EcoAdjacent

EcoAdjacent Sharing my environmentally conscious journey + motherhood, teaching, te reo Māori and more. A village to raise a child, a community to change the world.

Let the solids journey begin.The first batch of homemade puree for Logan. This is kumara.Logan had a quick taste test an...
15/05/2022

Let the solids journey begin.

The first batch of homemade puree for Logan. This is kumara.
Logan had a quick taste test and seemed to approve.
Also have carrot and avocado ready to go.

5 months in, a new level of busy and tired.Logan is now 5 months old, on the weekend we celebrated our first Mothers Day...
10/05/2022

5 months in, a new level of busy and tired.

Logan is now 5 months old, on the weekend we celebrated our first Mothers Day with him earth side. It was a fantastic weekend with family.

Life is a lot busier now. Logan sleeps less during the day and is on the move, using rolling to get across the floor. There is more washing and we have started doing visits at my ece centre in preparation for my return to work.

All of this doesn't leave much room in the day for creating content to share on here.
I've enjoyed sharing a little of our journey but whats really important to me is being present in the moment with my family.

I'll keep EcoAdjacent here in the background in case inspiration strikes again but I won't be trying to make content to share.

If your interested in waste collection, waste minimisation and sustainability based in Whangārei you can follow our trust For Our Real Clean Environment where we will continue to share.

Thanks for following along on this brief experiment into sharing our lives.

Ngā mihi mahana,
Karen

Salvaged and secondhand looks so good.This amazing red Cherry Bishop merino crossover dress was saved from landfill by t...
04/05/2022

Salvaged and secondhand looks so good.

This amazing red Cherry Bishop merino crossover dress was saved from landfill by the fabulous volunteers at Intercept Fabric Rescue.

It had a lot of small holes, most likely from moths, and wouldn't have been accepted for sale in a regular opshop.
But Intercept isn't a regular opshop.
Partnering with Whangarei Salvation Army volunteers create upcycled items with rescued textiles including mending and recreating clothing. In there first year they diverted 3.4 tonne of textiles from landfill.

Logan is also wearing salvaged and secondhand clothing from top to toe. His shirt was also saved by Intercept, the bodysuit underneath was from a friend, the pants were from a family who needed to move in a hurry, even his reusable nappy is second hand.

There is already more clothing in the world than we need. To me secondhand just makes sense.
If I do buy new I invest in quality ethically made natural peices and care for them and mend them to extend their life.

This dress is my new favourite, perfect for winter, natural fibre and breast feeding friendly. Thank you to the volunteers at Intercept for mending this peice so I can love it for years to come.

Reuse before recycle.Did you know that New Zealand only has one glass recycling plant! O-I in Auckland is where recycled...
04/04/2022

Reuse before recycle.

Did you know that New Zealand only has one glass recycling plant! O-I in Auckland is where recycled glass is manufactured into new glass containers.

However, they can't keep up with the amount of glass we use and for some regions it is uneconomical to ship their recycled glass to Auckland.
Add to this, the fact that new glass needs to be reused 3x to have a lower carbon footprint than single use plastic, and it becomes clear that we need to be moving up the waste hierarchy and reusing before we recycle.

This is also true for other materials such as plant pots which can be recycled through Mitre 10's pot to pots scheme. At best #5 plastics can be recycled 4 times into the same thing before being downcycled and eventually going to landfill.

I was able to pass on these glass jars and plant pots to be reused by people who need them. That means they didn't need to buy new and I didn't overwhelm the recycling plants with items that can be reused.

Next time you've got something that can be reused offer it on Facebook, Freecycle or other sites, you never know what others are looking for.

Whangārei can now recycle plastic number 5!Whangārei District Council have recently announced that #5 plastic can now b...
28/03/2022

Whangārei can now recycle plastic number 5!

Whangārei District Council have recently announced that #5 plastic can now be recycled in curbside recycling.

That means containers from ice cream, takeaways, cat food, yogurt and more can now be diverted from landfill. Make sure they are clean and remove lids before placing them in your red bin.

In our house we follow the 8 R's to reduce our waste. This means that even though these containers are now recyclable we will rethink our options, reduce the amount we buy and repurpose the containers before they end up in the recycling.

Things I found useful : red night light.For late night wake ups and feeds I found this colour change light bulb with rem...
27/03/2022

Things I found useful : red night light.

For late night wake ups and feeds I found this colour change light bulb with remote really helpful.

Red light is softer on your eyes and wakes you and baby up less in the middle of the night. The remote means you can have the lamp further away from you and still easily turn it on in the dark.

It has lots of colour and brightness settings as well as flashing and colour change modes meaning it can be used as a party light when you don't need a night light anymore.

I purchased this one from Mitre10 for around $10 but there are lots of options out there including ones you can control with your phone.

Whats something you find really useful?

Make sure you clean before you donate.Donating to op-shops can be a great way to pass on items that you no longer need b...
27/03/2022

Make sure you clean before you donate.

Donating to op-shops can be a great way to pass on items that you no longer need but are still in good condition. Its a win win, a charity raises money for their cause and people can buy second hand goods at a resonable price.

However, make sure you aren't just shifting the responsibility for your waste onto someone else. Op-shops have to spend millions of dollars a year sending unsellable items to landfill. That is money which could be much better spent helping those in need.

This muffin tin is an example of lazy donating, the left over batter from the last lot of baking hadn't even been washed off. Volunteers at op-shops often don't have the time to wash or fix your donations.

If you have items you no longer need that aren't in great condition you could try fixing or repuposing yourself, the internet is full of tutorials.
If you don't have the time, skills or tools, offer the item for free on marketplace, freecycle or a pay it forward page. One persons trash is anothers treasure.

Ultimately we need to be responsible for our own waste. Clean it, donate it, repair it, repurpose it, recycle it. Do what you can to keep it out of landfill but don't make it someone else's problem.

Congratulations Lynne Clifton!Lynne has won my think global, act local competition after being nominated by her daughter...
20/03/2022

Congratulations Lynne Clifton!

Lynne has won my think global, act local competition after being nominated by her daughter Tonia Clifton for always being there for her.

Lynne's name was selected using a random number generator from all the entries on the original posts on Facebook and Instagram.

It was fantastic to see so many locals are making the world a better place for their friends, family, colleagues and community.

Choose to help.Thats the theme of this year's International Day Of Happiness.I'm constantly having to remind myself that...
20/03/2022

Choose to help.

Thats the theme of this year's International Day Of Happiness.

I'm constantly having to remind myself that I can't do everything, especially while caring for a tiny human. But what I can do is share what I have and what I know.

Later tonight I will draw a winner for my think global, act local competition. Giving away that slow cooker is one way I choose to help.

The International Day of Happiness is a UN-sponsored annual event that promotes happiness as a universal human right.
It also emphasises how important happiness is to humanity.

One of the most important advantages of happiness is that happy individuals live longer and have fewer health difficulties such as high blood pressure and heart problems.

You won't believe how long a lettuce can last in the fridge.Its food waste action week and two of the simplest hacks I a...
12/03/2022

You won't believe how long a lettuce can last in the fridge.

Its food waste action week and two of the simplest hacks I always use are these;

🥕 store carrots submerged in water in the fridge. They stay crisp and fresh for longer and can even be revived in water as well.

🥬 I've managed to keep a head of iceberg lettuce fresh in the fridge for over a month by wrapping in cotton cloths and sealing in a bees wax wrap.

www.lovefoodhatewaste.com has an A-Z of how to store food to help keep it fresh and stop waste.

Don't cry over spoilt milk, freeze it instead.It's food waste action week, the perfect time to share my recent experienc...
10/03/2022

Don't cry over spoilt milk, freeze it instead.

It's food waste action week, the perfect time to share my recent experience with spoilt milk.

Recently I left a whole silicone storage bag of milk out at room temperature for over 4 hours making it no longer safe for feeding.

What a waste! Was my first thought.
But this milk can still be used for milk baths to soothe babies skin. So I added a couple of drops of food coloring, to make sure I can tell it apart. Then I used my haakaa baby food and breastmilk freezer tray and froze it to use later.

Now instead of this milk going to waste I can pop a cube or two into a bath for a lovely hydrating milk bath.

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