Leaving McMansionville

Almost 2 years ago we were living in a part of Sydney known as McMansionville.

This area, in the North West of Sydney is dominated by large houses on small blocks of land, few footpaths and even fewer trees.

The shops and services are miles away (for most people) and the area is not serviced by a rail network but an infrequent bus service.

The McMansion

Of course we hated it for many reasons but the main one was that is was so soul-less.

On a day trip to the Blue Mountains, West of Sydney we found what we had been searching for - modest homes on medium to large sized blocks of land and a real sense of community.

Instead of feeling like fish in a goldfish bowl, we had a house with so much privacy, you couldn' t see the house from the street. And look at all that green.

Our home - it's in there somewhere!!!

Michael Grosvenor (2007) characterises sustainable communities by the following criteria:- (Check to see how your place stacks up)

- You can walk to some local shops.

- You can walk to a railway station.

- You can walk to a regularly serviced bus stop.

- There are paved footpaths in front of your house.

- There are cycleways.

-There are community parks and gradens.

- There is a wide range of community facilities nearby such as a decent library.

- The shopping area is busy.

- There is a mixture of housing types.

We tick all the boxes except the footpath one. So a very sustainable community I'm happy to say.

Sadly we don't have a footpath in our street

I can walk to my local train station. The bus stop is at the end of the road.

The shops are a 15 minute walk away and are busy.

I think we're pretty good here, much better than our last home and it shows in how much happier we are.

How does your house rate?

How Sustainable am I so far?

I've probably been making conscious decisions to be more sustainable (and organic) for about a year now. So I decided to do a daily "audit" to see where there may be room for improvement.

I started the day with a strawberry smoothie. The milk and honey are organic and the strawberries were grown in my backyard. Pretty good so far. Hehe....
Dropped Rhianna at school. I really should be walking her to school or riding our bikes but there is a big hill between our place and the school and I am too lazy to tackle it in the mornings. I will challenge myself to start walking her to and from school 2 days a week starting from next week.

Was heading out for the day so made myself a hot chocolate to go. No bought coffees for me!
Saving money and the planet - so proud!!!!!!
Headed to Castle Hill - about a 40 minute drive. We still have a P.O box there for the business and we really should transfer to one closer to home but the expense of doing this and the hassle of lost mail has made us reluctant. Besides which, it's a great excuse to catch up with my old Castle Hill friends. So, driving for 40 minutes is not such a sustainable practice when there is an alternative. Can't go to castle Hill without some retail therapy.......

...luckily, they have one of the best op shops around. Found a pair of cargo pants for Rhianna, a novel for me and a new black handbag. $9 all up and all recycled stuff. And you thought I'd go to David Jones!


Next up, lunch with my best friend Natalie who lives in the very next suburb. I try to combine errands and social catch ups where I can to save making too many trips down there. I think that qualifies as trying to be sustainable.

Natalie and I spend some time on the computer trying to organise a Yulefest weekend away for July. We decide on a place called Lavender Manor. It's at Blackheath so we're supporting local business and not travelling to Canada to experience a white Xmas (very sustainable). And doesn't the cosy loungeroom look like just the sort of room you'd want to drink eggnog in.

Home again and time to put my feet up. I have a coffee and a quick flick through a library book I got yesterday. Boy this book looks terrific. Has so much info in it. Might have to buy this one.

I finally got around to organising the 2 classes I want to do this year. The first class is learning to crochet and I start next week. This will be a very sustainable activity if I can produce gift quality items. And to all my real life friends I apologise in advance for the items you may receive this year for your birthday or Christmas. (LOL)

The second class I am starting won't be till April but it's a Creative Writing Course. I have done a lot of writing over the years and now have a couple of good novel ideas floating around in my head but have no idea how to develop characters or even begin really. So I am really looking forward to starting this later in the year.

Dinner tonight is a lasagne I made yesterday using all the organic goodies I had purchased. One of our goals is not to buy take away this year so I plan ahead as much as possible. I knew I'd be tired this afternoon after being out all day so I made the meal for tonight yesterday. I did cover it with gladwrap though - very naughty.....

Well all things considered I'd have to give myself a B- for my overall efforts today. Doing O.K but some room for improvement.

Family Traditions

I love family traditions, and we have plenty here in this family usually centred around celebrations like Easter and Christmas. I believe daily traditions are important as well - maybe even more so.

Eating dinner together at the table is one tradition I grew up with that I try to continue with my own family. I say "try" because with after school activities, an 18 year old who is often out and a husband who works crazy hours, it doesn't always work out, but we try.

Friday night is always Family night and we don't have dinner till everybody is home.

Researcher Becky Hand believes that eating dinner together at least 4 nights a week has many benefits for children of all ages.

Children learn to communicate with each other and their parents and eating together fosters a feeling of security and belonging that few other activities do.

Meal times are a chance to model table manners and dining ettiquette.

Dinner time can also be a learning experience. Introducing new foods and then talking about their origins encourages children to learn about the wider world. For example,fellow blogger Libby Whitnall has been cooking some Canadian dishes at the moment to coincide with the Winter Olympics.

And finally, Hand (2008) found that children who ate dinner with their families had a higher academic performance than those who didn't.


For all of these reasons and the most important one to me (LOL) - using my vintage linen and crockery, we set the table each night regardless of who actually is here to sit down.


I wonder if this is a dying tradition though?
Bon Appetit!

Organic Goodness Delivered

After cleaning out the bathroom of chemicals it was time to tackle the fridge and pantry.

As soon as I got home from my holiday I got on the internet to find a good local supplier of organic fruit and veg.



I did this for 2 reasons. Firstly I was finding it hard to find a large variety of organic fruit and veg in the mainstream supermarkets and fruit shops. And secondly, I figured it would be cheaper to buy from a supplier who themselves was buying in bulk.



Enter The Organic Grocer. I ordered their $40 mixed fruit and Veg box on Monday and Tuesday morning it arrived. How exciting!!!!!!





This is what I received for $40. They have a weekly list of produce for the box but you can view it online and make any changes to the contents that you want.



For example, nobody in our house likes pears, so we exchanged the pears for more apples which we all love. I was very happy with the quality and roasted many of the vegies tonight for dinner. Both the boys commented on the difference in taste especially with the carrots and the grapes are the sweetest grapes I have ever tasted in my life.





I will definately be ordering again next week. I feel this is one of the best things I have done for my family in a long time.

Home Management Folder

After many, many years of running around like a headless chook trying to keep track of everything that is happening in our house and the life of our family, I created a Home Management Folder.


It lives on the kitchen bench for easy access for everybody in the family (not just me) and its creation has been a Godsend.

Here's how I put it together.

It's a big white folder with open clear plastic sleeves at the front and back.

I've quickly scrapped a front cover for it.

At the very front is a plastic, zipped case for all the important pens, calculator etc. People who take these things and do not put them back are burned at the stake.

Next is the Yearly Calendar. It has large squares for each day so I know what's happening and when.

I belong to a website and forum called Simple Savings. One of their freebies is a printable calendar for each year. This year, each month has a "savings" challenge. February was the No Spend Challenge. As you complete the challenge each day you tick it off. As you can see I have ticked no days in February because I have participated in unnecessary spending every day so far. I don't think I'm ever going to be the Simple Savings poster girl!!!!

Another plastic envelope that I hole punched to put into the folder full of blog ideas. I really hope you and I live to 100, as every day I find about 10 new things I can blog about.

This is a folder for Rhianna's life and all associated paperwork. She really could do with a folder of her own...

Another plastic envelope that's hole punched and in here I keep all receipts that come into the house. If, after a couple of weeks I haven't needed to return anything I either file them or toss them.


I love to dream about holidays and getting away so this is the folder that has lots of ideas for family holidays and day trips to places and events. I tend to rip info from our local papers and magazines and I go through it every week to see if there is something coming up on the weekend that might be fun to do.

This is the back cover which Rhianna begged me to decorate. It's a picture of me (of course) with my tiara on - because believe me, I AM the queen of this house. I also have on my blue "dancing" shoes. I've never owned a pair of blue shoes in my life but Rhianna thinks it's time I did.

bb

Meatless Mondays

Meatless Monday is an international campaign that encourages people to cut out meat on Mondays to improve their health and the health of the planet.



Reducing meat consumption by 15% (one day a week) lessons the risk of many preventable diseases such as heart disease and many cancers.



According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation the meat industry generates nearly one fifth of the man-made greenhouse gas emmissions that lead to climate change.



So this month my one small change is going to be the creation of Meatless Mondays.



Monday is a great day for us as we have after school activities and don't walk into the house till 5.30pm and I find vegetarian meals a lot easier to prepare ( especially when they are baked beans on toast)



Yes, I realise I will have to get more creative with my Meatless Mondays but this is all I could think of to cook at 4pm on Monday afternoon.

Going Organic

Going on a road trip gives two people a lot of time to talk. Since Bill is an industrial chemist we started talking about chemicals used in food production and cosmetics. (We're an exciting couple aren't we??)



The upshot of the trip was that we've decided to become an organic family. Now, as this is still a fairly new concept to me I did what I have always done, I dived in feet first.



I proceeded to research all I could on the subject but I have started with cosmetics as Bill is familiar with the ingredients in these items and offered good advice.



He gave me a list of ingredients to avoid.



Here they are ( in case you are interested). I've given you the scientific name and what it may be called on packaging, what its used for and what research has shown it can do to animals and humans.



DIETHANOLAMINE (DEA) Used to make soaps and shampoos lather. Reacts with other ingredients below to form a carcinogen. Companies use the names cocomide, oleamide and lauramide on product labels.



FORMALDEHYDE A known carcinogen. Irritates eyes, nose and throat. Used in many products for shelf life.



PARABENS (Methylparaben, propylparaben, ethylparaben and butylparaben) Linked to breast cancer. Used in shampoos and conditioners and cosmetics.



PHENYLENEDIAMINE (PPD) Used in hair dyes and is a carcinogen.



SLS's (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate) This was in almost everything I owned. It makes stuff like shampoo and soap foam. Residue of these chemicals have been found in the brains, livers and hearts of cancer patients (on autopsy).



TOULENE In nail polish and hair dye. It's toxic to the nervous system and high exposure has been linked to birth defects and miscarriages.



TRIETHANOLAMINE (TEA) used to balance Ph. Causes allergic reactions and is an irritant to eyes and skin. Is absorbed and stored by the body to toxic levels.



HYDROQUINONE It's already banned in Japan and other Eastern countries. It's used for bleaching and is in creams used for skin and age spots.



ALUMINIUM - Used in deodorant to retard perspiration. It clogs up your pores so the perspiration can't get out.





Ok, so if I haven't lost you yet, I went through my bathroom and collected all the products I had that contained these ingredients. All into the bin. See picture one.

Picture One

Then I found a good organic store and replaced it all with Australian certified organic products. I still checked the ingredients though. Some companies have seen the dollar signs in organic products and have jumped on the band wagon without changing their ingredients.



I have still to replace my make-up but I have the name of a good company who specialise in organic make-up and I plan to investigate their range. My bathroom now holds these products. See picture two.

Picture Two

The products are not that much more expensive if you shop around amd I feel great knowing that I'm not putting toxic chemicals on myself or my little six year old.