Reduce Your Footprint

There are op shops in remote Australian communities that need items. Donating with Purpose can make a difference to the people in these communities.

It’s Plastic Free July so that means refusing single use plastics and thinking about the plastics you already have. I put my thinking cap on and realised that we buy spreadable butter on a semi regular basis. Each one neatly packaged in a silvery plastic box which is thrown into recycling once the butter was… Read more

I wanted to give a birthday present to a friend who is very much into reducing her footprint and zero waste. I decided to have a go at a making a recipe in a jar. Something that could be cooked with little effort, one evening after work. Simply add oil and water and you’re done… Read more

It’s Plastic Free July, which is about raising awareness of single use plastics and asking everyone to make small changes in their relationship with plastic. If you follow Tiffin on Facebook (and please do, if you don’t already), you may have seen that I headed waaaayyyy over to the other side of town a couple… Read more

I have been writing for a while about reducing waste and re-purposing food scraps and left overs into other meals and snacks. The amount of food waste in the world is really staggering. There is plenty of research and column inches written about it yet it seems to continue unabated. Whether it’s people buying too… Read more

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and reading about recycling systems in Australia. It would be great if every council had the same scheme to make it easier for people to recycle consistently across the country. Alas, they do not. Having said that, there are a number of items that are recycled almost universally… Read more

Some time ago I shared a recipe for how to make your own Coffee Salt Scrub. It’s part of our household trying to become palm oil and micro bead free. Cosmetics and beauty products pose a particular challenge. I have finished the jar of Coffee Salt Scrub so decided to turn my hand to a… Read more

Eons ago, I visited Reverse Garbage when it was in West End. We headed there to buy some bits and bobs to make costumes for the kids for my fancy dress 40th party. I hadn’t really had cause to re-visit, but a recent return reminded me what an amazing resource this business is. The concept… Read more

My days of extravagant eyeshadow, bold blusher and blue mascara are firmly in the rear-view mirror. There is still the odd occasion though, when I like to splash on a bit of war paint. Until now, I have removed my makeup with makeup remover and the standard cotton pads available in any supermarket. Last weekend… Read more

This back end of the year is crowded with birthdays and Christmas. For many years, I have asked people not to give me gifts. If people insist, I ask them to donate what they would have spent, to the Leukemia Foundation. It’s the ultimate responsible gift giving. I understand though, that there are plenty people… Read more

As I spread out items to fill the handbags I was donating to Share The Dignity’s ‘It’s In The Bag’ campaign, I had a sudden flashback. If you are of *ahem* a certain age, you may recall the ads for Glomesh with the tagline ‘You can tell a lot about Paula Duncan… by what’s in… Read more

So. Much. Stuff. Before we went away for 18 months in 2009, I put a rule in place in our house. ‘For every thing you bring in, you need to take a thing out’. It was part of a strategy to reduce the excess ‘things’ we owned. It worked pretty well and helped to make… Read more

Each summer, smoothie production ramps up at our house.  No particular recipe – just fruit and either yoghurt or milk or maybe some juice, mixed in the blender with ice (if we have it).  We often have one mid morning on a Saturday instead of morning tea. The problem with smoothies is that they’re not… Read more