Since our last update we have been enjoying making our new home more green and trying out some of the great environmental initiatives here in Brisbane. Although we don’t have a backyard we just couldn’t bear throwing our scraps in the rubbish bin any longer so we have gone ahead and bought a Bokashi bin. A Bokashi bin is like a compost bin except that instead of decomposing your waste it ferments it using anaerobic bacteria. This is great for flats because it doesn’t smell. The QLD government is currently offering a 50% rebate for these bins along with a $200 rebate on water efficient appliances, so we have applied for both of these (we bought a water-efficient washer last month). So now with our recycling and our compost bins we will produce very little landfill waste. Through its fermentation process, the Bokashi bin also creates a great liquid plant food which we will use to get our herb garden up and running. We are hoping to give the solid waste it creates to a local farmer who we have been put in touch with through Food Connect.

Food Connect is a brilliant community supported agriculture organisation which aims to provide sustainable food to Brisbane residents and to support local farmers. We subscribed to a weekly gourmet fruit and vegetable box for only $46 a week. The box is full of a great variety of seasonal and delicious produce. The last two weeks we have received avocados, apricots, paw paws, bananas, bok choy, corn on the cob and many other tasty things. They also provided a newsletter with recipes, farmer updates and news on sustainability iniatives. It is so nice to actually be aware of who produces the food and the methods they use. Another beauty of the scheme is that instead of delivering to every house they assign you a local “cousin” where you walk to to collect your box.

The CSA box has encouraged us to get back into our cooking. We’ve been experimenting with a lot of vegetarian meals such as potato and cauliflower samosas and couscous and apricot salad. We have also been enjoying making delicious fresh juices and popsicles. Mark made (interesting) orange, paw paw, honey and chili popsicles!

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