Why I Started, and Why I can't Stop Volunteering - a guest post

Last year I was contacted by a lovely lady Ashley Stafford, who is a volunteer with Treat Mesothelioma. She wanted an opportunity to share her story, as well as a chance to spread awareness about the horror that is Mesothelioma and she asked whether I would help. Below are her words, as well as a stack of very helpful links to further information on Mesothelioma for you to check out.

When my best friends dad, Rick Romanenko, was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, I saw a family get turned upside down, I was turned upside down.  Everything that felt right, everything that felt in order was now backwards.

With general/common cancers, people always tell you to never lose hope and to always have faith that things will get better.  Well, with mesothelioma unfortunately, there are no options or hopes for a curing miracle. When Rick was pronounced dead to this asbestos related cancer. It was absolutely the hardest thing I have ever had to witness to date and that is why I began volunteering and raising awareness.  

Before Rick, I had never even heard of mesothelioma, nor for asbestos for that matter.  Except for the late television commercials or the radio ads from a mesothelioma law firm.  That was the only connection I had to this cancer, but one thing… one question… kept running through my head…

Why was he diagnosed in such a late stage of this cancer?

I soon learned that mesothelioma is extremely difficult to diagnose because it commonly gets mistaken for the common cold.  The reason for it’s usual inaccurate diagnose is because of it’s very mild symptoms. Mesothelioma symptoms include:

• Bad cough
• Fever
• Stomach aches
• Shortness of breath
• Loss of appetite
• Chest pains, etc.

If you’d like to learn more about mesothelioma symptoms for each type of mesothelioma, please watch this video here: Video for Mesothelioma Symptoms

To me that just seems crazy.  How can a terminal form of cancer have such mild warning signs?  How can you I prevent this from happening again?  I started volunteering.

I researched mesothelioma from a – z and realized the best way to save lives is to help them become aware of the dangers of asbestos and all of its most common locations.  If a person knows he or she has been exposed to asbestos, you will know to be screened for mesothelioma.  Given that you get screened annually and that it is completed by a mesothelioma specialist, you will certainly have the best odds to catch it in its beginning stages.  Catching mesothelioma early on can extend life expectancy by tens of years.  

After months of volunteering, I have learned that there is something extremely gratifying about it. Every time I volunteer, I feel better and healthier mentally, emotionally and spiritually. In fact, volunteering has now become a part of me. I feel as though I get something positive back from every volunteer effort I complete and life around me just seems more complete.

Every time I volunteer I feel happy because I know that I’m helping and restoring hope to the people battling mesothelioma cancer. I try my hardest to make them feel socially connected thereby warding off any type of depression and loneliness. As a person that has been affected by mesothelioma, I relate their experience with my past. Volunteers make those affected think about something else other than the present challenges.

This is very important because it prevents the stress that is associated with mesothelioma from infiltrating into the lives of the affected and I feel happy doing it. Volunteering for and with others increases my social interactions and this helps in establishing a support system on the basis of common interests and commitment. Both of these are important in decreasing the state of depression that either party could be feeling.

The social connection that comes with volunteering makes me feel that I am part of my society. I feel emotionally connected to the people that I interact with.  I also get a unique feeling of contentment. The more I volunteer the happier and content I feel. This enhances my own personal wellbeing while strengthening the emotional bond between my and who ever it is I am reaching out to.

Volunteering brings me a sort of inner gratification and peace. It gives me a sense of a meaningful purpose. I feel as though my life is finally balanced in the sense of what I give versus what I take from society.  This world that we live in needs a sense of balance more than ever and this balance begins and starts within each and every one of us.  That is why I won’t stop volunteering at Mesothelioma Treatment Community any time soon.

10 easy cleaning jobs that your kids would enjoy

Hello again my lovelies, I have a guest on the blog today discussing getting your kids involved in housekeeping, so please make her feel welcome.

Grace is from London, she writes articles related to cleaning, home improvements and parenting.

10 easy cleaning jobs that your kids would enjoy

Kids are better known with their messiness rather than being neat or having cleaning habits. But it is not hard to think of ways which can make cleaning joy and fun. You just need to choose a job which will be easy for your kids. Nobody wants to do something that looks like mission impossible. And it is very important to think of a reward after all the efforts they’ve put in doing the tasks given. It is also necessary for your kids to know that however easy the job is, it is important. This will make them feel of great value. And at last but not least – don’t just give your children to-do list. Do the work with them. Make them feel like they are actually helping you, not doing your chore.

Now it is time to give you some ideas for easy cleaning jobs that your kids would enjoy:

 1. Emptying trash. The most elementary thing and at the same time essential for a clean house. You can teach your children how to divide the trash into different categories – glass, paper, organic, so you can reach two goals with one thing – to keep the house clean and to think green.

2. Vacuuming. Fast and easy. May be the most preferable cleaning job in the house, especially if your children have big imagination.

 3. Dusting. The only thing which may be difficult in this job is if you have a lot of souvenirs or something else which needs to be moved out and then moved back. It makes the whole work boring and there is a great chance something to be broken. So cleaning services nw7 advises you to keep an eye on your kids while they are doing this task.

 4. Mopping. Doing something with water and soap balloons is always interesting for children. And when it includes wet and slippery floor it could become great entertainment. In this situation it is also possible somebody to get hurt so be careful with this duty.

5. Doing laundry. The best thing in this job is that there is no age limit. The only thing kids need to be capable of is passing things. What’s more, you can teach your kids the different colours if they are at early age.

 6. Folding. It comes as the next logical step after doing the laundry. If folding clothes is still difficult for your children, they can fold only the towels.

7. Wiping the kitchen table. Show your children that it is easy to keep the table and the floor around it clean if they wipe the table after every meal. After that they may do number 8 in this list.

 8. Washing the dishes. Of course not if they are very dirty, greasy, or it is something big like pots for example. At the beginning kids may start with cups, glasses and things that are easy to be washed.

 9. Washing the car together. Don’t expect from them to do a lot in this task, but it will be great fun in the hot summer days.

 10. Keeping their room tidy. Yes, it is possible, however hard. It is a matter of habit. It just takes time, sometimes very long time, of repeatedly and constantly reminding that it will be easier for them to find things they need if they are always at the same place.

I hope you’ve liked, if not all, at least some of the ideas. To make everything look more enjoyable, you can do it like family tradition. Make cleaning and maintenance duties something the whole family is involved in. 

Top Tips to Childproof your Home

Greetings again everyone, I have another guest poster on the blog today, she is very kindly stepping in for me to give you guys a total gem to read while I am busy writing another book for someone. So please welcome Diana from Zero Commission to talk about the ever important topic of childproofing your home. 

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Childproofing your house might appear to be such a daunting task, but any mum (and dad!) knows a child’s safety is worth all the effort. As mum to two toddlers, I get nervous when I see the statistics on child injuries that occur at home. The tiniest preventions, I’ve learned, can definitely go a long, long way.

And when is the best time to start childproofing your home? The correct answer is yesterday while the second best answer is now.

Whether your baby is still in your belly or you have a two year old bouncing around, most of us can never childproof our houses enough. For parents with newborns, you’d be surprised how fast time passes by. Before you know it, your bundle of joy will be crawling and touching everything in sight!

I’ve outlined certain sections and parts of your home that you’ll need to focus on in order to create a hazard-free zone for the little ones in your life.

Cabinets and Drawers

Cabinets and drawers can be dangerous to children because of what they store. These can include sharp objects, medication, and objects than can lead to choking.

Your best bet in childproofing cabinets and drawers is to install latches. The latches are typically placed inside drawers and cabinets that are within a child’s reach. You may also find knob latches that attach on knobs. Put in as many of these devices as possible. Toddlers can climb quickly and the drawer that seems out of a child’s reach in your eyes may surprisingly be within easy distance, especially for extra curious and energetic tots.

In cases of irregular cabinets that don’t work with any latch you can find, the safest option is to empty out said cabinet or drawer. Use the space to store child-friendly things instead like toys. Absolutely hazardous objects like poisons and chemicals should be kept totally out of any child’s reach.

Ovens, Stoves and Other Appliances

The kitchen can be the most dangerous room in the house. Within easy reach are knives, hot food and more. The height of most stoves make it terribly too convenient for inquisitive toddlers to explore and get hurt. As for ovens, you’d be surprised to hear how common it is for children to crawl inside.

The seemingly innocuous dishwasher is also a minefield of danger. Inside dishwashers we tend to store knives and objects that can break. A refrigerator with yummy treats can provide choking hazards or a space where a child can crawl into and possibly suffocate.

What’s the best way to keep your kitchen child-friendly? Put in locking latches on all appliances that have the ability to open and close shut. As for stoves, knob covers can help in keeping your child from turning on burners. Look into a stove guard as well to keep your kid’s hands protected.

When cooking, turn in pot handles so they don’t get knocked over. Keeping the pot handles turned inwards will furthermore prevent your little one from grabbing them and ending up scalded. There are dishwashers that come with built-in child locks.

I don’t allow my children to play in the kitchen. That’s just asking for trouble. These latches and other childproof gadgets make the room a safer place but I take it a step further by keeping my toddlers away from the kitchen as much as possible.

Stairs

The majority of nonfatal injuries involving small children occur from falls. Unprotected stairways are one of the main culprits involved in these falls. Did you know that baby walkers cause more harm than any other kind of baby product? Some major organizations like the American Academy of Paediatrics have requested the banning of baby walkers. If you insist on allowing your child to use a baby walker, make sure they use it away from stairs and other places where they can fall.

Keep your stairways safe by putting in safety gates at both the bottom and the top of stairs. At the top of your stairs, install a gate with a secure latch. Don’t pick a pressure-type gate for the top.

Remove all clutter from the stairs so nobody trips. This includes shoes. When your small child is learning to climb the stairs, always keep them supervised.

Tables

The sharp corners of tables, especially low tables like coffee tables, are dangerous for babies who are learning to walk. When they use these tables to “cruise”, they can bump their heads or injure themselves in other ways on the sharp corners.

Put in table cushions to avoid mishaps. Look into specific brands that fit correctly on the corners. There are cushions that fit all the way around tables as well.

Plants

You’d be surprised to know how many common houseplants are poisonous to us humans (and pets). Even those that aren’t toxic may pose a choking hazard.

Always know the kind of plants you have at home. Remove any rocks in the potting material. Kids love to pick up rocks and marbles--these are dangerous choking hazards. All toxic plants should be completely out of your kid’s reach or, better yet, discarded from your home.

Childproofing your home is an ongoing process. As your child grows and becomes more curious, you’ll have to do more work to keep your place safe. Don’t let this stress you out. Our children are not going to be babies forever, after all. This is all temporary and the right precautions will protect your child tremendously.

*****

Diana Lyn Mitjavile is a content writer for Zero Commission, an Australian online real estate agency based in Tasmania. The company helps sell any Australian home for a fixed fee and will take absolutely zero commission.

Their blog has amazing tips for homeowners like Mistakes to Avoid when Selling Your Home without an Agent, Top 5 Green and Eco-Friendly Home Improvement Projects to Undertake for Your House and How to Take Great Real Estate Photos with Your iPhone.

Contact her at Diana@zerocommission.com.au

Guest Post - 5 Things That Did Not Surprise Me About Single Parenting

Hello again my lovely readers, I have another guest writer visiting today, a fellow single mum Regina, who wanted to share her experiences of becoming a single mum. Please make her feel welcomed.

As a newly single parent, taking care of two very young children, every day comes with something new that I have to face because I am in this situation. From the challenges of finding the right childcare to the challenge of maintaining consistent discipline with the father not living at home, I am anxious to find out what other surprising things this new chapter in my life will bring.

Fears and negativity aside, there are some issues which came with single parenting that I knew long before I signed those divorce papers and so today I thought I would share the five things I knew would be prominent issues, so that you will have one less surprise to deal with in this new phase of your life.

1. Forget work-life balance

As a mother, I have always felt guilty – of not spending enough time with my babies, of not being efficient enough or organized enough despite having a partner to help me with the children. So when it came to me being a single parent, I knew that I would face more issues that would make me feel guilty, like depriving my children of growing up in a‘normal setting’ and depriving them of their father on a daily basis. "Single parents tend to be helicopter parents because we feel guilty," says Stacie Martin, a Dallas-based, single parent advocate, "we tend to take care of everything, to make up for our family structure, rather than finding balance."

2. I will miss some things my children do

Even as a married mother with a full time job I have missed some of my children’s milestones and I knew going into divorce that I would miss some things my children do when they are with their father. Sadness is often my go to sentiment on these things but rather than seeing it as missing out on some things, we can choose to turn the situation around and see it as the memory our children are sharing with their father. We will have our moments, which we must savor.

3. Being everything to them

Regardless of whether your partner is very present in raising your kids or you are doing most of the work, you will go into the single parent world knowing that you must be everything to them when you are with them. Like any other mother, I know my kids need that sense of security and when I am with them I feel the need to ensure my kids feel safe by them knowing I can protect them as much as their father can − I can be their nurse, their confidant, their entertainer, the person they can cuddle with and anything else they wish and need.

4. Lack of support

No matter how many friends and family I was surrounded with, I knew that I would not have an ally to help me deal with certain issues − like not having someone to turn to when my child had a pea stuck in his nose. I went from mornings spent walking barefoot in my cozy maternity clothes, during my maternity leave, to having to deal with chaotic mornings with throw up and tantrums, work duties and no one to blame.

5. Dealing with new girlfriends/wives

Having my kids away from me so they can spend time with their father is hard enough, especially since I am a control freak who needs to oversee everything. This in mind, I can only imagine the challenges of dealing with a new girlfriend or possibly a new wife my ex-husband will marry − one who will be a part of my children’s life.

Then again, this is something that hasn’t happened yet, so I will have to deal with it if and when it happens, just as I will deal in the best possible way, keeping in mind my children’s needs and happiness, with the surprises that are still to come!

Author Bio: A parenting writer, Regina empowers women through her writing and modern parenting tips. If she’s not writing, you can catch her surfing the web for what’s new at Fertile Mind. 

When Should Kids Lose their Baby Teeth?

Hello again lovely people, I am back with another guest writer here to share their expertise with us today. You may have noticed that all my posts lately seem to be guest written, and I'm sure some of you are wondering if I'm getting lazy in my old age. While that fact is inarguable, the truth of the matter is I have been dealing with a slew of health issues over the past few weeks, all of which have made sitting in front of a computer screen for long periods of time near impossible. Luckily for me I have had a number of incredibly generous people contact me recently offering to contribute articles for you guys to read, meaning I have had the luxury of being able to take this time off to recover properly. I promise I will be back to inflicting my own special brand of crazy on you guys very soon, but in the mean time I have a dentist here to discuss when children should lose their baby teeth. Please enjoy.

The Great White Shark has endless rows of teeth that fall out, grow in, and repeat all throughout its life. It never has to brush its teeth or worry about flossing. If it loses a tooth in the process of taking down a seal it only has to wait a little while for a new one to snap into place as replacement.

Humans? We aren’t so lucky. People only get two sets of teeth, and one of those will be entirely gone by our early teens. For kids, losing this first set of “baby teeth” is tremendously exciting: for parents it can be a nervous wait. Some parents may start to get worried if they think the process is taking a bit too long, or is happening too quickly for comfort. So what is the right time for your kids to start dropping their teeth all over the place?

We may not have endless teeth but at least we have a nicer smile

That’s not such an easy question to answer precisely, however a good rule of thumb to go by is that as long as they’re over four years old and under eight, then they’re of the right age to start losing their teeth. The process will most likely be completely over by around thirteen or so.

Some kids, girls especially, will be early bloomers and lose their first baby teeth around four years old. This is nothing to worry about, even if to you it may feel like just yesterday that their baby teeth were coming in. The first teeth to go will most likely be the front four incisors. The bottom two typically go first followed by their counterparts up top. The next to go are the lateral incisors, followed by the molars and finally the canines.

The actual process of the tooth loss should be relatively painless and issue free. There’s no need to try and force a tooth to fall out before its time, even if it’s very loose. The old piece of string tied to a doorknob trick can be well and truly left alone. The most active participant in the process will probably the kid themselves, as they wiggle the loose tooth around with their tongue or fingers. When the tooth falls out it will soon be replaced by a strong, healthy example of an adult tooth, which is where the real work begins. These teeth are the last any of us will get in our lifetime, so it’s critical to ensure that proper dental care begins immediately.

There are a couple of situations that may be cause for a little concern should they arise. Sometimes, trauma to a baby tooth may cause it to fall out early. If this happens, there’s a possibility that the teeth surrounding it will try to move into the empty space, forcing the adult teeth to grow in crooked. If you notice your child has lost a tooth before time, a dentist might decide it's good idea to place a temporary spacer in the gap to keep it open for it’s adult tooth.

Another possibility, if your child hasn’t lost any baby teeth by age eight, is that extra bone in the jaw may be preventing them from loosening. If your child is getting on a bit in age and hasn’t lost their baby teeth yet it’s no reason to throw a fit in panic: simply take them along to the dentist for a checkup. The dentist might decide to take an X-Ray to determine any possible issues, and the problem (if there is one) can be addressed from there.

In general, the transition from baby to adult teeth is a painless one for children as well as parents. In fact, most kids will be nothing but excited about the wiggling teeth and the possibility of the tooth fairy coming around. In very rare cases something may go awry, which is why organising regular checkups with your dentist from the time your child’s baby teeth first erupt is so important. Nipping any problems in the bud is the key to ensuring great oral health into adulthood.

This article was written by Malouf Dental a local Tingalpa and Cannon Hill Dentist. Malouf Dental take expert care on Children's dental.

Discover Different Ways To Encourage Play Time in Children

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Having time to play is an essential part of childhood and growing up. It is part of our roles and responsibilities as parents to provide our kids with an environment that encourages play time, creativity and independence.

However, it’s very easy to just leave the kids to it instead of using strategies that foster and promote play time. It’s important to encourage them to play independently, as our ever busier lives can leave children bored and disappointed, turning to the easy act of watching TV programmes or playing computer games that may not be the most appropriate for their social and mental development.

So, how can we encourage play time in children?

Allow Play Time Every Day

Just as we make sure that your children have enough time to sleep, do their homework or study, we can set aside some time to play each day. Whether they play with their cars or make a delicious meal for their dolls, disguise as indians or play a board game, it’s got great benefits if we can allow our children to just enjoy themselves and relax from their daily responsibilities and duties.

Experiences Mean Everything!

Children recreate experiences or activities they performed and enjoyed somewhere else when they use imaginative play. Thus, one of the simplest ways to encourage children to play and be creative is by providing them with diverse and meaningful experiences as regularly as possible. Make a family visit to the zoo or include your children next time you have to take the car to the car-wash service or enjoy a family picnic in a park nearby. You’ll soon discover how your children recreate these experiences in their daily games or use them as ingredients to spice up their play sessions.

Provide Some Props!

We can enrich your children’s pretend play opportunities by encouraging open-ended play. In other words, by offering them toys that have multiple uses and that help their imaginations expand powerfully. Stuffed animals, toy cars, pretend kitchenware, artistic materials, simple costumes (these can even just be mummy and daddy’s stylish old clothes from the 80’s), cardboard boxes or musical instruments. Invite children to play with them and allow them to use their imagination to create rich and highly detailed playing sessions.

Give Them Space to Play

Do your children have a safe, child-proof and comfortable space to play? Whether it’s outside or inside your home, it’s a good idea for children to have a place where they have everything they need within their reach: toys, props, books, art material… you name it! If possible, make sure that they don’t have access to screens and computers in their playing space as the idea is to encourage them to be as creative and open-minded as possible in their playing experience. Having their own play space encourages resourcefulness and independence in children as even though parents can be around and participate in their fun sessions, the idea is that they’re able to develop a complete playing session on their own while we’re mere spectators or limited participants.

Encourage Mess

Ok this one might get a bit of debate...I know how hard it is not to have a contradictory attitude towards children’s play time: on the one hand we love to see our children engaged in their play session and how they’ve turned their room or the living-room into a zoo, a city or a war zone but, on the other hand, we see the mess and complain about having all the toys around, cushions lying on the floor, blankets hanging from chairs and so on. As a result, sometimes we limit in some way or another their imagination.

That said, a good strategy that we can embrace in order to encourage play time in children is to accept mess as part of their creative process. We can then set aside time at the end where they’ll be required to clean that mess. I’m sure most will agree that cleaning up after yourself is a pretty handy skill for them to learn before they turn into teenagers anyway.

So here’s a few of the strategies that we can use to encourage children to play without your supervision. I invite you to try any or all of them in your family and share your findings. Which one has worked better in your case? Have you tried anything different?

Today's post is brought to you by babyvegas.com.au, and it includes links to their website. Searching for Sanity is not affiliated with Baby Vegas, so I earn no money if you click on these links. Now that the pressure is off, please go check them out and see the awesome toys they have.

3 ways to encourage whole brain learning through play

Hi guys, today I have a guest joining me to discuss whole brain learning and how you can incorporate it into your play time with your children at home, so please be upstanding and welcome Amanda from Shichida Australia.

When my daughter was around 1 year old, we began story-time at the library. It was a half hour of singing, reading, talking and some bubbles play. At first it was a way for me to get out the house and be around other people and not feel so isolated as a mom. I continued coming for another reason. I noticed that my baby was remembering signs and interacting with the presenter. My first thought was “I have a baby genius’ and my second thought was “i wonder what else she can learn through play?”

I began integrating music, dance and play into our everyday tasks. I would sing to the tune “If you’re happy and you know it’.

If you see the color (insert color), pick it out! (while pointing to the color)

If you see the color (insert color), pick it out! (while pointing to the color)

If you see the color (insert color), give a wiggle and a giggle

If you see the color (insert color), pick it out! (while pointing to the color)

I used this basic tune to talk about not only colors, but shapes and body parts. Before long, my itty bitty baby was starting to recognize shapes, colors and body parts. It is how she learned almost anything: we danced, sang and pointed stuff out.

I thought, imagine how fun school would be if we played to learned beyond preschool?

New research is supporting the idea that play and learning are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they go hand in hand. Research is showing that children that engage in playful learning are developing memory skills, their language is developing and they are able to adjust to an academic learning environment. This whole brain approach to learning is changing the way we learn and remember things. In fact, research is showing that all functions of the brain are connected.

A pioneer in childhood whole brain learning, Dr. Makoto Shichida, has committed 40 years to developing techniques to stimulate early development of the brain. Dr. Shichida emphasizes parent-child bonding and when a child feels free to express himself, he is more able to learn. This is a balanced approach to whole brain learning.

Here are easy ways to incorporate this whole brain, play based learning into your schedule without feeling you are adding more to your plate. Try to engage at least two senses at a time. 

1. Schedule time for physical play, integrate music into your play. Hot potato with music or musical chairs are two examples. Silly time and having your child using hand-eye coordination, while waiting for musical cues stimulated different parts of the brain at once.
2. Have adult and child interactions. Pretend you are in a restaurant and your child is the server and chef. Pretend you are a patient in a hospital and your child is the doctor.
3. Recreate an experience, such as travel or a vacation. Pretend you are in another country and practice using simple words from another language. This helps engage the multi-language circuit of the brain.

The most important things to remember are to let your child’s imagination run wild, make sure your child feels safe to express himself, and let your child be the guide.

(http://www.shichida.com.au/)

About the author:. Amanda works PR for Shichida Australia ((http://www.shichida.com.au/), spreading her love for childhood learning through fun, music and play.  When she isn’t chasing her two kids and (trying to) prepare healthy meals, she is cuddling her fur baby, a 9 year old boxer.

Going Green with Prudence Claire

Hello everyone and welcome to another Wednesday morning. Now because I truly hate Wednesdays and would spend the entire day in bed if I can, I have decided to get someone else to do my work for me today. I recently had the pleasure of being introduced to the lovely Prue from Prudenceclaire, and she is something of an expert when it comes to sustainable living. Today she has very kindly offered to come along and teach us all a little bit about how we can change to a greener lifestyle, so please sit back and enjoy some of her wisdom.

Hi, I'm Prue.

Let's talk green.  Somehow over the years I've morphed into one of those annoying environmentally conscious people.  Everything I've learned along the way about "going green" has made me something of an accidental expert on the subject.  I can tell the difference between a genuine green brand and a green wash.  I even know what some of the numbers mean on the ingredients list (925 is chlorine, for example).

Most of us are concerned to some extent about the environment, our bodies and our kids.  It's not hard to introduce a few changes to your everyday life which can reduce your exposure to chemicals and have a huge environmental impact.

Here's my list of easy things you can do to green your life:

• While running your shower waiting for the hot water to come in, collect the water in a bucket and use it to water plants.  You can also collect the water from your kitchen sink.
• Plant a veggie patch.  Check out which plants deter bugs and you can intersperse them amongst your vegetable plants - a lot of herbs that you might want in your garden anyway will also keep the bugs off your other plants.
• Get yourself some chickens.  If you have chickens and a vegetable garden there's wonderfully complete cycle where you eat the eggs, feed the chickens your food scraps, and you can crush the egg shells to deter slugs and snails from eating your veggies.  Plus, later you can kill the chickens and eat them.  Just kidding.  Or am I?
• Get rid of your lawn. This is a little radical, I know. But a dead lawn is an ugly lawn, and watering it is such a waste of water. Install synthetic turf or if you don't like the look of that, pave, install garden beds with drought tolerant plants, whatever - just get rid of the water sucking lawn.
• Always choose drought tolerant plants that flourish with minimal water. Or better yet, choose plants that are local to your area. Tropical plants are beautiful but all that bright green fleshy foliage needs LOTS of water. If you live in an arid area like me in Perth, for heaven's sake choose plants that aren't going to struggle in the blistering conditions.
• Compost your food scraps to use on the garden. Start to look at your rubbish bin as a last resort. You want to put as little in there as possible.
• Don't use your toilet as a rubbish bin either - the less solid waste to be broken down in the sewer system, the less chemicals they have to use to break it down.
• Sort your rubbish as you throw it away - get a dedicated recycling bin to put next to your normal waste bin.
• When throwing out plastic bottles, remove the lids. They're a different type of plastic and therefore have to be processed differently at the recycling plant.
• Things that should go in your recycling bin - plastic wrap, al foil, tin cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles.
• Buy your groceries from farmers' markets or independent supermarkets instead of Coles or Woolies.  You can learn more about the Coles/Woolies duopoly here (this video is from 2010 but the information is still relevant and accurate).
• Walk, take public transport or ride a pushbike to places nearby - if you ride a bike, BONUS! Incidental exercise!  You'll be green AND hot.
• Choose local sellers online.  On eBay you can refine your search for items near you only.  This saves on fuel and transportation costs.
• Buy secondhand: search for secondhand items instead of new ones on eBay and Gumtree.  I often hear people say "Oh, it already exists so I may as well buy it" about buying new items.  In actual fact, by buying something brand new you're adding to the demand for new items.  Go op shopping!  The great thing about op shops is they're not really in vogue at the moment so there is SO MUCH great stuff.  I remember in the 90s when everyone was into grunge all the op shops had been picked over so many times it was impossible to find anything but mom jeans and Bill Cosby jumpers (although nowadays that stuff would be really popular).
• Take reusable bags to the supermarket.  I'm from SA where plastic bags are practically illegal and when they're not readily available at the shop (or when you pay 20c per crappy compostable bag) it's amazing how quickly you get used to bringing your own.
• Choose bamboo over cotton.  You can find bed linen, towels and even clothes made out of bamboo.  It is about a thousand times softer than cotton, it's a fast growing crop, requires about a third of the amount of water that cotton does, has no natural pests.  I have some bamboo towels and every time people come to stay they marvel over how fluffy and soft they are.
• Choose glass instead of plastic e.g. I buy my tonic in the little glass bottles instead of the big plastic ones. Bonus is that it doesn't go flat.
• Get a front loading washing machine - saves water, electricity AND much gentler on your clothes.  Not only that, it actually cleans them better than a top loader.  True story.
• Do your washing in cold water instead of hot.
• Dress to the weather - put on a jumper and socks instead of turning on the heater, wear cool clothes in summer instead of cranking up the air conditioner.
• Don't use your air conditioner unless it's less than 15 or more than 35 degrees.  If you must run the air con, set it to 20 in winter and 25 in summer.
• If you're lucky enough to be building your own home, choose an energy efficient design.  A roof full of solar panels doesn't count, although it is a great start.  A truly energy efficient building uses less power and water and creates less waste, and in some cases actually contributes positively to the environment.
• Choose energy saving light globes and it goes without saying, don't leave them blazing all day and night. 
• Turn off or better yet unplug your appliances at the wall.
• Invest in Enjo cleaning products and do away with chemicals altogether.  Enjo is amazing and cleans better with less effort than using chemicals.  I don't know how it works, I just know that it does.
• If you're not into Enjo, tear up old clothes to use as cleaning rags instead of paper towel - reduce waste and the incredibly toxic pulping process required to make paper products.

Let's be realistic.  This is a long list.  I don't do all of them.  I can't be bothered to turn off and unplug my appliances at the wall.  My sister does this and I salute her.  I just cannot be bothered to plug in and unplug the TV every time I want to watch it.  I also can't be bothered to collect the water from my kitchen sink, although I do collect it from the shower.  My fiancé Blair feels the heat and so we run the air conditioner in summer more than I'd ever do on my own.  Sometimes I just grab the spray and wipe and the paper towel instead of the Enjo glove.  We're all human.

The point is to find a system where you're doing what you need to for the environment without getting pissed off at the inconvenience.  Anything that you do is better than nothing.  Don't beat yourself up about the things you don't do and just be proud of those that you do.

The fact is that living responsibly is not as easy as being lazy.  You do have to make an effort and change your habits and if you don't really care then it will always feel like a massive pain in the ass.  To me, it's become so ingrained that I barely think about it anymore.  It wasn't until I wrote this post that I realised just how much I know about this stuff now.

I hope this has been helpful or got you thinking about the things you can do.  The difference you can experience in your own health and well being when you do away with chemicals in the home, as well as the positive impact on the environment when we're all using less power, less water, less EVERYTHING, is tremendous.

xxx Prue 

Ok so how many of you learned something today?? I know I certainly have, and even though there are a lot of things on this list that we all already do, I believe we can all do a little bit more. I'd like to give a big thank you to Prue for coming by today, if you want to learn more about sustainability, or read anything else this lovely lady has to say, please stop by her website and show her some of your wonderful love. 

Well that's all from me for today, I'm now going to go and remove all the lids from the bottles in my recycling pile. I'll be back again soon, and in the meantime, please pop over to Prue's website to see some very important secrets about being a parent, that I have shared with her readers.