I have been on a bit of a lifestyle change over the last 2 years or so. I have been more and more aware of the amount of stuff we have accumulated over the years, the amount of money we have wasted, the amount of un-needed things given to us as gifts and also the un-needed stuff we have given to others just because we needed to give a gift, or felt that we should, along with the environmental impact humans have on our Earth. I was also making myself miserable working in a job I really began to hate, to the point that it made me sick and an emotional wreck. I realised that I was working to pay for the things in life that I didn't have the time to do or make myself, and that my time would be better off spent doing what I enjoy as once the extra tax and childcare fees were taken into account, it simply was not worth working, both in the time away from family, and in the toll it was taking on my health. I have been slowly trying to change what we do, and think it is good to keep some sort of record of what I have managed to achieve so far on this change.
Making many supermarket staples instead of buying
Trying to cook most things from scratch instead of buying premade
Knitted and crocheted Dishcloths
Make our own yoghurt with an easiyo yoghurt maker
Green shopping bags
Limited use of plastic bags, trying to eliminate all together
Make cold pressed soap
Home made Christmas gifts
Making jams and chutneys
Purchase of a food dehydrator
Keeping chooks, have done this for many years though
Vege Garden, again have done for many years, but have actually taken seriously the last 18 months or so
Joined simple savings to save money and resources
Attend more garage sales
Shop at op shops for clothes
Have started sewing courses
Have re-started knitting
Learning to crochet
Stainless steel drink bottles instead of plastic
Re-usable containers in lunch boxes instead of plastic wrap
Have had solar installed to cover some of our electricity use
De-cluttered, still lots more to go though
Being way more conscious about what we purchase and waste
Trying to buy second hand where possible and take better care of what we already have
Planted fruit trees, have yet to see some results here though
Use of some home made cleaning products
Make own wool wash
Diva cup for myself, this makes a huge difference
Made netted vege bags to use instead of plastic bags
Trying to make more conscious choices to buy food with less packaging.
Learning about permaculture
Built a compost heap
Making chook poo tea for fertiliser
Started buying Warm Earth and Grass Roots and Earth Garden Mags
Joined the local library and try to borrow the books I want to read instead of buying
Started reading green, gardening and sustainable blogs
Bought a sodastream, now make my own diet coke, and other softdrinks the kids may feel like now and then - saves on resources and packaging, and less sugar than the store bought stuff, will try with home made syrups as well. The diet coke took a little getting used to as it tastes more like generic cola, but I am coming around, and my TM tastes fine now with it..:)
Newspaper to line bins instead of plastic garbage bags
I will add more as I do them.
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