So busy doing….

It’s been a long time between posts. The truth is that we get so busy doing that it’s hard to find time to write about it all. But I’ve come to realise that writing and “reporting” on what we do is a great way to keep on track and remain accountable for our actions in the world. The last post I wrote was before Earth Hour so I definitely have a lot to report, but I’ll try to stick to a recap on what we’ve already started blogging about.

Earth Hour is a special time for our family. I think it’s so special because, when we actually turn all the power off, we get to sit and chat and be together as a family without all the modern day distractions. We spent the hour, actually about three hours, by soy candlelight chatting about the many things we have done for our planet in the last year and giving ourselves a pat on the back. It’s an important part of the process to actually acknowledge our efforts because, let’s face it, not all changes are easy. We also talked about the importance of what we are doing. That’s always an interesting conversation between a four year old animal lover, a nine year old human rights activist and a conservationist mum! It naturally led into chatting about what the coming year will bring for us and we ended the night feeling very excited about the ongoing changes that we are making.

Our commitment to buy nothing new this year is proving to be easier than I expected. Of course, there are times when the consumer in me is hard to ignore. But I generally don’t want for much and our needs are simple. If there is one thing that I think people need to grasp in order to change our planetary situation, it is that our needs are simple. When we have simplified our needs and the importance of the world we live in is at the forefront of our minds, the wanting tends to subside. I’ve made three purchases so far that weren’t on my essentials list. Two of those were in support of a business that was sadly closing it’s doors. They were educational and environmental purchases. The other was a laptop for Tommy. I took on the challenge of finding a better option than a brand new laptop and ended up with a factory repacked model. Not ideal, but the best we could do at the time. More on the ethics of electronics later.

Some other things that we have been involved with recently have been the amount of logging occuring in our backyard for the sake of Reflex paper, the plight of the Leadbeater’s Possum, opposing the development of a McDonald’s in our beautiful surroundings and being involved with some of the environmental education on offer in our schools and pre-schools. It’s on my to-do list to be more involved with this and I’m looking now at furthering conversations with those involved. It’s always inspiring to me to know that others are as interested in these things and I’m absolutely thrilled that my local school and pre-school are so open and involved in this journey.

Being surrounded by positive, like-minded people is such an important part of remaining on track. Our local sustainability group and Transition Towns group are continually opening my eyes to new things and making the task of conscious parenting a whole lot easier. I’m lucky to have a group of people around me who are so committed. Every month I’m exposed to new ideas and teaching through guest speakers with progressive ideas and wise elders who can teach me the simple forgotten tasks that just might be required in the future. As our world changes and our planet pays the price of our lifestyles, these are the people and teachings that keep me strong and positive. Our local Transition Towns group are running Sustainable Sundays to help us all learn those essential forgotten skills required to sustain ourselves in the face of climate change. A blog will be up and running soon where we will be sharing what is on offer and some of the community actions that we’ve been taking to ensure a stronger future community. Details to come.

Also to come, a recap on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity listening to the awesome and inspiring Jane Goodall, a list I’ve started to put together on education resources, books and dvds for understanding climate change and taking action, and some great information on palm oil and what can be done to change the lives of orangutans and other species relying on their disappearing habitat. Yes, I tend to do many things at once….

Deforestation in Our Backyard

I took a road trip yesterday. It was a result of many conversations I’ve had over the last few months about the amount of deforestation that is occurring through many of the native forest areas in our state. The battle is raging, as it has been for years, between environmental groups, state government departments, forestry management groups and paper manufacturers. More recently, the debate has hit the public eye in the form of boycotts of retail outlets, namely Officeworks. Officeworks are one of the biggest sellers of Reflex paper, which is a product of our native forests and, more alarmingly, contains a large proportion of old growth forest.

As the debate goes on around the ethics and validity of this practice, much of our native wildlife is suffering. A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to hear a speaker from the Friends of the Leadbeater’s Possum. Besides being the cutest things I have ever seen, the plight of this endangered species is heartbreaking. It’s also very symbolic of the lack of respect given to our environment when money is on the table. To find out more about their story, click here. The Leadbeater’s Possum has become a topic of many conversations in our household. Tommy and Lucie have decided that they want to do something to help and are now saving up to adopt one of the nest boxes that are providing a much needed home for them. 

Yesterday while I didn’t have the kids with me I took a look around some of their habitat to get a clearer picture of what is going on. As an environmentalist willing to take on the mainstream, often careless, opinions of others, I am regularly challenged and my opinions are attacked as being hearsay or unfounded. I’m of the opinion that the facts are just plain inconvenient to the indulgent lifestyles that we have come to expect.  What I saw is almost too hard to put into words, so instead of trying to paint the picture, I’ve put it together in a YouTube video. Please take the time to watch it. 

So, that’s what all the fuss is about. And it’s worth making a fuss. Reflex made from native forests is not necessary. We have more than enough options to choose from when it comes to paper. Homes for native wildlife and old growth carbon stores are necessary. Whether you agree with boycotting a retailer or not, it is possible to make a difference. Stop buying Reflex and choose something different. Or even adopt a nest box for a Leadbeater’s Possum.

McDonald’s? No, thank you!

This isn’t really the blog I intended to post today, but there are certain situations that I feel strongly about. And the events of the last two weeks with regard to my 4 year old have concerned me on many levels. Lucie started pre-school two weeks ago. On her second day she received an invitation to a birthday party. The invitation wasn’t handed to her by a new friend. It was tucked inside the pocket that is provided for parents notes. There was one in every pocket for every child. That’s 28 in total. What bothered me most about the invitation was that it was for a McDonald’s birthday party. Now I happen to think the world would be a better place without McDonalds, especially on the same premises as children’s hospitals, but the only thing I could think of worse than going to McDonalds would be ostracising Lucie by making her the only one not going. I’ve learnt how much embarrassment I can bring to my children before I am personally punished by them, so I said she could go.

The birthday party was to be a pyjama party. At least that sounded like fun to me. But then the tantrums started. The pyjamas she already owned weren’t good enough. She wanted pink ones with Barbie or Tinkerbell or Dora the Explorer – names that have rarely been mentioned in our house, but are apparently the topic of many conversations at pre-school. I had to draw the line and give her the option of wearing what she had or not going to the party. A week of tantrums later and she decided she would wear the pyjamas she already had, making it quite clear to me that all of the other girls would be wearing Barbie.

Since we are buying nothing new this year we thoroughly enjoyed getting creative together and making a little handbag that housed some felt dolls. Lucie was so in love with our creation that she has begged me to make them for her too. That was until we got to the party. She beamed as she gave her present and told her new friend that she had made it herself with her Mum. It was quite clear that this was not a popular option when her friend put it with her many other “lovely boxed presents”. By the end of the day that was four garbage bags full of lovely boxed presents! Thankfully this went over Lucie’s head but I was gob-smacked at how much rubbish this child was accumulating.

So I stood by and witnessed the party, listening to parents exclaim at the ease and fun of McDonalds and vowing to take their children there for their own parties. I watched the pink brigade strutting their stuff and comparing outfits. I looked on as children behaved in ways that were disrespectful and greedy. And I observed the general public stuffing huge amounts of rubbish into their mouths. At the counter I looked around for the nutritional information that is displayed but was disappointed to find a very brief outline of calories and recommended daily intakes. I asked the staff why they didn’t have recycling bins, since all of their packaging is recyclable. It took four staff members to finally decide that their waste was transported off-site and sorted into recyclable and non-recyclable items. Nobody could tell me which company did this or where I could find out. We left the party three hours later with two lolly bags filled with small plastic toys and huge amounts of sugar.

When I arrived home, I did a little research. This is a list of what Lucie consumed today:

Chicken, Water, Flour (Maize, Bleached Wheat), Salt, Canola oil, Thickener (1404), Raising Agents and Mineral Salts (341, 451, 450, 500, 541, 551, 327), Whey (Milk), Spice, Wheat Starch, Potato, Canola Oil & Sunflower Oil, Dextrose, Mineral Salt (450), Antioxidant (320), Concentrated Tomatoes, Sugar, Vinegar, Salt, Natural Flavours (Celery, Clove, Onion, Cayenne), Spice, Reconstituted Apple Juice, Food Acid (330), Flavour, Preservatives (211, 223), Vitamin C (300), Water, Cream, Sugar, Whey Powder (Milk) Glucose Syrup (from wheat), Skim Milk Concentrate, Confectionery [Sugar, Vegetable Fat (Emulsifiers (492, Soy Lecithin), Glucose (from wheat), Water, Colours (102, 110, 122, 123, 124, 133)) Maltodextrin, Cocoa, Emulsifier (471 from soy), Vegetable Gums (412, 466, 407a), Colours [150d (from wheat) 155, 123, 102, 133, 122], Flavours.

In marketing terms, that’s chicken nuggets, french fries, an apple juice and ice-cream cake. If something is listed more than once, it was in more than one product. Personally, this is the list I’d like to see displayed at the counter. I know McDonald’s receives a huge amount of negative publicity, but any food outlet that openly markets its products to children and then feeds them this is worthy of scathing criticism. I’ve heard many stories of poorly treated animals in the production of McDonald’s food and questionable sustainability practices. I can’t personally say these are true, but I can say that wherever I look to find information on these matters, I come up against a wall. Of course, their website sells a beautiful image. But I’m yet to find an accurate answer on where their rubbish is recycled, the original source of their animal and fish products or how they can justify their conditioning of young minds.

And yet the most disturbing part of all of this is how complacent parents can be. It is true that McDonald’s are irresponsible, but consumers have a choice and parents have a responsibility. McDonalds is just another link in the convenient chain of commercialism, where money is prioritised over people, animals and our environment. Consumers can choose not to take part in this. And we can choose to hold companies like these accountable for their actions. I know I’ll be following up all of the questions I have for McDonalds and will keep asking the questions until I have an answer. Our planet is worth it.

And as for children’s birthday parties, what ever happened to the backyard party, where kids wore their usual going out clothes, people shared home made food and played silly games and the highlight was the home-baked birthday cake? Bring back community and let kids be kids!

Buying Nothing New

Hi and welcome to our blog. If you’re not sure of the purpose of our blog, please read through the pages on the top tabs. It is a strange feeling to document our lives in a public forum, but we’re hoping it inspires others to think about the way we all live in our modern, consumer driven and over-industrialised world. We have a few ideas that we are discussing at the moment with regards to how we go about creating positive change in our lives. After a few conversations on how to achieve the goals that each one of us have, we’ve decided to take it one project at a time, exploring options thoroughly and making the best decisions we can along the way.

Our first goal for this year is to have a “Buy Nothing New” year. This is one way that we think we can personally make the most impact. There are so many reasons for us to take this step. The first is the production/consumption/disposal cycle that is so destructive to our planet in so many ways. From the destruction of natural habitats to the use of precious resources to the abuse of human rights involved with manufacture to the toxicity involved in all steps of the process, especially during the stage of disposal. But, as if we need any further reason, the amount of stuff we fill our lives with has proven to reduce our happiness levels and cause unnecessary social pressure, something that concerns me greatly as a parent. I don’t want my children measuring their worth by whether or not they fit in with current trends.

We watched “The Story of Stuff” together and decided that if we make the effort to buy nothing new, we would be reducing our impact on all stages of the cycle. I was concerned about watching it with the kids because I don’t think feeling guilty about the situation serves us. But it is a great overview and even kids can take responsibility and make conscious decisions. We obviously need to buy food and necessities that can’t be found second hand and we’ve made a list of those things. But everything else we will be sourcing from other avenues and reducing other people’s contribution to landfill. I’m not sure that we will completely succeed, but I do know that the goal itself is inspiring us to question our habits and make different choices that are more positive for more people and for the planet. And it is a step towards success.

If you haven’t done it already, I’d recommend watching “The Story of Stuff” and if you’re a parent, I’d recommend spending time talking to your kids about the reality of what’s going on in the world and brainstorming ideas about what you can do. It always amazes me what my kids come up with and how logically they can see the situation.