them 3 times...
*Avoid tetra packaging of milk & juice as it goes to landfill.
*Provide cloth bags or containers for bread, mushrooms, grapes, strawberries, muffins.
*Commit to use half cloth nappies & pads.
*Beach bathers for babies/toddlers not toilet trained. Dylan has Big grow bathers and Bambino mio bathers which hold in any poo accidents.
*Embrace bamboo toothbrushes for whole family, this company in Vic Park sell them in bulk.
*Join a like minded group either on facebook or locally for inspiration. I even found out where to buy handmade soap in bulk. Search "zero waste groups" for starters.
*Utilise the local library for dvds, magazines & books.

*Asking friends who have guinea pigs or rabbits if they would like your veggie scraps. 

*Using empty bread & cereal packets (if you have them) as bin liners.

 

We do produce waste in our house I just try to keep it to absolute minimum. Last week, we used 3 bread bags 2 grocery bags and 1 brown paper bag for rubbish, there was also some loose orange skins & loose cut grape vines. Over this year I hope to get this lower.

And because I am far from perfect the following are areas I shall be working on in reducing waste

Fails
*Water balloons. My kids love them. We were given some & they had so much fun with them.
*Occasional packet lollies (on special occasions like Halloween, Easter, birthdays).
*Plastic covered meat (I try to buy it at IGA to support local but sadly its wrapped in plastic)
*Salmon wrapped in plastic.
*Straw fails; Bangkok brothers, Soranos, Nicholson. I did ask for no straw several times but the waiter brought me a straw. I wont order a drink now when out unless Im guaranteed no straw. There is always coffee.
*I binned 5 pieces of leftover chicken last week.
*Im still going thru beauty products in bottles like shampoo (I tend to use my Lush shampoo bar when I should use up my shampoo in bottles sitting getting dusty in cupboards). I also received a few bottles of body wash when Dylan was born to use up. I finally put these in the shower & Kobe has discovered & loves cleaning himself with them. When they run out, I think he will enjoy the scented Lush soap bars just as much.

I didn't mean to have this be such a negative post, its been trying/exhausting reducing wastage. I must remember it isn't easy being green. One surprising thing happened this week & that was being approached by someone happy willingly wanting to cut down on wastage. I almost cried happy tears. Go Sarah! And a big good job to Sionna who found the hole in her kids inflatable pool & patched it up (instead of taking the easy way out & buying a replacement one).

I would love to hear your experience & how you deal with others you live with whilst reducing plastic consumption.

Happy Monday friends!
Grace

School ready

Parents let's all breathe a sigh of relief as kids all over Australia went back to school this week. We survived the school holidays, hooray!
Rejoice in getting to palm them off to their fantastic teachers.

I hope to keep Kobe's first year of full time school low key. I just know he will be whingey tired by Friday as he adjusts to full time hours.
I won't be enrolling him in every after school activity, just a quick play with friends. Swimming lessons and life saving water awareness term 1. With a splat of drownings with kids under 5 lately I really want to hone it into Kobe the importance of water safety. It can take less than a minute for a toddler to climb a pool fence which leaves me paranoid with my lil ones around water.
As per last year, I left stationery order to the last minute. Note to parents, go first thing (8am) to avoid getting crushed in the lunchtime panic. Also bring your school list to OfficeMax so you get the quoted price not the retail price (which can be double for some items). Definitely I'm ordering as soon as the school list comes out for 2018.
I was organized with school uniforms (bar 1 shirt which I'm trying to find preloved) & found 4 pairs of pants (2 Permapleat shorts brand new with tags still on, one long pair of pants & one navy boardshorts) all preloved for $14.50 in total. Saving over $30 if I bought new. I'm hoping Kobe keeps them in great condition so can handball onto Dylan. I will be laying out uniforms the night before. And laundering mid week & weekends so we are always uniform ready (I find by hanging them wet from the machine onto a hanger it saves me ironing the shirts). I dyed his faded school hat to save buying a new one.
I picked up some Reflex sandals half price in the after Christmas sales a couple sizes too big. I found these the best casual sandal for active boys, the quality is great & lasts the whole year thru rough play. Kobe's pair from last year will be his normal everyday summer sandals (as he wore these as both school & casual wear last year).
I remember every year of school getting a new school bag (& the old one binned regardless even if still good quality) & so Kobe will be reusing his Trashpack bag which is still in good condition this year (I found it brand new at markets beginning of last year for $5, saving me $20 buying a generic school bag).
School lunches bar fruit cut up will be packed the night before. To save me rushing in the morning.
I am also allocating a day of baking when Kobe is at school to get both boys snacks organized for the week. Excess baked goods I will freeze (sausage rolls, apple carrot cake etc) so not to waste. Plus Dylan needs this day as his downtime, he tries so hard to keep up with his energetic big brother but is exhausted. I will also be continuing with bake swap weekly which saves me some baking time.
The only thing I did to get Kobe school ready was getting him to practise his reading; with books about school like Miffy, Curious George, Spot, just incase there were any nerves about going back to school. Turns out I needed worry as he "was excited to get a break from mummy" (his words lol).
I should of got him to wear him his new sandals in to save blisters which I have a feeling he will get (bad mum I am).

I would love to hear any tips on preparing your kids to school:)
Or even easy to make lunchbox snacks as we stay away from tetra juice cartons, packet cookies in our house.

Happy Wednesday friends!
Grace

Living on a tiny budget

It's another year of me tightening the purse strings of this family of 4 on 1 income so that we can save for a holiday & also be able to dine out where possible. Here's a few pointers if your also reevaluating your budget. And I would love to hear your tips!

Food
*I will be meal planning lunch, dinners & snacks every 2-3 days to elimate bought lunches or impulse buys at the shops.
*Using whats in my pantry. Basing recipes around ingredients I already have. Food wastage is the number 1 item binned in our house.
*Eating leftovers or freezing them for another day. I definitely need to work on getting creative with leftovers.
*If we dine out at a restaurant or cafe, I will pack a take home container incase I have leftovers. Instead of wasting food if we don't finish a meal, we may have lunch sorted for next day. It's also worth it to see in getting an entertainment book or going in with a friend or family member to receive discounts at eateries.
*Attempting to grow more herbs and vegetables. We sadly only got a small amount of beans, potatoes, silverbeet & tomatoes last year. I have a brown thumb but maybe 2017 is my year...
*Gifting excess produce, we were lucky enough to receive excess passionfruit, lemons & mangoes last year from family & friends.. I also plan to go here to this produce swap to check it out.

Clothes
*I will be trying my hardest & going without buying new the lastest fashion & instead opt for preloved threads (but not underwear). I am being realistic & allowing 4 slips up of new items for the year but I'm hoping I will find a happy substitute on Ebay.
*Upcycling & mending my clothes. Earth Carers hosts every Saturday a crafty mend season for gold coin entry. There is also a craft session at Yangebup with crèche for charge if you need little ones looked after on Tuesday's afternoon during school term.
*I found Kobe some new school uniform shorts at an opshop & saved about $22. I'm hoping I can find some secondhand shirts at the uniform shop.
*Dylan will be wearing mostly hand me downs from Kobe bar some new clothes he received at Christmas.
*At Easter instead of chocolate, I'm asking grandparents for pajamas for the boys. They will def receive chocolate as well.
*We use half cloth nappies & cloth pads (to save buying bulk disposable ones). It's not for everyone & the majority of people cringe at having to launder sh1tty nappies & bloody pads (including myself). But hey it's even dirtier putting your disposables into landfill & letting it sit there for aeons until it disentegrates. Out of sight shouldn't mean out of mind when it comes to your personal rubbish into landfill.

Entertainment
*Embracing the local library- we rely fortnightly to borrow books & dvds. I joined up with 2. Plus I let Kobe watch abc iview or you tube on the free wifi. It's a bonus that there are free workshops & kids events. Instead of buying magazines I borrow titles like Australian traveller, Delicious & Vogue magazines which save me around $150 a year.
*Free kids entertainment; like Froggys on the green & parks. If your kids are into recycling or fire engines def go to this & this (thank you Kym for letting me know about the fire engines).
*Using any coupons from this free kids pamphlet, Lets go kids.
*Buying preloved where possible. Over the years, I have found duplo, activity books, reading books, puzzles all at tiny fraction of what they are new.

(Lastest thrifted bargains are these Teletubby sheets & 3 Teletubbies for $6.50).

*The hardest thing at the moment is teaching the value of a dollar to Kobe as he is going thru a want it now "toys phase" (damn you Grossery gang!!!). So he started a cleaning business for grandparents 😭.Where he wrote down all jobs he can do for a $1 a job (which is the blog header photo). And has boxed up some old toys (mostly Dylan's toys he has outgrown) that "mummy will sell at markets" (at some point).

Home
*I sewed curtains from op shop fabric for my loungeroom a couple years back & lined with thermal lining & when I find enough fabric at the opshop for the boys room I will sew some for them too.
*Placing a bucket in the shower to collect cold water, which will supplement herb garden.
*Sleep timer on tv incase I/Luke fall asleep infront of it . Better yet turn appliances off at wall when not in use.
*Using a fan instead of air conditioning.
*Utilizing the back of paper to write shopping lists, Kobe's recipes/drawings.
*Verge collection; councils usually organize this twice a year. I have seen many a great thing on the side of the road, I have scavenged a booster chair & artists board which both needed a good clean but otherwise perfect working order.

I hope you found some useful tips here.
Happy Friday friends!
Grace