With Christmas only a few weeks a way, it seemed like a good time to reflect on my sustainable living resolutions (see this post).
Thanks to my children’s school having a topic of ’seeds and plants’ this term, the vege patch is growing well (both in overall size and actual living plants!). Part of our kitchen has been turned into a seed nursery – which does allow for easy monitoring and watering (which might otherwise be too haphazard for success). Thanks to a spirit of curiosity, we’ve sprouted quite a variety of seeds. I’ve just planted out some lentils, some unknown bean or pea seedlings and the baby tomatoes that grew from the seeds my son squirted onto his sweatshirt! Waste not, want not! We may actually grow some stuff from packets at some point, too. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with all the apple and pear seedlings, but I guess I’ll think of something (bonsai, perhaps?). Now we all have to do is to remember to harvest…
A sort-out in the airing cupboard found me some more sheets for the kids, so I’m off the hook for now. It is truly amazing what you find buried in airing cupboards! Well, what I found anyway. No Saxon gold, though. Which is probably just as well – given I live in New Zealand and the house wasn’t built until the 1970s. Although we did find Assyrian wallpaper…
Not buying stuff unless I need it is actually going quite well, though mostly because I just don’t have spare money. My op-shop habit is coming to the fore for finding interesting or adaptable clothes. I’ve also discovered the delights of online auctions! I’m afraid some of my money is still going to the sweatshops, mainly because I can’t afford expensive jeans and T-shirts. Fortunately, my wardrobe is fairly well stocked, which means I’m working on replacement rather than expansion. Any expansion is coming from second-hand or homemade things (though if I could afford to buy from Clockwork Couture that might change – for a little while). I am going to have to spend some money on fabric and bits for my dance costumes, too – just to make my stash go the distance (those skirts are full!)
I did buy some beads, but I’m going to try and keep it to an annual thing. Some stuff I just can’t buy made up – and I do enjoy stringing.
I haven’t really bought any yarn in recent months (okay, a couple of balls to pad out the kids blankets, but that’s it – although I had gone a little bit mad mid-winter, which I’m still knitting up). I’m using up what I’ve already got – and planning what I want to save for. One advantage of not having much money is that it does force you to prioritise and plan (whimper).
New resolutions:
- I’m determined to only place orders with overseas websites at most once a year per site. We’ll see how that one goes. Planning, saving and delayed gratification are not my strongest skills, but they’re not my weakest either, so…we’ll see.
- I’m trying to arrange to start doing some voluntary work next year – partly to gain work experience in areas I’m interested in and partly to give something back to my community.
- For Christmas, I’ve decided to do the vast bulk of my shopping at my local Trade Aid shop. I bought a whole heap of jewellery for myself there earlier this year (blame the dancing!), so I will ’share the joy’. I like giving presents, so while I like the idea of things like Oxfam Unwrapped, this year is going to be a Fair Trade Christmas, as much as possible.
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