I love bamboo..

I have recently discovered a love of bamboo!  Did you know that bamboo can grow up to 3 to 4 foot per day, produces heaps of oxygen and makes a really soft, fast drying fabric.  I bought a bamboo fabric t-shirt off the internet for work and it is so soft.  I also now own bamboo teatowels, a bamboo face washer and...a bamboo toothbrush!  (that one I bought at the Logan Eco Action Festival).  My bamboo toothbrush is biodegradable and great for the environment.  I am not sure how long this love affair will last (partly because most bamboo products have to be imported from overseas, which I am not a fan of, and these days there always seems to be some hidden downside when products are mass-produced), but I am going to enjoy it while I can!

I am recycling by re-reading...

Do you re-read books?  I must admit I don't do it very often, even though I do have the terrible habit of forgetting the ending of books (Even though man of the house can remember them years...and years later.  I realised this when I started reading King Solomon's Mine when we were first married.  He had read it when he was 12...ten years later he told me the whole plot and could name all the characters.  I have trouble remembering what happened in the Harry Potter book I read last week).

Anyway, at the moment I am re-reading one of my favourite books (well of the non-fiction genre anyway)...

Peter Walsh is the guru of home organisation and using (hence needing) less stuff.  I think it is one of those books I will have to re-read many times in my life.  I love his advice about space in your home.  I always think I need a bigger house, but he basically says that you just have to  limit what you own/buy to the space you have.  (But he obviously says it in a better way than that).  Does this quest for a clean, uncluttered,  organised home ever end??? 

Does your cupboard look like this?

Watch: sunrise segment on deadly household chemicals

This segment was on sunrise this morning, and whilst I like the segment I didn't think that it gave specific information on how to actually eliminate chemicals from your home.

Using less chemicals is something that I am passionate about!  And thats why I Use and Sell Enjo. (sorry, it is a shameless plug)

If you would like to know more about how the Enjo Microfibre cleaning system works,  just contact me or leave a comment.

Or if you have your tips on reducing chemicals add a comment for us to all learn from.

 (that's right..I can clean the shower whilst my son is standing in it)

Not your 1960's washing machine...

 Did you know that it is 2010...and along with all the great advances we have had in medicine and technology we also have great washing machines.  No, not the fancy pants ones that wash, dry and fold your clothes, but the regular ones that we all use.  Apparently our washing machines are so efficient these days that most of the work is done in the way it spins and swishes and not in the ammount of washing powder you use.  

Choice magazine conducted some tests and found that you can get just as good (sometimes better) washing results by using a 1/4 of the washing powder reccomended on the box.  So apparently we are all using too much washing powder/liquid! 

And if you use more than the recommended dose (just cause you are feeling generous that day) it will actually make your washing machine work inefficiently.

So do something for the environment and your wallet and try using a 1/4 of the powder/liquid that you would normally use in the wash.  

You can be even more brave and use no washing powder at all...its called a strip wash and I will test it myself and let you know how I go.

Nature and Nurture...

We were all struck down by a horrible virus last week, and in attempt to get some fresh air we headed to our favourite local park.  It is always fun to go to the park, but is now so much more fun that baby boy is big enough to actually 'play' at the park.  He played on the slide, with the music area and on the swing.  

I was listening to a radio program last week that talked about how our kids are really in danger of never having a relationship with nature.  The speaker said that because of a lack of green spaces that our kids can own and explore they will lose the chance to really feel comfortable with nature and all the gifts that that brings to a child.  I know how much baby boy just loves to go outside to play and I am so glad that we live in a country with weather that allows him to do that most of the time

My goal is to try and regularly take baby boy into nature so he can develop that 'relationship' with God's beautiful creations.  Does that mean camping?  I hope so! (hint...hint to man of the house)

My little blue cow

This is a very bad photo of my little blue cow 'delft' handpainted milk jug.  He looks a lot better in real life!  He was purchased in a cute little antique/shabby Chic store on Mount Tamborine.  I love antique stores in little villages.  

I love the idea of owning something that is really old and has not been mass produced.  One day, when we renovate our kitchen, I will have white benchtops and cute white shelves to display my antique finds.  But until then I have my little cow (which after searching the internet I found is not very old...and may not be very authentic) to remind me of sunny white kitchens where the dishes are always done and there is always time for afternoon tea.

Lights out and fairtrade chocolate

OK, So I know it was a few weeks ago now, but I haven't got to the blog in a while so I thought that I would fill you in on my spearmint green activites this month. 

The first was participating in Earth Hour on 27th March.  It started out great with me doing two Enjo Demo's during the day and encouraging everyone that I saw to turn out their lights that night at 8:30pm.  I really like Earth Hour because it is so simple to do and really reminds us that we don't have to be so reliant on electricity.  (Not that I am going to move to a power free home any time soon!).  When it came to me actually carrying out on my Earth Hour plan it was a little harder than I thought.  One reason was because it was just me and baby home by ourselves (and who wants to sit in the dark by themself), and the second reason was that I had a slight headache....which wan't helped by using the scented candles to light the room I was in.  I made it to about 45minutes and decided that having one small light on (so I could blowout the smelly candles) wouldn't be so bad ;0)  In my defence I am pretty power consciece anyway e.g. turning off standby appliances at the wall and making sure the minimum ammount of lights are on.  I mainly do this to reduce our electricity costs...which seem to be spiralling higher with each bill.  So that was Earth Hour.

The next event was Easter and me signing up to a facebook group which promised to only buy Fairtrade chocolate for Easter. (I probably should have reminded myself that joining a facebook group is not a binding legal contract).  Well it really wasn't easy to find fairtrade easter eggs...so most of my family received blocks of plain chocolate...and very little at that.  Man of the house and I also baked Easter Cookies which were a lot cuter than chocolate also.  I really agree with fairtrade principles, but am stuck by the fact that most fairtrade products aren't made in Australia...so it is a bit of a balancing act when trying to decide what brand to purchase.

So those were my two little greener projects this month.  It feels good to find a cause you identify with and try to contribute to it in even a very small way...