Our Earth. You, yes you, can save it.

I'm back! Did not expect to be absent for this long, really. Life caught up for a bit, and I was just immersing in it.

Let's see, what has happened since March this year?

Duh. Covid-19. I suppose it was a blessing I managed to catch up with my family in SG in Jan, and Grace and Sharon in Melbourne when they were holidaying in Feb, right before things got worse and companies started working from home.

It's now 7 months since working from home. I should be relishing every moment of it while it lasts, but am already dreading going back to the overcrowded city bustling with people, noise, chaos. After all, I did come here for the space and quiet. And I do really, really love the idea of not squishing with people on the train, not spending 3 hours commuting, not paying $180/mth for the Myki pass. It's also very environmentally friendly, not commuting! Public or private transport.

I arranged for my haircut in Aug, only to have it postponed to Sept and then postponed again until further notice when Stage 4 lockdown kicked in. This week, since the 5km restrictions are lifted and hair salons are allowed to reopen, I got a call from my hairdresser to reschedule my hair appointment. That was such a joyous moment! So excited for this Friday =)

Online shopping has been great. Other than the super delayed shipping if we ordered from USA, we pretty much get our stuff within the week.

The mask culture didnt really bother me too, I've been loving masks since travelling to Taiwan and picking up their love for masks. I'm not keen on wearing masks to gyms when they reopen though. Working out is a huff and puff business, masks seem a bit impractical that way..

Also, just celebrated Fen's birthday. It was quiet and beautiful, with a few surprise Uber Eats delivered to our place from friends! We took leave from work the next day (which is technically yesterday, lol) and took advantage of the lifted restrictions to travel further out and explore Point Cook Saltwater Coast. Figured the car needed to stretch the legs wheels, too.

A few things I picked up this season:

• I cut Fen's hair better now. Thank you, YouTube. Got rid of his 3 year old man bun, and gave him a BTS look (so says everybody)
• Knitting beanies. I was knitting scarves sometime in 2018, but stashed it aside until this winter, when I decided I've had enough of small beanies that look atrocious on me. On my 7th beanie now, as we speak
• More Asian dishes. Pretty expert at glutinous rice, wantons, carrot/yam cake, fried fish soup with evaporated milk now~
• Must have baked basque burnt cheesecake three thousand times now.
• Running 6km once a week

Must have bought at least 5 new cat beds for the cats. Time spent with them is never enough, but I count my blessings, anyway. They're doing well, I managed to get their dental cleaning rescheduled, and we've been home so much there hasnt been too much drama between Ash and Pitch, so they've stayed safe and well. We did panic a little bit when supermarkets were imposing limits to chicken, because we bulk cook and freeze their meals. Luckily that restriction didnt last too long.

I wrote this entry today not really to recap this pandemic life, actually.
Just finished watching David Attenborough's A Life On Our Planet on Netflix. This entry might sound like my last, not intended but necessary.

A person as famous as David Attenborough had repeated over and over again about how we are destroying our natural world. Has mankind listened? Really listened and do something about it? Maybe, perhaps not enough.

I keep asking myself, what else can I do as an individual? What more can I help? Other than being educated and aware of the world around us, the products and where they come from, I need to ACT.
So should you. Please, we have to do something. Anything.

As a matter of fact, since my last post, I've already begun to reduce meat intake. Fen has been soooo supportive, agreeing to eat lesser beef himself. Our meat varieties are turkey, chicken, seafood, with the occasional duck when they're on sale (hoho~). He's big on morning fruit smoothies, which is a great plus!

Even our body wash, dishwashing liquid and hand wash are eco-friendly now. The plans for our house now are not just installing solar panels, but also perhaps keep bees and plant more native plants, and grow our own vegetables. The ideas are endless, the options are endless, we shouldnt stop trying to save Mother Earth.

I cannot stress enough. We must do something. We can make a difference. Let's not be conformists, let's do something good in this world. Please.

You can.

Eco-friendly journey

I am going to list a number of changes I've made in efforts to do my part to be kinder to the environment.

And remember, anything is better than nothing. I'm not a saint, so dont be saying unkind lame shit like "o you dont drink cow's milk anymore, but you still eat cheese..?"

• A lotta Oz homes are installed with solar panels for hot water. It's pretty neat, and works to save bills and tap on available energy =) If I ever have my own place, I'd defo install me some solar panels.
• Switched to natural hair shampoo. I get mine from Hairstory, and there are definitely cheaper options out there. The shampoo has no suds, and my hair health has even impressed hairdressers. The point is, the soap we use washes down the drain and into sewage, and eventually, the ocean. What we do matters. I only wish natural is the way to go as a normal lifestyle, but brands these days market natural and chemical-free like it's a royalty and prestige. Our body washes are now also sulfate-free as we try to reduce our contribution to pollution.
• Stopped drinking cow's milk. The production of cow's milk is now commercialised on a large scale. Google 'cow's milk industry' and read up all you want. Simple fact: Cows need to give birth in order to lactate. To get that much milk you need to make cows give birth and deprive the calves from their mothers' milk because, well, humans wanna drink it.
• I've recently also stopped drinking soy milk. Was on it for 2 years after eliminating cow's milk, but I think soy milk is not ideal for my skin. I couldnt explain the millions of bumps on my face for 2 years until I started to pen down the changes I've made to my lifestyle, soy milk being one of them. It's only been a month, so I'm going to keep up with this to confirm my theory.
• Saying no to plastic bags when we buy stuff. That being said, we need trash bags, so.. we buy eco bags for our trash. There are however controversies over how eco the eco bags are, so.. I am just trying to do what I can, and if I have a better alternative, I will do my research and act on what I'm best informed of.
• Carrying our glass water bottles and reusable coffee cups everywhere we go. There was this time I went to a cafe to grab coffee, and it was like 4 out of 5 orders were in a reusable cup. This really comforts me, knowing how many disposable cups are reduced with everyone's combined efforts =)
• Even at my workplace, I'm constantly asking if there is a need to print. Where I can do digital copies or signatures or set up excel templates to do the exact same activity, I would. It's getting the team on board that's the challenge.
• Switching from plastic clingwrap to beeswax wrap. You can even make it yourself if you feel adventurous. Food wraps are pretty essential, and I find that a beeswax wrap does the job. It doesnt even have to be beeswax, as long as we use reusable ones that can reduce our garbage. Anything we can do on our part. Or finish our food every time so we never have to clingwrap any leftovers. Anything goes.
• Menstrual cup. I cant even stop raving about it. I got mine from Woolworths, DivaCup. Packaging says biodegradable silicone, which I really hope it's true. Truth be told, I am not a tampon user, had a bad experience when I didnt know how to use it for the first time (I was prolly 20 years old), and never touched tampons again. So this menstrual cup... Is weird. Every time I insert or take out, it just feels like.. I'm fingering myself. I know how it sounds.
  But it works, and I'm pleased with its function. So... I've put it to test:
  - Overnight 5hrs 1900-0120
  - Church on Day 2 6hrs 0900-1500
  - Hiking on Day 4 7hrs 0900-1600
  - Full day at work Day 5 8hrs 0700-1500
  Interestingly I didnt trust it enough for gym on Day 3, and used a pad which in turn ironically stained my pants after =/ 
  I will however recommend wearing a period underwear because in between changes, there will be a bit of blood spillage/leakage. It feels so good though, to have a clean bum (because, pad). Unless you use in and out of shower where you can thoroughly clean and wash the nether region, it wont be blood-free for sure.
• Latest switch: reusable cotton pads. I have, for many years, looked at the disposable cotton pads I'm using and wonder if it adds to the landfill in a negative way. I dont know what took me so long to search up reusable cotton pads, but I'm just thankful for whoever came up with it. 

I hope this is helpful to any of you looking to take some baby steps to change your lifestyle to a more eco-friendly one.

I think I can prolly do more on my part, and off the top of my head, compost is something I'd be interested to start, takes some work and research. This will further reduce the trash we take out. Currently we'd have 3 bags of general trash per week and a pretty full load for recyclables per fortnight. I'd just really like my own place to set up the compost though, coz you cant exactly move it about =/