Although, my official eco crusade doesn’t begin until January 2016, I’ve been reading, researching and investigating ways to reduce the impact that my family has on the environment. The amount of information online and on social media about sustainable living is overwhelming!

And I wanted to share with you the trials and triumphs from this week.

5 Things I’ve learnt or practised so far

1. There is no better mode of transport than your own two legs so I have done a bit of walking this week. It also helps put babies to sleep!

2.  One of the places that I walked to was the library. What a grand place that is. Why spend your hard earned cash on books when you can borrow them from the library? (not to mention the trees you are saving etc) And they now ‘lend’ / give access to ‘ebooks’ (no trees harmed in the making..) Of course I’ve always known about the benefits of a library but while working a 9-5 job, I never seemed to have time and it just didn’t seem very convenient (excuses excuses!)

3. Today, I made a visit to the Farmers’ markets. Farmers’ markets are great because they support local growers, the food hasn’t travelled thousands of kilometres, they use a lot less plastic + packaging and it is usually more affordable.  As a bonus, you often run into people you know so it becomes a social outing too! I went with my friend and we went halves in a watermelon and came back to have fruit, yoghurt and a coffee at home.

4. Invested in some modern reusable cloth nappies. Aren’t the patterns fabulous?

5. Made my own yoghurt in the Thermomix. It will certainly cut down on some plastic packaging and save some money too! Not to mention it is healthier because there are less additives and sugars.

5 areas to work on

1.There is always room for improvement and even though I’ve been trying my best to bring my own reusable bag to the supermarket, I always forget to do it when I’m shopping for clothes or gifts etc. Something to remember in weeks to come.

2. Buying products with less packaging if possible

3. Be more organised so I don’t resort to buying heavily packaged ‘ready meals’.

4. Remember my reusable water bottle. I have an aluminium one but I seem to have misplaced it so I’m using one of the plastic sports bottles which I don’t think is idea. So I’ve got my eye on either a glass or stainless steel one to put on my Christmas wish list.

5.  Spend less time reading and tweeting and more time doing.

Trying to be more environmentally friendly and going on a personal Eco crusade is not an easy challenge. The main thing that I will keep reminding myself is if I fall off the bandwagon, jump straight back on!