Green Cosmetics – not just a colour…..

I am a cosmetic chemist and have been working in the industry for over ten years now – how time flies.  As I have become more interested in my “eco life” I have seen my bathing ritual in a new light.

As I have mentioned in this blog I am more of a moderate than an extreme green machine. However, I do take my journey and my choices very seriously. I believe that it is the little every day steps that we all take that make for a better future.

If you live in Australia and more specifically the Sydney area and want to know more about “green” cosmetics I would advice visiting a place in Newtown called “The Watershed” - 

www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Environment/TheWatershedSustainabilityResourceCentre

The watershed is an initiative of Sydney and Marrickville councils supporting sustainability. They offer workshops on natural cosmetics, worm farming, natural cleaning and Eco choices. They are a friendly bunch of people and have some excellent and low cost ideas that the whole family can take on board.

If you can’t physically get into Sydney then I am going to post some top tips on natural personal care over the coming weeks. I can’t wait!

I am going to start with the feet first – putting your best foot forward to help the environment is a bit cheesy but it is as good a place to start as any!

Your poor old feet (like mine) will probably be aching and sore from pounding the pavements, waiting at bus stops and climbing up those mountains.  If you want to refresh them in a natural and eco-friendly way I would suggest some hot water, Epsum salts and some peppermint oil (only a drop or two).

Peppermint (Mentha X Piperita) grows in Europe and North America and is an excellent choice for tired and sore muscles.  The oil is obtained from the leaves of the plant and is extracted via steam distillation.   In Australia Mint (Mentha piperita) is grown around 400KM from Melbourne. To find out more about Australian mint oil follow the link : www.austmintoils.com .

Epsum salts (Magnesium Sulfate)  are commonly used to treat aches and pains and can help in dehydrating any blisters!

You can play around with the quantities to suit yourself but as a guide I would go for the following:

2 litres of warm water

50g approx of epsum salts

2 drops of  peppermint oil.

Enjoy.                                               

  

 

 

 

 

Science For Children

I have mentioned before that I am a casual Science Presenter with Fizzics Education : www.fizzicseducation.com.au We travel around to various events teaching and (hopefully) inspiring children about the wonderful world of science.  Part of my journey to a greener life is to encourage others to take an interest in the world around them and also take on some responsibility for the state of the planet. By teaching and engaging children on topics such as what is energy? how ecosystems work,  the weather and many more we hope to open the door of science to as many children as possible.

We tend to work in a very hands on way with our workshops and actively encourage the children to get involved in our hands on workshops. We also try and put some entertainment into the process as you can see with the attached clip – science does not have to be boring OR nerdy…..

 

Rubens Tube to Wolfmother Joker and the Thief

How does your “Eco” garden grow?

I can’t wait until we get our new recycle bins. Why?I hear you cry (or maybe I made that up). Well, because as soon as the new bins arrive I can use the old tubs to grow stuff in instead of filling them up with rubbish. I am quite excited – not sure if this is age catching up with me or if this really is a life changing event…..

Anyway, I have to now admit that I am not the green thumb in the family. I am good at digging, can pull out most weeds and love chopping stuff down but growing is not my domain, I leave that to the kids. I have mentioned before that my children are currently growing carrots, corriander and brocolli. All plants are doing well as you can see….

We are hoping to add some more veggies to our little pot collection in the next few weeks. My girls are just deciding between peas, beans, more herbs or capsicum. I will have to look into what is best for our garden but it is good to see the children so excited about veggies.  I am also excited on the small but positive change that this has in my eco life journey. Becoming aware of your impact is, I think the most important step of the process. Once you are aware you can make informed choices and change your behavious. I am enjoying the challenges and experiences of it all. I just wonder if the kids  will actually eat these veggies…..

Shopping Local

I never thought that I would say it but I have to add Shopping to my “I LOVE” list.  I have not been that big a fan of shopping since I left my partners in crime (mum and two sisters) back in the UK four years ago. Shopping with kids is no fun, shopping with husband hanging over your shoulder is no fun and neither is shopping with no money, when you have no time and REALLY need a pair of shoes / dress / undies for a night out. Shopping with 1000’s of other desperate and depressed zombies is no fun (Christmas) and neither is shopping outside in the boiling hot / freezing cold WHATEVER weather. I don’t really enjoy shopping.

However, all that has changed (well, partially) as I discover the enjoyment of shopping locally. I decided that this week the big supermarkets were off limits. I did not want to worship at their aisles, bow down at their cash registers or increase their sales of water pumped meat any more.  Supermarkets are very useful but they are also very faceless. I decided to buy my food from people for a change.

I was very happy to find my local butcher to be chatty, cost effective and full of helpful tips – being treated as a person really makes you feel special and adds to the shopping experience. I am quite ashamed to say that in the four years of living in the area this was the first trip I had made to the local butcher. I will be back!

I have been using our local fruit barn on a semi regular basis but this week I decided to do the bulk of my shopping there rather than just the fancy stuff. I got heaps of veggies minus stacks of annoying plastic at reasonable prices. Being able to see fruit and veg that looked like fruit and veg and not like shiny film star “pretend food” was also quite heartening. Again, I will be back.

Finally I got my bread from the local baker and stocked up on small goods from the local independent grocer.  It has been both a fun and friendly experience – I never knew that shopping could feel so good!

Shopping locally rocks.

Walk Safely To School Day.

May 2nd was Walk safely to school day. We live 1.5 km from our school so walking to school is a very do-able fun activity.  We tend to walk to school at least once a week and really the biggest barrier to not doing it more is time. Usually one of us has to be at work before school with the other one is rushing somewhere shortly after school commences.  Anyway, we did our bit for the cause and walked as a family towards the school on Friday thankfully aided by the beautiful autumn weather. I left husband, dog and two kids half way to join the train commuters on a trip into the city.  Trees hugged and whales saved : 2!

For more information on the walk safely to school campaign go to: http://www.walk.com.au/

The kids of the carbon conscious

 

This morning the weather was perfect for taking a long, Sunday walk in the park with the family. The trees were glorious with their oranges, reds and yellows. The water was shimmering like it was covered in thousands of tiny diamonds and for once the children were not fighting, moaning or dragging their heals – bliss!

One of my strongest beliefs in my quest for a better environment is that you can’t forget the little people. My kids are my future and taking them outside to smell the soil and roll down those impossible to resist hills is a must. That’s just what we did today.

It is amazing how much more ”real” and “connected” one feels when surrounded by life rather that watching it playing out on some reality TV show. Long live mud….

 

 

 

 

I should have taken the train

 

 

 

 

After taking two hours to travel around five KM I realised that I shold have taken the train today.  Today’s delay was caused by a pretty bad accident. I feel for the families involved in todays incident and for all of the other people trying to get to their destinations.  While I was sitting and waiting to get through the bottle neck I was wondering what effect today’s delay would be having on others in the queue. I was on my way to work, others may have been trying to get to parties or events, who knows.   It would be interesting to find out – a sliding doors moment…..

Next time I will take the train.

Solar Powered Charger

I am so looking forward to using my toy – I was browsing in Todae (great Sydney store for green living) and found the coolest little gadget – a solar powered multi purpose charger! I am yet to try it as when I got home it was dark (Sun required for this one……) but I am already a fan! The charger that I bought is made my Solio (www.solio.com) it is a neat little thing that can be attached to a house or car window, hung off a backpack or left on an outside table to soak up the suns rays. It promises to charge MP3 Players, Mobile phones, Satellite Navigation Systems, Cameras and many more things – It sounds great.

Now, as I have said before I am currently no green goddess. I am trying to do my bit and am finding for many reasons that it is easier to start with the little things.  The quantity of electronic gadgets that we now all need to help us through a day is amazing. I can remember when I didn’t need a handbag and could just put my purse in my pocket. Now I need a 45litre rucksack to carry my array of gadgets and gizmos.  Heaven forbid that I forget to take my mobile phone out with me. Not returning a call within two hours resorts in the launching of a search party – I am sure I am not alone.

Anyway, tomorrow I am going to give this thing a try (weather permitting), I doubt that I will see a massive drop in my electricity consumption but at least it will be a bit of fun and provide some entertainment for my children (and no doubt some difficult to answer questions re energy capture and storage).  I think that this gadget would come into it’s own on a bush camping expedition – maybe I will leave that until after winter…..

I will be back to tell you how it went. Another little step along my green journey!