Buy Organic

Adore Beauty is a Melbourne based company selling a wide range of beauty products and fashion accessories such as handbags and jewellery. If you live in Melbourne you can visit their store at 357 Nicholson Street in Carlton North. Otherwise you can buy online and pay only $5.50 postage.

If you visit their site and do a search on the word organic then you’ll see they stock quite a few organic products.

MOP (Modern Organic Products) specialise in hair care products and use organic ingredients wherever possible. The MOP Basil Mint Shampoo and Conditioner sounds particularly tasty! It has a few organic plant extracts including certified organic peppermint, basil, sage, and rosemary. They also produce styling and treatment products which contain a few organic ingredients. MOP also make a number of body washes such as their Lemongrass Body Wash which contains certified organic lemongrass.

Dr Hauschka Organic Cotton Face Compresses are made using 100% organic cotton. They say it should be used in the morning and evenings with their cleansing products so I’m not sure if that means after cleansing. I haven’t used this kind of thing before but I guess it’s a moisturiser.

The Little Twig is a bath and body product range formulated especially for babies and children. There are no synthetic fragrances, talc or sulphates in these products. They can also be used by adults with sensitive skin.

If you are looking for something to protect your lips you can find Badger Balms and Mama Coco Lip Balms which are all great and A’kin Sweet Blossom and Jojoba Pure Essential Lip Balm which I haven’t tried.

AdoreBeauty has so many other beauty products which I am interested in trying, products which I haven’t seen elsewhere. Find a list of organic skin care products here.

If you have been interested in green living for some time then you have probably already found organic and eco-friendly suppliers in your local area. This is easy enough to do for organic fruit and vegetables or organic skin and hair care but what if you are looking for more than that? What if you are building a new home and want to use environmentally friendly building materials or renewable energy sources? What if you are looking for ethical companies to invest in? Where would you find the best eco tours available in Australia? This information can sometimes be difficult to find but from next month things will get a little easier with the launch of a new website Green Pages Australia.

Green Pages Australia as launched two publications, one for businesses and one for consumers, along with the internet directory of all things green in Australia. The publications will list over 5000 green product listings including organic and environmentally sustainable products and services. It is more or less an organic living guide. They’ve put quite a lot of effort into it and it will be updated annually.

It’ll be interesting to see what the public response to it will be. I hope this is the kind of thing people are interested in. Most people I know are interested in environmental issues but don’t actually do anything about it, even though they could make simple changes in their way of living which would help the environment.

The site hasn’t been launched as yet but it looks like a promising resource. I especially look forward to the articles which will be written by Helen Razer and Peter Garrett. The official launch will be in Melbourne on the 10th October at Federation Square.

Each and every one of us is doing damage to the environment. Many of the world’s environmental problems have been caused by our everyday actions. If you don’t believe me then take the Ecological Footprint Quiz. Apparently if everyone lived like me then we’d need 1.5 planets.

The way we use energy in our homes can have many negative environmental effects. Most of us use fossil fuel based energy rather than renewable energy sources such as solar power or wind power. Running your household completely on renewable energy is not practical but there are ways of reducing your energy consumption.

5 Ways to Reduce Energy Consumption in Your Home

1. Install a solar hot water system.
2. Use energy efficient appliances.
3. Turn off lights which are not in use.
4. Use energy efficient fluorescent lights.
5. Insulate your home.

Other changes we can make are to do with the food choices we make. Buying packaged and imported food is costly to the environment and we should all try to cut down. I know I don’t always buy locally but I’m trying to change. It’s not easy though. I like to buy things on the internet, sometimes from overseas. I know I have to cut down.

5 Better Food Choices

1. Buy locally produced food.
2. Buy organic food grown without damaging pesticides.
3. Buy food which has little or no packaging.
4. Avoid food from endangered species such as Southern Bluefin Tuna.
5. Compost all your food waste and use it as an organic fertiliser.

How we get around can also be detrimental to the environment. Our choice of transport is important. Changing the way we get around is a great way to do our bit to save the planet.

5 Ways to Better Travel

1. Walk or ride your bike when travelling over short distances.
2. Take public transport if you have to go a bit further.
3. Buy a fuel efficient small car.
4. Drive a fuel efficient diesel car.
5. Fly less often.

If you’re interested in just how much carbon dioxide emissions we produce as a country and compared to other countries, go to Breathing Earth. There you can see that Australia, with a population of 20,599,148, emits 1000 tonnes of CO2 every 1.5 minutes compared to the US with of population of 299,102,661 and 1000 tonnes of CO2 emissions every 5.4 seconds.

A friend of mine is always complaining about how much she hates gardening. I can’t understand when people hate gardening seeing I love it so much! The reason she hates it is that she equates gardening with weeding. That’s all she every does in her garden, pull out weeds. I agree that weeding can be a pain but if you follow these three tips by Mother Earth Living then weeding will become a thing of the past.

1. Minimise soil disruption.
2. Mulch the soil surface.
3. Use drip irrigation.

Minimise soil disruption. My grandfather used to tell me to hoe the garden to aerate the soil for healthier plants. I’m always tempted to do it because it looks nice but I know from experience that it leads to more weeds. It’s better to pull out large weeds by hand and then cover the soil with a thick layer of mulch (be sure not to get the mulch too close to the base of your plants). The mulch will block out light required for the weeds to grow as well as nourishing the soil.

Mulch the soil surface. There is no doubt in my mind that the secret to a successful garden is mulch. This is especially true in somewhere like Perth where the soil is very sandy and low in nutrients. Apart from adding organic matter to the soil, mulch retains moisture and blocks out light which is a great way to stop weeds from growing. Cover crops also block out light which is a good organic way to stop weeds. Any non-invasive ground cover makes a good cover crop. One of my favourite plants is the Australian Native Violet which is perfect for this purpose.

Use Drip Irrigation. I never thought that this would be a good way to reduce weeds but it makes sense. Weeds grow on footpaths and other paved areas because they receive water from when you water your garden. If you switch to drip irrigation (which saves water) then these areas won’t get watered (except for when it rains, of course) and you’ll have fewer weeds.

These tips are easy to implement and have more benefits to your garden than just reducing or preventing weeds. They will at least give you more time to spend on the enjoyable side of gardening such as planting and harvesting vegetables – well, that’s my favourite part of gardening. I did notice that someone in the comments of that article mentioned pouring vinegar on weeds as an organic way to kill them off. I’ve never heard that before but I’ll give it a try next time I spot a weed.

We all contribute to landfill by throwing out rubbish. We all do it and probably always will but you can help this overflowing problem by reducing the amount of rubbish you throw out. The three ways you can do this is by reducing the amount of rubbish you create, reusing as much as you can, and recycling as much as possible.

You can reduce the amount of rubbish you have by buying products with less packaging. For example, buy loose fruit and vegetables rather the prepackaged ones. You can also reduce your waste by composting a lot of material rather than throwing it out. Sometimes it is handy to have a plastic bag for items such as meat. It is fine to use plastic in this instance just be sure to reuse the bag each time rather than getting a new one. Recycling in Australia is very easy as we all have recycling bins. I keep a cardboard box in my kitchen to collect my recyclable rubbish which I can easily throw out once a week. It is really easy to do once you get in the habit. Do forget to also recycle your unwanted clothes. These can be donated to local charities which will benefit people in need as well as saving on landfill.

It is important to stick to the reduce, reuse, recycle theory as much as possible because a lot of products won’t break down in a landfill. Even if you buy biodegradable plastic bags, they only break down in sunlight. That is not likely to happen at the bottom of the rubbish tip. The same goes for other biodegradable or organic products such as newspapers and food. They need oxygen to break down and this can’t happen when it’s packed down with other rubbish. This is why we all need to prevent our waste and rubbish from getting to the tip in the first place.

If you feel like the world is a mess and there isn’t much you can do to change things, then you’d be wrong. Many of the environmental problems we face have been caused by government policies and the actions of big businesses but a lot have been caused by the little things you are I do in our everyday lives. To repair the damage (or at least prevent it from getting worse) then it’s up to us to change little things in our lives. We can’t wait around for the government to get their act together, we need to help ourselves.

There are so many things we can do such as using less petrol in our cars by driving more efficiently, reducing our water consumption, and protecting the environment by buying organic cotton products. Another very simple thing you can do is to change the way you do your banking.

Most banks have an option where you can elect to stop receiving paper statements. If they have this option then take it and if they don’t, write to them and ask for this to be made available. Most people don’t do anything with their statements so it’s a waste of paper, envelope, and the cost having it delivered. You can find out all you need to know about your account by logging on to internet banking.

While you’re logged you may as well pay your bills while you’re there. You can do this easily by B-Pay or setting up a direct debit. This helps the environment by not having to send off a cheque in an envelope or not having to driving the five minutes to the local post office to make a payment. It’s an easy way to save a bit of paper, a bit of petrol, and a bit of time. It all adds up to make a big difference in the long term. You could also help those that are less tech savvy to set up internet banking for them and to show them how to stop receiving bank statements and other wasteful junk mail.

Organic wool is produced throughout Australia and has been for a number of years. A recent auction in Melbourne has seen organic wool sell for significantly higher prices than conventionally grown wool. I wonder if this is really worth it. I can’t imagine that there is that much difference between the two products. It’s not like it’s cotton which is just about drenched with chemicals during production. I also wonder if the demand is there for organic wool. Maybe producers of wool clothing think that anything organic will sell. I don’t look for organic wool products when I go shopping but maybe I should.

It looks like the number of organic wool products is likely to rise in the coming years. At the moment it takes a bit of searching, but you can probably find organic wool socks and blankets. I will be interested to try them to see if the difference can be felt in the fabric. I’ve tried organic cotton clothes and the fabric is super soft so I hope it will be the same for organic wool but somehow I doubt it. One of the growth areas is probably going to be in organic wool mattresses and futons but I don’t think they are available in Australia at the moment.

If you are wondering what qualifies as organic when it comes to wool production then here is a brief list from the Organic Trade Association in the US:

• Livestock feed must be organic
• The use of hormones and genetic engineering is prohibited
• The use of pesticides is prohibited
• Producers must encourage healthy animals through good management

The means the sheep can’t be dipped in pesticides to control parasites. That can only be a good thing for the animals. The other significant difference is that the wool can’t be cleaned with chemicals or bleach.

There is an abundant oversupply of wines in Australia at the moment. This means you can find quality wines at very cheap prices. For even better value for money you can get cleanskin wines. These are wines which are sold in a bottle which doesn’t have a label or any other identifying marks. These wines are not necessarily low quality wines just wines which the wineries have an oversupply of, for one reason or another. It is simply a way for the wineries to get the wine of their hands to make way for the latest wines.

Australia’s most well know cleanskins supplier is Cleanskins. All their wines have to pass their taste tests which mean you get a quality wine for a great price. Most of their wines are 50% off what you’d pay in a bottle shop making them perfect for everyday drinking or for parties. The free delivery doesn’t hurt either as well as the money back guarantee. They are able to sell the wines at such low prices due to their sales being 100% online. Their overheads are low, marketing costs are low, and they buy direct from the winery. Add to this that you won’t be paying extra for the brand name then you’re getting a pretty good deal.

Cleanskins has a good range of organic and biodynamic wines. They stock both organic red and organic white wines as well as a couple of organic non-alcoholic wines. Organic wines contain low levels of natural preservatives and are a good choice if you suffer side effects from drinking wine. Cleanskins does offer one organic preservative free wine if that’s what you’re looking for.

If you’ve read about the benefits of drinking red wine and now want to try some new varieties then Winemakers Choice is a great place to start. Winemakers Choice has been around for more than 15 years and is based in New South Wales. Their relationships with Australian winemakers enables them stock over 3,500 different wines. These wines come from all of Australia’s most well known wineries as well as most of the smaller boutique wineries. Due to their buying power and low overheads, they are able to offer their wines at prices which are often cheaper than in your local bottle shop. Purchases are delivered by Australia Post to your home or office and they provide a money back guarantee.

So which wine to choose? Well, obviously I’m going to say to go for an organic wine. These are made from grapes grown without the use of pesticides, fertilisers, and other nasty chemicals. Buy drinking organic wine you will not only be avoiding these chemical residues from entering your body but you’ll be helping the environment and the vineyard workers who work with these toxic chemicals on a regular basis.

Another popular option is preservative free wine. Although less than 5% of the population suffers from negative effects of preservatives in wines, it seems that the numbers are rising. Sulphur is usually used to preserve wine. This occurs naturally when growing grapes but it is when additional sulphur is added that you see the most problems. Organic wines generally don’t have added sulphur so are a good choice if you are looking for a preservative free wine although there are conventionally produced wines which are preservative free.

I think Winemakers Choice has the best wine selection of any of the online retailers. Their prices and service are excellent and having your favourite wines delivered to your door is very convenient.

Many Australians prefer to drink wine over beer and other alcoholic beverages. While binge drinking can be a serious problem, drinking moderate amounts of red wine can actually be beneficial to your health. This isn’t to say you should take up drinking if you’ve never touched the stuff or that you should increase how often or how much you drink but if you are going to have alcohol then consider making it a glass of red.

When choosing what bottle to buy, you will probably be considering an organic wine (or why else would you be reading this). Of course I think this is a great choice and the healthiest choice. Organic wines are made from grapes grown without the use of pesticides, fertilisers, herbicides, fungicides, and other harmful chemicals. Only naturally occurring sulphur is used in the winemaking process which is required to preserve the wine. It is the sulphur which causes a small number of people to suffer negative side effects after drinking wine with the most serious side effect being migraines. Organic wine is a good choice for people who normally can’t tolerate wine as organic wines are naturally lower in sulphur.

Are organic wines worth the money? Well, I think so. Conventionally grown grapes are one of the most heavily sprayed crops. More than 15 different pesticides and herbicides are used in their production, some of which are highly toxic. Residues of these chemicals end up in the wine by two ways. Firstly, due to residues which are left directly on the skin of the grapes and secondly, from chemicals which are absorbed by the roots of the vine. The latter occurs when herbicides are sprayed directly on the ground to control weeds.

If you are not concerned about small amount of pesticide residues in your wine (which if you drink regularly will build up in your system over years) then think of the people who work in vineyards. People who spray the crops with these dangerous chemicals face serious health risks. Protective clothing and masks may not be enough as residues remain on the plant and on the soil.

The other danger of convention grape growing is the danger to the environment. The use of pesticides and herbicides is particularly damaging to the soil and nearby waterways. The use of these chemicals results in a reduction of biodiversity in the soil. This means there is a loss of beneficial insects such as spiders and mites. The damage to waterways is obvious as chemicals will enter rivers, dams, and streams, poisoning the water as well as what lives in it.

If more people buy organic wine then more producers will convert their vineyards to organic. This can only be beneficial to all concerned. If you want to save a little money and buy online you can try Winemakers Choice. Otherwise there are plenty of organic wines available from bottle shops and specialist wine shops.