Ethical Shopping – Trying to be an eco-mum on a budget

Plastic Free July – the finish line

August 18, 2019August 18, 2019PowerfulOwlLeave a comment

HAKUNA+MATATA!

(Source: https://www.futurelandfill.org/share/hakuna-matata)

Plastic is a visual and insidious material and source of pollution. It is something that seems to be uniting young and old to try and take action. In fact while Australia continues to be an embarrassing laggard when it comes to climate action, Scott Morrison and the COAG (Council of Australian Governments) announced a ban on plastic, paper, glass and tyres with a $20 million fund to boost national recycling. This is welcomed especially following recent turnbacks of our waste in Indonesia and Malaysia.
With this in mind, it’s been an interesting time to participate in Plastic Free July. This month long pledge is now officially over. The last week saw us staring at the finish line in anticipation. Would our plastic free life style carry on to August and onward? I’m afraid not so much. We learnt a lot. About how prevalent plastic is in our every day life and how convenience has made it hard to give up. Despite that though, we are determined to continue to try and carry as much of the plastic free ethos beyond July. But in order for us to be able to avoid the use of this material and the environmental impacts of its production in the first place, a broader societal shift needs to occur led by supermarkets.
Are our major supermarkets willing to take this challenge on though? Let’ check out the Coles ‘Sustainability’ page: https://www.coles.com.au/corporate-responsibility/sustainability/environment
We understand the important roles packaging plays in maintaining food safety, supporting product longevity and reducing food waste. At the same time, we are committed to reducing our impact on the environment and have implemented a Sustainable Packaging Policy.
This Policy extends to plastic packaging and plastic bags with a focus on recycling infrastructure to recycle these plastics, rather than try and avoid them. With the recent cases of turnback of plastics, it’s unknown whether this policy is even practical and achieving its stated aim.

Coles little shop

Let’s now take a look at Woolworths which has a lovely ‘sustainability’ page: https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/discover/sustainability
Our plan to tackle the plastic problem is focused on eliminating plastic where possible and to work towards ‘closing the loop’ by encouraging recycling through design, technology and clear communication to our customers.
The Woolworths Policy and its actions are certainly fairly comprehensive and while it isn’t easy to avoid plastic, reducing unnecessary use should be an absolute must.
Therefore it’s with disappointment that both supermarkets, in the month of Plastic Free July, decided that it was a super idea to have silly toy giveaways – both aimed to children and the pester power that they have. This is certainly something that I never buy into, but that doesn’t always stop extended family from doing the same. We now have a number of Lion King Ooshies in our house. This despite all that I tried to teach my children about plastic and ways to avoid it in the last month.
While the ooshies are in our house (not many), I’m pretty sure this will be one of the last time these cheap plastic toys make their way into my home. At least the ooshies are giving me a chance to really drive home the message that unless my kids plan on keeping these toys for life, they are likely to end up in landfill or polluting the ocean and after all we did in July – won’t that be a shame? It is hard though when I must be about the only parent at the school to hold these views, as I see many children with bags and bags of ooshies at pick up time.
So it is with interest that I observe the intersect between environmental issues and science with art because artists will be able to clearly communicate in a creative way, what many scientists have failed to do for so long. In the case of the ooshies, this has been through the Future Landfill initiative which is using cheeky art to make a point about the pointlessness of these cheap promotions.
So if there’s one last tip that I can give – it is that, while it may be hard, it isn’t impossible to significantly reduce our plastic use and it all starts with a simple ‘no’. No, to taking a ‘free’ ooshie or other cheap toy giveaway, no to plastic waste, no to takeaway cups, cutlery and containers and no to plastic water bottles. Our world really does depend on it.

DIY Gifts from the Heart – Christmas 2017

December 29, 2017December 29, 2017PowerfulOwlLeave a comment

Another year has flown and what a year! Highs, lows, fun times, not so fun times. For me, 2017 has been a time where I’ve focussed on my career and family. My youngest daughter has started pre-school and while she loves it, it’s taken a little one for this spirited one to settle into the new routine of her Montessori pre-school.

2017 was also the year where my middle daughter started ‘big’ school. Going from Montessori to a public primary school was quite easy for her and she’s thrived and done very well. She’s one of those kids that loves to learn anyway – which is lucky.

For my son, 2017 has been a year of cementing friendships and perfecting the art of lego making! With his two closest friends moving to another school and overseas, the next year is going to bring lots of changes for him.

For me, I’ve managed to do a few things that have been on my ‘to do’ list for a long time – getting chickens and continuing my gardening around the house. Work has rewarding with me having completed some great projects and made wonderful friends. The year ends however with me saying farewell to my previous job and welcoming another one.

As the year ends however, I like to work with my children to give family something home-made, from the heart and special for Christmas. This year, I decided on home-made granola! I like it because it’s simple to make and you can be creative with it. It also went down a treat!

Here is what you need:

Jars
Nice ribbon
5 cups of rolled oats – this is the base
1 ½ cup puffed corn
1 ½ cup rice bran
½ cups goji berries
¼ cups cacao nibs
1 cup shredded coconut
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cups pumpkin seeds
½ cups pecan nuts
125 ml Maple syrup
½ cup coconut oil melted
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp nutmeg
Pinch of salt

Method:

M pecan

Pre-heat the oven to 160° C
Cover baking tray with non-stick baking paper
Mix all the ingredients except the goji berries and puffed corn.
Add the maple syrup and coconut oil and mix through.
Spread on a baking tray and put in the oven
Once it’s starting to look golden – add the puffed corn (this is so that the puffed corn will be crispy, but not burnt)
Depending on how you like it, you can leave it a little longer (it should take about 20 minutes all up) until it is more toasted
Removed from the oven and mix through the goji berries. Set aside to cool.
Once cool add to jars and decorate as you please.

M mixing

Enjoy – nooshejan!

May you have a peaceful, healthy and prosperous 2018 full of love and joy.

New Year Resolution – Give your Coffee Pods the Flick

February 4, 2016February 4, 2016PowerfulOwlLeave a comment

source: http://theconversation.com/what-our-love-affair-with-coffee-pods-reveals-about-our-values-30068

I was never much of a coffee drinker until fairly recently. I never liked the taste – not really through university and not really in my earlier days of working. At the moment however I enjoy a cup of coffee a day. It’s more the habit of it that I enjoy. I like taking the time out to prepare and drink it.

My husband on the other hand is a coffee drinker from way back. Every day without fail he’ll have a cup at about the same time. Over the years the standard of coffee drunk has increased. From the instant coffee to buying his own beans, grounding it and using various methods to extract the coffee.

When we moved to the UAE, he bought a cappuccino maker. We felt very fancy. Then it broke and after some reading I bought him a better one for Father’s Day one year. He broke it! then I arranged to get it fixed – then he broke it again and again! In the end we had to get rid of the cappuccino maker.

When we moved back, we managed to acquire my sister’s cappuccino maker – which my husband promptly proceeded to break. So after that I had to put my food down and say no more cappuccino makers. This happened to be about the time that the coffee pod machines became super cheap and stores like Aldi started to sell the pods very cheaply too. Despite my reservations my husband bought one and thankfully in a way he’s managed to not kill the machine. Except that every time we made a cup of coffee it was filled with guilt. Guilt about all the pods we were throwing in the bin. The plastic that was never going to degrade and the mountains of coffee pods that must surely be filling up landfills.

Some facts about coffee pods:

Australians are consuming about three million pods a day.
More than 1.5 million households in Australia own a pod machine, a number forecast to double by 2018 with reports the capsule coffee market is on track to overtake the grocery bean market.

Apparently, the inventor of the coffee capsules, K-Cup, who sold enough capsules in 2013 to circle the earth nearly 11 times, wishes that he never created them in the first place and is said not to use them himself “No matter what they say about recycling, those things (K-Cups) will never be recyclable,” John Sylvan told The Atlantic. “The plastic is a specialised plastic made of four different layers…I feel bad sometimes that I ever did it.” (http://www.ecocaffe.com.au/news/3-million-pods-a-day/ )

Lately we’ve justified the use of our machine because there is a recycling point in Lane Cove. While this is better than disposal, the multiple layers of plastic and aluminium used means that it is in fact very difficult to recycle coffee pods and in many cases unless the aluminium pods are collected by TetraCycle who have specialist way of collecting and recycling the pods, they are not recycled at all. Certainly the plastic pods are not recyclable, therefore end up in landfill.

Then there is the compostable or biodegradable coffee pods. These are a lot more expensive than the average coffee pods and again there is no simple way of throwing them in your compost bin and hoping for the best. You need a special commercial composter to compost them. If they’re thrown in the bin in the hope of biodegrading in landfill they end up emitting methane – a very powerful greenhouse gas.

In short, the whole thing stinks and with 3 million pods being used every day, it doesn’t take much of an imagination to see that this is big problem.

About six months ago though I decided that enough was enough. Being an eco-mum, I wasn’t just concerned about what to do with the pods afterwards. My concern was about the use of resources to manufacture the silly pods in the first place. So I decided to go back to the way coffee is made in other countries like the Middle East and Italy – using the Moka Pot. This is a stove top coffee maker where water boils in a lower chamber and the steam creating pressure that then passes the vapour through the coffee to an upper chamber. It’s kind of like magic really!

I bought myself one of these pots along with organic fair trade coffee. The results have been good. Taste wise I like it and I especially like the process and the aroma that drifts through the house. Time wise- it does take longer, but from a waste and materials use point of view it really is the way to go. Especially as I compost all my coffee grinds and apply that on my vegetable patch.

IMG_20160204_114758785

My husband on the other hand remains unconvinced. He swears that he likes the taste of the coffee pod machine more and while he’s usually very supportive of my eco-ventures. This is one where he is standing his ground – excuse the pun! I on the other hand will continue to put forward the case that our house needs to be a pod free house. I urge the millions in Australia and beyond to follow suit.

With the new year just recently started, I ask everyone to make a pledge for the planet and enjoy a guilt free cup of coffee and if you make the pledge try and convince someone else to do it too!

IMG_20160204_120031675

For more information on why coffee pods are harmful, please go to:

http://theconversation.com/what-our-love-affair-with-coffee-pods-reveals-about-our-values-30068

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/apr/10/rise-coffee-pod-machines-nespresso

DIY Gifts from the Heart – Christmas Terrarium

December 12, 2015PowerfulOwlLeave a comment

It’s that time of year again. Time has flown and it’s Christmas gift time. As usual, I am going with the theme of my children making gifts for family. This teaches them to look beyond the commercialisation of this time of year, and to express their love for family by transforming regular household items into items of beauty that I’m sure their family will treasure.

The last few years we’ve made edible goods. This year I decided to do something different. One day when I was looking at old jars, I decided to start collecting them to upcycle them by reusing them rather than recycling them. This started my plan many months ago to make terrariums for family members using old jars.

A terrarium is essentially a jar with a plant growing inside it. It can either have a lid and be sealed, or it could be open. Those with lids create a mini ecosystem in that evaporation forms condensation which ends up watering the plant. Many plants can be planted in a terrarium, from decorative plants, to succulents.

As I was using reused glass jars, I decided to have an open terrarium and use existing succulents I had around my garden.

So how to get started and what do you need?

Old jars, cleaned
Large pebbles
Cloth
Soil – preferably one for bonsai or cacti as they have good draining qualities
Horticultural / activated charcoal

Method

Place the pebbles at the bottom of the jar to about 2 cm. This helps with drainage and to keep your plants healthy.

I added some extra coloured pebbles and going with the Christmas theme, I had green, red and silver.

I cut a small bit of cloth (I used an old reusable cloth bag) and put over the pebbles before adding the soil layer because I didn’t want the layers to mix much.

I added some activated charcoal then the soil. The activated charcoal acts to keep your terrarium fresh and stops any bad odours. Pat the soil down to prevent air bubbles.

I then added my plants. As my jars were small, I only used 1 to 2 plants per jar. I added some more decorative pebbles on top and viola – done!

The terrarium needs to be lightly watered through a sprayer about once a week, so it should be low maintenance.

My children were involved in all aspects of this activity, from choosing the colours and order of the layers, to selecting the plants to the actual plants. I know that they’re going to be so proud to give this to their family.

There are a lot of videos on how to make these and I share a few with you below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy5btxZHaEw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3WuoU5-Rjs

It’s not too late to start your own DIY gifts from the heart project this Christmas. So what are you waiting for? Continue reading →

The paste test

November 27, 2015PowerfulOwlLeave a comment

For World Environment Day this year, I went along to an event at my old university: Macquarie University. In fact, the event was held at the Lighthouse Theatre which brought back many memories of student plays, late night boogies and flirtations. This is where I met many of my dearest friends and where I also met my husband.

Love

Facilitating my trip down memory lane was Costa Georgiades. I really enjoyed his enthusiasm and passion and one thing that he talked about was toothpaste – yes toothpaste. He was talking about how to engage with your family and friends and suggested sticking a tube of toothpaste in the middle of the dinner table during a dinner party and talking about toothpaste – the good and the bad. This has also recently come to light as many of the mothers in my mother’s group are trying to encourage good dental care in their children and are wondering if they should add toothpaste to encourage their toddlers to brush.

Following the event, I did start a conversation with some friends around toothpaste over lunch – but now I’m going one step further and writing this blog with the hope of sharing some of my research.

The use of toothpaste goes back millennia. It has been used to maintain good oral hygiene and different things have been used to achieve this. Usually toothpaste has been used to help in the mechanical motion of brushing. In fact most teeth are cleaned very well with a simple brush without anything, however over time fluoride has been added into the mix. Toothpaste usually includes different ingredients to provide an abrasive surface, thereby allowing the brushing action to be more effective.

Micro-beads

micro toothpaste

Some toothpastes even contain plastic. Micro-beads are tiny plastic particles added to things like toothpastes and exfoliating scrubs for abrasion. In toothpaste they seem to be added only for the ‘pretty’ factor.

These micro-beads are made of polyethylene and polypropylene. These plastics don’t break down and are increasingly being found in oceans and waterways. Various states in the US have already banned products with micro-beads, but other places such as Europe and Australia are lagging. There are different players in the cosmetic industry however that are starting to move away from the use of micro-beads in their products. For more on micro-beads, please check out the following links:

Company commitments and Products with and without micro-beads.

The use of micro-beads in toothpastes such as Crest are well known. These pieces of plastic do not breakdown and find their way wedged in small crevices in our mouth. So one of the first things to do in moving towards healthier toothpastes is to not use any toothpaste that has coloured specks in the gel and stay away from any that list polyethylene as an ingredient.

The use of some chemicals in toothpaste and their health impacts is debatable, however I will list some along with a balancing point of view and leave it to you to decide.

Flouride

Soudium flouride has been added to toothpaste for many years with the intent of avoiding tooth decay. However this is also seen to be a carcinogenic ingredient that when ingested in large quantities can cause paralysis, convulsions and cardiac arrest. Thankfully though, you would have to eat a lot of toothpaste for that to happen though.

Having said that however, it is a major issues, as fluoride is also added to drinking water (LINK) and overuse of fluoride can have the opposite effect of improving dental hygiene by causing dental fluorosis. In the US, this condition was found in 40% of teenagers. For more information on fluoride, please go to: Flouride information

dental flourosis

I am now purchasing toothpaste free of fluoride and if you wanted to prevent over-exposure, as stated on the box don’t swallow toothpaste and keep away from children under 6 years of age.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate

This product comes from palm oil and is added to toothpaste to create the lovely foamy mouth that you get – giving you that getting clean feeling.

SLS is a corrosive agent that is found in lots of cleaning products and degreasers, so yes, it cuts through plaque, but probably harmful to other parts of your body too and despite best efforts not to swallow toothpaste I’m sure much sneaks in.

SLS

Triclosan

This chemical is added to toothpaste for its antibacterial qualities. Triclosan is said to be very toxic to humans and cause cancer and be a skin irritant. In animal tests it’s been shown to impact hormonal regulation.

Other studies that have analysed its use in toothpaste however have stated that it is beneficial to prevent gingivitis. Now could gingivitis be treated another way that isn’t so harmful? Maybe. In fact, the US Food and Drug Administration is reviewing the use of triclosam in all products which includes clothing, kitchenware, furniture, and toys, antibacterial soaps and body washes.

Hydrated silica

This is added to toothpaste to provide an abrasive surface to take off enamel and stop enamel on your tooth re-minerilising. As you can imagine of course, over-use can take off enamel from your teeth leading to tooth-decay.

If you’d like to read from the other side of the debate – essentially stating that none of these claims are true, please go to: Toothpaste Safety implications and toothpaste and cancer myths.

Conclusion

Overall, I think it’s important to take a balanced view. You can maintain good dental hygiene without toothpaste by using bicarb soda, coconut oil and plain water. The main thing is to brush properly – try this toothbrush jam and groove yourself to better brushing technique.

I’ve already moved my kiddies away from the major brand toothpastes and my toddler doesn’t use toothpaste at all. I probably will continue to use toothpaste – too used to the feeling, but will use ones without these nasties and also will go for a palm oil alternative such as: Riddles Creek Organic toothpaste or Miessence (http://www.miessence.com/shop/en/category/3/body-oral-care), Pure & Green toothpaste

Group Of Young Friends Together

Childhood adventures to save the planet!

May 19, 2015PowerfulOwlLeave a comment

If you were to create an environmental mascot, what would it be? Would it be a panda? A koala? Or a frog? How about a booger? Well it was this in fact that inspired Martin Lever and his daughter Remi to create the ‘BogeyBugz’ book series. I met Martin and Remi some years ago when I lived in Abu Dhabi. When the books were launched, he gave us a copy of the book series as a gift. At the time my son was too young to fully understand the books. But as he got older he grew to LOVE the books. He knows all the characters off by heart and their characteristics. We had to read the BogeyBugz every night and they’ve now been a part of our lives for about 4 years. Now that my son and daughter are sharing a room, we’ve introduced the book series to her and so another BogeyBugz fan has been made.

The BogeyBugz are a great book series that teach children about different environmental issues ranging from global warming, to deforestation and pollution in a fresh way that isn’t too preachy. They’re colourful and fun and aimed at teaching these concepts to children. The books also have a ‘Facteria’ section which acts like a quiz to reinforce the concepts.

I was lucky enough to talk to the author and illustrator of the BogeyBugz, Martin Lever.

How did the concept of the Bogey Bugz come about?

I used to tell my daughter “made-up” stories when she was younger at bedtime. One evening as we were settling down for a new tale, she picked her nose as little ones do! And an idea popped into my head. What if Bogeys could be good things not bad things! Remi liked the idea…and we started to work out the characters, their personalities, and think of a cause which they could champion.

Why did you want to send out an environmental message in these books targeted at kids?

We love our planet. Sir David Attenborough is largely to thank in many ways! And while we’re not hardcore environmentalists, it’s depressing to see how much harm mankind has done to our incredible home. We also noticed that there is little to no written material for pre-schoolers and early primary schoolers that addresses the simple rights and wrongs when it comes to the environment. This seemed like a natural cause for a bunch of maverick Bogeys to adopt!

How were you able to make these complex environmental problems into ‘adventures’ and ‘fun’ for kids?

The key to these stories was marrying reality (ie. a real environmental problem) with fantasy. Roald Dahl was a master of the absurd. And we (I say “we” because Remi helped plot out the tales!) took inspiration from his work in trying to find the most abstract solutions to real world problems. Children’s minds are a wonderfully free-flowing font of imagination. So for every environmental issue, I simply asked myself “how would a child solve this?!”

Will the BogeyBugz go on any more adventures?

The BogeyBugz are out there right now “pickin it for the planet”. And when they get back in touch with me, I’m sure they’ll have some new adventures that need writing up

My son has a question for you: ‘Does Plasmo really know the answer to everything?’

Plasmo likes to think he knows everything! But as with all “know-alls”, he sometimes gets things wrong.

Well overall the books get the thumbs up from my children. My son’s favourite is ‘The Big Melt’ which is about global warming and how the Bogey Bugz save the ice caps from melting by using ice cream!

If you wanted to buy a copy of the books you can buy them online at:

http://www.amazon.com/The-BogeyBugz-Environmental-Adventures-Set/dp/9889979578

To find out more about Martin Lever and check out his talents in writing and art, go to:

https://www.behance.net/martinlever and http://www.martinlever.com/index.html

Major supermarket chain commits to sustainable Palm oil

May 14, 2015May 14, 2015PowerfulOwlLeave a comment

Coles is now using sustainable palm oil in all of its Coles brand products.
https://www.coles.com.au/corporate-responsibility/responsible-sourcing-and-sustainability/sustainability/sustainable-palm-oil

DIY Gifts from the heart

April 28, 2015May 1, 2015PowerfulOwlLeave a comment

My son is getting to the age when he is learning more about material things. I didn’t even know this. I’m not into ‘brands’ and ‘brand’ things, so I figure he doesn’t get his information from me or my husband, but one day he happened to get a pair of ‘Nike’ sneakers (they were on special!) and when the shoes were presented to him, he shouted in excitement that he had a pair of ‘Nikes’! Also, as he reads now, he is always talking about the brand of cars and other things. Usually my kids don’t watch commercial channels, so they’re not really exposed to much advertising, so it is very interesting how it all creeps into everyday life, which is why I try to discourage them from getting too much into ‘buying’ things such as gifts.

Every year for special holidays and birthdays, I ask my kids to make gifts for family rather than buy. Usually, we bake cookies, but this year, with baby no.3 keeping me busy, I didn’t even have time for that, so we made herb infused olive oil. Luckily I had some spare jars in my garage which I used. I also had herbs to use from my garden. With our scissors in hand my son and daughter and I went harvesting – first some rosemary, then Thyme, then lemon myrtle (an Australian native plant) and lastly some chillies. Here is what you need to do the same:

Jars – I sterilised mine with boiling water and let them dry out completely;
Extra virgin olive oil – I usually like my olive oil quite fragrant, so I usually buy a strong one;
A clove of garlic;
Chillies; and
Herbs as you wish. Good ones to use are rosemary, thyme and basil.

Now, I have to state that there are apparently issues with making your own herb infused olive oil. This relates to botulism. Apparently, the water in fresh garlic and the herbs can lead to bacterial growth in the oil. There are ways to avoid this, such as using the oil soon after making it, using dried herbs, preserving the herbs first (in vinegar) before using, and pressing the herbs. This article contains great tips on how to avoid this: http://www.oliveoilsource.com/page/infusing-olive-oil

I ended up drying my herbs in the sun and then the oven for a little while before using.

Firstly thoroughly wash your harbs then dry. Keep in the sun for a day or out in the oven on low heat to dry them out.

Warm your olive oiI in the oven. Then get creating and add your herbs to the jar and carefully add the olive oil. Viola!

These make a great gift. They were very popular and I’ve had great feedback from family about it. It’s also super easy for kids to make with you.

Salty goodness?

April 7, 2015PowerfulOwlLeave a comment

So a few things happened to my taste buds once I had children. I was always one of those people that was a ‘savoury’ person as opposed to a ‘sweets’ person. I loved chips and in particular corn chips. I would love having a packet of Dorritos or CC’s when the mood took me.

But when I was pregnant with my son, I stopped liking salty things. Also, when I did have salt in foods it would make my feet swell and made it uncomfortable. So to deal with this, I stopped eating salty foods altogether.

Now, you might think this was a drastic move. But no, it did make the pregnancy fat foot thing better. It also did something else: I stopped wanting salty foods. Now I cannot actually remember the last time I had a packet of chips and I rarely add salt to my foods.

Good thing too, particularly now that I am on my palm oil detox. In fact I saw a funny ‘ad’ made for Dorritos that I suggest you check out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-ts=1422327029&v=VPlxNhEc2lA&x-yt-cl=84838260

By no means is Doritos the only guilty party. Palm oil is found in many products and for chips, anything with a flavour other than simple salt, it is likely to have palm oil. If you want to find out where you can get ‘palm oil free’ or sustainable palm oil products, please look at the links below and take them with you when you go shopping:

http://palmoilaction.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/palm-oil-free-list.pdf

http://www.orangutans.com.au/Orangutans-Survival-Information/Helping-you-buy-responsibly-Palm-oil-free-alternatives.aspx?gclid=CJXu1pX1l8ECFVUAvAod-CAAfQ

Now what do I do when I feel like a salty snack? There are a lot of things that I make at home myself, one of which is Kale Chips. Kale Chips are super easy to make and a great way to get kids to eat green stuff!

All I do it to cut out the hard stems and vain of the kale leaves, then spread it onto baking paper and pop it in the oven on low heat. I spray a little oil on it and add some rock salt. Once one side is dry, then I turn and do the other side. Once crispy, eat and enjoy.

This latest batch even got a thumbs up from my children – who are very fussy mind you!

Spring time detox

October 6, 2014PowerfulOwl6 Comments

Spring is in the air in Sydney. The smell of jasmine fills my backyard, flowers are out and after a very wet and cool August, the weather is slowly warming. My daughter is now five and a half months old and getting cuter by the day. She arrived into this world in a house full of madness. My son, then my middle daughter had the chicken pox, so we were confined to my bedroom in quarantine until the house was deemed safe for her to move around in. During this time, I read a lot and to keep me from going crazy my mum borrowed some magazines from the library. One of the magazines that she borrowed was ‘Green Lifestyle Magazine’ (http://www.greenlifestylemag.com.au/). It was while reading this magazine that I learnt about Palm Oil. I already knew a little about Palm Oil, but that article really opened my eyes, but first, some facts about palm oil.
What is palm oil?
Palm oil is a vegetable oil that comes from the tree Elaeis guineensis. The oil comes from the fruit and kernels of the tree. Most palm oil comes from Indonesia and Malaysia (86%).

What is it used for?
Palm oil has many uses. It’s used in anything from toothpaste, soap and shampoo, cosmetics, cleaning products to candles, biscuits, cereals, chocolate and ice cream! Even environmentally friendly, or organic products contain palm oil.
What’s the problem with palm oil?
The main issue with palm oil is that large areas of rainforest are cleared to make way for palm oil plantations. This results in the loss of species and habitats for animals such as the Orangutan.
Additionally, the rainforests that are cleared to make way for palm oil plantations sit on top of peat bogs which are large stores of carbon. As the rainforest is cut and burnt, large amounts of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere.

Is all palm oil problematic?
With so many products containing palm oil and its derivatives, it is unrealistic to rid the world of palm oil, so what alternative is there? There is a certification scheme called RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) which aims to ensure palm oil used is sustainably sourced. Though this is welcome, we must beware of greenwash and having marketing departments confusing consumers.
Firstly, just because a company is a member of the RSPO it doesn’t mean that they are using sustainable palm oil. Being a member of the RSPO means that they have made a commitment to ‘EVENTUALLY purchase sustainable palm oil, in most cases that commitment is to be in place by 2015’ (http://www.palmoilinvestigations.org/brand-palm-oil-statements).
Usually, if a company is using sustainably sourced palm oil, that they will display this logo and to complicate things further, if a brand states that they use sustainable palm oil, but don’t talk about whether this is certified, then what they may be doing is buying GreenPalm certificates to offset their usage. GreenPalm SUPPORTS the production of sustainable palm oil, BUT the physical palm oil used in the product is not certified.

Now, armed with more knowledge on palm oil, I decided to do some researching to see what I may have, which could potentially have unsustainable (bad) palm oil. When I looked into this website, I was left gobsmacked: http://www.palmoilinvestigations.org/products-australia . What I found particularly interesting, and concerning at the same time is that palm oil is referred to by some many names, which makes it difficult for many to decipher whether products that they buy contain palm oil. Here are just some of the names by which palm oil is known (for a more comprehensive list of names, please see: http://www.palmoilinvestigations.org/Fold%20up%20ingredients%20list-1.pdf):
• Vegetable oil;
• Elaeis guineensis;
• Elaeis oleifera;
• Sodium lauryl;
• Laureth sulphate (can also be derived from coconut oil);
• Cetearyl alcohol;
• Palmate, palmitic acid or Cetyl palmintate;
• Glyeryl stearate; or
• Sodium kernelate.
With my magnifying glass in hand, I set about going through the myriad of everyday products in my home to find whether they contain palm oil and unfortunately I found many. In fact, going through the listing of products from the list in the link above and my fridge, bathroom, kitchen etc, I was overwhelmed.
Here is just a sample of some of the products that I have on my ‘no, does not contain good palm oil’, ‘yes, contains good palm oil’, ‘Don’t know’! This is only a sample though. With limited nap times, I couldn’t go through everything in my home.