Haves vs Have nots - sharing resources fairly

If you watched Campbell Live a couple of weeks ago, you would have seen the article about kids school lunches.  If you didn't watch it here.  It had quite an astounding effect on me.  I knew there was a problem but the article graphically illustrated it.  Nothing like a picture to tell 1000 words!

Photo from TV website - school lunches story

In summary (in case the link ever gets removed in the future) - TV3 Campbell Live went into a decile 10 school and a decile 1 school and asked kids in a random year 6 class (the kids did not know it was happening), to put what they had for lunch out on their desks and then leave the room.  The cameras then went in and filmed it.  In the decile 10 school - everyone had lunch, all but 1 or 2 had fruit, some up to 3 pieces. In the decile 1 school only half had lunch and those that had lunch had mostly sugary (often fizzy) drink and chips and none had fruit.  When TV3 asked who had had breakfast, all but one student in the decile 10 school class had had breakfast and virtually none in the class surveyed in the decile 1 school. 

I am well aware this article has provoked lots of comments on the internet regarding the parents and what they spend there money on but it is impossible to say that these families are not in poverty, even if some of the decisions they make about the content of a lunch is poor, remember most of the students didn't actually have any. 

However, the purpose of this blog is not to argue the point about these kids, their lunches and their family situation.  The point of this blog is to consider resource sharing - the have's and the have not's.  Sure - there may be reasons why some of us have and some of us have not, but no one can argue that the have's, have got too much!  

Image source:  http://www.seoptimise.com/blog/2011/12/36-social-media-sharing-resources-for-business-people.html 

In terms of sustainability,  fair sharing of resources is an important part of that.  Take some time to consider how you personally might be able to share some resources more fairly.  Even if its just making sure your cast off clothing goes to the charity bin in a cleaned and usable state or donating to the food bank every year.  Perhaps you could allocate some money or time each year for a chosen charity.  As they always say, charity begins at home -  so look to your local and neighbouring communities for good causes where you could donate time or money.  This builds communities and capabilities and shares resources more fairly.

Tell us what you have done to share resources more fairly.  

Have a great "sharing" weekend

Kind Regards
Francesca

Unwanted toys

Check out this picture and story regarding piles of unwanted toys

Quite sobering isn't it - plastic toys may enthrall the kids for a short period but for the most part they are quickly finished with and forgotten, often broken too because they aren't engineered to last forever.  
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There are 3 small children at my house and I don't think one day goes by when I don't feel like I am choking in the stuff they have and the stuff that is broken and can only go to landfill and I don't even get them that much.

I blogged late last year about making sustainable purchases for Christmas and included discussion on kids toys but when my colleague sent me this link and at the same time I had been given the Chalk magazine by the local kindy where the kids had circled things like plastic irons, hairdryers, cooking stuff - you know all the stuff I already have in the house (as the real deal) and then this morning my son was playing with my real hairdryer - yes he was supervised and I thought WHY do we need all these plastic replicas of things we already have in our houses.  Are we all so lazy (or busy) that we can't supervise our kids to play safely with the real thing or are we so health and safety conscious we think they are just not allowed to play with the real thing? 

If the kids use the real thing the kids learn about how they really work, they learn about the things to be watchful for.  My son understand with my hairdryer that first we need to remove the safety plug from the wall (which i do), then we plug the hairdryer in before turning it on, we take care not to cover the fan or have it too close to us.  After 5 minutes he turns it off, switches it off at the wall, unplugs it and asks for the safety plug to put back.  

We have a similar system with other pieces of equipment.  My kids all know how to use them and how to be safe with them.

They do make believe kitchen play with real stuff out of the kitchen - sure I select what pots/bowls they can have but they get a wide range of stuff (just not my really good stuff).  They are allowed to use some food - with the rule that they eat what they make (or they use playdough - I don't make them eat that!).

Next time you go to buy your children, nieces, nephews, or other children in your life a toy, stop and think.  Ask yourself -  do they really need this?  Think back to what you had and how you carried out that play.  Not only will it reduce waste but it will reduce clutter.  And that is the advantages even before considering the waste and carbon footprint prior to the toy making it to the shop you are about to purchase it from.  

Last year instead of a physical gift for my daughter for her birthday I bought her  a two hour horse trek which she has lots of memories from.  It supported a local business too, and has a lot lower footprint than a toy in many cases and it has not cluttered my house (or my daughters life) either.

One of the many toys that last a lifetime available from Funhotoys

Check out this link to Funho for toys that truly last a lifetime.

By the way - this blog may have been all about kids toys but lets face it, we could all do with reducing the "toys" in our life!  So think about it for yourself too.

Reduce the 'stuff' in your life and feel the freedom!  

Have a great weekend
Francesca

Why do we make things so complicated?

When we go to clean a bench top why is it that we think its easier and simpler to get in a car that was manufacturered overseas (using numerous parts and resources)  and shipped here, filled the fuel that was mined from the earth and shipped hear to buy a product from the supermarket that is usually imported made of all sorts of unknown chemicals that have been invented in chemistry labs and then mixed together to make your woinderful clearer, in a boittle that usually says its recyclable but in reality, as we have all learnt from reading this blog its only downcycled and will eventually end up in landfill when we could stay at home pull out a bulk bottle of vinegar or some baking soda and a little environmentally firendly dishwashing liquid and solve most of our cleaning issues in the kitchen.  Surely when you look at the whole process this is much simplier.

Why is it we think its better to take our kids to an indoor playground  so we can have some time out rather than sending them outside to play with the neighbours kids (or inviting friends around)  and letting them climb all over the fences and trees, ride bikes and  so on and having the coffee/chat and timeout in a neighbourhood environment.  Here we have saved money, fuel and given our kids some vitamin D as well as exercise and had some time out too and has built on local community.

Why is it that we join an expensive gym, that is likely to be a car ride away to exercise, when we could pull out a bike, pull on some running shoes, grab a friend and get out and keep fit, meet the community and get some vitamin D.  Why do we need flash exercise equipment to strengthen muscles when we could actually do that by doing more physical work such as gardening, helping out around the neighbourhood with some odd jobs and so on.  Save money, reduce carbon footprint, build community and build fitness. 

Why is it that we drive our kids to school and pick them up everyday?  Perhaps we are rushing to work, perhaps they have an after school activity to go to, perhaps we think its too far to walk (hmmm - remember what our grandmas used to say............."we walked 2 miles to school (over 3km) in all weather and home again"...............).  The kids might whinge the first few times but they will come to love it.  Perhaps we can work out a way - if we are rushing to work for example,  we could organise a neighbourly walking school bus, so that you do the shift once a week and work longer on another day.  Perhaps we could do the school run each day and forgo the gym membership which takes up time at another point as the daily walk = increased fitness, perhaps we can consolidate those after school activities or make sure they are done within the community. If the community doesn't offer the activity, find a way to make it happen.  For most activities you don't need much - an enthusiastic leader/tutor, a basic facility and a bit of gear.  There are plenty of ways to apply for funding and if its  community iniative, then the community may be very happy to fund it. 

Why do we buy pre-packaged biscuits from the supermarket, that have long ingredient lists of often unknown origin and effect, covered in plastic and sitting in a plastic tray when we can bake our own from simple less processed known ingredients, that we can usually source in paper packaging and produce a far tastier result, that we know what they contain and that we will share with friends, therefore continuing to build community. 

I am sure you can think of other things we do that are actually quite complex - that are perhaps considered a privilege of western society and consumerism that are actually adding to stress, environmental impact, reduction in community spirit.

Part of the problem of course is the complicated is presented as simple and the simple as complicated.   It appears easier to jump in the car than walk, until you consider the whole picture from vehicle and fuel sourcing to the impact of driving on the environment and you personally

The same goes for the cleaning product, the indoor playground and the multitudes of other things you can think of.

Its easier to choose a plastic bag than say no, its easier to just take the plastic bag that has "biodegradable" written all over it than say hey, you know those things are bad because.......until you consider the whole system and problem........then its actually simpler to make good choices and share them with everyone.

Take a look at some of your weekly habits. Think about what the end result of it is eg the goal of increased fitness and then consider how that same goal could be achieved in another way that might reduce costs, reduce environmental impact and build community.  I am sure each and everyone of us can find one thing that we can do that will achieve all of that in one foul swoop.  

Have a great weekend and enjoy simplifying your life.
Francesca

Thoughts from our students of 2012

 

This week I thought I would acknowledge some of the work our National Certificate in Animal Care students have been doing writing blog posts for their Monitor health and provide husbandry units relating to reducing the environmental impact of these animals as pets.

Here are some of the top posts selected by the programme coordinator.............

Rabbits and Rodents

From Ashley:

Having owned and bred rabbits during my childhood and adolescence I developed many ways of making my experience with them more sustainable and economical. After I had out grown my play house my family and I decided to convert the building into a spacious rabbit hutch which also included a raised deck for the rabbits to sunbathe on and a large, fully fenced outside area. By reusing my old play house I was able to create an ideal captive environment for my rabbits. 

Planting a small vegetable garden close to the hutch helped me to provide my rabbits with plenty of nutritious food and also taught me from a young age about horticulture and cultivation.

Composting the rabbits used bedding, cutting our own hay and providing home-made toys also helped to create a more sustainable rabbit ownership.

From Lisa:

Our course materials have given us some great ideas for sustainable practices so this is hard to top! For me as an organic gardener I can't think of a better way than to share this with our pets. Even if you don't have a large garden with space for a vegetable patch or fruit trees it is still possible to feed your pets organically. Small raised beds are easy to manage and if you have even less space container gardening is another option. Not only does this keep our environment and soils free from pesticides and insecticides it is a far healthier option for both ourselves and our pets. This is also a great way to get children involved in something that will hopefully stay with them throughout their lifetime.

From Esther:

I have two mice at home so I will focus on them but when it comes to sustainability for rabbits, guinea pigs, rats and mice the are all very similar. These are all small animals that like to play, hide, chew and run so toys are very important for them. Toys don't necessarily need to be expensive and brought from a pet shop, you can use things you find around your home. My mice love to run through toilet paper rolls and chew on the cardboard. We also use ropes around the cage for them to climb on and foliage from the garden. They seem to love nothing more then a big fern leaf to hide under and make little nests out of. I think you sometimes need to go back to how the animals would live in the wild to get ideas on how to get environmental enrichment.

From Carrie

When it comes to cleaning the hutch/cage you do not need expensive chemicals. White vinegar is a great cleaning agent which can be diluted to make a good quantity.

From Olivia:

I don't buy many packaged goods and subsequently have very few items to reuse as enrichment for a companion animal, so I've been thinking about ways to use food to contain other foraging items.

I'm a huge fan of using the daily diet as part of an enrichment toy, not just "yummies" and treats. Here are a few ideas I've been working on which you can adapt to suit rabbits, guinea pigs or rats:

1. Stuffing hay, veggies or fruit between the florets on a head of broccoli or cauliflower heads
2. Gauging out and stuffing holes in carrots
3. Bell peppers are already pretty hollow so they can be filled with regular diet and holes made in the sides of the pepper to make it apparent that there are things inside.
4. Stuffing a ball of hay with veggies and greens

Bacteria has a sweet tooth, so as a cautionary note I would add that fruit will spoiler sooner than veggies so err on the side of "not much", especially as fruit isn't a substantial part of rabbits'/guinea pigs'/rats' diets.

Rats are very good at manipulating things with their forepaws, so things like the broccoli can be tied or suspended by the stalk using soft leather strips, which are reusable and won't cause harm to teeth.

Things like this only take a few minutes to make and are a great way to engage youngsters in learning about the different proportions of food types within a companion animal's diet.

 

Birds

From Teresa

Working in a bird related field there are a few things that we do at "Animal Facility - Name removed" to reduce our carbon footprint for our birds

• Eco-perches- made from 100% recycled products
• Bamboo - bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants in the world, it is more environmentally friendly than plastic or wood made from slow growing trees. You can use bamboo to make swings, mobiles, perches and live bamboo plants for larger bird cages
• Instead of buying lots of expensive toys for birds to climb on you can use real trees, ideal ones would have a lot of defined branches for climbing and chewing on.
• In your backyard you can use a solar powered bird bath and fountain, this would reduce cost to run an electric fountain and also attract alot of wild birds to your garden. 

From Michelle 

Just by doing this birds unit standard I have learnt a lot!!! I think owners should do a little research into what their birds needs are, what behaviours would they carry out if they were in the wild. Spend time watching their birds finding its likes dislikes and how it behaves. The information the owners gain can benefit their birds lives. Owners would then be able to incorperate toys, and evironmental enrichment that would keep the bird occuped and can give their bird the opportunity to carry out behaviours they would carry out in the wild (or close to). 

Some natural enrichment toys that would not cost a lot and could be used over over again are:

• Coconut, are durable and the coconut husks and shells can be used for long periods of time for the bird to play with.
• Bamboo to perch and chew on.
• Hemp can be used as a type of rope its a perfect matrix for hanging chewing toys.
• Some suggestions are to change the perch positioning to make it easier of more difficult to get to a particular area of the cage this would encourage birds to use thier puzzle solving skills.
• Foraging enrichment- Use problem solving skills again by weaving greenary through cage bars.
• Fruit and vegetables stuck on the kebab stick then suspended in the aviary.
• Social enrichment: Personally talking to and playing with birds in your house
• Hang "toy-trees", hang multibranched section of bird safe branches from the ceiling of the cage.
• Old rope (bird safe) from wall to wall of the cage, change the postion of rope and have different types of rope (cheap from hardware stores) to provide exercise and stimulation.
• Treasure bags ( canuse small cardboard boxes or paper towels) that are cheap, put plasitc army men or creature toys inside the bag along with other materials such as straws/small crumpled paper plates/ cups bits of fabric and cardboard plastic hair rollers.
• Tuck special items like those above into folds of fabric for the bird to find. 

From Janine 

As we progress thru the course my mindset has changed regarding sustainability. Prior to the course I used to think i was doing my bit, by recycling, using canvas shopping bags instead of plastic... etc. However when it came to thinking of my pets and sustainability in the same sentence, I must admit I struggled for a while. I think I do a good job with our cat and dog, and the chooks, but when I think of pet birds/wild birds, I have to think hard - how could I assist with enhancing the most sustainable creature??  

I remember at some point in my childhood making dripping bombs with bird seed in them to hang from the tree and feed the wild birds, well, my elderly neighbour, still does this, she goes one step further by making a bird feeding station every monday afternoon. Thru out the week she collects up the left over green veg from her vege garden, crushed egg shells from her chooks and she adds this to a wild bird seed mix, she then uses the left over fat/dripping from the traditional sunday night roast to bind it altogether, then the best part, she hangs it in a hand crocheted mesh bag from a tree in her back yard. What a fantastic idea, and a way to benefit an already sustainable creature!  

From Ian 

If sustainability is a large concern for someone they should think chickens. Chickens are an obvious one because they can be locally sourced and they have low to no electricity requirements. They can produce eggs, meat and compost which you can consume or sell at local markets. You could use their products to barter with other locals for labour or goods, lessening the need to have things shipped or imported. They are great for keeping bugs down in your home garden and will eat a lot of the organic waste from our table or garden. They largly take care of themselves and will often love human interaction. Have fun with them, make them part of your life and sustainability might not seem like such a chore.

From Lisa

While searching for sustainable ideas for birds I came across the following website which has recipes for homemade cleaning and disinfecting solutions for bird cages. I think this a great alternative to purchasing expensive prepackaged cleaning and disinfecting solutions. Full instructions are given including the safety of your bird while cleaning and disinfecting and there are some other interesting articles too.

 

Cats 

From Schemell 

Well I was so pleasantly suprised by the cattery that I went to, which is literally like a palace holiday while their owners are away.

While there I was introduced to the new concept of using garden bark in their litter trays, now I had never thought of using this at all, but I think its brilliant and if you think about it totally natural if your cat was to go outside I can almost bet they would use the bark. 

The great thing is if you live more rurally the litterbox can be taken further away from the house and put into the garden where nature can do its job. Well I was so impressed as I was going through a 15L bag of kitty litter every week and a half (indoor cats) so I just had to try it, so I went out the next day and bought a 40L bag of bark nuggets for a low price of $7.00 and tried it out straight away, no worries at all and the cats seem as happy as before!
Great way to save money and be more sustainable to. 

From Marie 

The benefits of Micro-chipping your cat.   Firstly, the cost (when I say cost I mean both financial and the cost to the environment as well) of cat collars and name tags can be quite high over a cat's lifetime, especially if you have a cat with a knack for removing collars. the use of petro chemicals to produce synthetic collars has a hugely negative impact on the environment, and is not sustainable.  

Now, if we had got the cat micro-chipped, we could have got a fancy one that reads the temperature of the cat too (excellent time and stress saving option for the vet nurse and the cat on the next visit to the vet clinic), for just $56. A one off cost with less carbon footprint than synthetic collars.

When cats are not micro-chipped, there are extra costs when the cat gets lost. Printing out posters and resources used for scouring the neighbourhood can be minimised, as well as less resources used by SPCA if they pick up your cat and it is instantly identifiable. So no vaccinations wasted on cats with an unknown vax status, and nothing better than reuniting animals with their human companions.  

From Alyce: 

I have three cats at home and decided to buy a cat bed that looks like a cushion shaped box that has a whole in the front of it for one of the cat to get into and sleep in. Turns out they prefer a cardboard box that was left on my dinning room table. I agree that we find the cat bed in shops more appealing than our cats. Since then i now have 3 boxes for my 3 cats and they love it. Safe money, time and reuse a cardboard box instead.

From Emily: 

I think one of the biggest issues around domestic cats in New Zealand is the threat they pose to our native wildlife (birds, lizards, geckos and invertebrates). New Zealand has an amazing and unique range of birds and animals that have evolved on an island without mammalian predators, many species are very vulnerable. Domestic cats and ferals cats (a population fed by the domestic cat population) have been filmed preying on eggs, chicks and adult birds of many native species. Ideally, people living near wildlife reserves with vulnerable wildlife should not keep cats. However, if you really must have a cat...the Department of Conservation (www.doc.govt.nz) have a list of things you can do to make your cat more 'conservation friendly':

1. Have your cat neutered so they won't produce kittens that may end up homeless.
2. Feed your cat a balanced meal at a regular time, because hungry cats go hunting.
3. Put your cat in a cattery when you go on holiday so they don't wonder off and start hunting.
4. Feed cats inside an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset, because that's when birds are most active in the garden.
5. Keep cats inside at night, as night time is prime hunting time.
6. Fit a collar with bells to your cat, this will warn birds that a cat is nearby.
7. Put animal guards around trees that have nesting birds so your cat can't climb the tree and attack nesting birds and chicks.

Dogs  

From Rebecca:  

In order to give my dog a healthy, balanced, yet sustainable diet, i have moved away from conventional kibble feeding. Instead, I order raw chicken carcasses from various Dunedin poultry stores and pair this with fresh veges and eggs etc. I have found this method not only made my dog look and feel better but I have little or no packaging to deal with. The chicken carcasses are an inexpensive feed and also make use of the frames after these stores have extracted all the meat. Homemade treats are also a good option - filled with liver etc they provide a great alternative to the expensive (and often wrapped in a ridiculous amount of plastic) store brought treats.  

And finally from Ian (probably with a bit of tongue in cheek): 

I think nearly everything (if not everything) to do with viable ways of making dogs sustainable has already been said. fact seems to be that making your own litter, poo fertilizer, Eco-friendly toys and all those good ideas will help a lot but to some degree its limited by dogs being dogs, they consume resources, we consume resources. So shy of eating them, the only other thing i could come up with is maybe putting them on a hamster wheel with a virtual reality image of a field and sticks to chase and hooking it up to a dynamo and battery pack to power your house or car. They could run for say 2 hours over the course of the day and potentially generate a substantial amount of energy. It would keep them entertained, exercised and more sustainable long term. I know it sounds like slavery but we work to sustain our future, this is a way they could too. 
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I hope you enjoy these ideas. Remeber they are ideas and opinions of individual people and when choosing any of these options you should use due diligence to check out what you plan to do properly, prior to making the change. 

Thank you to the Animal Care students of 2012 at Otago Polytechnic for really getting into this concept of sharing ideas around a topic we perhaps haven't thought much about before.  I really wish I could have shared ALL of your ideas here.  I believe each and every one of you are on the way to becoming sustainable practitioners.

Have a great weekend.

Kind Regards
Francesca