Swap, Mend and Re-Use

There have been murmurs of a clothes swap for a while now. But while Gav and I were away was when the idea of something a bit more than just a clothes swap dawned on me. With the war time mantra of Make Do and Mend rattling around in my head I came up with Swap, Mend and Re-use. While the war time mantra was born out of a necessity to maximise scarce resources, this new mantra has been born more out of a desire to be resourceful with what we already have, without the usual exchange of money and with the underlying theme of re-use. Contrary to 1940's UK, here in Australia we have access to plenty of cheap (and not so cheap) clothing, most likely to have been made by those who have so little to begin with and are receiving an inadequate amount for the work they are doing to put layers of clothes on our backs. Add to that the environmental impact of our clothing habits and I'm left a more than a bit embarassed to admit that I bought a pair of shoes for $4.80 from Target the other day.  My only consolation is that the big company didn't get the highest price at point of sale from me. Not much of a consolation - these are complex issues!

But anyway, I don't want to get too heavy and not highlight the fun, because the day WAS fun! And I am really thankful to all those who came to share resources, skills, friendship, time and tasty treats on a beautiful Saturday morning.

The day was planned in a relatively short time frame. Emails and facebook stuff sorted, a few old sheets, a hot kettle, a few sewing machines and a couple of skilled folk ready to share their knowledge was all that it took (thanks mum, sis and others!). I was so chuffed to see all those that came along and made the day as excellent as it was. Here's some snaps of what went on:

Items of clothing happily swapped or lined up for some re-fashioning



Clever hands helping on the sewing machine



 A favourite shirt being salvaged and sewn on to another



A shirt being transformed in to a skirt

A little cutie enjoying the piles of clothes that were begging to be hidden under 

Thanks to all those that came along! 

I heard a few people talking about their fabric collections and desire to actually make things from said collections (Me included! My op shopped piles of fabric need to stop growing and turn in to things!). So I was thinking I'd be keen to have a Sew, Mend and Re-Use day sometime in the new year. The lead up could involve sharing patterns, online tutorials and other inspiration...

And yes, I'm still keen to make undies out of old shirts. That might be a tutorial of it's very own! 

~ 

Melania

Food...and where it comes from

I think about food a lot. Cooking it, eating it, growing it. But I also think about where it comes from. Not just the store but the real source of what I'm eating. I'm always trying to find the best option which meets my financial and moral (and taste) needs. I ask myself questions such as: "Is it better to choose an organic product from overseas or a local non-organic product?" or "What about when the quality of the imported product is higher (like with Italian canned tomatoes) and the product is so much cheaper?". I have to weigh these concerns against a tight budget of both time and money. I think these are pretty common limiting factors for many of you. 


Over this past year my partner (Andy) and I have been discussing our food choices in fairly serious ways. We'd been slowly reducing the amount of pre-made food we purchased and our food bills had dropped significantly. We did this by replacing things such as tortillas, bread and pasta with home made versions and buy simply limiting the amount of 'junk' food we purchased. The majority of our shopping is now for the ingredients to make food instead of ready made food. We can also afford to purchase more organics and high quality products. When we see shelf-stable products on special we purchase multiples and stockpile. We also signed up for our local Community Supported Agriculture group Food Connect. Food Connect provides subscriptions of fruit and vegetables sourced from local, sustainable, chemical free or organic growers and gives a fair price to the farmer (approximately 40% of the sale price compared to 4-6% the large chains offer). The food is great and it has put us back in touch with the seasons and the effect weather can have on food production. 


We also spoke about meat. I'm a vegetarian and have been all my life. Andy has always eaten meat, and was raised in a meat-and-three-veg family. He has reduced his meat consumption since we've been together. I don't think this is due to any sort of guilt tripping from me (I hope!) but because of the tasty vego food we make together. Andy has also learnt more about nutrition and so understands appropriate portion sizes for meat better now. We like the idea of 'meat as a treat' - choosing great quality, free-range or organic meat and paying more for it but buying less. As the quality is higher, you need to use less and having it less often makes you appreciate it more. 


In the past I have been an active dumpster diver. I have collected food from bins all over Brisbane. When you start doing this it can really shock you. The quality of the food is amazing but the quantity is the really shocking thing. One of my regular haunts regularly had half a dozen wheelie bins full of fruit and veg on every visit. The photo below is a selection from one night's diving. There would have been 10 times that amount left after we were finished. It is estimated that we throw out over $6 billion of food a year from Australian households...I'd hate to think what the value for retail stores and restaurants would be.

I dumpster dive less since signing up for Food Connect. I'm not against diving any more, I still stand by the reasons I started doing it in the first place (namely, reducing the amount of food going to landfill) but we get enough food from our subscription. I also like that I'm supporting the farmers and hopefully making small steps to change. This is the reason I've always struggled to wholly support the freegan idea. I don't think we can see change unless we support those attempting to produce better products. Choosing to not spend at the large chain stores is one thing but neglecting the little guys trying to make a difference as well doesn't create change. 


Since reducing my dumpster diving nights (or possuming, as I like to call it - after overhearing some packing staff say "Here come the possums" one night), I've been looking into some ways others are working on the supermarket food waste problem. I was glad to see a post on one of my favourite blogs about this here. Tricia gave some great links to charities and groups working to redistribute the food before it gets sent to landfill. 


I guess this whole (rather long) post is about making the choices that are right for you. You can only work within your limits of time and money. Research your food and make active choices about what you buy. You'll feel better for it!  

Jessie's guest Green Cleaning post

I twisted Jessie's arm at the last SkillCycle day and convinced her to write something for the blog. So, with much excitement, introducing our first guest poster - Jessie!

There are lots of different motivations to get into green cleaning – for example, for healthier skin, safe grey water for our gardens, to help protect our waterways, to consume less, and to save money.

Some of us also have particular things that keep us from actually doing it – for me, it was uncertainty about whether I could get things ‘really’ clean (I was also wary of the smell of vinegar, until I realised it has no scent when it dries). Then the Queensland Floods happened in January. With water and sludge up to 2 metres up the walls, and the threat of mould enveloping the entire house, I had more cleaning to do than in the rest of my life so far, and didn’t want to inflict any more damage on the natural world than the disaster had already done.

Starting with clove oil to kill mould spores, and baking soda and vinegar to clean almost everything else, I realised greener methods could be extremely effective.  (And after the initial double-take on the cost of 10 ml of clove oil, I realised that with something so effective when using only a few drops per bucket, I could clean the entire house several times, for less than the cost of one spray-pack of ineffective whiteners. I still have ½ the bottle left).

Since then I’ve gleaned more information from friends, books and websites, and hope that this set of ‘Green Cleaning’ basics will be helpful for everyday (everyweek/month) cleaning and for dealing with some of the rarer tasks and accidents.  Ideas and links are really welcome!

Jessie

Feeling 'trapped'

Maybe it's just the time of year, and the lack of holidays, but I'm feeling a little stuck. Like I'm in a rut. Most of the time I can gaze at pretty photos of idyllic farm life on my favourite blogs, those who have 'escaped' to the country and are living my dream, and feel inspired. At the moment, all I can feel is jealousy and apathy. My overdue PhD is still going, I haven't many job prospects for next year and I feel like I'm treading water. 

The view from my office window

What do you do when you get this way? Take a holiday, do yoga, garden? How do we keep ourselves inspired and hopeful while still living consciously in the present? 

Bliss balls

Photo from a great vegan blog  Of The Kitten Kind 

Bliss balls are not my creation, they've been around for years. Most of you will have seen them selling for crazy prices at the front counter of your local health food store. Thing is, they're really easy to make. There's no recipe really, just a few things blended together to make a tasty snack. You can make them as healthy or as unhealthy as you like. At their simplest, they're a blend of nuts, seeds, dried fruit and a sticky sweetener. Here's the 'recipe' for one of my most popular mixes. I never measure any ingredients, just pour and adjust if needed.

Bliss balls (all measurements are guesses)

1 1/2 cups almonds

1/3 cup sesame seeds

1/3 cup cashews blended into a paste

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

2 TB honey

1 TB cocoa powder

3/4 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup LSA

Grind your cashews into a paste in food processor. Blend your almonds in a food processor until they form a nut meal (like a breadcrumb consistency). Process dried cranberries in almond meal quickly to chop them a little. Mix in all other ingredients in bowl, add more honey if too crumbly. Taste, adjust sweetness to your liking. Can add a little oil if not binding. Roll into balls then roll in coconut or sesame seeds. Refrigerate til ready to eat. They will last a months in the fridge if you can stop eating them!


Other options for mixes: macadamia nuts, dried apricots, dates, cinnamon (and other spices), sultanas, wheatgerm, tahini, vanilla, chocolate. A quick google will bring up hundreds of great combos. 

Tomato Zen

I recently made a new veggie garden bed in my backyard. I used the no dig lasagne method and planted some seeds in punnets while I waited for the bed to be ready. I used compost and sand to raise my seeds but soon realised my mistake. I got nothing but tomatoes in those little punnets! Clearly my compost bin isn't getting hot enough to kill off seeds in the mix. I also wonder whether tomatoes have an ability to prevent the germination of other seeds. Many plants release toxins into the soil to reduce competition from other plants (it's called allelopathy) but I haven't heard of it in tomato plants before. 

Anyway, I got cranky and pulled out most of the self-seeded tomatoes. As I'd built the garden bed using compost for multiple layers, I started seeing tomatoes coming up in there as well. I gave up and just let them go, not expecting much. Little did I know, this would be the most successful tomato season I'd ever had! These self-seeding plants produced a better crop than any expensive seed I'd ever mollycoddled into existence.

The zen of vegetable gardening. Sometimes you just have to let things go.