Doing the most good….

As we start to move to the end of 2019, the end of a decade, I wanted to share a link with you.   It is an interview by one of my personal heroes – Peter Singer – ethicist, philosopher, animal and human rights activist.   He is a man who I would love to have at my dinner table one day.  I love the way he thinks.    A lot of the way Mark and I live our lives today has stemmed in some way from the research and writings of Peter Singer.

Singer tackles a lot of issues;  utilitarianism, speciesism, effective altruism, veganism.   Lots of isms!   What it all adds up to for me, at least, is that we all have a moral imperative to be doing the best we can do.   That looks different for each of us, of course.  We all have varying levels of where we draw “the line”….  things that make us uncomfortable push us further away from perhaps doing the most good.   But doing a little good is still better than doing nothing at all.

So have a read of the link above, perhaps over the holiday season.  I would love to know what you think of some of the ideas.  As we move once again into the New Year’s Resolutions phase of the year, does it motivate you to take action in any particular way?

If you would like a free gift (and a longer read, perfect for over the holidays) click here, where you can download a free copy of the 10th anniversary edition of The Life You Can Save.   Think of it as the gift that keeps on giving.    Ha ha.

Happy New Year, readers.  May 2020 give us all perfect vision!  (sorry, couldn’t resist)

Earth Day – an alternative to the plastic bag that lines your rubbish bin

Happy Earth Day everyone!  Over the past number of years (a decade perhaps?) we have been steadily reducing our plastic consumption / use.  Happily, Western Australia will FINALLY be implementing a ban on single use plastic bags from 1 July 2018.

One of the discussions that seems to come up a LOT is “I NEED my plastic bags to line my rubbish bin!”   OMG!!! WHAT WILL I DO WITHOUT PLASTIC BAGS!???   (Seriously people.   Chill!).   It’s all good.  What I have been doing for the past year or so has been lining my bin with newspapers.  I still have those “produce plastic bags” (from the archive), so this pic shows it being used as a liner – which I then put the newspaper liner in.  (NB:  not anymore!  But it was there when the photo was taken).  

It is an easy, origami type thing that takes me about ten minutes a week, which I do with some of the weekend paper (the only day of the week we buy the newspaper).  You can look on You Tube for “bin liner replacement” or similar, and find a whole lot of videos on how to do this.  It is definitely not difficult, but I found I had to watch the video for the first few weeks.   But now it is like any habit;  ingrained in the grey cells!

But what about WET things, I hear your ask?  Ah yes… “wet things”.  Well, newspapers aren’t the greatest for these things of the non-dry world.  I keep a small container that I use for non-compostable items.  Then each week I wrap that small amount in newspaper before popping it in the bin.   It has never been a problem.

As with any change, (and people seems to hate change!) it just takes getting used to.   It is a normal part of my weekly routine, and I love the smaller impact we are having on landfill.   Every little bit helps, right?   Would love to hear about your successes in this!

Plastic Free July – some trials during Week 1 (and a win!)

We decided to sign up for Plastic Free July. We already “do” a lot of the things to minimise our waste, particularly plastic. But it is always good to have something like this to keep it at the forefront of your mind and raise your general level of consciousness about plastic waste.

Interestingly, we had already “failed”, only hours into our July! Saturday morning dawned, and we had only just the previous week signed up for an eight week subscription to have our newspapers delivered on the weekend. Bad choice! Might have saved some money, but every Saturday and Sunday, we get the delivery of our papers wrapped in plastic! eek! Wasn’t really part of the plan. A good learning though, so we certainly won’t be renewing this (temporary) subscription.

On on! Later in the day, as we headed off to get some groceries, it was a no-brainer to bring our grocery bags, which are always in the car, along with our onya fruit and veg mesh bags. Had to remember to pack along our “keep cups” though, so that we could have our takeaway coffee and stay within our “plastic free” July and away from the evil disposable coffee cups!

Another challenge met us the following day, however, as I started to think about packing for an upcoming trip. I tend to use my “daily disposable” contact lenses when I travel, but alas! It is throw away plastic. Argh. Not sure about this one. Haven’t yet decided if I am going to bring along my usual monthly disposables, or just live with the (guilt?) of daily disposables while I am away.  A bit of a summary on the good, the bad and the ugly on disposable contact lenses, versus glasses, etc…  can be found here.

Porridge sachets – a no no that we hadn’t considered!

The other challenge on the Sunday morning was for Mark, as he was fuelling up his body for the 100 km or so cycle ride he was about to embark on. He just popped a porridge sachet into a bowl (something warming on these cold winter mornings!) but alas! More throw away plastic. Damn!  (Update:  I went onto the site for our porridge sachets, and I see that although they sell plain old rolled oats in a cardboard box, none of their (yummy) instant porridge with various delicious add-ins are available in “bulk”.   Bummer!)

voila! ready to use. Will happily keep on with this idea after Plastic Free July is done.

HOWEVER!  Not all was lost this week.   I took advantage of our (plastic covered) weekend newspaper, and made a bunch of paper bin liners.   A bit of origami fun, and it will be an easy transition to keep doing this long after July.  Here is a bit of what it looked like for me:  (NB:  I have kept a plastic bag in the rubbish bin in case of wet spills, but I am not expecting any huge dramas!)

A bit of creative origami that even I could do!

Popped these newspaper liners in with a plastic bag in case of wet spills.

If nothing else, this month is certainly highlighting for us where we can improve. It is also highlighting that maybe we aren’t as good about being “plastic free” as thought!   On on to Week 2.

Prepackaged Japan

Sometimes we buy our dinner meal at a supermarket, as a way of keeping costs down, getting fresh fruit and veg, and trying local foods. There are many pre-packaged meals that are ready to eat, healthy and delicious. However, enjoying these meals certainly comes at an environmental cost. The Japanese love their packaging.  
Everything is wrapped. Bento boxes, rice balls, salads. All in plastic. Soy sauce, wasabi? Available. In tiny little plastic sachets. Chopsticks? Yup. Wrapped (think also massive deforestation, as the takeaway business is big business here. Thats a lot of wooden chopsticks that get chopped down from trees). Plastic spoons and forks. Plastic wrapped in plastic.  

The Japanese also love their beautifully wrapped presents, often food stuff from specific regions, highlighting the specialty of the area. They make great looking gifts, but inside is _______ (insert whatever the food stuff is here), often again individually packaged. Think a dozen sakura (cherry blossom) shaped biscuits. All in a gift box, wrapped in plastic, then put in a plastic bag, and EACH INDIVIDUAL biscuit is also wrapped, once you get inside the box! It seems crazy to us.

Even when we go to checkout at the supermarket, and bring our little reusable shopping bag, it is often met with some disbelief. But hey. We are kind of getting used to that look. Because it is very similar to the look we get when we tell people here that we are vegetarian. On, on! 

Even the bananas are individually wrapped! WTF?!?

Veganary Update: Week 3

We are trucking along quite nicely. Interestingly, we don’t really feel “deprived” (like we thought we might, missing out on cheese, in particular!). Mark is probably still missing his cow’s milk in his coffees, though. But overall, we are doing well.

I was trying to think of what is “different” this month in our diet, and some observations I have noticed (coming from a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet), is this:

Mexican food – one of our staples during Veganary

• we probably eat more Mexican themed meals – the refried beans are a great and easy source of protein, along with the avocado. We don’t miss the cheese addition much, because the Mexican flavours pack a punch
• a bit more of a focus on snacking to include protein sources. So for me, that means having a handful of nuts every now and again. Mark is already pretty nuts about nuts, so probably no difference for him!
• way more diligence about label reading at the grocery store. Some surprises in the ingredient lists on some staple items – like olive tapenade. Was hard to find one that didn’t have anchovies as an ingredient!
• bought a chewable B12 supplement. Probably not a huge deal if we revert back to our vegetarian diet, but you can’t be too sure! A good (vegan) friend of ours has pernicious anaemia, and requires B12 injections, so we are aware of the necessity to have enough B12 in our diet.

Was pleasantly surprised to hear that other friends of ours are also having a go at Veganary. Word is clearly getting out! And much love to our dear militant vegan friends (who shall remain nameless), who have been delightfully supportive of our attempts. We love ya!

We watched the great documentary “Conspiracy” last night.  It has been on our “to watch” list for quite a while now, but we thought it a good idea to make sure we viewed it while we were actually vegans!   Both of us thought it would be quite brutal re: graphic shots on animal cruelty.   And although there were two moments when both of us closed our eyes, overall this documentary is great, and it ISN’T all about abattoir shots, caged hens, etc… it is all about the number one causes of climate change (spoiler alert:  it ISN’T what you might think).  Highly recommended.  Particularly if you call yourself an environmentalist!

Finally, I feel “lighter”.   And I know this probably won’t be a surprise to fellow vegans.  But I was a bit surprised at this change.   Have to assume it is associated with the lack of cheese in our diet (rather than the eggs).   A good friend has suggested that when we re-introduce cheese and eggs into our diet, we do it one at time, just to see what it is that causes the heavier feeling.   A good idea!   Will let you know how it goes.

Veganary Week 2 – finding an all vegan shop

Well, we have finished about half of our Veganary month. In my last post, I mentioned a real score, which was finding an ALL VEGAN store literally just up the road from where we live. We had actually known it was there for a few weeks, but hadn’t gotten around to dropping in to check it out. Mighty glad we have now, though!

The shop is called La Vita Vegan Grocery, and you can check out their Facebook page here. Natalie (pictured in the shop), is the owner, and was super friendly, helpful and pretty much just amazing!

This small place ticks a lot of boxes for us, Vegan or not! Here are just a few:

• It is small, local place to shop for groceries.   We already boycott Coles and Woolies, and enjoy getting most of our fruit and veg at the local farmer’s market.   Whatever we can’t find there, we buy at the independent grocery stores (IGA or Farmer Jack’s).   But this is also going to be a go-to place for us.   Small businesses only succeed when people vote with their pocketbooks.
• It is wonderful to see a niche like veganism being filled!   Perth doesn’t have the “big city” options like our other big cities do, so we are always going to support ventures that open up Perth’s doors just a little bit wider to the wonderful world out there!
• Go the girls!  Love to see young women succeed in their business ventures.  Natalie is ambitious, friendly and happy to share her experiences as a vegan with her customers.  I can see that she will be a success in this venture.

In other news with our Veganary journey this week, Mark is slowly expanding his world view of soy milk with coffee.   He has now tried (two successes, one failure) a soy long macchiato.   So options are opening up for the man.  Yay.   But we did have to turn down two beautiful looking bites of yumminess yesterday at a coffee shop who gives you little bites of delightfulness when you order your coffee.   Alas, no vegan options there.   On the plus side, it probably saved some calories.

Two weeks down, two weeks to go.

A Simpler Life – and what that means for this blog!

As we are rapidly approaching the end of another year, I thought I would send us off into the New Year with some thoughts around living (more) simply.  After just having celebrated some holidays with loved ones, I noticed that many people seem exhausted from the effort, rather than rejuvenated.  Whilst I won’t go into the whole “expectation, tradition, pleasing others” experience, suffice it to say that everyone seems to breathe a collective sigh of relief in the days after Christmas, when the relatives have (largely) left, the leftovers are (largely) consumed, and day to day living can get back to normal.

Then a mere week later, things gear up again for people to don the “resolution” hat, and doggedly dig out the trainers, dust off the bicycle, or find that gym membership card.  Lose weight, stop smoking, drink less, blah blah blah.  Most resolutions have fallen by the wayside before the end of January!   Speaking from personal experience, I generally try to avoid the gym during January, because it is just far too busy with the “New Year’s Resolved”.   Things settle down nicely, back into the groove by early February.  Which is when I return to the fold.

But what has all this got to do with a Simpler Life?  Simply this.  Doing less, wanting less, and consuming less are all good things.   And if we live more simply, we simply have more time to do, enjoy, and experience the things that really matter.   For us, this means that 2015 will bring a renewed focus on volunteering locally, and spending more time on minimalist pursuits (gardening, reading, and even keeping more regular posts coming on this blog!).

If you have some time, I’d recommend this article, which talks about the Simple Life in terms of community, and what we can be doing in our own neighbourhoods.  It is a bit Walden / Utopia idealist, but I like the concept.  I hope you enjoy!  And may 2015 bring you more time, more joy, and more LESS!   ; )