Set a Priority - Break the Rut

Photo by Stephen McKay

Ever find yourself just going through the motions of life without any particular goal in mind? You go to work, cook dinner, watch TV, go to the occasional family gathering and party, and each year blends into the next without anything changing much.

Coming back to the US after being gone for over 4 years we were surprised to find how little some things have changed, notably the people around us. Our last 4 years were full of exciting goals we pursued and consequently arrived at, so it's sometimes unsettling to see how others get stuck in a rut and don't even seem to notice the time going by. It's mostly unsettling because from past experience I know how easy it is to get into a rut like that, and how difficult it is to escape once you do.

I'll make today's 5 minute task a simple one to get started on creating a life that is meaningful and fulfilling. All you have to do is set a priority. Choose an area in your life: family, health, work, relationships, etc; that you will view as your priority for a certain amount of time. It can be a priority for a day, for a week, a month, a year. 

Then think of what you would like to achieve in this area. Do you want to spend more time with your family? Are you hoping to lose some pounds? Do you want to start exercising more regularly? 
Having this priority set will already make you feel more goal oriented and inspired, and help you set the stage for true action.

I'm someone who'd much rather actively create my life and my circumstances than undergo them passively. It does take energy and effort however, and it is never easy to become pro-active once you're used to the comfort of letting life wash over you. Just keep in mind that you can and should be pro-active about doing nothing sometimes too! Watching TV on purpose because you happen to enjoy a certain show or because you really just want to vege out for a day is totally different from plopping down on the couch cause that's just what you usually do.

What are your thoughts? Are you stuck in a rut? Did you ever break out of one? Share below!

6 Reasons to Hang-Dry Your Laundry

(source)

There's not a lot of situations where I actually prefer to go for the slightly longer less convenient path than the most efficient and easiest one, but when it comes to laundry, I change my ways. I hang-dry my laundry instead of using the drier.
Okay, so one of the reasons is that we don't actually have a drier (we have a very bad one, hardly counts), but even when it was available to me in the past, I would still hang-dry my laundry whenever possible. All you need is a bit of dry space and a line or rack to hang up the clothes.
How long does it take? I'd say about 5-10 minutes. No more than that. You get more efficient too as time goes by.

So why would you opt for hanging up the laundry instead of just popping it in the drier? Here are my main reasons:

1. Environment.
   Using the drier takes up a lot of electricity. You're wasting electricity where you could just use the air around you to accomplish the same job. Even if it takes a little longer, after you hang up the laundry, you don't have to look at it until you take it down.
2. Price.
   Running a drier costs money. You have to pay for the machine and for the electricity. Wind/air is free! You'll even notice the effect more directly if you usually go to a laundromat that charges for the drying.
3. Absorption.
   Laundry that has been machine-dried just doesn't absorbed water quite as well as laundry that you dry on  line. That's also the reason I don't use fabric softener (actually, the previous two reasons are also good for not using softener: they're expensive and entirely unnecessary chemicals. Yuk!)
4. Shrinking.
   When you hang-dry the laundry, it dries at room temperature. That means you don't risk shrinking it because of the heat in the drier.
5. Lint.
   The lint from one sweater isn't swirled around and automatically transported onto every single other item in the drier. I made the mistake of putting one of my sweaters in with some sheets once and was never able to get them quite lint-free again.
6. Static.
   I can't stand static. My hair goes in crazy directions and you end up with handkerchiefs stuck to your jeans while you're running out the door. Static may be harmful to your body as well as uncomfortable.

My mother brought us up to hang-dry the laundry. I'm sure she was mainly being frugal, just like her parents before her, but in these days of economic turmoil, that may just be the best reason there is.

What about you? Do you use a drier? Ever considered using a clothes-line instead? Is there something that prevents you from doing so (bad weather, small apartment)? Perhaps we could figure out a solution together!

Worth Every Minute: Alternative Gifts

It's that time of the year that shop owners rejoice in the splendor of holiday spending. In my family we usually manage to keep things quite limited, but I can't help giving into buying gifts for friends and family from time to time.

Luckily, both my hubby and I have been out of the Christmas atmosphere for two years now (Christmas is not a big holiday in China), and it's been easy to avoid buying things like decorations and typical holiday foods. It's made December a lot less expensive than it used to be.

But looking forward to spending more holidays with family, we'd like to find more ways to keep the gift-buying to a minimum because neither of us is a big fan of 'stuff'.

That's why I was so happy to come across a ZenHabits post on alternative holiday gifts. I immediately felt like sharing (even though it took me about a week to do so).

Interested? Get all the goodness here:

The No New Gifts Holiday Challenge by Leo Babauta on Zen Habits.

For more articles and videos worth watching, check out the whole series of Worth Every Minute here.

Freeze Food to Save Money, Time and the Environment

Photo by Kathleen Franklin

I'm a big fan of the modern-day freezer. We don't have a big one, but it's quite alright for the two of us. Freezers actually use less energy the fuller they are, so we try to keep ours pretty stuffed. There's a lot of different kinds of food in our freezer. Not only meat and veggies, but also bread, left-overs and even cheese.

Even though I wouldn't recommend freezing cheese, sometimes the amounts of money you can save by buying big packages, is worth it.

Consider freezing everything you don't see yourself eating within the next week (when it comes to vegetables) or the next two or three days (for meat and left-overs). 
I find that sometimes we even have to freeze half a loaf of bread, because otherwise we wouldn't eat it fast enough. 

Before you put left-overs or big packages of something in the freezer, break it up in usable portions. We buy 2 kg packs of bacon here at the local port, and divide it into little packages of about 6 strips so it's easy to take out whenever we need it. If we need more, we just take out two sets. 

If you're not sure how a certain food will fare under freezing conditions, you can always try a sample first. Just put it in a tiny ziplock back and check the next day. 

Freezing food allows us to make sure we only take out what we eat. It limits the amount of food that we waste because we don't use it up fast enough. I just hate wasting food when so many go hungry.
It also forces us to plan ahead and thus think more clearly about our meals. A great trick to becoming more aware of eating habits and the variation in our diet.

PS. Cheese won't change in flavor if you freeze it, but it will become crumbly when thawed. That being said, if you would grate it and put it on a pizza or in a cheese-sauce, that would work just fine!

Worth Every Minute!

I love libraries! Whenever I do the 'Describe your favorite place'-exercise with my students, I give the library as an example. I love the smell of old books; the sound of pages being turned; the neat, endless rows of book cases.

And yet, I have to admit, I haven't set foot in a library in China yet. Why? I just haven't seen the point, really. I don't read Chinese. Period. Unfortunately, my love for books only goes as far as I can actually comprehend them to a degree.

But not for the writer of the following article. She talks about the other reasons why visiting a library can be wonderful. It's not only a great place to get books (usually free and very environmental!), it's a place where you can get 10 more great advantages.

Read for yourself!

10 Ways to Use the Library by Tiffany Larson on SimpleOrganic.net

For more articles that are worth every minute, check out the full series here.

3 Ways to Drink More Water

Picture by Greg Riegler

One of the tips for a healthy diet that I usually find difficult to keep up with, is the one about drinking more water. Usually, I just forget about it unless I'm really thirsty. And now that the heat has subsided, and our life is quite relaxed, I don't feel thirsty half as often as I should.
So I need to find little tricks to remind myself to drink more water. I want to share with you today what has worked for me so far.

1. It's important to always have water ready for you to drink. Keep a pitcher of water on your desk, a bottle in your bag, a glass on your bedside table (for mornings, not evenings!)
   
2. Make sure to drink water that you enjoy. There's no use trying to get yourself to drink more water if you don't like the taste. The habits won't stick. And yes, water does have lots of different tastes. If you're in a country where you can safely drink tap-water, a filtering can or system can improve the taste (and the effects on your iron and washing machine). It's what my parents did, and the water tastes great!
   
3. Make it a habit to sip your water rather than drinking big amounts at once. You will soon get used to the fresh feeling, and the lack thereof can start making you feel uncomfortable.
   This also keeps you from downing full glasses that leave you feeling like a giant water balloon. Not a pleasant feeling!

When I was young, I remember one of my classmates actually being taken to the hospital because he was dehydrated.  I've never quite forgotten that.
Drinking more water can help purify your body, and can help you get a better skin and a slimmer waist. You just have to remember to do it.

Read the Label

"Cheese" by Oli Shaw

You know those small letters they have on clothes or on packages of food? You know how they got there? Years of consumer organizations struggling to get us, you and me, informed about what we're buying. We're used to seeing them on bottles, boxes and bags, but do you ever read them?

Well, it might not be such a silly idea.

While you're drinking your glass of juice for breakfast, read the information on the box. If you happen to have different boxes or bottles available, feel free to compare.
When you eat a snack, don't throw the wrapper out immediately but have a look at the ingredients on it. 
Buying a new t-shirt? There's a tag that will tell you where it was made. 

Even if you don't use the information, even if you don't change your mind based on it, it never hurts to be informed. Knowing what you put in your body is valuable, even if it is a dangerous chemical!

Reading these little words is a matter of seconds, but it can be a first step to living a healthier, happier and more satisfying life.

I once read a book (Food Rules: An Eater's Guide by Michael Pollan) which stated that if there is something on a food label that you don't understand, that you don't recognize as food, you should consider it a 'food stuff' instead of real food. Reading food labels I try to keep in mind that anything that looks like a chemical instead of a natural product is probably not that good for me. I'd rather eat sugar than high fructose corn syrup.
Reading the label on a bottle of juice, I like to see no more than: 100% juice (based on concentrate, in most cases).
Reading the labels on clothes, I love to see I am buying cotton or wool, and not acrylic or polyester. I also love seeing clothes with a fair-trade label instead of those made in Bangladesh or Thailand.

Whatever is on a label has been put there especially to keep you informed, usually against the will of the corporations who produce the product. It's your right to know.

Worth Every Minute

On Wednesday,  I traditionally share an article from another blog or website. This time, it's about decluttering, for a change. It's a post from SimpleProductivityBlog.com, a website I've posted on before (see here), and that I love catching up on from time to time.

The post explains how to declutter quickly, without having to waste too much time on it. They give you ideas on what you can clean up if you only have 5, 10 or 15 minutes to spare. All of these suggestions can come in handy, and I should probably just all do them in a series of small, quick tasks. But just in case you really only have a quarter of an hour to spare, you can just pick out one or two.

5, 10 and 15 Minute Decluttering by LJ Earnest on SimpleProductivityBlog.com

Have fun decluttering!

Save Electricity by Adaptation

Chinese kids cooling down - Chengdu 2011

I got back from my trip through China last night, and as I arrived in Yantai the heat and humidity got to me pretty much instantly. This city isn't so bad in summer (compared to cities like Beijing and Shanghai), but I'm still only a Belgian girl, so not used to higher temperatures for extended periods of time.

So, as you can probably guess, the air conditioning system is my personal savior at this time. It's not something I am proud of, however. A/C and other cooling systems take up a lot of energy. And all of that just so that I can live at my maximum comfort level? Do I really need it? I've found that if I give my body time, it will adjust to higher or lower temperatures just fine. Therefore, I've started limiting the time I use air conditioning, and how high I put it, so that slowly, over time, I get used to the warmth.

When I visited Los Angeles in 2007 (for the second time) it was the middle of July. It was scorching hot, most of the days. The concrete streets and buildings did nothing to absorb the sun, it only got worse. But it didn't bother me at all. In fact, I was too COLD most of the time. Why? I spent most of my time indoors, in buildings that are kept at a cool 65°F (18°C). Sure, it's nice and cool when you come in, but coming from 100°, a balmy 80° would've sufficed just as well.

So when you get too hot (or too cold in winter) try to adjust the thermostat a couple of degrees in whatever direction that will save energy (and your money). Alternatively, set a timer so that the system is running long enough to cool things down for a bit, but not running while you're out and don't need it.

I hope you all have the luxury of feeling too hot at some time this summer. Enjoy it while it lasts, and remember it's only a couple of months before you'll be wishing you could feel this way again.

Take the Stairs

(source)

I remember when a certain friend's ex-boyfriend told me that the best way to achieve a nice bum, was to walk up the stairs taking two steps at a time. I don't think I'll ever quite forget that.
Taking the stairs is now almost an act of nostalgia. Taken a look at a hospital stairwell lately? It's probably the quietest place you can find.
But stairs have value! Today I'm preaching the return to walking stairs instead of taking the elevator.

Taking the stairs doesn't take you as long as you think. I only have to walk up to the 6th floor, but still find myself taking the elevator more often than not. There's always an excuse: "I have too much stuff", "I'm tired", "it's too hot", "it's too cold", and so on. Today, however, I'm re-committing myself to taking the stairs. And here's why:

1.  Exercise. It's always great to get a couple of minutes extra exercise in. If you haven't walked up any stairs lately, you'll feel this one instantly!
   
2. Avoid smells. I know you're thinking body odor now, but our elevator has contained a whole range of smells that I got me holding my breath!
   
3. No aimless waiting around. I've waited around for longer than it takes me to walk up to our floor. Multiple times! What a waste!
   
4. Environment. You're not using any energy except your own when you walk up the stairs. Totally green!
   
5. Less risky. Just imagine the elevator getting stuck. It's happened before. We've all seen the movies/tv shows. Now, does it still seem like taking the elevator saves you time? Right! I didn't think so!

So what about you? Are you a stair-walker or an elevator-rider? Or do you try to live your life on the ground floor at all times due to a paralyzing fear of heights?

P.S. It is now possible to rate posts below! Feel free to 5-star me, or shatter my heart. Whichever you choose. Really! No pressure!

Recycle Recycle Reuse

Recycling is now pretty much established as a standard practice in Western countries (I use 'Western' a lot since that's the word they use here.) In China, however, it's not really the common way. Most people just put everything in a trash bag. Afterwards they dump it in one of the big boxes outside, and the bags get searched for bottles, cans and boxes by the less fortunate, who can then sell it for a tiny bit of money.
We still recycle however, and pack the stuff separately. Either way, it helps someone.

Separating paper and plastic is common, right, but what about recycling other stuff? I'm talking about other items around the house that maybe you could reuse for another purpose instead of throwing them out right away. My grandmother used to be wonderful at this. A bed sheet went through being a sheet, to being a towel, to being a diaper, finally ending up as a cleaning rag at the end of its life cycle.

You don't have to do any stitching or be very creative to re-use items in your house. How about using a squeeze bottle as an easy oil dispenser? Or an old jam jar as a container for left-over sauces or soups? 
Here you can find great ideas on how to re-use an old yoga mat, and this site has some great ideas for what to do with glass jars.
If you have something that you don't really want to throw away, google 'reuse + your item' and see what pops up. You never know what your possible trash could be used for!

The picture shows some of the simple items I've reused in our home. A bamboo cup that split became a chopstick holder (essential if you live in the East and use them every day). A glass jar became the perfect home for my sourdough starter. I cover it with a piece cut from an old shirt of the hubby, it's held on their by the use of an old scrunchy that wouldn't scrunch no more. At the bottom is a spice container in which I put some chopped lemon zest and cooking oil. Makes a great massage oil!

Making all of these work was a matter of minutes!

I have three pairs of jeans that are worn,  but only in one spot. Any idea on what I could do with them without a sewing machine? I don't mind doing some hand-stitching, as long as it's not too much!

Use only ONE Bathroom Product

Did I pique your interest with yesterday's post? Are you curious to find out how I replaced my shampoo, body-wash, facial soap, 'special soap' and even my future baby's soap with only one product? Especially if I tell you this one product has been around for thousands of years and contains no harmful chemicals?
Well, I won't hold you in suspense any longer.

I use ... Aleppo soap. Aleppo soap is a soap based on olive and bay leaf oil. I use if to wash my face, hands, even my hair. I've heard you can also use it to brush your teeth with, but haven't tried that yet.

I suggest you try this soap first, before you throw out all of your chemical beauty products. Maybe you won't like it, and that's just fine. 
If you're wondering about where to buy a piece of this soap, in Belgium you can find it at Bioplanet, (the Danish Urtekram one is my favorite!), in the UK, you can order it from Life & Home of Wikaniko.com. For the US, I'm not so sure. Amazon has it, for sure: Syrian Soap 200g - Olive Oil Soap from Mesopotamia(1 bar) (Amazon link), but this may be a bit pricy. I also found the website Wunderley, which sells a selection as well. Just running a search on Ebay for Aleppo or olive oil soap will get you plenty of results.

I've saved a lot of money on care products in this way, and I love how I only have this one piece of soap in the shower, and don't need to rummage through a whole bunch of bottles and flasks like I used to. Sure, it took some time to get used to the feeling and the smell (smells kind of herb-like and like Marseille soap), but now I don't want anything else!

Has anyone in the states seen this in one of the bigger alternative markets? Or in a regular super market? Let me know!

Let me know if you're thinking about giving it a try. Or maybe you use a different type of natural soap that can be used for pretty much anything? I'm sure there are plenty of options, I just happened to stumble across this one first. Let me know what you think!

Cut Your Shower Short

My sister is the queen of short showers. When she was staying with us last year, my husband and I were completely baffled by how fast she got in and out of a shower. So today, the tip I want to give you is the one we picked up from her.
Short showers have many benefits: you save water and energy (which is both environmental and saves you money!), your skin benefits from not being so dry, and ... most important for the purpose of this blog ... you save time.
My sister could take a shower in 5 minutes! I haven't quite made it that far, especially when I wash my hair, but I've managed to cut it short by at least 5 minutes each time.

When you're taking a shower, try not to think of it as a moment to relax. Better yet, put it on your to-do list and make it seem like a task you have to accomplish. Maybe this will inspire the 'let's-get-it-over-with'-vibe. 
That's not because I don't want you to relax. Naturally, I want you to have the best life possible. You're my readers, I have your best interest at heart at all times! So am I taking away a moment of joy from you? No, I'm just asking you to find another moment that you enjoy even more, or that relaxes you even more. No idea of what to do with those extra 5 minutes? How about you take a walk around this blog?

Maybe you could consciously relax your body by practicing corpse pose, or by meditating for 5 minutes. Or you could try something new like read some flash fiction or write a haiku. The sky is the limit!

Doing something completely different, will make those extra five minutes of shower time feel like an hour!

One of the ways in which I've cut my shower-time short is by only using one product in the shower. Whether I'm washing my hair or shaving my legs, there's only one product I need. It's all natural too! Come back tomorrow to find out what it is!

How would you spend your extra 5 minutes? Are you usually one to take long showers?

Consume Consciously

Clothing Labels

I don't usually do a lot of preaching, because I hate being preached to. But I hope you'll forgive me for addressing this one topic that's really close to my heart. This is a message I really want to share with you. It was a real eye-opener for me, and it changed the way I live.
I realized that as a 'consumer' (although I detest that word!) I'm asserting who I am through the choices I make.
With everything I buy, I'm either agreeing or disagreeing with the way something was produced, grown and distributed.

When I buy fair trade, I disagree with the exploitation of cheap labor in Asia and Latin America. When I buy local, I disagree with the outrageous costs of transportation both financially and environmentally. When I buy grass-fed meat and organic, I disagree with the practice of CAFOs and pesticides, and the threat to human and animal health that these practices pose.

But what if I'm not an activist? I don't want to make it my life's work to think about these decisions every day.

You can still make a difference by raising your consciousness step by step.
What you buy says a lot about who you are.

Next time you're out to buy clothes, see if you can find the label on the piece of clothing you're buying. Where was it made? What was it made of? If you think it's expensive: think of how many hours of labor would go into it, how much a person should earn per hour, how much the fabric costs and how much the company has to make on top of all that to be profitable. Still looks expensive? When you buy cheap clothes, chances are someone's paying that extra bit somewhere.

When you're grocery shopping, don't be fooled by pictures, read the ingredient labels. See a lot of stuff that you don't know? Does that really sound like food to you? If you buy foods without ingredient labels (vegetables, eggs, grains, etc.), at least you KNOW what you're eating, and you're saying 'NO' to processed food.
Try to imagine what kind of system this food comes from and if that system is sustainable in the long run. Part of taking care of our planet, is to make sure that we provide food for the billions of people that will come afterward. That means we have to make sure the natural balance is observed.

I know this isn't easy to do, and it's very difficult to let every single purchase depend on these decisions. But every little bit helps. Every time you spend money on sustainable, fair trade or second-hand items, you're asserting yourself as someone who cares about the planet and the people on it. And that just feels absolutely wonderful!

It only takes a minute to think about it.

Swap and Share Your Stuff

I recently came across this video on www.ted.com, and it was the first time I'd ever heard of a network of trading goods instead of buying them. The idea is that you've got plenty of stuff around the house that you either won't use anymore (books you've read, movies you've seen) or that you only use rarely (electric drill, kitchen torch), and that it would be much more beneficial to the planet and your wallet, if you could trade or share those things with others.

The talk is about 20 minutes, so not really within the scope of this blog, but doing a search on one of the websites that help you trade your stuff, is a matter of minutes.
So far, I've only come across the American website www.swap.com, and some UK ones (see links at the bottom) but I'm sure they have them in other countries too! If you find one for where you live, please share it in a comment below so I can edit the post!

Surf to the website. At the top, you'll see a 'join now' button to click on. This should only take about 1 minute. You can sign up using your Facebook account, or if you don't have Facebook, just create an account. So far, it's only for US residents, but let's hope it spreads quickly!
Add some 'haves' to your list, or search for what you want, and see who you can trade with. It's as easy as that.

When you're thinking of buying something you only need on a rare occasion (like a chainsaw or a certain kitchen appliance) see if you have any friends who need the same item so you can buy it together.
This idea already exists for holiday homes, and even cars. I've been on a home exchange holiday before as well, which is sort of based on the same principle of sharing.
I love that all of this is free, and it helps us, as a species living on a limited planet, to consume less. 

Websites:

US: www.swap.com
UK: www.swapz.co.uk and www.iswap.co.uk (for anything), www.readitswapit.co.uk (for books).
Netherlands: www.ruilen.nl

Have you ever heard of this idea? Does it appeal to you?