Stacey Blogs

So my living room curtains were a bit grim. They were free (nothing wrong with that) taken from a house that my brother moved in to. Originally, they were a cream colour. Unfortunately, I live in a little flat that is susceptible to damp and mould (yeah, grim). So, no matter what we do, our stuff just gets ruined. Hence, why I won't spend money on new curtains! The solution I came up with was to dye them! And personally I think it was a pretty good shout. I picked up some fabric dye from Aldi. They had black, red or blue. I went for black because I wanted the mould stains to be fully covered.  I searched a few YouTube how to's and away we went...easy peasy! Any fabric dye would be fine. I picked mine up in Aldi but I know that Wilkos, Hobbycraft and other supermarkets sell dyes. This was a bucket based dye, some can be done in the machine. Although I don't know how effective that is on tie dye patterns. I chose to do a traditional Japanese style Shibori pattern (goog...

2019 The year to make a difference. Promises to myself: I am on a make-up ban: I will only buy what I need to replace. Other than that, I will use what I already have. Same goes with clothes actually. Make-up and clothes. Let's do that. Although I do get many of my clothes now from vintage stores and charity shops. I will not buy single use plastic bags: there are so many re-useable ones in my home/car that I need to remember to take them shopping!I actually hate myself a little tiny bit every time I have to pay for one. I will eat less meat: I am unlikely to go full veggie but I will cut my carbon footprint and reduce the amount of meat consumed. I actually like most veggie meals, but I found that I just ended up eating more cheese. And then getting chubby from all of the cheese. Mmm cheese. I will save money: I want to buy a house and to buy a house, I need money. Lots of money. I will live more ethically and sustainably: Buy less, waste less. Choosing to re-...

Happy Sunday! Today, I wanted to share my experience of my first ever zero waste shop. Firstly, I'm going to retract from calling it completely zero waste because although I saved a few items from being bought in plastic wrapping, others I could not avoid and I wasn't sure of the alternative. I had to shop at three places: the pop-up, the butchers and the supermarket. Time wise, I know it took longer than the average supermarket shop and cost-wise, I spent more than my average supermarket shop. So, a while ago I saw an ad for a Freecycle event near where I live and noticed that there was a zero waste pop-up. I've seen a lot about shopping zero waste and decided I'd like to try it out. I can't say I planned too much because I knew a limited amount about what was being sold. I gathered a few containers on the morning of the event and went to the local church hall to see what it was all about.. First impressions...it was a LOT smaller than I expected and (a goo...

2018 has seen a global recognition of the damage us humans are causing our planet.  It's something that I have never really thought about in great detail before. I have always been so wrapped up in the day to day, that I never saw the bigger picture. Like the millions of other people that are now looking, I want to make a change. This isn't a self righteous preachy post, this is a personal change for me and I respect the choices that other make wholly. I've reached an age now where I kind of know what I want from life, albeit a little later than I'd have wanted! Two primary goals I have established are: 1)  To save money: I went to uni, got a good degree (and the debt to go with it) and even now, a year after graduation, I need more. I need a better pay check, I need a better standard of accommodation, I need a more fulfilling life. Living pay check to pay check is not fun. I know I'm not the only one. My primary 2019 goal is to save money to...