So long 2010, Hello 2011

It's been nine months since I started this blog and while the blog was a way to document my "green" journey, much rewards have also been reaped. I truly recommend one to start a blog, with not the purpose of selling oneself but as an outlet where you can note your thoughts and share your discoveries. Whoever then comes across your blog, well that's just a bonus!

I was watching an interview with the The Script on Video Hits one Sunday morning, and was touched by the thought behind their new track 'For the first time'.

"Staying in is the new going out, when you don't have money you tend to connect to the things that are important to you, your friends, your family, you realize god we haven't done this in ages, you want to get out you know like twister or an old cheap bottle of wine and have fun in your own home, and we thought it's a great message for people to realize that although times are hard, there is a beautiful upside, you may have nothing, but in losing everything you realize that you're finding each other..." - The Script

...drinking old cheap bottles of wine
Sit and talking up all night
Doing things we haven't for a while
We're smiling but we're close to tears
Even after all these years
We just now got the feeling that we're meeting
For the first time...

While what one achieves is subjective, for myself I feel the changes I have made have been an achievement but I also know there is much more to be achieved. I look forward to 2011 and leave you with this gift from author of "The Art of Being Minimalist" Everett Bogue (click on the below image for the gift!)

This is my new year's resolution/2011 challenge. To be a testament to Mr Bogue's theory.

Ho eco Ho - Christmas 2010

While most of us hit the shops for the Boxing Day sales, I sit here and blog. I no longer have the urge to hit the sales and how better do I feel? Much better, as I am now in control of what I want and no longer am I tempted by the must buy now illusion. I buy when I want to and because I like it, and not because it's cheap or I want to be liked.

Moving forward, it's been refreshing to hear people making their own crafty goods to give as presents this Christmas but sadly I'm no craft whiz, I even have trouble cutting a straight line!

So for me this Christmas I did spend but I spent cautiously. For my 2 besties, one is London and the other thank heavenly in Melbourne, this is what I got them.

Being based in London, I purchased Em's gift from Eco Age, a UK eco online store. Previously I had pruchased from Love Eco, another UK eco online store but after coming across Eco Age I was bewitched. Eco Age has a glamour edge, with Colin Firth's other half being the creative director of this full-service one-stop-shop where people can find beauty, design, inspiration, ideas, advice, and apply concrete solutions for green living. For the team at Eco Age, the ECO answer is compelling: improvement without compromise.

What did I get Em? Well with London experiencing one of the coldest Winter since the 60s, a blanket made from recycled wool seemed quite appropriate.

For Ness in Melbourne, having known her for 20 years, we've given each other all sorts of gifts! Ness, a senior associate and has been working crazy hours these days. The poor thing, she can no longer can tell the difference between a weekday to a weekend, much less have time to do the grocery shopping. So I thought this year I would give her a hamper of wonderful local produce and organic delights! Should she need a quick feed or a sugar hit, she can be sure it's all good in all aspects. It had to be specially made, as Ness is allergic to nuts and seeds. One discovery I made during product selection was that Green & Black organic chocolate also comes in a gift pack/box. I like it, I like it a lot.

Happy Holidays y'all! Here's to great food, great friends and time with the family.

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what is #mlmmusic?

Crazy times are these when we fight our way through the crowds to uphold tradition and wrap up the year. In constrast, I give you the soothing sounds of The Beautiful Girls that will weather any storm and let you take that much needed breather.

Download Triple J Live Music Podcast

"My mind is an echo chamber"

plus their 'like a version' track

here

Design a Space VS Major retailers

Why hello Summer, so glad you could join us? Do you hear the sarcasm? Should you be surprised? While the planet's heating up, we're also seeing abnormal weather patterns. Summer should have started 3 weeks ago but all we've experienced are flash floods and the occasional balmy nights. Nonetheless, my annual ritual to find the perfect Summer sandal was still on. I do luv Melissa shoes but being made from plastic it ain't so great in Summer. So I went on the search.

While wondering down Melbourne's famous laneways, I came cross Design a Space , a retail space whose aim is to provide high profile space for emerging Australian designers. I luv how it gives a platform for creative talent to showcase their passion the way they choose to, without succumbing to the pressures of major players. This is where I found my Summer sandals.

Admittedly, there's nothing really sustainable about these Jaci Bailey sandals, except that they're made from a natural fibre and that they will be my forever Summer shoes until they die (fingers crossed they last, well they ought to given the price I paid for them!). But I have this belief, that by supporting local designers who assumingly are small businesses, they are in a position to create and function sustainably. The catch 22 is that they might not have the funds to do so. But that's the challenge. To say it cost more to operate sustainably is a cop-out. As I see it, while large corporations have the money to implement a sustainable policy, the sad facts are that (1) it's rarely communicated to be truly effective, (2) it's a marketing grimick so as to keep up with the Jones and (3) employees don't care as at the end of the day they're just a name on the payroll. A small business on the hand, are in a stronger position to make a change and to see it through. Changing culture is difficult especially in a large context but changing it in a small controlled environment is promising. If you start your business "right" in the inital stages, you create a culture where there is an understanding on how it should be run. In larger organizations, what I've seen and this is not primarily on sustainability but with daily operations is the culture of "if it ain't broken, don't fix it". If it's already difficult to change this attitude for greater efficiency, imagine the challenge it must be to change attitude for sustainability.

Hence, I have faith in small businesses than in large corporations.

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Remember Beck and his "Loser" song? Well, described as a pop art collage of musical styles, this multi-instrumentalist has put a spin on Lykke Li's "Get Some" by giving it some Beck love.
Yes Beck has turned DJ. But then I play records, does that make me a DJ?!?!!

Listen and like it, then download it here

A Do Good Saturday in Melbourne

Saturday kicked off with brunch at Friends of Mine in Richmond. Without even tasting or viewing the menu, I could tell this place was a winner from the all bums on seat and buzz that echoed out to the faithful patrons loitering at the entrance and outside. Not only will you be charmed by the service (seriously everyone who works there has a twinkle in their eye - maitre d, wait staff and the boys in the kitchen), the organic domination and food quality, will make all your troubles go away at least momentarily. While I didn´t go the organic lamb (ooo the possibility to eat meat again...), I did pick Melbourne´s top 5 eggless breakies... the infamous smashed avocado, thyme buttered mushies and fetta on wholegrain or gluten free toast. Made perfect with an organic OJ to wash it down!

Next stop - Moral Fair Ground Fair@Square Festival. Following the success of their inaugural festival in 2009, it was imminent a second festival would follow. It was simply awesome to see the choices I had made throughout the year were the right choices and to also discover and learn what other amazing things were out there. You see the Fair@Square is a festival that celebrates and promotes ethical, socially rssponsible and environmentally aware businesses and services, so I´m sure they would have done the research as to who can or can´t participate.

Old friends who made the cut - Peppermint Magazine (Australia´s only environmentally conscious fashion magazine), Simple Phoebe, the Environmental Toothbrush, KeepCup, Savers, Fourth Daughter and Kitchen Wench who sources her ingredients from farmers markets or she grows her own.

New friends -
Gideon 100% Australian handmade sneakers from Kangaroo & Cane Toad leathers with 100% profit going to the Noffs Street University. I must say I do prefer leather over pvc. A natural fiber and a quality material that lasts. With Cane Toads and Kangaroos considered feral animals that causes. catastrophic damage and threaten our landscape, agriculture and industries, as long as they´re not farmed or are farmed humanly, this is the kind of leather I want.

"We just came back from the US ... We met with Kelly Cutrone (a fashion industry representative) who looks after Vivienne Westwood, Sass & Bide ... She loved the whole idea and took us out to dinner with the associate editor of Oprah magazine,"
- Mr Noffs co-director of Gideon.

Now that´s one step closer to Oprah than most of us got!

People & Planet raises funds for 37 Australian social-justice and environmental organizations, supporting the work of those organizations by promoting a just, sustainable world. The calendar I purchased is made from monza recycled paper (55% recycled and 45% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified sustainably-harvested fibre. I particularly like the below image as although it´s shocking to see how a single person can carry so much weight, it´s also a powerful image that gives truth and hope to the saying ¨when thereś a will thereś a way¨. You can check out other images via their website where you can buy the diary/calendar or a limited edition print.

Traditional Healthcare Not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating sustainable healthcare facilities in remote areas of the world. I was attracted to the concept, creating a natural/herbal sustainably built medical clinic teaching people how to take care of themselves and their families through the use of holistic medicine and doing it sustainably so that rather than have them rely on the clinic as a go to place for an instant fix, people can learn how to grow their own herbs and develop skills that can be passed on in the future, thus they become self reliant, which is the name of the game when we talk about sustainability. I´ve been told it will cost $60k to set up and have it functioning. So if anyone out there who is considering buying a car but is also needing to make amends with the world, this could be it! Think about it, you can make such a massive impact on an entire community and it´s future or you could purchase a vehicle that heats up the earth and shortens a possible future. After having a peruse through the proposal, I am intrigued with the research conducted. *$20K has so far been raised.

So if you do have a spare moment today (Sunday) do pop over to Federation Square and open your eyes to a world of possibilities!

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what is #mlmmusic?

I have a slight crush on Myles Mayo... a lad from SA who seems to know how to string a few chords. Cute song, catchy too! Clip, eh but I still like it and I hope you do too!

Download "how you done me wrong" here

For a bonus track, head over to Triple J Unearth