Day 5 - Energy

Today was about using as little energy as possible.

We do this in many small ways already, so it wasn't a massive change for us.

We turn off lights when not in use, use the quick wash on the washer and dishwasher. We dry our clothes on the line, we don't use a hairdryer to dry our hair.

I have a little tip though that we started doing this week though. Boil a kettle full of water when you make your morning cuppa and then put the boiling water that is left into a flask. Ours stays steaming hot for hours and when you drink as much tea as we do it's great to save a little energy...and not have to wait for the kettle to boil each time

Day Four - Food

The idea today, is to buy seasonal, locally produced food. Avoiding packaging as much as possible too.

This should be fairly easy. We have been doing this pretty much since the start of the project and before too...

I don't understand why some companies package fruits and veges...what a waste! They don't need to be packaged.

It's funny actually. I went to the bakery yesterday and I had forgotten to bring a green bag so I just said to the girl behind the counter that I didn't need a bag. She looked at me like I was mental and asked if I wanted a carrier bag instead..."erm no thanks, I'll just carry it". Heaven forbid I carry a loaf of bread for my family.

Anywho...I wrapped the bread in muslin when I got home and it has stayed just as fresh as if it was in a stinkin' plastic wrapper. Plus, it was so yum that it didn't have a change to go funny at the ends as it got eaten up.

I plan on making some little bags out of muslin, for stuff like mushrooms and smaller items that need individual bags (grapes, mandarins etc).

Day three - Transport

Well, we changed our gas guzzler to a prius which is definitely a step in the right direction.

I wanted to walk to and from school with Adam, but this isn't working as well as I had planned. It's a 6km trip for the little fella (all up) and it's more than his little legs can handle. Even on a scooter.

So we have agreed that we will only walk in the morning and I will pick him up from school in the car on the way home.

Hopefully, when I can find a decent second hand bike, he will be able to ride the whole way there and back.

:)

Day Two of the No Impact Project - TRASH!!!

Ok...it's a pile of garbage... I know that! It's not quite as cute as the pictures we normally look at. But for me it's been an experience.

The beer is all Marks and I know that we should be avoiding waste, but this particular beer company also does kegs which you can refill and refill and refill :) Happy me because from now onwards we will not be disposing of beer bottles and happy Mark because he still gets beer...and pretty tasty beer by all accounts.

The milk cartons are a little misleading as there are three empties. It just so happened that two of them only had a teeny bit left (yes I know, my family often have more than one carton open).

Same with the wine bottle, I used the remaining wine in my risotto. So no, I didn't have a full bottle of wine :(

The papers are school letters - why they can't e-mail us the information I do not know...maybe something I could suggest.

Lastly there is a bottle of Sukin, which is a body wash product. It's a nice product and pretty 'clean' as they say. It only has a small amount of preservative in it and the rest is natural. However the last scrap here is a wrapper from the soap that I will now be buying instead of plastic bottles. The paper can be composted and there is no waste!! Yay!

Lastly there is a pile of veggie scraps which would ordinarily be composted, but we are moving house in two weeks so it is a little unrealistic to be composting now :)

We use washable nappies and wipes, so no waste there and when we went to the market yesterday we brought our own drinks and only bought stuff that was not packaged...like fruit and pretzels :)

No Impact Week - day one

My family and I have been inspired to follow Colin Beavan's No impact Week.

I first saw this on Nikki from WR's blog.

Day one is Sunday (today) and it's all about consumption.

Which in a nutshell means STOP BUYING STUFF. To be honest we are pretty good in this regard. My aim is to improve our practices and to find some ways of doing things better.

So today our 'to-do' list includes;

- List all the stuff we need to buy this week, and try to limit to the stuff that we really need.
- Fill a re-useable bag with ALL of our rubbish for the day.
- Try not to buy anything new.

Check out more details here

Have a great day :) I'll be putting more information on here about how we get on and the changes that we make :)

BIG NEWS...

Well, in less than four weeks this will be our new home. It is a beautiful California Bungalow located near the coast (Victoria, Australia). It has been restored to its current state by the previous owners. There is still a lot of work to be done...

Sanding floors,

re-do kitchen,

lay flooring in kitchen,

fencing,

window fittings

to name a few...

But I CAN NOT WAIT. I will make this house the most beautiful, homely home my family could ever wish for. I am so looking forward to sharing everything with you.. .so my sewing is likely to be very 'home' based as well as including some DIY along the way. I hope to keep up my clothes sewing too.

I will post more pics of the house as and when.

The official move date is the 7th of May... yippee!!!

A skirt for me...from fabric I bought for Sophie...sorry Soph :(

I got this idea from Disney... as soon as I read her post I knew what I would use.

In my 'ready to be chopped up' pile I had my maternity belt tube thing..you know, the thing you wear around your middle to cover your expanding tummy, and allowing you to wear 'normal' clothes for a little longer...not much longer thought, if you eat like I do when I'm pregnant :)

Anyway, I made a smaller and shorter tube and attached this fabric to it. This fabric was supposed to be for Sophie, but I couldn't resist...and she has so many clothes at the moment that she can't possibly wear them all before she grows again. That is my justification anyway :)

The top picture was made in a flash, but as you can see, it is way too big and bunches up around the band.

So I took it in and I LOVE IT!

Please excuse my puffy/red face... bleedin' allergies :(

Nappies...and a bit of a gross story :)

This was a super simple project. I was actually given about 4 yards of green towelling fabric months ago and only used a tiny bit of it for the back of some pretty bibs, but still had heaps left.

Our lovely chocolate lab is the grossest dog ever and managed to get into the dirty nappy bin...I know...so gross. She wasn't very careful about where she dragged them or which ones she ate either.

So, we have a nappy shortage problem... I said to Mark 'I'm going to have to buy some new nappies' and at about $20 each, they are not cheap. Then I remembered that I can sew a little...so I did!!!

I simply traced the old nappy (the ones that had not been eaten), and serge/overlocked all around the edge. I did some in different thickness' too. Just cut and layer to the thickness that you need and voila... The original nappies have elastic-y bits and an extra bit of towelling in the middle, but I have not noticed any difference in the thick ones I made and the originals. I love the thin ones too, perfect for the day time as it means Sophie's nappies are not so bulky.

I could easily have spent $100 replacing the eaten nappies, but this cost me only in thread and electricity :)

Burnout

It's been a mega few days... we have LOVED all being together for Easter and have crafted and sewed our little hearts out.

My hubby even made a mailbox!!! Mr NONE Creative had been sprinkled by the craft fairy. It's 'rustic' as he says. I reckon it's a bird box (then I can stick it under a big tree where no-one can see.

I finished making a Christening gown for my niece (with the help of my Mum - yay for Mum). Planned a party outfit for one of my favourite friends little girls birthday. Made play dough, baked said play dough, painted it. Made an aeroplane, painted it! Gathered materials for two more birthday girls at the end of the month and plotted what they will eventually will look like. Made bootees, nappies, rosette, hairband and a dress for me and now....

I AM OFFICIALLY BURNT OUT!!!

Yes, I shouted :( I have been vexed and cross all day. Mark made me watch a really scary movie the night before last and I didn't sleep well at all that night. Then...our horrible new neighbours kept me awake 'till after midnight last night with their screaming kids and party antics!!! Not impressed. So, I apologise for shouting and please don't think it's personal, but Adam doesn't deserve to see me vexed and I am sure that most of you will understand.

At least I have plenty of stuff to blog about...just not right now, because I am officially EXHAUSTED.

Oh, and did I mention that even though my wonderful hubby has taken the babes off my hands so that I can wallow, I can't have a nap because there is building work going on next door :(