Things that make me happy

I have to admit that being green can sometimes be hard. Not that I am a super greenie, really I am just trying to live a healthier life and hoping to make my kids lives a little bit healthier as well.

My eldest daughter is 5 1/yrs old and I am now starting to see the fruits of my labour. My little girl only uses a stainless steel water bottle (must have her bottle with her at all times - her request), has her own eco bag and is an avid recycler.    She often switches things off telling me we are wasting electricity and goes mad when she sees litter on the street. Ah, I am a proud mum :)

I was so happy the other month when finally, after months and months of preaching to my sister about the dangers of reusing plastic water bottles, she finally switched over to stainless steel water bottles. She now loves them!  Water really does taste better in stainless steel.


My Sister's fridge :)


So we can make a change and by showing our children they accept it as part of their life. Sometimes we can convert family members or friends and that is just a bonus! Whether they continue on with these 'green habits' is another question but at least we have shown them the right way.

Eco bags - not just for green sake

Many years ago I decided to give eco bags a try.  I was living in Sydney with no car so often found myself on the bus or walking down the street trying to lug around my groceries and trying to avoid that horrible moment when the plastic bag rips and your groceries go everywhere!  So I am pretty sure my investment in my first eco bag was for vanity sake - I hate chasing rolling cans across the footpath, very embarrassing.

Years later they are just a part of life now and I couldn't imagine going back to plastic. I find I can pack a whole lot of groceries in them without the fear of the bag breaking and they don't cut into my hands.

When I started up Green Me OZ I searched for eco bags that were not only user friendly but looked a bit more appealing, especially to us chics.  I was so happy when I came across Envirotrend and their great range.  They look good and they fold up and can be easily stored in your handbag.

I've converted so many people to these bags and even did a fundraiser for my daughters school selling them.

So I must admit I ditched plastic to save face but ended up saving the environment...well sort of :)

Water bottles in the car

I was out for my daily walk the other day with my two girls.  It was a nice warm day and as we walked past a car I noticed that the person had left their plastic water bottle in the front - you know, right in front of the stereo where most people stick their bottles.  I wondered if that person was going to drink the rest of the water in that bottle or reuse the bottle. I hope not. Why you ask?  Well plastic bottles especially when reused or exposed to heat will release chemicals from the plastic water bottle into your drinking water. These chemicals including phthalates and BPA are proving to be very dangerous to your body as basically they are endocrine disruptor's. Doesn't sound good and it's not.

When you leave your car locked up the temperature rises significantly so you can image how hot that plastic bottle gets and how easily chemicals can be released from the plastic into the water.  Probably not something we usually think about but now with more information coming out about what those plastic bottles are made from it is time to be informed and change our habits.

Ditch the plastic!

Turn off the lights!

Do you ever get sick of turning off the lights after everybody? I know I do. Well it got me thinking, how can I get them to start turning off the lights? Hit them where it hurts! 

I've created a 'light jar' - everytime someone in our household 'accidently' leaves a light on they are slugged with a 'light fee'.  For grown-ups (and me included) this is $1.00 each time I catch them and for the kids it is .50 cents.   Makes them think twice before leaving a room and helps with the electricity bill.

Now to get started on the 'tv fee' for leaving the tv on or maybe just make it a 'stop wasting electricity!' jar  :)

The evil shower curtain

I was reading a very interesting article this morning about shower curtains. Sad but true.  Do you remember the smell when you open a brand new shower curtain? Well apparently that smell is no good for us. That smell is actually the off-gassing of chemicals from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic. One of the chemicals is a phthalate which studies are showing is disruptive to the endocrine system which ultimately may have many health effects.


It is recommended that you go for a cotton or bamboo shower curtain - something made from natural fibers.  Now you may have to clean it more often to keep the mold at bay but isn't that a good trade off compared to breathing in chemicals?

My plastic free journey - an outcome

As some of you might know I have started on the 'plastic free' journey. A huge journey but I am just taking it one step at a time.  A funny thing I have discovered though - my recycle bin has halved and my waistline is decreasing!

Through research that I do for my website and blog I have found out all sorts of information on what our plastic bottles and aluminium cans are lined with - all sorts of nasties that are invading our bodies and making them sick  That has really helped me not only to stop buying products that are packaged this way (and instead buy fresh options) but also has helped the waistline a bit.  You see I now think twice before picking up that bottle of soft drink in the supermarket or the lolly packets and chips wrapped in plastic, and cordial.  And for some reason my mind has decided that pre-packaged sauces are no good either - you know the spaghetti sauces, Indian sauces etc. Most of them are packaged in glass but I started to take note of what crap actually is in these products - but that's another blog post. 

Now if I can only get the supermarkets and local shop to stop trying to package my goods in plastic bags even though I give them my eco bag...........it's clean (and not smelly) and it is so much easier to carry my groceries in.  But they still try to chuck a plastic bag in....why?