Bea and her family didn't always live a simple, zero waste lifestyle, they were quite the consumers with Bea admitting to continuous shopping to fill her big home with stuff. She is a wife and mother to two sons who were bought up with huge birthday and christmas celebrations, with gifts to match. Each year wanting to out do the last one with celebrations for Christmas, Birthdays and Thanksgiving.
Bea was born in a provence region of France, her parents both worked hard to provide a simple life full of homemaking, sewing, cooking from scratch, gardening, mending and making do. Fast forward quite a few years and Bea's life in America was the complete opposite, living the supposed American dream with all the trappings one would expect, huge home, 3 car garage, SUV, huge TV, 2 large refrigerators and a large industrial size washing machine.
Were they happy? The answer was, not really, all this stuff didn't add to their happiness and they longed for a simpler life with less stuff. They downsized to a smaller home, however during the transition they stayed in a temporary apartment meaning that a lot of their belonging had to go into storage. That was the turning point in their lives, they spent more time as a family, hiking and going to libraries, they found they didn't miss their stuff that was in storage and loved the reclaimed time not looking after all that stuff, afforded them.
With reading books on simplicity and living a smaller life, Bea started to really look at every aspect of her life to see where she could simplify things to benefit her and her family. Her husband changed his career direction, they took the children out of private school and began to look at their impact on the environment. They began to dip their toes into reducing their waste and sourcing produce locally, seasonally and without packaging.
One of Bea's motto's is "Bulk is everywhere" and I agree with her to a point, there are bulk stores in Australia but they are few and far between and there is no doubt they are more expensive to buy from. Not everyone can afford the choice between buying in bulk (more expensive) and buying over packaged produce which is often cheaper at the supermarkets. Both ways of shopping is either good for the environment OR good for your wallet, not both at the same time.
Another of Bea's motto's is applying the 5 R's to reduce their environmental footprint -
Bea travels the world, it seems, constantly, to spread the word on Zero Waste, buying in bulk and how to simplify your life. My sister and I went to one of her talks in Brisbane last year. It was sponsored by "The Source" stores and we both enjoyed her talk. She basically told how she experimented with ideas to bring simplicity to her and her families life and to be kinder to the planet.
Not all of the ideas were good, for example, using gathered moss as toilet paper didn't work out, neither did making absolutely everything from scratch as it stole too much of her valuable time or didn't make financial sense. So over time she has developed a system of shopping, cooking, a beauty routine and cleaning her home that suits her and her families needs.
I did read a few great ideas that I will implement slowly into our lives, like most change, it is best done one step at a time to achieve the results you want to see. I have started to shop at the closest bulk store which is "Simply Good" at Morayfield, about 30 minutes from me and on Saturday this is what I bought-
From left-peanut butter, macadamias, raw peanuts, walnuts, oats and bread flour
I have bought a few things from there before, like the bread flour, but I would really like it to become a regular thing, buying in bulk and bringing my own containers.
Over to you, have you dipped your toe into living a more simple life? Have you read Bea's book? What are your views on the Zero Waste movement? Are you able to buy in bulk where you live?
Have a lovely day,
💚Fi
One Year Ago-Sunny Side Up Sunday
Two Years Ago-What I found when I cleaned out the fridge
Three Years Ago-Home Made Ricotta
Have a lovely day,
💚Fi
One Year Ago-Sunny Side Up Sunday
Two Years Ago-What I found when I cleaned out the fridge
Three Years Ago-Home Made Ricotta
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