Down to Earth Mother - green living for busy mums

Should you shop at the supermarket?

May 24, 2013

Oh my. A tricky one… Supermarkets, despite their best efforts, are not exactly sustainable. Here are just some of the issues involved: excessive food miles, imported products, rows and rows of packaged and processed foods, energy use, plastic bags, marketing tactics to encourage you to buy more than you need. The list goes on and on, and I anticipate a few other suggestions in the comments (go on, let rip!).

In Australia, we are in the unique situation of having just two supermarket chains control up to 85 percent of the grocery market. (Other countries have at least four competing for your trolley dollars). The danger of this duopoly is that consumers are at the mercy of prices fixed by these two giants, local businesses/producers suffer – or completely disappear – and that we are trusting two corporations with our most precious commodity: food.

It should be a no-brainer – if you’re at all concerned about the environment, community and sustainability then you should avoid supermarkets, right?

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Green your workspace: five quick tips

May 23, 2013

Whether you work full-time, part-time or between Fireman Sam theme songs like me, you can green up your office space with a few good habits and a bit of foliage.

My office is a two-by-three metre crannie (it doesn’t even qualify as a nook) off to the side of the living room. The best thing about it is the floor-to-ceiling window in front of my desk. This is also the worst thing about it – as I do most of my work at night, it’s like working in an illuminated fishbowl. Hello neighbours! It’s me, working again. No, I don’t watch The Voice.

Anyway, today I’d like to share with you some ideas on how to make your work space a little cleaner and a little greener. All these tips can be applied to a home office or workplace.

Get some leafy greens
Did you know that pot plants clean the air and deal with airborne nasties like VOCs (volatile organic compounds)? The air around your computer, printer and other gadgets can be particularly toxic thanks to the chemicals used to make and preserve them, particularly flame retardants. Studies have shown that plants in workspaces increase productivity by regulating the environment. For a great list of suitable plants, click here.

Recycle or refill your ink cartridges
Printer cartridges contain valuable metals, plus ink, toner powder and plastics that can be recycled. Since 2003, Planet Ark has collected more than 21 million cartridges, which are made into pens, fences or park benches. Collect your cartridges then take them to Officeworks, JB Hi-Fi, Australia Post, Harvey Norman, Dick Smith or The Good Guys. Your workplace might even be eligible for a free collection box. See Cartridges for Planet Ark for more info.
Another option is to buy refillable cartridges. I have a Canon printer, which means that instead of paying $50 for a replacement cartridge, I can get it re-filled at Cartridge World for $14. Love that!

Print lightly
Wherever possible, print on both sides of the paper, and of course that’s after you’ve asked yourself, “do I really need to print this?” Use recycled paper and select greyscale or fast printing to conserve ink. While we’re talking eco-settings, remember to dim your computer screen to save power.

Clean beneath your desk
Apparently the space beneath your home-office desk is one of the most toxic in the house thanks to chemical-laden dust from your computer, phone, desk, chair, permanent markers and so on. This is just great if you have kids crawling around under the deck while you are trying to work. Keep it clean by regularly vacuuming or sweeping. A rug beneath the chair that can be washed is another idea.

Switch off
It seems obvious, but turning everything off when not in use is the easiest way to reduce your office’s energy load. I’m as guilty as anyone of slamming my laptop shut and going to bed, trying to ignore that little green light. In fact, one of my new year’s resolutions was to shut down the computer every night, but still it doesn’t always happen. So let’s try harder! Turn it off! Turn it ALL off!

These are just a few ideas. I’d love to hear more from you – how do you save energy or create a low-tox working environment?

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Five Fair Trade favourites

May 20, 2013

Fair Trade Fortnight has come to a close, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy fair trade food, drinks, textiles and even sports balls all year round.

Before I tell you about some of my fair trade favourites, you might be wondering, what is the difference between fair trade and Fairtrade? “Fair Trade”, written as two words, is used to describe the worldwide movement. Fairtrade is certification by Fairtrade International that guarantees you’re getting ethical standards for your money. Look for the symbol above on the packaging. Note that not all fair trade products will be certified, but when buying the highly competitive products such as chocolate and coffee, look for the label.

If you want to know more about why you should seek out fair trade options, see my previous post. As promised, here are some great goods and services to get your started!

Alter Eco chocolate
Think Fair trade, think chocolate! Well, this chocolate is simply incredible. I found it in my local organics store when I was on the hunt for dairy-free chocolate that rocked. Not only did it rock, it popped – one of my favourite varieties has pockets of crispy quinoa goodness that burst in your mouth. Grown organically in Peru and Ecuador then shipped to Switzerland to be made into chocolate, these beans aren’t short on food miles, but if you love chocolate then that is something you have to find a way to offset. Alter Eco pays more than 5000 farmers a fair wage, protects rainforests and makes chocolate that you’d sell your kids for. That makes them one of my faves.

Jinta Sports balls
Next time you buy your kids a footy ball, stop and think about where it came from. Did you know that the Sialkot district in Pakistan supplies 70 percent of the world market for soccer balls? Did you know that child labour and horrendous working conditions were rife in this industry? Well now you do. Jinta Sports is an Aussie company that produces fair trade sports balls, including soccer, basketball, netball, Aussie rules and rugby union balls. It’s not just the workers in Pakistan who benefit from this enterprise, Jinta Sports also supports Indigenous sports programs at home.

Nature’s Cuppa tea & coffee
I don’t actually drink black tea or instant coffee, but I have it on good authority that this is the best you can buy in the supermarket – and it’s fair trade and organic. The lovely people at Nature’s Cuppa donated a big selection of their teas and coffee to my community choir, and every week – I swear it’s true – someone will remark on how delish the tea is. I love Nature’s Cuppa’s green and herbal teas, and the company’s commitment to sustainability. Their packaging is minimal and recyclable and the teabags compostable.

Andable
Andable, as in “willing and able” is an online store selling clothing, homewares, toys and loads of other gorgeous things. Andable uses the FRESH labelling system, which means you can refine your search to match your principles. F stands for “Fair Trade or Better Business Practices”. So whenever you’re looking something for yourself or as a gift, you can click a button and find a fair trade options. Better still, ten percent of each purchase goes towards microloans for small business enterprises in developing countries. Love it!

Fairly Local
This new directory is a great tool to get you started on your fair trade shopping journey. Enter your suburb to find shops selling fair trade good near you, or browse by category. Fairly Local is wonderfully thorough, when you search your local area, you get more than just a listing – by clicking on the name of the store, you get a list of the actual products sold there as well. When you buy fair trade from locally owned businesses you get double Brownie points for bettering the world and your own community.

To find out more about any of my five favourite fair trade finds, click on the headings of each section above.

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This in not an eco tip

May 17, 2013

I’m interrupting my usual transmission to bring you some very exciting news. You may remember that my beautiful dog Vegas was very ill. We had to let her go not long after I wrote this post, and it was a sad, dark time for our little family.

The good news is that the children’s novel I was working on starring the inimitable rescue pup, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Text Prize 2013. This means I am one step closer to publishing her novel so she can live on forever.

I can’t tell you how excited I am about being shortlisted; I’ve wanted to write novels since I was about eight. I haven’t slept since I got the call on Tuesday. The winner will be announced on May 29. No matter what happens, I am on cloud nine. Everything I have done until now has led up to this.

This week just couldn’t get better. I must be resonating on a higher frequency or something because it feels like everything is going right. I’m surrounded by people whose kindness and generosity astound me, great things are happening with this blog, even the kids are little angels (most of the time).

So I wanted to say thank you to all my readers (and welcome to new ones) because YOU are a huge part of this incredible week and I am really feeling the love!

OK, no more soppy stuff, I’ll get back to work…

You can View the Text Prize Shortlist 2913 here.

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Why you should always wash new clothes

May 15, 2013

Along with turning on the exhaust fan every time you cook, wearing sensible shoes while mowing the lawn and removing poo from disposable nappies, “wash before wearing” is one of the most widely ignored instructions in the home. If you look closely, you’ll find it on most of your clothing, plus linens, towels and underwear.

Is it really necessary to wash new clothes before wearing them? The answer is yes, and if children are going to come into contact with them, then definitely yes!

The main reason is because new clothing is doused with a preservative called formaldehyde. It’s used to preserve dead things – frogs in jars, corpses, communist leaders, that kind of thing. When it comes to clothing and textiles, formaldehyde is used to make the fabric look brighter, to reduce wrinkling or to prevent mould from growing when the item has to travel long distances – from Asia to your local shopping centre, for example.

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