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In this episode I delve into the concept that our efforts should be celebrated, regardless of what we may not yet be doing.  I get on my soap box (just a little) sharing my frustration at how we tend to judge ourselves and allow others to judge us based on what we're not doing, rather than acknowledging the positive actions we are already taking. I wrap up the episode by sharing a helpful quote reminding us that we're all on our own imperfect journey doing what we can to make a positive difference.    Links: Find and follow me on Instagram and Facebook Join the waitlist for the Simple and Sustainable Living Membership here

In this episode I break down the key to success when we're making changes to be more sustainable. It's so easy to get ahead of ourselves and land in overwhelm or procrastination and I've definitely been guilty of it in the past. In this ep I share how I wasted 18 whole months delaying shifting to cloth nappies because I was epically overthinking it. But there is a way through it and I break it down in this episode. Whether it be getting started composting or trying out a new store, this one step I detail in this episode will make it much easier to get going. Find me on Facebook and Instagram @KickstartLiving or at www.kickstartliving.com 

In this episode I share the lessons learned in our first overseas family holiday.  The things I did to try and be sustainable where we could and what I would (and wouldn't) do next time.  It's a very real, non-instaworthy, capture of my thoughts on mixing sustainable living ideals with travel. Some of it relates directly to travelling but also some tips that relate to life at home too. Find me on Facebook and Instagram @KickstartLiving or at www.kickstartliving.com 

In this episode I share why we'll be celebrating Halloween this year since it isn't something we usually do as a family.  I share how we will source costumes and our approach to decorations and trick or treating as we seek to keep our waste to a minimum.  Subscribe on www.kickstartliving.com to be the first to hear when the Minimal Waste Celebrations e-book is available.    Find me on Facebook and Instagram @KickstartLiving Or at www.kickstartliving.com

In this episode I talk with speaker, performance coach and neurochange expert, Sam Tornatore. Sam is passionate about seeing a better future for our environment as well as helping people find more success and more happiness in our lives. With his knowledge of neuroscience, Sam steps us through the process to find what’s working for us in our lives, what’s not and how we can change things when it’s not working for us. Sometimes living sustainably can mean doing things differently to how we have done them in the past, which means change. But change doesn’t have to mean hard. Sam’s step by step process and his simple, yet effective exercises, help us to Identify our own beliefs Work out whether our beliefs are working for us or not Know the difference between limiting beliefs and empowering beliefs Know what to do when we identify beliefs that aren’t working for us. Sam shares how we can use this knowledge and these tools to find more success, more happiness and to easily incorporate habits that are sustainable for us as well as the environment. Find Sam on LinkedIn @SamTornatore Or at [email protected]              www.samtornatore.com Find me on Facebook and Instagram @KickstartLiving Or at www.kickstartliving.com

In this episode I talk about our consumption of stuff. Free marketing stuff and the, often, very short life span of such items. Particularly that which is marketed towards children and how, with excited children ready and waiting to receive, it can be tricky, if not downright awkward, to say no. In response to once such instance where I didn’t say no and ended up with a bunch of plastic crap, most of which was in the bin by that afternoon, I looked to find an alternative way to handle the offer of free marketing material. I also reflect on a conversation from when my kids were younger and how they were able to understand the impact of short lived items so that we were all on the same page in being mindful of our consumption. Note: this episode was recorded prior to any option being available for recycling toys through the supermarket nor were they made with recycled materials. But ultimately, reducing is always a better option than recycling.   Find me on Facebook and Instagram @KickstartLiving Or at www.kickstartliving.com

In this episode I talk about balancing the old and new worlds. The world is changing so much and so quickly, from generation to generation. Fast fashion is a stark example of how fashion has changed from our grandparents era, our parents and now in our time. Food systems are another example of enormous change. There are some aspects of both older ways of living and our current modern life that are desirable and we have an opportunity to cherry pick the best of both worlds in ways that work for us today. Find me on Facebook and Instagram @KickstartLiving Or at www.kickstartliving.com

In this episode I talk about how I threw logic out the window in favour of leaning into trusting my gut when making some pretty major life decisions. This was part of consciously making very intentional decisions to allow more ease into my life. I recognized that some of my major life decisions hadn’t been very intentional so I decided to give myself some space to see whether I still wanted those choices to continue. What eventuated was an opening of opportunities I could never have predicted. I share a couple of my theories on making decisions to allow life to be easier and feel good and look at whether it is possible to live a slower, more intentional life within this busy, modern world. I went from feeling like I was the odd one out where life just wasn’t working for me to realizing more and more women are actually feeling exactly the same and it’s up to all of us, to help each other rise. Find me on Facebook and Instagram @KickstartLiving Or at www.kickstartliving.com

Listen to my chat with Marnie Prowse from the Tiny Haus Lifestyle where we discussed: Why Marnie and her family decided to change the way they were living and the benefits they have seen in their lifestyle (3:22) The best part of living in a tiny house (8:46) Challenges you have living in a tiny house (10:53) The compromises we make in trying to find solutions to fit 100% of possible scenarios and the benefits of choosing the best option for 90% of the time (12:08) Allowing ourselves to do what works for us for as long as it works for us and not interpreting something as a failure if it doesn’t last forever (14:55) The process that she went through in designing, getting rid of things, and moving (17:30) Tips on simplifying wardrobe (24:50) Toy rotations and having fun with kids (32:35) Find me on Facebook and Instagram @KickstartLiving Or at www.kickstartliving.com Find Marnie on Facebook and Instagram @_tinyhaus Or at www.tinyhaus.com.au 

1.25 –Finding myself overwhelmed and busier than I would like to be and how I reframed that 2.05 – Looking at what I can choose that will allow we to feel better and do what I need to do 2.25 – Learning to ask for what we need 3.00 – Reflecting on what has actually been achieved to get out of the thought spiral that is keeping me in overwhelm 4.30 – Sometimes if feels like we don’t have choice, but we always have a choice. 5.30 – Countering the feeling of overwhelm 6.00 – Choosing to view things from a different perspective and choosing the option that is going to serve me better Find me on Facebook and Instagram @KickstartLiving Or at www.kickstartliving.com

2.00 – Some sharing/renting situations are quite common place, but some are less common. 2.55 – A review of my capsule wardrobe whilst travelling (very limited and yet still more than I needed) and why it was fantastic 6.00 – The paradox of having more choice in my wardrobe and why it is 8.30 – The ‘just in case’ wardrobe 10.15 – exploring the renting option for clothes 12.00 – Finding diamonds in the 2nd hand market 13.35 – A practical way to deal with the ‘just in case’ clothes Find me on Facebook and Instagram @KickstartLiving Or at www.kickstartliving.com

0.22 – In this episode I’m talking about stuff, our things and how things impact our lives. 1.23 – The Minimalists challenge, how it works and why I did it. 2.00 – Of almost 500 possessions that I removed from my home, there was only 1 thing that was hard to part with. 3.50 – How good it felt to part with things that I no longer needed and to actually make the decision about whether keep it or move it on. 6.27 – What we found when we stopped keeping on top of things with tidying the house and how much it affected our energy. 7.50 – How our world has changed massively in the past 50-60 years in terms of sensory input but our brains haven’t evolved to handle all of this input. 9.30 – Starting out with small experiments to see how much having less stuff around us is impacting us. 11.20 – How we downsized with a growing family and reducing our linen storage by ¾ - and realized we still had everything we needed. 12.30 – How we fit everything we need for a family of 5 to live into 18m2 and realized we still had everything we needed 14.48 – The experiment I tried with having less toys for the kids and how much more they play with them. Find me on Facebook and Instagram @KickstartLiving Or at www.kickstartliving.com