A Recipe For Sustainability

Ehmily Nicholson October 18, 2021 11:00 am

Hi folks! Thank you so much for deciding to try my Recipe for Sustainability. This one is for all my beginner bakers out there who may not have tried making a recipe for sustainability before. For those of you reading who are still undecided, or maybe just never knew where to start, I hope I can encourage you to step outside of your comfort zone and try this dish. Remember, just give it your best go, that’s all anyone can ask!

As always, a recipe wouldn’t be a recipe without the author’s whole life story first. I promise to try and keep this short so you can be on your way to making this dish yourself!

I remember when I was a little bright-eyed girl, sitting in my grandmother’s kitchen. I watched curiously as she rinsed out a jam jar she had finished off from topping off my scones. I asked her, “Nana, why do you always keep your jars? You know you get a new one when you buy more jam!” She told me that the best part of buying jam was getting to keep the jars once they were done. My nana loved using them to store her spare buttons, hairpieces, brooches, and miscellaneous sewing bits n bobs. This is my first memory of learning a sustainable practice. Now, as an adult, I too keep my jam jars to store various things around the house, like pens, makeup brushes and flowers. Not only does this make me feel close to my nana and keep her memory alive, it makes me feel good that in some small (but still important) way, I’m reducing my wastage and acting sustainably.

And here’s the thing: sustainability doesn’t have to be hard! There are so many little ways to be sustainable that still make a difference to our planet. A wise woman once said, “Even by taking just one small step toward sustainability, you’re still taking a step in the right direction (Kirby, 2020).” I’ve noticed a huge problem these days is that so many people think adopting sustainable practices is too difficult. Maybe they think it might be too expensive. Maybe they don’t believe they have enough time or can’t make sustainability fit into their lives. Perhaps it’s as simple as never watching other people act sustainably so they don’t know where to start. Whatever the reason, I’m here to tell you there are so many ways to easily incorporate sustainability into your life! Quickly, before we get into the recipe, I’m going to give you guys my top tips to help make it a successful dish. Some of these ways are so simple you might never have even realised it’s an act of sustainability!

So, without further ado, here are my favourite top tips for this sustainability recipe:

Recipe Top Tips

1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

This is one I’m sure you’ve all heard before, but nevertheless still one of my top tips! As I said, reusing jam jars is one way I personally incorporate sustainability, but this is relatively small scale and if you’re feeling brave there are some bigger (but still easy) options. Next time you need to buy a new outfit, check out an op shop first and give a second-hand item a new lease on life! Recycling clothing is so trendy right now!

2. Purchase a Keep Cup & Reusable water bottle

Come on guys, it’s 2021! Who doesn’t love a keep cup and reusable water bottle? Not only is this an easy peasy way to save the planet from unnecessary plastic wastage, but it’s also a great way to save money. Did you know Australians spend over $700 million on bottled water a year? That’s a lot of smashed avo breakfasts you could be buying instead! By using a keep cup and reusable water bottle, you really can’t lose! Plus, there are some super cute options that you can buy, much cuter than single-use options! Click here for some inspo

3. Make Good Quality Purchases

To quote Vivienne Westwood, “Buy less, choose well, make it last.” It really is that simple! Sure, you could buy a cute outfit from Shein for $5 but we all know it’s going to go see-through or fall apart at the seams after one wear. Why not make some conscientious choices and buy something well made, good quality with a lifetime of wear in it? Let’s save our landfills from the excess dodgy fast fashion options.

4. Reduce Your Water Wastage

You know the two buttons on your toilet? They’re not just there for no reason! Not only will using the half fill button save you money on your water bill, but it also helps reduce the country’s water wastage. Did you know a full flush uses about 11 litres per flush compared to 4.5 litres for a half flush (SA water, 2020)? If you have 100 users on a daily basis, this could save up to 1100,000 litres of water annually. That’s a pretty good act of sustainability, and easy too since you aren’t leaving the bathroom. Remember, it might seem like doing this isn’t making much of a difference, but if everyone does their own little part, we can make big changes!

If you’ve made it this far, I want to thank you for reading along. Now, here is my recipe for sustainability. I hope it’s everything you need to start you on your journey of sustainability and remember, it’s never too late to start being sustainable but if we don’t all start one day it might be too late to help our planet. My nana always said that children are the future. We are all children of this Earth and it’s our job to help protect it so we can have a happy and healthy future!

5. Seek advice from those around you

This is one of my favourite pieces of advice I can offer you. As someone who didn’t know where to start on her own journey of sustainability, this tip is extremely useful! Seeking advice from friends and family can be one of the best ways to expand your knowledge. Maybe your sister uses beeswax cloths instead of glad wrap. Maybe your boss catches the bus to work or cycles to reduce single carbon emissions. Or maybe, just maybe, your grandma reuses and repurposes her old empty jam jars. By seeing what everyone else is doing, you learn new ways to be sustainable. Your older family members are also a great place to start when looking for advice. Remember, many come from a generation where milk was dropped off in glass bottles, baby nappies were reusable and paper lunch bags were the best thing since sliced bread! We really can learn so much from them!

References

Kirby, K. 2021. Can small acts of sustainability really make a difference? retrieved from https://thechilltimes.com/can-small-acts-of-sustainability-really-making-a-difference/

SA Water. 2021. Saving Water: Make it your business amenities. Retrieved from https://www.sawater.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/6686/Factsheet_Amenities.pdf