Happy Last Day Of Winter!!! Summer is officially on its way which in Australia means some serious sun. Last weekend it actually peeked it’s head out of the clouds (just to let us know it was on its way!) and I made sure I took full advantage of it. I spent the day reclining on some awesome secondhand day beds we recently found and feasted on an amazing Vegan Platter (see that recipe here). The only thing that would have topped it off was some wine. But alas, I am pregnant, so instead I tried to make a drink so toe-tappingly tantalizing that I wouldn’t even miss the sweet grape nectar of the gods. I think I succeeded! Here is the recipe to my Perfect Summer Gingernade…
Ingredients
1/3 Cup Ginger, roughly chopped
1/4 Cup of Raw Honey or Agave Nectar
1/2 Cup Mint, finely chopped
2 x Lemons
Water (approx 4 Cups)
Iceblocks, slices of citrus and some leftover mint to serve
Method
Put ginger, mint and honey/agave into a bowl or a container with a lid on it.
Pour 2 Cups of boiling water onto mixture and gently stir.
Let it steep (cover the bowl) for at least 30 minutes. I let mine steep over night so it was especially gingery!
Strain the liquid and refrigerate until you are ready to use.
When you are ready to serve, pour the liquid into a jug. Squeeze the juice of both your lemons into the liquid – I like my flavours bitey and strong though so maybe start with one and see how you like it! Then top up with 2 Cups of water to dilute the lemonade.
Serve with ice blocks, finely chopped mint and slices of citrus fruit! When I am allowed to enjoy alcohol again I am going to add sliced cucumber and Pimms for a really English affair. ENJOY!
My love of all things old continues, my latest obsession being vintage wooden ladders! I find old, worn, loved-up ladders so charming – they transport me to a realm of nostalgia in the same way that teapots do. When I look at them I think about all the excited feet that could have stood on them before… young couples painting their first home together, an excited daddy-to-be preparing a nursery or the father that is always there to help out his kids (now adults) with any renovations. Maybe this pregnancy is making me more emotional than I first thought but either way it is a symbol that warms the cockles of me heart and I wanted to use a ladder in my home. All the better that it is an old unloved material that completely cancels out the need to chop down a new tree. Check vintage stores, gumtree, Ebay, opshops, the local tip and roadside collections. And remember… the more paint stains the better!
What You’ll Need
An old ladder
Spirit level
Brackets – the amount will depend on the ladder size. For one this size I used two along the bottom and one to stabilise at the top.
Wall plugs
Screws
Drill
Hammer
Pencil
Extra pair of hands is useful in this project… maybe two if you have a longer ladder!
Method
1) After you have found your ladder you need to pick the perfect spot for it!
2) If your ladder is a step ladder then you will need to take the two rails apart. Once apart choose which part of the ladder you will use… you may even want to use both!
3) Hold your ladder up against the wall to measure whereabouts you want your shelf.
4) Measure with spirit level to ensure the ladder is level.
5) Borrow the spare set of hands and slide the brackets into place (where they will need to be to hold the ladder up) behind the ladder and quickly pencil in the holes. You want the brackets to be as hidden as possible which means the outside/underside of your ladder will sit on the bracket like a shelf, rather than being supported like a perch. If that doesn’t make sense just look at the third picture in the below sequence.
6) Drill the holes into the walls. Hammer in the wall plugs and then screw in your brackets.
7) Once your brackets are drilled in, rest your ladder upon them. Put a bracket on the top of your ladder to secure and stabilize it and repeat the bracket drilling process.
8) Once all your brackets are drilled in and your ladder feels securely ‘wedged’ you will need to screw the brackets into the ladder. Very gently drill screws into the ladder… you must be careful so as not to split the ladder.
9) The amount of brackets you need and the way in which you organise them will vary depending on what size and shape ladder you find. Just make sure it is secure and supported. Then, the fun bit…
10) Time to decorate! I had so much fun choosing what goodies to put on my ladder. Bobert (my leaf-tailed Gekko made from scrap metal) has pride of place and every time I look over at him walking up his little hill it makes me smile. Then I have the champagne glasses that Mark and I left our wedding venue still holding (completely accidental theft, I promise!) and I filled them with pebbles and shells that I collected the day after I met him. It is so lovely to be able to honor those little things that make your heart sing every time you look at them!
And here it is from one more angle… just because pride is bursting out my eyes like little sunbeams…
If you like this sort of quirky shelving you may also like my DIY Tutorial for “Book Shelves” wink wink. See that here.
I will leave you with this beautiful quote about… what else?… ladders!
One only gets to the top rung of theladder by steadily climbing up one at a time, and suddenly all sorts of powers, all sorts of abilities which you thought never belonged to you — suddenly become within your own possibility and you think, “Well, I’ll have a go, too.”
On my quest to live a life free of plastic I found myself wondering if having friends over for light nibbles would ever be an easy affair again. Have you ever seen a dip that isn’t found in a plastic package? Occasionally you find them in fancy glass jars but if you are on the run it can be virtually impossible. But – in keeping with all my learning’s from Plastic Free July – I have found that avoiding plastic can send you down the most interesting and delicious of pathways!
The challenge:a plastic-free platter that doesn’t break the budget and can be thrown together in an hour. Impossible you say?
Well I say “Get your sunglasses out because you are about to be dazzled!”
Dip #1: Zesty Guacamole
Fresh ingredients, ready to be mixed
3 x Avocado
2 x diced tomatoes
1 x diced red onion (small)
Juice of 1 lime
½ Cup Coriander, chopped
¼ Cup Mint, chopped
1 x red chilli, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Optional – 2 x spring onions
Method
Cube the avocados in a bowl
Add all remaining ingredients and mix together
Garnish with coriander
10 minutes down… we’re on a roll….
Dip #2: Hummus
600g canned chickpeas, drained, rinsed thoroughly (until the water doesn’t look bubbly)
3 garlic cloves, crushed
150ml olive oil
2 Tablespoons tahini paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Juice of 1 lemon (2 if you like it zesty… i do! Highly recommend!)
Optional: Smoked Paprika and or toasted pine nuts to garnish
Method
Place the chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, tahini paste, cumin and lemon juice in a food processor and process until combined.
Add 1/4 cup (60ml) of water and process again until quite smooth.
Place hummus in a bowl and dust with smoked paprika if you have it or toast some pine nuts and sprinkle on.
Swirl with some good quality olive oil when served.
…booyah! that one only takes 10 minutes too…
Dip #3: Fresh Herby Salsa
And mix it! Nom!
6 tomatoes (or 500g cherry tomatoes)
4 spring onions, sliced finely
½ Cup coriander, chopped
¼ Cup Mint, chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
Juice of 2 limes
Method
Cut the tomatoes in half and remove the seeds. Then dice the flesh.
Gently mix with the spring onions, coriander, mint, chilli, ground coriander, cumin and lime juice.
Stand for 30 minutes (to give the flavours some real zing)
Note: If you like your flavours punchy then add more lime and chilli!!!
… with some cheating with my food processor that one is down in 10 minute too… half an hour so far and we are almost done…
Serve With…
If you can, get to a local bakery to get two big Turkish loaves – that way you can specify for it to be wrapped in paper. It is hard at other shops to find it in anything other than plastic! Then when my guests arrived I toasted the bread and sliced it up. The smell of fresh bread was gorgeous and got everyone ready to tuck in. And you thought I couldn’t do it??? This only took me 30 minutes and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all – even the dedicated carnivores. I even got excited and made my own plastic free Ginger, Mint Lemonade to go with it! Best thing was it only cost me $35 and I had enough salsa and hummus to last until the next day when we had more friends coming over.
MYO Cordial – Sugar free!
This is a platter that is utterly brimming with nutritional benefits, is free of the 3 p’s (packaging, palm oil, preservatives) and is all vegan! If you would like to make the trio of dips together I have added a little shopping list below;
Shopping List for entire platter
Fruit and Veg
3 x Avocados
8 x tomatoes
1 x red onion (small)
3 limes
2 x red chilli
1 x lemon
Bunch of spring onions
Bunch of Coriander
Bunch of Mint
3 garlic cloves
Aisle
600g canned chickpeas
Olive Oil
Tahini Paste
Deli Stores that Allows Bulk Buying – take your own container!
On Wednesday (24 August) I attended my first Perth Green Drinks event to watch three panellists discuss a topic of great interest and concern: “Sustainability and Health”. The Green Drinks crew lived up to their mantra ‘conversation, education and community’ and the speakers were fabulous and SO informed – so then, why did I walk away feeling so damn frustrated?
On the way home my husband and I realised why: it was because the solutions that the experts provided for opting out of the chemical maze were not quick fixes. It seems I am another victim of the ‘quick convenient trap’. We are smack bang in the middle of a very sticky web and sadly ‘just look for this little symbol’ doesn’t cut it anymore. Sometimes that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. Like a light switch going off, I felt empowered again. This is why I want to share the information with you so that if it concerns you as well you can take the necessary steps to leading a toxic free life.
Who, What, Why
The event flyer pointed at the ever increasing links of ‘convenience chemicals’ and the ever declining health of the environment and those that inhabit it. Allotted 10 minutes each the three experts were (drum roll please)…
Dr. George Crisp- a GP who is WA’s chair of Doctors for the Environment Australia, a voluntary group interested in the relationship between human health and environmental damage.
Dianne Caine –On her crusade to help her daughter survive an inoperable brain tumour, Dianne was alarmed at the level of harmful chemicals in popular products that we use every day. She consequently went on to create her own very successful product range Always Purer.
After they spoke there was a short Q&A session which bubbled over into drinks and nibbles (not very vegetarian/vegan friendly I am afraid). It was a fantastic event and I only have one major gripe: the speakers were all given a plastic bottle of water! Not only is this one of the easiest steps one can take towards being a bit greener but when we are discussing chemicals in products (including BPA in plastic bottles) I found it a very bizarre choice. This being said that is a nitpick (i just found it odd). If you have a chance to get to one of these events make sure you go. The information I have learnt is invaluable (see their Facebook page here).
Here Is What I Learnt…
Where/When Are We Exposed To These Chemicals?
Food –pesticides used in agriculture, chemical additives used in production
Personal Care products
Consumer Goods
Environmental exposure (there is no legal requirement to put any signage in a public urban area that is being sprayed with potentially dangerous agricultural chemicals)
Medicine
An Overview of Chemical ‘Regulation’ in Australia
The chemical regulation in Australia is complex and fragmented and – let’s face it – a bit of a joke! In fact, chemical regulation in Australia and New Zealand is considered amongst the worst in the world. We have a host of government bodies dedicated to the regulation of them yet when we look at the AICS – the Australian Inventory of Chemical Substances – we see that there are a whopping 38,000 chemicals that have not been assessed.
A huge amount of chemicals that we are readily using in Australia are completely banned elsewhere. One example is Dimethyl Fumarate, a mould prevention chemical (fungicide) commonly found in shoes, jackets and furniture. Banned in EU, Used unhesitatingly in Australia.
Who Regulates Chemicals in Australia
The (self-regulated) government bodies that are responsible for the assessment and registration of chemicals within Australia and NZ are as follows;
NICNAS (National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme).
APVMA (Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority) – The rightly infamous Monsantolists them under their ‘Who Are We’ section… just sayin.
Luckily, those organisations (ACE and NTN) that Jane is involved in are working towards better accountability, public knowledge and regulation for Australia.
Stockholm Convention and POPs
My completely unscientific interpretation of a POP (Persistent Organic Pollutants) is this: a chemical that once created does not ever leave the planet, once ingested never leaves the body. It is rarely naturally occurring more commonly a huge by-product of industry: a Frankenstein. Because these POPs do not breakdown they accumulate in our environment and bodies and are major area of concern in terms of global warming and health. The Stockholm Convention is a global treaty that aims to protect human health and the environment from them.
3 chemicals you need to get out of your life RIGHT NOW!
Triclosan – is an antibacterial and antifungal chemical that was originally developed for medical settings. It is now used extensively in hand washes and other personal care products and its overuse has exploded since Swine Flu came about. In Australia we currently have no limitations on its use whereas it is completely banned in Canada and EU and limited in USA.
Triclosan is an endocrine disrupter – which basically means it messes with your hormones in a very scary way. A major area of Global Concern is its link to worldwide trends of antibiotic resistance. It has also been linked to impairing muscle functions (see the study here) at our current level of exposure.
If Triclosan is affecting humans in this way you can only imagine what happens when it hits the aquatic environment which inevitably all products do! It damages ecosystems and the organisms within them, bioaccumulates and then ends up back in the food chain.
Bisphenol A (BPA) – this is the guy that you hear about the most. He is found in plastic containers, water bottles, canned food and drinks and (alarmingly) baby products. Bisphenol A is another endocrine disruptor: it mimics oestrogen and may fool the body by stimulating reactions that are unnecessary and potentially harmful. In 2010 all the aforementioned government bodies (in conjunction with ACCC) collectively considered the possible risks of BPA and they remain convinced that BPA is safe for the whole population at the very low levels of current exposure. Canada, Japan and parts of Europe and USA obviously disagree and have banned it in all infant products.
Brominated Flame Retardants(BFRs or PBDEs)– Jane feels that this is the biggest con of our time. These chemicals apparently contribute to public safety by reducing flammability of products like computers, furnishings and mattresses. Same issues – hormone disruption, environmental damage, stuck record. Following strong evidence of increasing contamination of the environment, wildlife, and people this POP is soon to be phased out under the Stockholm Convention (see it here with the 8 other chemicals added to the annexes).
Before learning about this I had never seriously thought about how important organic materials and mattresses were. I thought you would invest in them as an environmental decision only -which of course is important too – but it is now very clear that there are strong causes for concern regarding our health. We sleep inhaling the chemicals released from these mattresses as well as wrapping our bare skin within then. I am expecting a baby in November and this has hugely affected my decision towards mattress selection.
What can we do?
The resounding pieces of advice from the panel were;
Use chemicals as little as possible
Read the label
This is the hard bit…
Investigate the companies
Apparently even certified organic ingredients can be manufactured in a way that can damage the ingredient and lead to some sort of chemical contamination. What? So even making all the right choices, supporting all the right companies I am not doing enough? I was getting mad. I make all my own beauty products (like this deodorant) and cleaning products from natural ingredients like Bicarb, vinegar and coconut oils. Surely this is okay? Well this is better but we still need to take a serious look into the companies and processes used in the production of products. For example, in terms of Bicarb soda, truly natural products are mined from the ground and are presented as untreated, pure sodium bicarbonate… the way the earth made it. Others however are heated, treated and processed and are therefore not as great.
I calmed myself down and reasoned with myself. I have figured that it goes back to the primary principle of awareness – educate and investigate. But now there is an added dimension. We all need to read our information as critically as possible and try to avoid green-washing (see here). It frustrates me unbelievably that we need to look this damn hard to verify that natural products are what they say. Why is it that we need to prove that big companies are doing the wrong thing? Surely the big companies should have to prove to us that they are doing the right thing? Oh well.
Sum Up
I am sorry if that was incredibly long, wordy and dry. I try to steer away from articles like that but the information I learnt was so shocking and important that I really felt I needed to share it. I hope it helped! Would love to hear from you in the comments as always. In the meantime I love the way Annie Leonard explains things.. it is light and bright and always provides solutions. Here is here take on the chemicals in cosmetics…
Honestly, is there anything more beautiful than an old, tattered book? I often lose hours in vintage stores; running my finger along the frayed cloth spines, peeking inside the cover to try find a bygone message filled with love or the occasional long-lost bookmark.
With this fascination in mind, it is no surprise that I have always loved using books around my home as whimsical design features. So as soon as I spied Pinterest pictures (follow me here) using books themselves as book shelves (Say whaaaat?!) I was hooked. Not only that but I had the perfectly drab wall just screaming for some upcycled decoration!
What You’ll Need
Old Books (1 book = 1 shelf)
3 brackets per book – 2 for the base, 1 for the top (Aim for a bracket length that is about half the width of the book so that it will be stable and load-bearing. I am sure if you want a smaller bracket for aesthetic reasons you could manage it. In retrospect the brackets I used would be smaller… these are slightly too prominent).
Screws
Wall plugs
Drill
Hammer
Pencil
Spirit Level
If you have a spare set of hands/muscles it will make this project a hell of a lot easier!
Method
First part is the best bit. You need to get yourself to a vintage store and find yourselves some books. Take into account the size, the spine, how the combination looks together and the book subject. I found the perfect little green book but then realised it was a book about war weapons – not a subject I really want in my house. I wanted books that reflected interests and personalities in my life. I ended up with a rare book from 1930 about sheep (my parents have 21 pet sheep), The Statutes of Western Australia (where I live) and The Generous Earth (about the beauty of living simply). Score!
Old books are so undervalued!
The thing I love the most about this method of fixing the books to the wall is that you don’t ruin the books! If you ever want to you can take your ‘shelf’ out of the brackets and have a flick through before putting it back. Even though I have seen super cool designs using books as the material I just feel wrong about damaging an old book. They are noble beasts… we must love them.
1). Measure whereabouts you want the books on your wall and hold the base brackets underneath the book in a way that will support them. Mark a pencil line along the bottom of the book.
2). Measure that the brackets are flat and level with your spirit level
3). Mark the bracket holes where you will need to drill with a pencil.
4). Line your book up with the pencil line and then draw a line along the top of the book so that you can see how thick it is. Put your top bracket on top of the book and make sure it is completely vertical (with your spirit level). Mark the holes where you are going to drill.
5). Shove lots of material into your ears and drill holes into the wall. Hammer wall plugs into the wall.
6). Screw your brackets into the wall.
7). Slide your books into place and decorate the hell out of them with all your most loved knick knacks. I filled mine with some vintage bottles that were found in the ocean, my collection of owls (the big guy was my Grandpa’s, is 60 years old and his name is Costa) and my rolled magazine plant in an upcycled old vase (tutorial here).
So I wish you luck in your shelving!!! I will leave you with a beautiful passage that is at the beginning of what is now my top shelf. I think it is a gorgeous sentiment and I love that I have such a sweet message hidden away in my wall fittings!
It is not often that you see Environmentalists and Fishermen joining forces and campaigning together but in the case of the FV Margiris Super Trawler, there is no bigger fish to fry. While the Super Trawler is technically a ‘ship’ it is in actual fact a floating factory; over 142m long, weighing 9499 tonnes, with the ability to process over 250 tonnes of fish a day and has a cargo capacity of 6,200 tonnes. It is more than twice the size of any boat to have fished in Australian waters before. With such a non-selective haul ability as this, it is no wonder that we are up in arms trying to prevent this ship being allowed to fish for small pelagic fish off the Australian Coast.
If you would like to take a look at it…
What’s the problem with it?
The net of the FV Margiris is large enough to fit four 747 jumbo jets into it. With a haul of that size there is no feasible justification that a) the local ecosystem would not be dramatically (some say irreversibly) effected and b) that a huge amount of bycatch would also be trapped. Bycatch is any other marine species that is accidentally caught along with the target species and this includes dolphins, whales, turtles, seals, sharks, birds as well as a whole host of fish species.
Bycatch.
The FV Margiris intend to target redbait, jack mackerel and blue mackerel which are all key food sources within the marine environment – and the ship would remove 18,000 tonnes of this food source (approximately 18 000 000 fish) every year! The surface schools of jack mackerel (once common off southeast Tasmania) have still not returned after the collapse of that fishery over 20 years ago and we are already loading up the gun again. I can’t believe this is even up for discussion?
Supporters of the Super Trawler are trying the standard ‘job creation’ line. The FV Margiris will employ approximately 40 people, at least 15 of which will be from overseas. There is also no formal requirement that any of the crew have to be Australian for this ship to operate in Australian waters. Regardless… it seems to me like paying $5 in bus fare to get to your friends house to borrow $5. Think about the amount of jobs will be lost when the local fisheries are fished to collapse!
Take Action
Earlier this year the Australian Government made a monumental step in the right direction for marine conservation by proposing a national network of marine parks and sanctuaries (with a public approval rating of 70% – their most popular decision yet). To allow this partnership between Seafish Tasmania and FV Margiris to move forward would be a catastrophic lurch backwards. We need to speak up and let them know that there must be no Super Trawlers in Australian waters.
For the Conservation Council of WA petition click here.
And don’t stop there! Spread the word on facebook, twitter, email, word of mouth or find a mountain and shout from the top of it if you have to. Share all these links around!
Send a Letter
Email Environment Minister Tony Burke - Tony.Burke.MP@environment.gov.au
Click through to the Stop The Trawler website for all the information you need.
Greenpeace Australia has provided a fantastic fact sheet which explains all the ins and outs of the Super Trawler debate. An invaluable resource – click here.
Click here to read through an ABC 7:30 Report Investigation into whether the FV Margiris is sustainable or destructive.
I also really liked this blog post (here) for Shape of Things to Come. It is personal, balanced and also from the perspective of a Freshwater Ecologist (who has studied fisheries science). Also provides a lot of really good links at the bottom of the page.
Read my previous blog post about the real GFC (Global Fishing Crisis) here.
No super trawlers.
Not here.
Not anywhere.
A Fantastic, Stupendous, Exciting Update…
Well today (11 September, 2012) was a huge win for our oceans!! The Australian government this morning agreed that it must ban the Super Trawler from Australia’s waters for at least 2 years. Congratulations to everyone who signed a petition, attended a protest, told a friend or made any sort of noise at all! The government listened because we all took action and beat the drum for marine life and common sense in general. Isn’t it great to see that we are having some environmental wins? This news has absolutely made my year. To read more see this ABC article.
