Secret Womens Business (aka Wasteless Panties)

Reusable Sanitary Products are Better for You, Your Wallet & the Earth

Have you heard about Juju menstrual cups and reusable menstrual “Moon Pads”?

To tell the truth when I first heard about them many years ago it wasn’t something I ever thought I would try.  But fortunately I did give it a go and now I would never go back!

The amount of waste created by this most regular and intimate of bodily functions is pretty staggering.  Plus it’s just simply gross!!

Reusable menstrual cups and reusable pads are not as messy or complicated as you are probably thinking plus:

  • Once you have made your initial purchase you will always have your supplies on hand each month – you’ll never be caught out again
  • No risk of toxic shock syndrome
  • Easy to use and maintain
  • You get to know your own cycle better which means that you can manage your own health better too
  • In summer the cloth pad will breath better, no more sweaty bits
  • You can wear either or both overnight without any leaks
  • Work just beautifully for sporty types

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Pads are pretty self explanatory I believe but menstrual cups are a new concept for many so here’s a video to help explain the concept…

Tips for beginners:

  • It will take you about 2 to 3 cycles to completely get the hang of a menstrual cup – just like it took a while to get the hang of tampons so many years ago.
  • We recommend that you start with inserting and cleaning in the shower the first few times since this is where you have plenty of room to find your most comfortable position, your muscles are relaxed and you can keep everything clean.
  • A rough guide to sizing is Model 1 for under 30 years old and Model 2 for those who are over 30 years old or have given birth (caesarean included).
  • How often you need to change the menstrual cup is different for everyone.  If you have a heavy flow then day 1 and 2 might have you changing it every 3 to 6 hours but later in your cycle you might not have to change it for 12 hours or more.  You will know you need to change the cup as you will begin to feel a heaviness but you’ll pick this up pretty quickly.
  • I like to use a cup and pad for the first day or two so that if I’m away from an easily accessed toilet then I won’t have to worry about any accidents.
  • When you are away from home you can remove and empty over a toilet then simply rinse out with your handy bottle of water.  No waste to dispose, so no-one has to know what you’re up to.
  • Clean the cup at the end of your cycle with a mild soap and maybe boil in water if you want to be extra sure that it stays healthy.  As for the pads just throw them in the washing machine with all your other clothes when you have finished with it.

If you have any questions or want to check out the demonstration models then just pop into the store and have a chat with one of the girls!


No Waste Home Bathroom – Eco Body Care Checklist

We talk often about refusing, reducing, reusing, recycling and rotting at Wasteless Pantry.

The easiest place to start your zero waste living journey is in the bathroom!

You really don’t need all those potions and harmful microbeads, just a few simple goodies will get you through and simplify your daily routine once and for all.

Given there is so much talk about the risks of chemicals in cosmetics, eco hair products, eco skin care and environmentally friendly soap options might be just the remedy you were looking for.

So what is in a zero waste bathroom?

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What about deodorant, toothpaste, moisturiser, body scrubs and the like?

Each to their own on this one.  For me I’m happy with my DIY options…

DIY Deoderant

Mix together equal quantities of bicarb and coconut oil with essential oils of your preference (mine are lavender and chamomile)

DIY Toothpaste

Bicarb on its own [but I know others who swear by bicarb, coconut oil and peppermint oil]

* There is plenty of discussion out there about the pros and cons of fluoride and I am not an expert on this one at all so please seek info about this elsewhere on the internet 🙂

DIY Moisturiser

Coconut oil on its own [simple and effective!]

DIY Cleanser

Mix together 1 part bicarb & 2 parts coconut or olive oil

Lightly scrub body or face and then wash off with water

DIY Body Scrubs

Salt, sugar, quick oats and coffee grounds make great exfoliants and can be combined with oils and/or honey to make a wide variety of body scrubs that smell delicious!  Add in flavourings of your choice like cinnamon, vanilla extract, mint leaves, citrus oils or lavender flowers and you have something good enough to become a gift too!!  Play around and find your own favourite recipes, however as a rule of thumb you will need equal quantities of liquid to your dry goods.

If you are in the neighbourhood, then pop into the store and bring along your containers for refilling!

And if you are not in the neighbourhood then make sure you leave a comment below letting us know what your bathroom must-haves are!


Easy Hot Cross Buns with a Twist

Whilst we love our traditionally made Hot Cross Buns, sometimes you just don’t have the time or energy to tackle that ingredient list.

The alternative is going fancy with a basic bread mix – our crusty or soft bread mixes (try your hand with the gluten free range if you are inspired too!).

easy hot cross bun

 

Bread base:

500g bread mix

7g dried yeast

250g lukewarm water

 

Then tailor it by adding in one of the options below….

Traditional version:

65g sultanas

65g currents

10g mixed spice

 

Chocolate lovers:

25g cocoa powder

50g choc chips

* use melted chocolate for the cross

 

Choc Cherry:

25g cocoa powder

50g choc chips

65g glace cherries

 

Apricot & Almond:

125g diced apricots

125g sliced almonds

 

Date & Walnut:

125g chopped dates

125g walnuts

7g ground cinnamon

 

  1. Mix together bread base and optional ingredients until a smooth dough forms
  2. Cover with a damp tea towel and allow to proof for 10 minutes
  3. Knock down the dough and form into 6-8 buns approximately 1cm apart on a greased tray
  4. Cover with a damp tea towel and allow to proof for 40-60 minutes
  5. Make flour paste for cross by mixing 1/2 cup plain flour with 4 to 5 tablespoons of water and piping across buns
  6. Bake until golden brown for approximately 20 mins in 180-190C oven
  7. Brush with sugar glaze made by mixing 1/3 cup water with 2 tablespoons of sugar whilst buns are still warm

 

Enjoy!


Easy Quick Eco Cleaning Tips – How to Clean Your Kettle

Like a squeaky clean kettle but don’t want to have to scrub it?

You have two Wasteless options:

1. Throw in a used lemon and boil your full kettle a couple of times, letting it sit until all the nasties have lifted then rinse and you’re good to go. Or

2. Throw in a tablespoon of citric acid that you bought in your BYO container at ‪#‎wastelesspantry‬ then boil and rinse, no wait time for you next lovely cup of something yum! 


Sustainable Food Business Wins Big at Local Awards

Wasteless Pantry: Saving the world, one pantry at a time

Perth Hills sustainable food business, Wasteless Pantry, won two awards including top honours at the Mundaring Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards on Saturday, capping off an incredibly successful first six months of operation in which the innovative company has challenged conventional thinking around food retailing and consumption.

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Winners of the New Business of the Year and Overall Business of the Year awards at the weekend, owners Jeannie Richardson and Amanda Welschbillig were ecstatic saying: “It is a credit to our customers who have supported the big ideas behind the business of promoting zero waste, sustainability and local food choices.”

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Wasteless Pantry has tapped into the growing sustainable food movement and seeks to educate its consumers about how to shop smarter and waste less. The store promotes the zero waste ideals of “Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot” by providing quality, unpackaged bulk groceries with reuseable containers and other sustainable products.

Frustrated by the lack of alternatives to conventional shopping where the consumer must purchase a prescribed amount of a product in packaging designed to be used once and thrown away, Amanda and Jeannie decided to open their own store in Mundaring, where things are done a bit differently.

Wasteless Pantry is actively involved in the community delivering educational presentations to Councils and schools on food waste, sustainability and transitioning to a less wasteful lifestyle in an increasingly disposable first world culture. The company’s website is full of tips, ideas, stories and inspiration.

The standalone store opened on 1 June 2015 and was designed from the ground up by Amanda and Jeannie. The support and enthusiasm from the local community and further afield has been overwhelming.


The Seeds We Sow – Switch to Zero-Waste

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I don’t remember my parents talking about the switch to zero-waste or issues of climate change. But I do remember planting trees with Men of the Trees. Or going camping, always taking home more rubbish than we created, and feeding the chooks our scraps.

I remember eating straight from our garden. Mum bartering lifts to school for vegetables from the Market Gardening family up the road.

I remember the teapot and its cozy at my grandmother’s house. It smelt so good and the pleasure of watching it being poured through a strainer into each cup.

I remember learning about the live chicken behind the roast. And how sultanas are dried out in the field on drying racks.

I remember learning to cook with both my parents at home at a young age and the freshness of homebaked cakes that would go stale if not finished in a couple of days.

Other things I remember…

Mum packing containers of fresh food into the esky for summer picnics and BBQs. As well as having to reuse your cup, plate, and cutlery – not a disposable in sight.

Or having to wear jumpers and extra blankets in winter and picking the sunniest days to do the washing.

I remember Mum mending and sewing and knitting and teaching me when the mood struck me to learn.

I remember helping Dad fix engines and doing odd jobs around the home. Because just throwing things away wasn’t considered the automatic first option.

This is not a nostalgic “things were better in the good old days” reflection.  Simply memories of all the little actions that were taken for granted and led me to accept the switch to Zero-Waste Lifestyle I’m aiming for now.  Without awareness of the environmental issues or doom and gloom that is often the focus, we were doing good things.  Without the sense of need as a child, I still accepted that this was what we do because it brought joy and simplicity to our lives and that was good enough a reason.

Yes, explain the reason if the question “why?” is raised but otherwise just go about your business doing good things.

You never know who will be watching, learning and believing that this is just the way things should be done.

Come into Wasteless Pantry and tell me – what do you remember or what do you want those learning from you to remember?


Why I Cook – 14 Reasons to Learn to Cook from Scratch using ingredients from a package free shop

Long ago I cooked but didn’t know the pleasure of it.  Long ago I did what needed to be done solely because we needed to be fed.  I didn’t understand the rich, rewarding experience that cooking could be.

The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.  THOMAS MOORE

I am not talking about the Master Chef style event of cooking or the soufflé dinner party.  It is about the daily practice of making meals. Handcrafting the simplest dishes (whether heated or raw) from package-free shop ingredients. Turning them into something wonderful and nourishing (nutritious or not).

So here are my top reasons for learning to cook from scratch using goods from a package-free shop like Wasteless Pantry:

  1. Home-cooked food is fresh and perishable.  The ability for my food to be picked at its ripest and most flavorsome. Prepared and then eaten before it is wasted is a delight to me.  Food that is overly processed has never satisfied me the way a home-cooked meal will.  The idea that it can last for weeks, months or years due to preservatives, too much sugar, or too much fat scares the bejeebers out of me!
  2. I know what it is that I am eating.  I know what ingredients have been used and I can tailor it to suit my tastes and dietary needs.
  3. I know where it came from.  Cooking from scratch gives me the opportunity to connect to my local providers. It grounds me in the place where I live.  If you have ever prepared a dish using food grown in your own garden you will know what I mean.
  4. The accomplishment and skills you will learn from cooking are immeasurable.  It is not just how to bake a loaf of bread, but also patience and good judgment to let it rise for just long enough.

Then there is also:

  1. Cooking from scratch is a sensory experience.  You are engaging all your senses.  From the touch of the produce to the visually appetizing display to the aromas of fresh baking or the sound of toasted pine nuts on the pan, all the way to the final tastes as your meal is served.
  2. Food has a way of bringing you back to the present moment and to the full experience of life.  Cooking from scratch is essential for slow living in this busy busy world.
  3. The skill of cooking is a skill in crisis management.  Knowing how to cook means that last-minute entertaining, one more day to pay day, and sick days can all be managed without scrambling to the shops or having to buy takeout.
  4. Whether it is magic and love or science, cooking is a marvel of nature.  The way that flavours and ingredients can be combined into something delicious. The chemical reactions that go into brewing your own ginger beer, creating ANZAC biscuits, or thickening a sauce are simply amazing if you stop to notice.  Try making pasta from egg, flour, oil, and a little salt, and tell me that isn’t the coolest trick in the book!
  5. It connects you to the seasons.  In winter I love cooking soups and stews as it warms my body and my home.  In summer I prefer salads and light meals. I know that spring has sprung when my asparagus is ready to harvest and I know that winter is upon us when my raspberry plant finally stops providing us with fruit.

And even:

  1. There is belonging that comes from cooking together and even doing the dishes.  Sometimes you don’t have the words, but preparing a meal together or helping in the kitchen provides the opportunity to show that you care, that you share this common ground, and that bonds can be strengthened through the most simple of acts.
  2. Cooking from scratch allows every cook an outlet for creativity.  Even if you follow the recipe, that meal will be slightly different, slightly more you.
  3. One of my favourite reasons is this – another chance to live ‘hands-on’.  I love practical things and the opportunity to get my hands dirty.  To step away from the overly analytical and theoretical aspects of our existence and embrace instead the simple pleasures available every day.
  4. Of course, cooking your own meals with package-free shop ingredients also means that you have control over the waste you produce.  From packaging to food miles, to food waste, it is your choice!
  5. Sharing food that you have made with care and effort has so much more meaning.  My most enjoyable meals have been at home dinner tables breaking her bread, trying his sauce, and serving up helpings of my pasta.  Simply magnificent.

Do you cook from scratch?

What do you think is a good reason to get on board and learn something new?


Bulk Food Store Skills: 9 Ways to Shop at Wasteless Pantry

Shopping Options at Wasteless Pantry, more than another Bulk Food Store

We want it to be as easy and enjoyable as possible to shop at our bulk food store.  We know that it seems daunting to start on your waste less or zero waste journey! But, really, it doesn’t need to be inconvenient or difficult.  Just start with a few products and then expand from there.

Bulk food stores are there to help you reduce your food waste, by allowing you to only buy in the quantity you actually need.  This way when you get home you have just enough for the meal you are making, without the leftover prepackaged amount staring at you guiltily every time you open your pantry.  Plus, because you have only bought what you need, you know that it is as fresh and tasty as it should be.  No stale spices, no inactive yeast, and no using up last years latest super food.  Just remember to bring your shopping list so you don’t get tempted to buy all the goodies you find and be sure to bring your reusable shopping kit of reusable shopping bags, produce bags and containers if you are trying to reduce your packaging waste too!

So apparently there are at least 9 options for shopping at Wasteless Pantry – check out our latest how-to video on Youtube…

  1. Use paper bags
  2. Use a produce bag
  3. Fill reused containers – bring your own or grab donated ones
  4. Fill a new reusable container
  5. Pick up pre-bagged mixes
  6. Drop off your containers for filling
  7. Drop off a shopping list
  8. & 9.  Call or email your shopping list to be filled & picked up at your convenience

So there you have it, so many options to get you started.  Are you ready?


Who Do We Think We Are?

We are not a franchise (yet :P).

 

We are not business people using green washing to make a buck.

 

We are not health super foodies (although we do like healthy food).

So if not that, who are we?

Jeannie is a Mum.  She is also a Local who seems to know everyone and doesn’t go a day without having a visitor to the store wanting to chat.  She is a Paramedic by trade.  Jeannie is also a keen gardener and chook keeper.  She grew up on an orchard.  And she is a sustainably sourced palm oil enthusiast who is passionate enough about Zero Waste Living to start a store with….
Amanda, who is also a Mum.  A local too and can dehydrate, preserve, bake, grow and create more than you would expect.  A Psychologist by trade, locavore at heart and dedicated enough to the Zero Waste Living cause to convert a few ladies to Diva/Juju cups and produce bags.
Together the idea for the store was conceived, developed and nurtured into what it is, as well as what it is growing into.

Luckily we have great staff supporting us.

You would have met Lizzy who is our sustainability expert and sushi maker.  Lizzy was the one juggling produce bags on Facebook a little while back.  She has a keen interest in waste reduction and learning about all the foods we have on offer, especially the rices and spices.
Jade is our most knowledgable source of gluten free healthy food ideas.  She is studying health coaching and can talk about raw, paleo, dairy free, gluten free and many other specific diet options in practical terms (not something you come across often)!
James is a violinist who is studying Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology.  He is developing his waste reducing skills through his family’s enthusiasm for the idea.  James is super helpful and willing to make your visit as enjoyable as possible.
Emily is studying Occupational Therapy and comes from a family who values living waste free.  She is growing her knowledge of which companies are ethical and sustainable in their business practices.  Emily is highly involved in the community and keen to help anyone who is finding the change to a more sustainable lifestyle challenging.
So that’s us.

Not a fanatic, megalomaniac or carbon copy in sight.

We are still learning and trying out new things but now at 3 months in, it’s starting to feel like we will be able to do this sustainably for the foreseeable future.

Lots of people love the idea of the store and many have suggestions for what we can add or subtract to grow the idea even further.  We love the feedback, just remember it’s all a work in progress….