B is for Book Week, Bushwalking, Buy Nothing and Buy in Bulk

reimaginebanyule

Book Week

Book Week costumes

Image: 3 smiling children standing inside a library wearing costumes

Do you want to enjoy Book Week but don’t want to add to your footprint? Start planning, sourcing and sewing/creating well in advance.

Here are some ideas you can use to tread lightly during Book Week:

⭐️ Up-cycle what you already have in the house
✅ Buy pre-loved online or from your local op shop
👣 Make some face paints by mixing charcoal or ochre with a little water
👣 Try some of the DIY face paint recipes online, 1 Million Women has some good tips
✅ Borrow a costume from another family Or join local facebook group ‘Banyule Costume Exchange’
Most of all – have fun. As much as social media feeds can tell us life/parenting needs to be #InstaPerfect, it really doesn’t.

Bushwalking

bushwalking at Plenty Gorge

With extensive parkland in Banyule, we don’t need to travel far from home to reimagine bushwalking.

Plenty Gorge in Bundoora and Greensborough, Andrew Yandell Reserve in St Helena, Banyule Swamp in Viewbank, Gresswell Forest in Macleod, Yarra Flats Park and Wilson’s Reserve in Ivanhoe, and Darebin Creek Parklands from Bundoora to Ivanhoe all offer extensive trails to explore.

Take nothing but memories. Leave nothing but footprints. – Chief Seattle

 

Buy Nothing

Buy Nothing banner

Image: Screenshot from buynothingproject.org homepage. It reads “BUY NOTHING” on some computer generated black and white bunting.

A fun challenge! One of the interesting things about committing to buying nothing new, is that once you start then solutions begin to appear in the most unlikely places. For example: If you decide to repair what you already have rather than purchasing something new, then you may decide to learn some new skills and slowly but surely begin to feel like a bit of a superhero. Your mindset changes to a ‘can do’ attitude. My son’s prep teacher used to call this ‘the power of yet’. Sometimes you may not be able to repair something yourself, but may find a local who can repair it for you. For example, here in Macleod there is a shoe repair shop. Other times you may need to source a second hand replacement. In Banyule we have the Banyule Toy Library as well as many op shops, ‘Buy, Swap, Sell’ online groups and in some areas we even have a dedicated ‘Buy Nothing New’ group. If you can’t find a dedicated group in your area then perhaps you can get together with a few others in your community to start your own. The ‘Buy Nothing Project‘ has a list of current groups as well as guidelines/rules to start you on your journey of being group admin or joining an existing group.

Contributions by Che

 

Buy in Bulk

Team up with neighbours to share the purchase of selected products, sign up to an established bulk buy group such as WGAC Rosanna, or shop at PopUp Pantry in Macleod. Buying in bulk can save us money, reduce packaging waste, and prompt us to rethink what we really need. Choose a cool and dry storage space for bulk food. This could be a pantry or cellar, or simply a shelf in your laundry or a wardrobe. Collect old containers such as buckets, bottles and jars for dry goods. There’s no need to buy anything new.

Here in Banyule we are lucky to have access to:

Image: bulk dry goods at Watsonia greengrocer

  • the PopUp Pantry Macleod
  • Roving Refills
  • WGAC Rosanna
  • the Watsonia greengrocer stocks a number of bulk dry items suck as beans, lentils and chickpeas
  • John’s nuts in Greensborough (ask for a bulk buy discount)