Easy, ethical resolutions for 2013 - revisited

As with most New Year resolutions, I did not stick to all of my easy, ethical resolutions in 2013. Now seems a good time to reflect on them, as I am starting a new job, in a new city, on Monday.

1. I've donated >5% of my income to humanitarian charities, although I am yet to do my taxes (apologies to my accountant) so I can't give an exact percentage. I donate to five charities on a monthly basis and make one-off donations to other charities throughout the year. For more on why I do this, see my post on The Life You Can Save.

2. I have been following Michael Pollan's food rules pretty well but want to do better. I lent his book to someone so I can' t check them one by one but I've followed the main rules and also read his new book, Cooked. My main food aim for this year is to cook more! I will be sharing accommodation this year, which may encourage this habit.

3. I have continued to purchase and eat free-range or organic meat when available, and gone meat-free when those options are not available. I was limiting meat consumption to one or two days per week for most of the year. I haven't frequented the local farmers' market often because it is too darn busy. However, I buy my groceries from my local independent grocer.

4. I continue to use the Shop Ethical app. They have included new categories including clothing (and underwear, swimwear and footwear). I remember my reusable grocery bags (I have finally developed the habit) and carry a spare tote bag in my handbag most of the time in case I pick up some groceries on the way home.

5. I have had some clothes mended and continue to have shoes resoled. I have not purchased any new shoes this year. I recently lost about ten per cent of my body weight and a lot of my old clothes now fit a lot better. When I have purchased new clothing or accessories, they have been from small local businesses or ethically made in Australia. I haven't bought many used items. Overall, I have purchased far fewer clothes and accessories this year than in the past. I still haven't managed to host a Clothes Swap party.

6. I participated in a few "Buy Nothing New" months, including the official October BNNM. I have kept myself accountable all year by recording all purchases of non-food items. I have been a far more thoughtful and discerning consumer when it comes to buying "stuff", especially non-consumables.

7. I haven't purchased bottled water, except once when I was stranded in an airport for 5 hours.

8. I have increased my exercise levels! This has included a lot more incidental walking (easy when you live walking distance from work, which I have for the past six months) plus intentional exercise doing group sessions with my personal trainer. Doing group sessions rather than one-on-one has allowed me to attend far more often and I've enjoyed the group environment. I'm feeling much fitter and stronger. I'm moving to a new job in a new city for six months, so I have to make sure I keep up the exercise.

9. I didn't get a bicycle. I did walk and use public transport often.

10. I have piles of things to give away but they have stayed sitting in my living room/spare room/wardrobe/store room for almost a year now. Whoops.

11. I think I have used less water and electricity, although I haven't made any drastic lifestyle changes to achieve this.

12. I did not grow any plants. I think more of my cacti and succulents died through neglect.

13. I did not blog here often at all. I know, you're devastated.

Not resolving, just doing

I am working on a review of my 2013 resolutions.

I don't have resolutions for 2014 but am trying a bit of this, a bit of that, and this too. You may also wish to try these.

I will also do this and this, which I already do anyway but should do more publicly now that it has a higher profile. I'll write more about these in future.

It's seems particularly pertinent due to the news today that striking garment workers in Cambodia were shot dead by police.

Buy Nothing New Month 2013

Suddenly, it is October. That means two things: it's almost a year since I started this blog, and it's Buy Nothing New Month. I only realised this yesterday when I received an email from BNNM. Browsing last year's posts on BNNM I realise how much my shopping habits have changed since participating last year. I think have spent far less time shopping and bought less stuff. I tend to make most of my purchases when I am travelling (having made work-related trips to Sydney and Adelaide this year).

Over the past six months, excluding food, drink, hygiene products and medications, goods I have purchased include:

Gifts

• organic cotton fair trade baby booties
• locally handmade books made from vintage maps
• locally made teatowel
• Australian-made baby ugg boots
• toys made of recycled plastic
• locally made baby pants
• books
• cut flowers
• an Austrian-made wooden trolley with blocks
• a Swell bottle
• two pens shaped like hip bones (for my geriatric friends)
• a helium balloon (oh no! Least ethical purchase this year?)

Clothes and accessories

• very versatile, Aussie-made black shirt (to replace a shirt that was beyond mending)-very versatile, Aussie-made blue wool dress
• vintage shirt ($5!)
• NZ made shirt (to replace ten donated shirts)
• three pairs of Aussie-made trousers (to replace trousers that had worn out)
• fair-trade scarf
• scarf by up-and-coming Aussie designer
• locally-made necklace
• locally-made earrings

Other stuff

• books (I'll post about some of these, and local book shops, later)
• German-made wooden broom (expensive luxury I will have for decades)
• fresh flowers (not often enough)
• organic coriander seeds (a school fundraiser for a work mate's daughter)
• a replacement battery for my bathroom scales (I couldn't find a better alternative)
• lipstick (cruelty-free, Aussie made)
• eyeshadow pencil (By Terry, from Mecca Cosmetica. Possibly tested on animals)
• hair elastics (made in China)
• Vogue magazine (featuring Advanced Style)
• Frankie magazine
• four car tyres - the most expensive and potential most toxic thing on this list?

All were purchased from independent stores, markets or directly from the designer (unless otherwise stated). Only one item (the vintage shirt) was purchased used.

It is helpful to see what I have purchased over the past year, and what a long list it makes when all put together! It also emphasises room for improvement (buy fewer books! Find alternatives to batteries and hair elastics! Stop buying make-up when you only wear it once a fortnight or less! Don't buy magazines and not read them! You don't need any more jewellery - you hardly ever wear it! Stop wearing out all your favourite trousers!!!)

I hope to learn some new lessons, and form new habits, this Buy Nothing New Month.

March - April update

This is a regular update where I summarise my progress with my 2013 ethical resolutions.

I'm doing pretty well with some of my resolutions. I've kept up regular charitable donations and made additional one-off donations, I'm doing my best with Michael Pollan's food rules and my meat free days, and I only buy free-range or organic meat. I don't always stick to this when I'm dining out and someone else orders - this is somewhere I can improve. I continue to use my Shop Ethical! app whenever I am buying an unfamiliar grocery item or brand.

However, I definitely need to eat at home more often (and I'm hoping for some inspiration from the new Michael Pollan book, Cooked). I am yet to host a clothes swap party or have another self-inflicted "Buy Nothing New Month". I still need to buy a bicycle (which my parents are giving me as a birthday gift). I haven't tried growing anything on the balcony and I obviously haven't been blogging here once a fortnight. I have had a guest staying with me the last couple of months so my electricity use has actually doubled and presumably my water consumption has also increased. My exercise levels have stayed pretty stable and I continue to suck at getting enough sleep.

I still have piles of things to give away but I haven't managed to move them out of my apartment. A friend has asked me to join her in a garage sale so I might try to sell some of the more valuable items and donate the proceeds to charity.

I feel as though I have been buying less but it still looks like a lot when I list everything I bought in the last two months. My (non-food, non-medication/-hygiene) purchases for March and April include:

• scarf by Otto and Spike (on sale, from one of my favourite local stores, William Topp).  Otto and Spike use surplus yarn and wool from industry to make gorgeous knitted accessories in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick. They have a wonderful story that you can read here.
• cut flowers from the farmers market. I love having cut flowers in the house but in the hot Perth weather they don't last very long. Native flowers are the best, especially when from my mum's garden.
• a new ball point pen. My other pens had all disappeared and I need a pen for work. Mainly to write prescriptions, it would seem. It's probably made in China but I didn't have time to shop around for an ethically sound pen. My consolation with this one is that it takes refills and that it's from an Australian company.
• cleanser and eye serum from Aesop. I've written before about my love of Aesop. The cleanser I use every day and will probably last me a year. The eye serum was a more questionable purchase - I didn't check the price before I bought it and I have only used it a few times (due to my sucky sleeping habits). I will try to use it more often and justify the expense. I will write about the beauty industry and anti-ageing products in future.
• Aussie-owned, Aussie-made organic laundry detergent and some NZ-owned, NZ-made stain remover. The former unfortunately has an overpowering lavender scent. Again, I must take the time to learn how to make my own cleaning products.
• Aussie-owned, Aussie-made products to combat silverfish that I have been finding around my bathroom (not the wardrobe, strangely). Obviously, I don't want silverfish to shorten the lifespan of my clothing. The Hovex products are not nearly as nice as my clothing protectors from Thurlby Herb Farm, which is a Western Australian company that supports its local community in South West WA.

I also bought a few gifts in April but as I have been too slack to wrap and send them, I had better not list them here in case the recipients read this blog post. 

February update

In February, I was busy living (ethically, I hope) rather than blogging. My resolution to blog here at least fortnightly was over-ambitious. However, I will continue to summarise my progress with the other ethical resolutions.

I increased my regular charitable donations to keep donations at least 5% of my income.

I am doing fairly well with my food-based resolutions (eating less meat, eating only free-range meat, buying from independent grocers and farmers' markets, following Pollan's Food Rules, using the ShopEthical! app) except that I started a job that involves a lot of driving and subsequently started buying a diet cola, sparkling water and takeaway coffees. To combat this, I purchased some coffee to make in a plunger at home (Organic Frida by Republica) and a water bottle that will keep my water icy cold, even after being left in the car on a 40C day.

Speaking of purchases, I made a few this month (as well as food, drink and medication). These were:

1. A vintage beaded blouse; 
2. Three make-up items from Aussie brand Australis (I will post about make-up in future), for a burlesque-themed party I was attending;
3. My new S'Well water bottle (from one of my favourite local independent stores);
4. Dishwashing liquid (must learn how to make my own);
5. A vehicle logbook (Australian-made by an Australian-owned company) for my new job, for which I am driving up to 200km per day; and
6. A baby-blue, second-hand pushbike car.

That's right - I was supposed to write about choosing a bicycle and instead I spent my vehicle-buying energies choosing a car.  Ugh. That's another post altogether.

Did you make any ethical resolutions for 2013? How are they going?

Buying (nearly) nothing new - January 2013

I recently read that all social media, especially blogs, are inherently narcissistic. I will be doing a narcissistic post at the end of each month this year in an effort to make myself accountable for my "easy, ethical 2013 resolutions". This month I will focus on "stuff" because that is where I made the most change.

I have purchased two new "things" this month (not including food, drink, services or medication). One was a light globe to replace a blown globe in my storage room, which receives no natural light. I make no apologies for that. I am really proud that I resisted buying anything at the local handmade markets (my shopping Achilles heel), bookstores and post-Christmas sales.

My other purchase was a modem, after my modem stopped working last weekend. I tried to use an old one of my Dad's but it didn't work. I had no idea how best to choose electronics from an ethical perspective, other than avoiding them. I should have chosen to do without a modem. I could have looked for one for sale secondhand or on Freecycle. However, I use my broadband for work and study (plus watching TV and narcissistic blog posts) so decided to replace my modem within a couple of days of it dying. My first instinct was to head to the discount electronics superstore across the road. Instead, I paid a visit to a family-run computer store in the next suburb. The advantage? I saved time choosing which modem to buy, as they only had one model in each speed. I didn't waste time searching product review sites on my phone. I received great service. The whole transaction took about 5 minutes, instead of the 30+ minutes I would have spent agonising over the choices at the chain store. I supported a local business and I saved 30 minutes of my time. (I still have the two useless modems sitting around, waiting for electronics recycling collection time.)

I have been working at my "giving away 7 items per week" goal. I've only given away a few items but I've identified dozens that will be given away shortly. I am in the process of clearing out my wardrobes (that's right, I have a completely unnecessary TWO wardrobes for one person) that are shamefully full of clothes I had forgotten I owned and shoes I have not worn for years. Some of the shoes have only been worn once. I even hoarded some of the empty shoeboxes! I discovered bags full of clothes that I had intended to donate to charity in 2011 and had shoved in the top of my wardrobe, awaiting the annual charity collection. The charity collection never eventuated and the bags are still there, of no use to anyone. Most of the items will go to the Red Cross and I hope some will find a new home at Ready to Work, a local charity that helps disadvantaged women find employment.

Some of my sad, unloved shoes. They want a new home.

I have also been clearing out the kitchen cupboards of tools I never use and discovering products that I should use. It is helping to make my little kitchen work more efficiently and will help me cook more and follow Pollan's Food Rules.

I feel that I haven't challenged myself in January and will try to make more of a difference in February. My parents are getting me a bicycle for my birthday and that will be the topic of my next post. Yippee!