Do you have a Degree in Sustainability or Environmental Studies?
No. I have a Certificate in Civil and Structural Engineering Drafting and an Associate Diploma in Animal Science.
How do you know so much about this topic?
I have done many years of comprehensive research and my science background gave me the skills in order to find, access and gather all the information, resources and then reference them. Also I am continually updating my information with the most current changing and allied technologies. I have visited just about every council website in NSW and have even gone interstate to SA, WA, VIC, TAS, NT, ACT and QLD to access resources and information and see how they do it.
How can we trust what you say?
The information I provide is based on exhaustive and in-depth research I have done and are my views and opinions based on the resources available to us all. I am not re-inventing the wheel, all the information and facts are out there if you want to look for it yourself and have the time! I don't take the first thing I read as Gospel. I decipher what is real and what is not by cross checking all the references. I also look at the science behind it all and not only the arguments for it but those against it too. Lastly I cross reference all my information with websites on waste management, MRF's, Plastic manufacturers and reputable organisations like Planet Ark, Greenpeace and Take 3 just to mention a few. I also have been contracted by The Sydney of City Council 'The Green Living Centre' to run my workshops in this field and have some major corporations enquiring.
Are you against plastic?
No, not at all. It is a structurally solid and hard yet flexible, durable and long lasting material that has many good uses and probably one of mans best inventions. I'm just against single use disposable plastics in our mainstream food economy.
Do you produce any waste?
Very little! So little that our household no longer has to fight over whom is putting out the red lid landfill destined garbage bin and it has been nearly 2 years since we had to. It now contains bulk bought delivered organic soil and worms. The small amount of waste we produce is the size of a tennis ball every month and comes from things like pill blister packs (medication), feminine hygiene products, ear buds, dental floss (all of which where pre plastic free house) and things that aren't recyclable. We don't keep it in a jar, commendable to those who do but it's not for everyone. We put ours in the neighbours bin or a public bin when out an about. Its so nice to have one less chore and the garbage truck no longer stops in front of our house anymore except for our yellow lid recycling destined bin that is put out every 3 months.
You must have a lot of time to do all this?
Initially it took a considerable amount of my time to set up but only because of implementation failures, the trial and error processes that I went through, adopting new habits and adjusting to new routines. Now is a different story. I spend less time shopping for food and everything I make is time spent at home with family and it is way more enjoyable! I'm learning new skills and not fighting crowds. I shop once a fortnight for milk, bread and fresh produce from my Farmers market, monthly for my pantry staples from a co-op bulk food store and 3 monthly for my meats/fish at my local butcher/fish monger which I phone ahead my order and is ready to put into my containers when I get there. Breaking up with the major supermarkets meant I support smaller local businesses and get to know my community, which is valuable time, gained not spent.
What is 'Green Fatigue'?
I spent many sleepless nights researching and finding solutions to the problems I faced in setting up a Zero Waste and Plastic Free Lifestyle/Home. My journey took me through many trial and error processes, which I found exhausting after continually encountering issue after issue. I would implement one thing and then find I hadn't adequately thought about something else that it impacted on. The choices I had became less and less and the information I needed was not easy to find or access. The answers to the questions I had were not clear and so came the 'Green Fatigue'. I can now confidently say what works and what doesn't. Where to start and where to go next!
So where do we start?
Reduce your food waste! You'll never need another plastic bag bin liner again and it all starts from there. My workshops and consultations give an easy simple step-by-step process on how to implement a Home Recycling System that allows you to audit and monitor your waste first and lead you to a Zero Waste and Plastic Free Lifestyle/Home down the track...without the 'Green Fatigue'.
Can't we just follow the 4 main plastics to avoid suggested by the 'Plastic Free July' campaign?
Absolutely! It worked to inspire and motivate me. Although I was already using a Keep cup for take away coffee and reusable water bottle long before the campaign started. The campaign brought plastic bags to my attention. So when I stopped using plastic bags and refusing to buy any produce in plastic (soft or rigid) it snowballed out of control for me. As that was my biggest contribution to landfill along with food waste, hence why I started to record the processes and run workshops based on my new HOME SYSTEM.
Why should I pay to do a workshop when all the information is out there for free on the Internet?
You don't have to pay anything if you have the will, the patience, the know how and the time to do the research yourself. I wish that someone had been running a workshop when I was learning. I would have easily paid good money to skip the torture and get results instantly! That's why I'm running workshops and consultations because I want it to be easy for you. There is a lot of information and not everything you read is correct and or appropriate for you and your circumstances and I am not even including the 'Green Washing'. Then you have to cross check everything and the references. This is exhausting and time consuming when all you want is to start implementing this lifestyle. Ill give it to you in an easy step-by-step SYSTEM with out all the work involved. Most importantly I found in my journey that it can sometimes feel lonely doing this on your own and when you come together as a group it's motivating and inspiring to hear and speak with a real and physical person. That makes it possible and solidifies the change in real time rather than reading a webpage or blog.
Can anyone attend your workshops and where are they held?
Yes anyone can attend my workshops and you can bring your whole family too. I run them in various locations around Sydney, Metro and surrounding suburbs. You can email me for details or sign up to my mailing list on my up coming events page for notifications. Alternatively you can email me for a home consultation.
Is there anything you go without?
At first, yes. Yogurt, cheese, Ice cream, peanut butter, Tim Tams, marshmallows, Thai take out and probably lots of other things I can't even remember its been so long that I obviously don't miss them now but back then I could have done a list a mile long! I have re-introduced a few of the items by putting my Thai take out in my own containers. I just tell them I'm eating it here and when they serve me the plates I put it in my containers to go and say I changed my mind. I eat good quality ice cream at Cow n Moon in a cone. I make my own peanut butter without the sugar, salt and additives. I make a mean rocky road now that beats Tim Tams and Marshmallows. I occasionally make yogurt but buy it when I can get it in glass or last resort plastic tub. Finally cheese is the only item I often buy in soft plastic, which I recycle (not ideal). As you can see plastic still makes its way into our house and nobody is perfect and I figure that I've earned some 'carbon credits' to offset my cheese! After all we live in a world and country that is not designed for Zero Waste and Plastic Free Lifestyle so do the best you can and don't stop trying!
Why The Big Drop Collective?
A friend was telling me how inspired she was by my commitment and dedication to this topic of Zero Waste and Plastic Free Lifestyle and how she had never seen me so passionate about something and how it had rippled out and made our friends and community try to do better. Some one else said 'it is such a big problem this plastic in our oceans that we are just a small drop in the great ocean' when it occurred to me that If we worked as a collective we could be a 'Big Drop' in the great ocean. So was born 'The Big Drop Collective'.
No. I have a Certificate in Civil and Structural Engineering Drafting and an Associate Diploma in Animal Science.
How do you know so much about this topic?
I have done many years of comprehensive research and my science background gave me the skills in order to find, access and gather all the information, resources and then reference them. Also I am continually updating my information with the most current changing and allied technologies. I have visited just about every council website in NSW and have even gone interstate to SA, WA, VIC, TAS, NT, ACT and QLD to access resources and information and see how they do it.
How can we trust what you say?
The information I provide is based on exhaustive and in-depth research I have done and are my views and opinions based on the resources available to us all. I am not re-inventing the wheel, all the information and facts are out there if you want to look for it yourself and have the time! I don't take the first thing I read as Gospel. I decipher what is real and what is not by cross checking all the references. I also look at the science behind it all and not only the arguments for it but those against it too. Lastly I cross reference all my information with websites on waste management, MRF's, Plastic manufacturers and reputable organisations like Planet Ark, Greenpeace and Take 3 just to mention a few. I also have been contracted by The Sydney of City Council 'The Green Living Centre' to run my workshops in this field and have some major corporations enquiring.
Are you against plastic?
No, not at all. It is a structurally solid and hard yet flexible, durable and long lasting material that has many good uses and probably one of mans best inventions. I'm just against single use disposable plastics in our mainstream food economy.
Do you produce any waste?
Very little! So little that our household no longer has to fight over whom is putting out the red lid landfill destined garbage bin and it has been nearly 2 years since we had to. It now contains bulk bought delivered organic soil and worms. The small amount of waste we produce is the size of a tennis ball every month and comes from things like pill blister packs (medication), feminine hygiene products, ear buds, dental floss (all of which where pre plastic free house) and things that aren't recyclable. We don't keep it in a jar, commendable to those who do but it's not for everyone. We put ours in the neighbours bin or a public bin when out an about. Its so nice to have one less chore and the garbage truck no longer stops in front of our house anymore except for our yellow lid recycling destined bin that is put out every 3 months.
You must have a lot of time to do all this?
Initially it took a considerable amount of my time to set up but only because of implementation failures, the trial and error processes that I went through, adopting new habits and adjusting to new routines. Now is a different story. I spend less time shopping for food and everything I make is time spent at home with family and it is way more enjoyable! I'm learning new skills and not fighting crowds. I shop once a fortnight for milk, bread and fresh produce from my Farmers market, monthly for my pantry staples from a co-op bulk food store and 3 monthly for my meats/fish at my local butcher/fish monger which I phone ahead my order and is ready to put into my containers when I get there. Breaking up with the major supermarkets meant I support smaller local businesses and get to know my community, which is valuable time, gained not spent.
What is 'Green Fatigue'?
I spent many sleepless nights researching and finding solutions to the problems I faced in setting up a Zero Waste and Plastic Free Lifestyle/Home. My journey took me through many trial and error processes, which I found exhausting after continually encountering issue after issue. I would implement one thing and then find I hadn't adequately thought about something else that it impacted on. The choices I had became less and less and the information I needed was not easy to find or access. The answers to the questions I had were not clear and so came the 'Green Fatigue'. I can now confidently say what works and what doesn't. Where to start and where to go next!
So where do we start?
Reduce your food waste! You'll never need another plastic bag bin liner again and it all starts from there. My workshops and consultations give an easy simple step-by-step process on how to implement a Home Recycling System that allows you to audit and monitor your waste first and lead you to a Zero Waste and Plastic Free Lifestyle/Home down the track...without the 'Green Fatigue'.
Can't we just follow the 4 main plastics to avoid suggested by the 'Plastic Free July' campaign?
Absolutely! It worked to inspire and motivate me. Although I was already using a Keep cup for take away coffee and reusable water bottle long before the campaign started. The campaign brought plastic bags to my attention. So when I stopped using plastic bags and refusing to buy any produce in plastic (soft or rigid) it snowballed out of control for me. As that was my biggest contribution to landfill along with food waste, hence why I started to record the processes and run workshops based on my new HOME SYSTEM.
Why should I pay to do a workshop when all the information is out there for free on the Internet?
You don't have to pay anything if you have the will, the patience, the know how and the time to do the research yourself. I wish that someone had been running a workshop when I was learning. I would have easily paid good money to skip the torture and get results instantly! That's why I'm running workshops and consultations because I want it to be easy for you. There is a lot of information and not everything you read is correct and or appropriate for you and your circumstances and I am not even including the 'Green Washing'. Then you have to cross check everything and the references. This is exhausting and time consuming when all you want is to start implementing this lifestyle. Ill give it to you in an easy step-by-step SYSTEM with out all the work involved. Most importantly I found in my journey that it can sometimes feel lonely doing this on your own and when you come together as a group it's motivating and inspiring to hear and speak with a real and physical person. That makes it possible and solidifies the change in real time rather than reading a webpage or blog.
Can anyone attend your workshops and where are they held?
Yes anyone can attend my workshops and you can bring your whole family too. I run them in various locations around Sydney, Metro and surrounding suburbs. You can email me for details or sign up to my mailing list on my up coming events page for notifications. Alternatively you can email me for a home consultation.
Is there anything you go without?
At first, yes. Yogurt, cheese, Ice cream, peanut butter, Tim Tams, marshmallows, Thai take out and probably lots of other things I can't even remember its been so long that I obviously don't miss them now but back then I could have done a list a mile long! I have re-introduced a few of the items by putting my Thai take out in my own containers. I just tell them I'm eating it here and when they serve me the plates I put it in my containers to go and say I changed my mind. I eat good quality ice cream at Cow n Moon in a cone. I make my own peanut butter without the sugar, salt and additives. I make a mean rocky road now that beats Tim Tams and Marshmallows. I occasionally make yogurt but buy it when I can get it in glass or last resort plastic tub. Finally cheese is the only item I often buy in soft plastic, which I recycle (not ideal). As you can see plastic still makes its way into our house and nobody is perfect and I figure that I've earned some 'carbon credits' to offset my cheese! After all we live in a world and country that is not designed for Zero Waste and Plastic Free Lifestyle so do the best you can and don't stop trying!
Why The Big Drop Collective?
A friend was telling me how inspired she was by my commitment and dedication to this topic of Zero Waste and Plastic Free Lifestyle and how she had never seen me so passionate about something and how it had rippled out and made our friends and community try to do better. Some one else said 'it is such a big problem this plastic in our oceans that we are just a small drop in the great ocean' when it occurred to me that If we worked as a collective we could be a 'Big Drop' in the great ocean. So was born 'The Big Drop Collective'.