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Well, so far, day 1 of the no-spending weekend has gone pretty well. I just pottered around the house and concentrated on starting the decorating in my kid's bedroom. There have been a couple of times when I almost went out and bought something for the decor but ended up making do with what I had instead. So there you go, even my decluttered home contains "spares" for me to use instead of buying (even if I am buying second-hand).
Anyway, I thought I'd spend some time today just acknowledging everyone's comments here. I love reading what everyone has to say about the stuff I write here. Your comments have made me laugh, made me think, made me re-think :P, and made me change the way I do things. Most of all your comments really do encourage me to keep picking my way through leading a more simpler life.
Snapshot of some of the comments under my "Being Neighbourly" PostI thought I might share with you a comment made recently by Kylie on an old post of mine :):
...last year I gave up chocolate for six months to draw attention to the issue of lack of sanitation (toilets) for many people in the world. (Sounds silly but is really important and can affect people's health, education, work) There isn't an obvious link between chocolate and sanitation but the idea was that my friends would know it must be something important to make me give up chocolate. I put aside the (considerable) money that I would normally spend on chocolate and also asked friends to sponsor me. At the end of the 6 months I put all of the money towards financing toilets in developing countries (through an NGO). Enough for 50 toilets - not a huge amount but I figured it was better than doing nothing and a lot of my friends now know a lot more than they used to about sanitation.
Thank you so much Kylie for sharing your story! That is so inspiring! Kylie's comment caught me because I recently wrote on SGF about access to water and sanitation in developing countries. There are now several local communities who are much better off because of Kylie's efforts.
Another thing is that a couple of people have written some very nice emails to me complementing my reconstructed clothing efforts. Thank you so much for taking the time to write to me too! Long time readers here will know though that I'm actually very new to sewing. I sewed my very first item (a button on a coat) only 2 and a half years ago! I have always had so many excuses to never learn how to sew or craft. Those excuses ranging from: "I don't have enough time" to "But I'm not creative at all." The funny thing is that I now get so much out of sewing and crafting. And its definitely cheaper than therapy! (hehe)
For those who are interested in taking up sewing and crafting, I wrote my story at SGF:
Learning how to sew (and while you're there check out the sewing suggestions other SGF authors have written!)
"But I'm not creative!"
Anyway, I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. I hope to finish my children's bedroom this weekend so pics hopefully I'll have pics soon!
5 comments:
Glad to hear that day one went so succesfully E ;-) Looking forward to seeing what wonderful things you create for the kidlets rooms!
Toilets in developing countries is an interesting one. I personally don't think flush toilets are a fantastic invention and dislike the idea that westerners are putting something that uses so much water into mainstream thinking in developing countries that may not have an abundance of fresh water. I think the Humanure Handbook by Jenkins is a MUST READ for everybody, and would certainly solve the dual problems of wasting water and losing soil nutrients. Unfortunately the delicate sensibilities of westerners can't seem to handle the idea.
Your experiences with sewing sound a lot like mine. My mum and nonna were expert sewists. As a kid I just didn't have the temperament. 18 months ago I found the site www.patternreview.com and that inspired me to make myself some yoga pants..and the rest is history. Since then I've made lots of clothes for myself and my daughter. Still learning, but enjoying the process. Just shows you can always learn something new.
Anastasia, just wanted to let you know that the toilets I funded were simple, often composting toilets. I'm with you on the water problem with toilets as we know them. Thankfully, most development agencies/NGOs that I know of that are working on sanitation are promoting something that local people are comfortable with and will use, something suited to local conditions (e.g. water availability) and something that can be easily maintained. I haven't come across the Humanure Handbook yet but might have to go and find it.
Very interesting blog, i have been sewing for years now and am at the point where I sew everything I wear. (addicted actually)
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