Sometimes, Less is More…..

A bag for life, reusable water bottles and coffee cups, glass Tupperware, plastic free EVERYTHING – lets be honest it’s an effort, it’s a hassle, sometimes its SO impractical its plain annoying for some people BUT transitioning slowly into a waste free lifestyle is actually not that much of a hassle when you get into a routine and start to change your mindset.

This page is my ultimate easy go to’s for a cleaner, easier, waste free lifestyle. Even the smallest take aways can make the biggest changes.

When heading into the shops to grab something from the fresh foods section, do you unconsciously grab a plastic bag to to contain all your fruit and vegetable goodness?

Firstly, I think its important to ask yourself, do I actually need a bag? Because at the checkout aren’t these foods going to be bagged into another bag anyway? If the answer is yes – perhaps you like to keep your foods separate and organised, you want them to have there own storage when you unpack them at home, who knows?! Or perhaps like my mum used to do, re use the plastic bags as dog poop bags… whatever works for you, if you feel like you do need to bag up your fruits or vegetables – head to the mushroom section in the supermarket and use a paper bag, they are 100% recyclable and biodegradable and much better option to a plastic bag.

If you’re planning a supermarket trip I highly recommend buying you own cotton reusable drawstring bags, you can wash and reuse them time and time again and they are great for storing any groceries.

Charcoal filter sticks

Filter your water?

Whether you do or you don’t its good to look at how clean your drinking water is. The taste of clean, pure water is without question the best in my opinion, you will always notice the difference in your coffee, homemade almond milk, teas and anything else you add water to.

Filtering your tap water is a great start to cleaner, safer, better tasting water however a lot of water filter’s are made with plastic filter’s and certain brands are not BPA free, so you really do need to ask yourself if the water your drinking is clean, chemical free and safe to drink long term?

Charcoal sticks

Charcoal has an incredibly absorbent surface, which attracts contaminants found in tap water. These contaminants are then absorbed in the surface of the carbon. As well as filtering the water, the activated charcoal also infuses the water with minerals.

Reusable cups

You would be blind or just plain stupid if you haven’t seen the new craze of reusable cups around. Who would have thought one day it would be cool to care about the environment? Well, for those of us that always have, this is a welcoming help to ban those ghastly disposable coffee cups that nearly every coffee shop seems to supply. It’s really not necessary to use these cups. Either sit down and drink your beverage inside with a crematic or glass. Or if you must take away – seriously consider taking your own cup.

You’ll be helping save the planet massively – Every little really does help.

Millions upon millions of these disposable cups are thrown away and taken to landfill across the world everyday. THEY ARE NOT RECYCLABLE, They take years to biodegrade. Take a conscious moment and honestly ask yourself how are my actions contributing to the world?

Enough with the peace, love the earth speech, check out the local brands near you and get yourself one of these funky reusable cups.

Here I have my frank Green, which fits a regular size coffee and works great for tea and any other small drinks in the go.

One and done.

Prepping your food whenever and wherever you go Is always going to be helpful because you’ve relived yourself from the stress of planning your time around sourcing and paying for food when not at home.

Do you find yourself wandering around the supermarket or food courts helplessly, thinking what do I want to eat? You buy too much or too little and the effort is honestly too much for some and you go for something obvious and easy. If you plan ahead of time nourishing foods you like to eat, buy the ingredients, cook them up, then trust me when you’re hungry with little time to spare you will eat it. Food is fuel in my opinion and like any vehicle that runs off fuel, you need all the right components for that specific vehicle in order to work to its maximum potential, what works for your car won’t work in the same way for others. If you want to feel better in yourself you must look after yourself.

In the photo above I have posted a picture form the bulk source https://thesourcebulkfoods.com.au the zero waste shopping revolution. Here they supply you with all the ingredients you need for banana breads, lentil curry and many other delicious meals in one handy jar. So when you think about heading to the shops to buy your ingredients, sweet or savoury – all packaged in plastic, think about looking for a whole foods store as I can assure you, there are plenty around if you do your research.

Using a jar can be greatly beneficial for breakfast and lunch too, or just a standard glass bento, take it to the butchers with you to buy your meat and AVOID PLASTIC, cook and create your own fresh food and AVOID PLASTIC, use a stainless steal or glass water bottle to drink water from and AVOID PLASTIC, Take you’re own reusable bags to the shops, leave one small bag in your everyday bag so you successfully remember it each time too AVOID PLASTIC, buy loose fruit and vegetables – a little more expensive yes BUT guess what? You’re AVOIDING PLASTIC.

As a society we really need to make a conscious effort to create less waste, utilise food and minimise on plastic. If we become more mindful, we become smarter, more efficient and helpful to ourselves and others. Thats a pretty good trade off if you ask me. Every little helps, do what you can in order to do better.

Hey Chook

Free range, organic, barn laid, pasture raised, cage free, caged – What eggs are the best eggs to buy?

Heading down the shopping isle to pick up some eggs can be a daunting task with a whole refrigerated wall of options – Surely if theres a photo of a chicken happily foraging in a meadow on the box, tells us these eggs come from hens that live a life the way we imagine – in a field roosting in a hen house, right?

The reality is much, much different. Many farmed hens will never see the light of day, some will never set foot on fresh grass, they are fed processed meal and grains, whereas others will live a happy life, free to roam around grassy meadows, wooded areas, perch on tress and forage for worms and insects as after all hens, naturally are omnivores.

Do we care where are eggs come from? I think most people would answer yes, but not many people are conscious and aware of what they are buying OR affordability becomes an issue. People will pay $10 AUD for 500g of quality grass fed meat but $10-12 for a dozen of quality organic, pasture raised eggs somehow doesn’t seem as reasonable? Why lower your standards?

Eggs are one of the most nutrient dense natural animal protein you can find and given what you feed the chicken – you can quite literally personalise your own nutrient rich eggs high In omega 3 based on what your hens are consuming, after all you are what you eat.

Important things to consider when buying eggs:

Organic Pasture Raised:

Pasture raised hens eat a diet of organic feed, shell grit and water, they’ll forage for beetles, worms and grasses in the paddock with access to fresh water all day.

Be provided with a nest/perch
Outside there are is a maximum of 250 birds per hectare
Will have space to flap there wings and exercise
Will have outdoor range
Will not be debeaked
Will typically live longer than 18 months old, before slaughter

Organic:

Organic defines the feed the chickens are fed, not necessarily the living conditions.

Organic hens will:

Be provided with a nest/perch
Outside there are is a maximum of 1,500 birds per hectare
Will have space to flap there wings and exercise
Will have outdoor range
Will not be debeaked
Typically male chicks are killed at birth
Typically hens will be slaughtered from 18 months old

Certified Free Range:

Free ranged typical means the hens will have access to roam around outdoors for limited time only.

Free range hens will:

Not be confined to a cage
Be provided with a nest/perch
Will have space to flap there wings and exercise
Outside there are is a maximum of 10,000 birds per hectare
Within a shed there are a maximum of 10 birds per square metre up to 1000 birds.
Will have outdoor range for limited time in the day
May possibly be de beaked
Typically male chicks are killed at birth
Typically hens will be slaughtered from 18 months old

Certified Barn laid:

Barn laid is pretty self explanatory, hens will live there lives in a barn under artificial light with concrete, straw grounds.

Certified Barn laid will:

Not be confined to a cage
Be provided with a nest/perch
Will have limited space to flap there wings and exercise
Within a shed there are a maximum of 9 birds per square metre
Will not have outdoor range
Will be de beaked
Male chicks are killed at birth
Typically hens will be slaughtered from 18 months old

Caged:

Caged hens will live there lives in cages until they are sent for slaughter

Caged hens will:

Will be confined to a cage
The space allocation for each bird is less than the size of a piece of A4 paper and cages are only 40 cm highWill have space to flap there wings and exercise
Will not have outdoor range
Will be de beaked
Male chicks are killed at birth
Hens will be slaughtered from 18 months old

Mulloon Creek organic pasture raised eggs are accredited as ‘True Free Range’ with Humane Choice and Certified Organic and Biodynamic with Australian Certified Organic check them out in the link to support the sustainable, kinder approach to egg laying https://www.mcnf.com.au. I think its really important to have a clear conscious on where ALL of your food comes from, however when it comes to the lives of animals I believe its our duty as human beings to be as caring, respectful, humane and ethical when consuming animal protein, if you not sure ASK, research, be accountable for your actions and live a better quality of life for yourself and role model this – If we want to impact a change, Then, first we must review and adapt ourselves for the better…..

“The world is changed by your actions and examples, not your opinion”

I have a question for you…….

When you empty your recycling bin at home, do you unconsciously week by week empty the bin into the council bins provided? A weekly routine, when the bins are full so you take it out?

When you empty your recycling bin at home, do you consciously check your usage of waste – REDUCE, REUSE and recycling to adapt your lifestyle, effectively using less non degradable trash?

If you want to cut down on waste at home here are few tips I like to share, encouraging people on their way to being the ultimate essentialist! The Marie Kondo of household minimalism! You don’t have to be an extremest or have lots of money to do this, If anything, you’ll save a little and you’ll be contributing to a cleaner, greener way of life.

Check out your nearest Bulk source whole-foods store, luckily for me I have 3 in each suburb next to mine so I have plenty of options;

https://thesourcebulkfoods.com.au
https://nakedfoods.com.au
https://scoopwholefoods.com.au
https://www.burywholefoods.co.uk – This store is from my town in the UK

Buying in bulk or buying as little as you like, saves so much money and package waste. In store you are provided with either biodegradable brown paper bags to scoop and weigh your products, you can purchase a glass jar, use reusable cotton bag, or you’re welcome to bring your own containers.

Reasons why some people avoid whole foods stores may be because they can be more expensive and sometimes this may be correct, but this reason is purely because of the products quality. Most products are organic, selectively sourced from there origins, where the product is naturally found, products in store come from all over the world, from real people creating their business from the whole foods they own and grow on there land or produce in there homes – no big corporate companies supply these stores, only pure honest goodness. Products haven’t been tampered with in any way to extend there shelf life, therefore the quality of all produce found in these stores are of the highest standard, contributing to fair trade and small businesses. THIS what your paying for. You are contributing, you are investing, you are making a difference, remember that.

Here I have old jars and containers used to fill my whole foods ingredients. Its DIY – I use them again and again, Using masking tape if I want to change up a label and on the plus I can clearly see where everything is. I don’t buy what I don’t need, just the essentials, ingredients I use on the regular.

What if you don’t have a whole foods scoop and weigh near you?

This is where you need to do a little research, what whole foods stores are around you that deliver? Or check out markets that will travel to your local area and remember your own packaging!

It makes a big difference if you can adopt a minimal waste lifestyle, use you own containers, refill, reuse, be mindful of the next step, where will this go when I’m done with it? It’s not of matter of out of sight out of mind, we must do better and be better to support and care this home we ALL live on.