New eco habits to inspire you

Here are a few new habits I’ve formed recently that I hope might inspire you to make some small eco shifts too!

I joined a local bush care group.

We meet once a month on a Sunday in the same patch of suburban protected bushland, to plant native seedlings, pull weeds, water, clear any rubbish and have a good yarn.

It’s two hours of my time that just flies by, and I love learning from the real green thumbs to help me identify weeds, preserve top soil and plant with care.

I highly recommend this one - and Apple the dog comes along too!

I’m Growing food in pots.

This one I admit has been a little hard and hasn’t quite worked out as I hoped! But as with all gardening, it’s a lot of trial and error.

I don’t have much sun in my yard and it’s a steep slope, plus I wanted to try my hand at container gardening. This allows me to move them around to get more sun or rain (or less, this summer!) and so far my best ones are chives, spearmint, cucumber vine (first time too!), pumpkin (yep, still in a pot!) and eggplant.

I’m yet to get any fruit - it’s a slow process getting the soil mix right - but I will keep trying.

I catch water in the shower & kitchen.

I’ve grown up conserving water as we’ve often in drought conditions here in Australia. It’s been a nice habit to reintroduce capturing water as my shower warms up and as I’m rinsing produce in the kitchen sink.

I have a bucket that sits next to the shower, and this is then used to water my pot plants and seedlings - I catch about 2 litres each time! I use a saucepan or bowl in the kitchen under the tap when washing produce, and this also waters the garden and pots. So simple, big help!

I’m sprouting on the kitchen bench.

Sprouts are expensive, don’t last long when you buy them, and they are always in plastic. It takes a few cents’ worth of seeds and a twice-daily rinse over 2-3 days for me to grow my own right on the kitchen bench.

Alfalfa is my fave - I get the seeds from the bulk food store, with the spices - and mung beans also work well. You can sprout lots of things though, including broccoli, radish, kale and more.

Check out this guide that I used: ‘Sprouting 101: How to Sprout Anything and Why You Should’ by Wholefully.

I also occasionally re-sprout things too like leek and spring onions, then plant them in a pot of soil outside to re-grow.

i switched to a solid moisturiser bar.

It’s safe to say this one’s a zero waste win! I tried out the moisturiser bar by Sydney-based Nuebar and I love it.

It glides on easily, is very nourishing and is a great waste-free alternative if you don’t want to DIY. An awesome option as we eye off overseas travel again too!