The Fourth R - ReWear

We recycle, we renew, we re-use, it's now time to re-wear ( outer clothes, I mean!!!)

Re-wearing cuts down on washing and helps make your clothes last longer.

Strategies for introducing re-wearing into your household.

1. Have 'town clothes' and 'house clothes'. You get dressed in your house clothes, do your jobs and then put your tidy clothes on to go to town, meet friends for coffee, have an appointment etc. When you return home, hang your 'town clothes' up, after all you have only worn them for an hour or so and continue working in your 'house clothes'. This will help your 'good clothes' last longer as they are no being worn as much.

2. Wear an apron when you are cooking and cleaning to protect your clothes.

3. Your children can have a set of 'after school clothes' that could last quite a few days. They can change out of their uniforms and be in their play clothes for those few hours between school and bath time. They can then fold those clothes up before bedtime and get another afternoon out of them.

Some days these strategies are completely impractical! Especially when after school activities include digging in the garden and playing in the mud.

I am certainly not advocating that we get around the place looking and smelling like an old tramp, but in a world where we wear things for one hour and then advertisers tell us that they must be washed with expensive brand named powder, with an added 'brightener' to the wash, followed by a fabric softener and ironed whilst being sprayed with a fresh smelling ironing aide, there are lots of opportunities to re-wear some outer clothing. It's great for the environment, it saved us money and most of all cuts down the amount of washing.

It's worth thinking about.

A Generous Spirit ..... and a Give-Away......

Recently I was overwhelmed by the generosity of Tracy from Sunny Corner Farm. I had entered a giveaway on her site and happened to win. She sent me some produce from her local area. There was a few different types of award winning pasta from Bellata Gold ( Produced in Tamworth NSW) and products from Demeter Farm Mill ( Produced near Gunnedah NSW). All products were certified organic!

I would like to continue the spirit of giving. I have some products from Ecostore. They are a New Zealand success story! I love to hear about little companies that start out small and have tremendous success. They started as a mail order business in a basement. This company produces a wide range of products where the back of the product says exactly what I like to read:

Can you see that ? No petrochemicals. No phosphates. No Nitrates. No chlorine. No synthetic dyes or perfumes. They do laundry, personal care and a gardening range.

You can get a free sample of their washing powder if you live in Australia or New Zealand. http://www.ecostore.co.nz/ The liquid smells like pure eucalyptus. It reminds me of the cough lollies we used to have when we had a cold when I was in primary school.

I am giving away some moisturiser, baby soap and baby balm. Would you like to receive it ? Even if you don't have a baby I am sure the soap and moisturisers will suit your skin just fine!

I certainly don't mind posting internationally. I also have some other goodies to package up for you. One of the items is a book I received in a swap from a reader in Pennsylvania. It is a fabulous book about keeping things simple! I have learnt many great principles from it and it is now time to pass it on so the wisdom can be shared.

All you need to do to win the package is to put a little note on your blog site to tell people why you like A Vision Splendid and that there is a give away happening here. If you don't have a website simply send an email to your friends telling them why you like A Vision Splendid.

After you have done your post or sent your email, place a comment on this post or send me an email ( address at left) and I will happily enter you into the drawer.

I am very excited to be able to do a give-away. I remember how exciting it was receiving my package from Tracy.

COMPETITION CLOSES: MONDAY 3rd NOVEMBER - 5pm ( SYDNEY AUSTRALIA TIME )

Good Luck everyone.

These are Exciting Times

Who would have thought so much joy was here awaiting me. Today I crunched into a carrot that was so crispy and sweet that it tasted like a fresh coconut!

There are tomatoes just bursting off the bushes. They are almost ready to come inside and ripen on their vines. There are grape tomatoes and Grosse Lizzy. The carrots, oh boy, there are SO many carrots..... and beans...... won't be long and we will be drowning in them! I can't wait to supply friends with fresh produce. I remember my two Nannas exchanging things when I was a child. Do you remember, before plastic bags, things like fresh beans were wrapped in damp newspaper and had a rubber band wrapped around them ? I will be reviving this tradition FOR SURE! LOL

This picture is of one our our newer beds. They measure about 2 metres by 1 metre. We are a living proof that you do not need a lot of space in order to produce your own food. This is a highly productive little garden. There are loads of carrots, two tomato bushes and huge area for climbing beans. We thought that to produce some of our own food we would need to have a huge area, even maybe an acre of land and that we may have to move. This is such a myth! You can have a very productive garden in a very small space. Our first tomato plant was in a pot! You can plant three lettuces with leaves that you constantly pick in a pot about 40 cm in length. That will do you all summer!

Today I heard Maggie Beer talking on the radio about cooking. The presenter said that it was difficult for people to cook from scratch because we just don't have the time. I was so impressed by her answer. She said the idea was total rot! All it takes to be able to cook a meal is a little planning! She said with some planning and a well stocked larder it is actually quicker to cook from scratch than it is to drive to the takeaway, place your order, wait for your order and drive home again. I remember Jamie Oliver proving this by phoning for a Pizza whilst on stage and then making one and having it ready well before the delivery boy arrived.

So, I guess if it's not a time factor, it must be a "can't be bothered" factor! I know I suffer from it sometimes!

These are some other tomatoes that are growing up the side of the driveway. This spot faces west and is not a 'garden bed' as such. It is just an area that we used to have to pull the weeds out of from time to time. Now it is a wonderful productive garden.

Let me tell you ........ these are exciting times.

Family Eco Challenge

When we first began this blog, one of our focuses was our Family eco Challenge . We designed areas of focus and worked hard at reducing them. That was 18 months ago. Many of the things we were struggling with back then, have now become every day activities.

Now it is time to take it to the next level. We will do another Family Eco Challenge and try and improve our numbers once again.

The original areas were:
Energy

Water

Transport

Garbage

Consumption

Here are the original ideas that we brainstormed:

1. Energy

a) Turn off lights when not in use

b) turn off appliances at the wall

c) Have shorter showers

d) install energy efficient light bulbs

e) use re-chargeable batteries

2. Water

a) shorter showers and water saving showerheads

b) catch cold water when waiting for hot to come through – use this to fill water bottle and kettle

c) wash up in the small sink

d) flush when necessary

e) install water tanks

3. Transport

a) Ride bikes to school and work

b) Limit trips to town – by planning and grouping trips

c) Get Dad to ride motorbike to town for smaller items/ errands

d) Walk

e) Find cheaper fuel, drive more economically

4. Garbage

a) Compost Food Scraps

b) Stop Getting Plastic Bags

c) Buy items with less packaging

5. Consumption

a) Don’t buy unnecessary things

b) Work on a cash budget

c) Use things sparingly-

d) Do instead of buy – make it yourself.

When I look back at this list it looks so easy, but when we first start out it was quite a stretch.

Now we will move to the next level.

We haven’t had our family meeting to brainstorm ideas yet, but I am thinking of possibilities like:

Can we make more and buy less ?

Can we drastically cut electricity usage ?

Can we not set foot in a supermarket for a month ?

Can we go ‘zero waste’ for a week or (gulp) a month ?

Can we run tank water through the whole house?

I look forward to what the family will come up. Children are so open to new and exciting ideas!

Are you interested in doing a Family Eco-Challenge ? What do you think your family could do ?
I would love to hear some feedback from my readers. I am not sure if I am just talking to myself here LOL – drop me a line!