To be perfectly honest, the first time I have to do anything is always the hardest. But I think that is true for all humans. The first time I went to the butcher and asked if I could weigh a container, I was terrified. But now, and this just shows how much I have grown, I think of things as adventures.
I had the pleasure of introducing a new friend of mine to the bulk food shop. And she asked me 'what do I have to bring?' and jars and Tupperware are always the answer. But I thought about it for a while afterwards, and I now have a few things that I think should be on the list.
1. A list (I love lists) of all the things that you want to buy/how much
2. jars/tupperware that match the list so you don't buy too little or too much (including ones that have the amount of ml on it for liquids.
3. the courage to ask them to weight said jars/tupperware
4. a way of remembering the codes for the things that you get. e.g. pen or phone notepad
5. a large bag to carry everything in, sometimes jars can get quite heavy.
6. lids.... just in-case you forget that part of the jar
Other things to consider, just online search if you are unsure of whether they stock a product. Think about how you portion when you get home based on cost. E.g. I am more conservative with my dishwashing liquid now because it is super bubbly. And be prepared to get it wrong and make mistakes.
Today I went on a similar adventure. I went strawberry picking!!! You can't get more homegrown or Australian then when you literally pull it out of the soil. It was good fun. Would be a great day for kids. Unfortunately they supply 'single-use' containers for weighing, BUT I think that they can become multiple use of you just wash them... so I now have a designated strawberry container.
Another one of my goals is to learn how to cook with native foods. I went to a rosella farm on the way home. By on the way home, I mean like 30-40 minutes out of my way, but whatever. I wanted to get fresh rosellas, but they didn't have any. I wanted to make jam, but instead, I just brought the jam. And it is delicious!
Later this afternoon, I also went into the shops to Mr Minmit. I have a pair or shoes that have literally walked around Europe and other places. On the outside, they are still mostly ok, but on the inside, the soul was basically gone. So I asked Mr Minit for anew soul. It cost me $36 to buy. Now, most people would have gone 'no way, I will just buy new shoes' which was honestly tempting. However, I think I could still get multiple years worth out of that one pair, so I'm hoping it pays off. There is a bit of a problem in this area that shoes especially, or poor quality, are cheap to buy, and expensive to fix. Jewellery and clothes are also in this same boat in some ways. I can genuinely understand when people do just go and buy something new, but we created this culture and we have to change this culture. It is the throw-away culture. I like those shoes, I also like where they have been and stood. I have worn them in. I am also providing work to the people at Mr Minit. I am keeping the fixing trades going.
This evening I had an online workshop with a few people who are living the change. They are part of a group called ARRCC. We have discussed the changes and things that we are doing, from a faith perspective, for the environment. I talked a little about the dialoguing that I have been working on with Church. Including how the Church at the moment, in asking every parish to have a Laudato si committee is being somewhat hypocritic until the priests, bishops and archbishops make the changes themselves first. We also discussed how hard it is for females to penetrate the inherent power structure and patriarchy that is the Catholic Church. Especially for women, it is a difficult emotional investment of time and energy to dialogue in this way. At the same time being told that we are 'passionate' and trying hard not to get too angry and let everyone be heard. Like not reacting to what people say. Bu someone said that we should consider it as virtue not passion, which I think is nice. And in that way, we should just ignore everyone and just get on with doing what we are doing. I think I needed to hear that in a way, because soon I will probably have to do that. When people around me are going to criticise and be resistant to the changes that need to be made, I am just going to have to get on with it as best I can.
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