I’d like you to get to know me a little better…
When I started writing this blog, I didn’t want anyone to know it was written by me. I wanted to be anonymous. True story!
Why? Looking back now, I’m not quite sure either. But I was completely new to this online world of blogging. so I guess I wanted to dip my toes gingerly into the world; I didn’t want to get soaked and look stupid. I had no idea if anyone would want to read what I had to say, or even if I’d run out of things to say in two weeks. There was no plan. So nerves, combined with my English trait of shyness, and a hint of just plain daftness, led me to start my blog with no real mention of who I was – or what the blog was all about!
I’d like to say I realised early on that this wasn’t going to work, but I’m a slow learner it seems! It took an entire year for me to put a photo of myself on my site, to finally take ownership and say “hey, yes, this is me!” It is so much easier to connect with somebody when you know their name and what they look like, and whilst I realise that, because the people I connected with had names and faces, maybe I didn’t appreciate that it wasn’t reciprocal.
Adding my picture was the first step, but in the meantime, my hastily scribbled, vague paragraph that featured under the “About Me” tab remained. Did you know that the “About Me” is typically the second most viewed page on a website after the homepage? It’s really helpful then, if it has some clear information about the person, the organization, or the website. That’s the point, right?
However, if you read one of my posts, and wanted to know more, you could click on my “About Me” tab, and learn absolutely nothing about me or the blog.
Well not any more! I have finally updated my About Me page to reflect who I am and what this blog is all about. I’d love it if you could have a look and be sure to tell me what you think in the comments. It may not be perfect, but it’s a whole lot better than the old page!
It’s a hard thing, trying to get your personality on a page! So whilst I’m here, let’s share a virtual cup of tea together : ) In the spirit of you getting to know me a little better, here’s 15 other random facts about me that didn’t make the About Me page, but have helped make me who I am.
Here goes:
#1 I’m not scared of spiders or snakes. But I AM scared of frogs!
#2 I love board games (my absolute favourite is Agricola). I could play them for days at a time. The enthusiasm isn’t shared entirely by my boyfriend, but slowly I’m wearing him down!
#3 When I moved out of home at 18 to go to university, I couldn’t cook at all. In fact, I had to get instructions from my mother on how to cook pasta. How things change!
#4 When I was 22, on a trip to Thailand, I bartered with a Hilltribe woman over the price of a cushion cover. I argued and argued until she agreed to my price. Afterwards, I realised I’d been arguing over 10p (7 cents) and I felt so ashamed. That was my fair trade awakening. I can still remember that lady’s face today.
#5 I love seeing things grow. Every time I see a seed germinate I am reminded of the wonder of nature, and I think trees are amazing.
#6 As a kid I loved climbing trees, and I once climbed a tree wearing rollerblades. I then jumped out of the tree still wearing the rollerblades. Luckily I didn’t break my neck!
#7 I have a current obsession with sneaking vegetables into my baking. This chocolate mousse is the best, and I can’t wait to share my latest chocolate brownie recipe with you!
#8 I love foreign language movies, and my favourite director is Pedro Almodovar.
#9 I once read that it takes 3 times the energy to make a paper bag compared to a plastic bag, so I always ensure I use any paper bags I’m given at least 3 times. Even if I have to turn them inside out!
#10The last time I went back to the UK, I took my used Brita water cartridges with me for recycling (it’s not possible to recycle them in Australia). That’s dedication!
#11 I don’t have a favourite food: it’s all too delicious! But I don’t like celery, celeriac or barley. They are pretty much the only plant foods I don’t eat.
#12 I have naturally curly hair, which people find really intriguing. Sometimes when I’m out, people I don’t know grab my hair and pull it to see how far it unravels.
#13 I think Australian cockroaches are kinda cute.
#14 Despite being from England, I find the Australian winters freezing, and even in summer you’ll probably find me wearing a jumper. I think my core must be frozen.
#15 I can’t stand food waste, and if I’m in a restaurant with people who are too full to continue, I invariably finish off their food. About half the time it’s the food of people I’m with.*
(*Just kidding! For now at least, I stick to the plates of the people I know! Just wanted to see if you managed to make it to the end without snoozing!)
If you have the chance to pop over to my new About Me page, I’d love to hear what you think! Is there anything missing? Anything I should add? Did you ever read the old one? Please tell me your thought in the comments below!
[leadpages_leadbox leadbox_id=1429a0746639c5] [/leadpages_leadbox]
That’s a very nice “About” page! It reads like a good summary of your weblog :)
Aw thanks! It’s a hard thing to do (for me at least), write an ‘About’ page, so I’m glad you liked it : )
Yes, writing About pages is difficult! I’ve edited mine a few times already too, when I saw people were actually looking at it.
I feel like I’ve made a real accomplishment, you know! It’s been on my to-do list since the start of the year, but I knew it would be hard so kept putting it off and putting it off. But finally I’ve done it : )
Are you vegan :)?
Working on it, Jan! I would describe my diet as “plant-based”. I wrote this a while ago https://treadingmyownpath.com/2016/02/11/why-i-choose-a-plant-based-diet-but-no-im-not-a-vegan/ and whilst it is still mostly true, after the comments I began thinking more about it. We decided to stop buying eggs as a result. We still eat honey, produced by my neighbour’s hive. We are still working on sticking to vegan rather than vegetarian when out. Luckily there are lots of vegan places popping up locally, so it is more when others choose the place to go. I watched Earthlings recently and that made me more determined to ramp up my efforts. And to look at natural vegan alternatives for things like down, which I’d never really thought about before. So, a rather long answer, but I hope it helps!
Just thought I’d ask, because you seem like a conscious person and it says you want to avoid exploiting others (which is essentially what a non-vegan diet entails) in your bio :).
I feel the documentary “Cowspiracy” might be more up your (and your reader’s) alley than Earthlings though. It’s based on the United Nations report titled “Livestock’s Long Shadow” (ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a0701e/a0701e.pdf).
Some quotes from the official UN report:
“The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors
to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global”
Land:
“The livestock sector is by far the single largest anthropogenic user of land. In all, livestock production accounts for 70 percent of all agricultural
land and 30 percent of the land surface of the planet.”
Climate:
“The livestock sector is a major player, responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas
emissions measured in CO2 equivalent. This is a higher share than transport”
Water:
“It is probably the largest sectoral source of water pollution, contributing to eutrophication, “dead” zones in coastal areas, degradation of coral reefs, human health problems, emergence of antibiotic resistance and many others.”
Locally butchered animals (including the hundreds of chicks and hens that die from egg production (small local farms included) just might take a back seat to veggies with some food mileage, in terms of environmental preservation.
I saw Cowspiracy about 15 months ago – whilst I no longer bought dairy milk my husband still did, and that was what made him decide to change. It’s a great movie. My husband’s boss is a vegan, and he lent me that and a few others. I’d been recommended Earthings, so I watched it, along with Speciesism (or something like that) about a month ago. Cowspiracy is very good, well made and I recommend it to anyone wanting to know more about industrial agriculture. : )
I love your new about! It’s nice to meet people with the same ideology…
As you put it so well, it can feel quite isolating, it’s not exactly the most trodden path ;)
I am looking forward to see this film, I have greatly reduced plastic but it’s everywhere e.g plastic food containers…garbage bags even when you recycle everything and sometimes I don’t have ideas for alternatives.
As for buying by local farmers, for people like me who live in town (I buy only organic in nature shops) it might not be possible and recently having come across a very good documentary on GMO’s it seems as if soon enough we wont have the possibility to go on doing that.
Here’s the link if you’re interested, it’s the first serious, reliable & non-emotional, very level headed documentary I’ve come across.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VEZYQF9WlE
Among other, they explain how our fresh organic farmer’s foods are getting contaminated. I was wondering if you have any advice on that & on how not to fall into the negativity trap which I see as a non-option to living a fulfilling life.
Thank you for this blog & for contributing to a safer world for the generations to come :)
Thank you! I love meeting people who have the same ideology as me too – and since I’ve started my blog I’ve realised there are lots of us out there – even if we’re still outnumbered!
You’re right, plastic is everywhere, but there’s lots of good ideas out there too on how to reduce it. I write a bit about being plastic-free and I’ll definitely be posting more as we come up to Plastic Free July – did you want to join the challenge?! The Plastic Free July website has some good tips. Just tackle things slowly, item by item and you’ll be amazed at how much you can change!
Farmers markets aren’t always available in towns, but having the luxury of organic shops is awesome! It’s always worth keeping an eye out though, because they are springing up everywhere.
I started watching the link because I thought it was a trailer, but then I realised it’s 1.5 hours long! So will definitely watch, but it will have to be when I have more time. There’s a landmark case going on in Australia right now regarding GM crops – a farmers organic fields were contaminated by GM canola. The judge ruled against compensating him, saying the other farmer “could not be held responsible just for growing a GM crop in a conventional way”. It was news to me that GM crops were conventional or could be grown in a conventional way! Shouldn’t it be the other way round; shouldn’t organics be the convention?
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment : ) Hope to see you for the Plastic Free July challenge!
This is great – and I love your About Me page too, it’s really positive and clear about who you are, what you do and what the blog is about. Perfect. I change my About Me page all the time, and it feels like a really difficult job. Still not happy with it, but it’ll do for now!
Ah thanks! : ) It is definitely a difficult job – that’s why it took me so long to change it! I love your About Me page; it’s very personal – although visiting it now it is definitely different to the last time I read it – I spy some editing going on! I love the Margot/Barbara bit, and that you are both of them! Not sure I’d want to admit to being like Margot! : p
Ha, I think I have to admit to the Margot bit, sadly! Though the Barbara part of me is pretty dominant, every so often I crave a bit of luxury. These days though, it’s likely to be in the form of experience rather than ‘stuff’ which I’m more comfortable with :)
Yes you’re right. What was I thinking…you could be twins! From 3:24… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4gM0Hp1eU8
: p
Hahaha! You have to admit, Margot gets the funniest lines…
I love The Good Life! I think everyone has a least a little bit of Margo in them I think. The episode where she got a pottery studio for her birthday and then never used it made me laugh- totally something I would do if I didn’t reign myself in!
Can’t believe I have never properly read your about page properly Lindsay, I think it’s great- very comprehensive, but still easy to read and friendly.
Thanks Sarah! I’m pretty sure it’s been due an update for at least a year – but it’s not my favourite thing to do so I always put it off. Maybe in a few months…
I have typed twice my answer & got erased so it’s probably having some problem…
So, here goes one last time…
I’d love to participate but what happens with the plastic we do use as water bottles when tap water is unreliable or bleach plastic cans, does it count as plastic-free if we recycle?
I did read from another blogger & find it frightening when logic is traded for money & roles are reversed when greed for more & more is involved, as you say, conventional is organic!
I’m glad to follow your posts & looking forward to more (more of this is good ;))
Have a lovely weekend!
The idea is to attempt to not use any single-use plastic during July. So if you can find an alternative, such as glass bottles, or a water filter, then great. Another option is to try to minimise plastic, so buying the biggest container you can maybe, and refilling into smaller bottles. If these aren’t options for you, save up all the plastic that you do use and put it in a dilemma bag. Then see what you’ve accumulated at the end. It’s a really interesting exercise in awareness; a real eye opener! You’ll never look at plastic (or packaging in general) in the same way again!
Those are quite a few ideas to start on already, so, I understand that recycling is not an option.
I’ve used actually quite a few of my larger water bottles for planting tomatoes and leak in them.
I did at one time keep my water bottles in the balcony which quickly got submerged when I think of it that was an eye-opener :)
Thanks!
Well good luck, and keep me posted on how you go! : )
Well, your response was quite a revelation as we have decided to speak to our nature shop & ask if we could buy in big quantities our grains, beans, spaghetti, shampoo…anything possible & we got a very warm response plus the grains & beans will be coming in paper bags so, no plastic there!
It is as you said small steps make big differences :)
I’m sure we’ll come up along the way with more ideas…
Thank you again!
Love your work Lindsay! It’s lovely to see your sunny smile in the photos. I know what you mean about strangers pulling one’s curly hair. I’ve had that happen a few times :) You have a wonderful, engaging blog. Reading your blog is always thought provoking, whether it’s because I’ve already thought about the issue you raise and start looking at it from a different perspective or whether it’s something I’ve never thought about. I’m a big fan and your new about page is a lovely window in to your world. Best wishes for continued success. You’re awesome :)
Aw, thank you so much for your lovely comments! : ) I’m blushing! I’m really glad you enjoy the blog, and like my new page. I’m glad you understand the curly hair thing too – it’s such a weird thing for people to do to other people, especially when they don’t know them! So it’s nice to have someone who can relate!
Great comment, Chamali, spot on!
Lindsay, I’ve been reading your blog since last plastic-free July, and funny you should write this article because I was just thinking how I feel like you’re a friend of mine but we’ve never met! I’m Lauren, pleased to meet you and your readership :)
I can’t always put these good ideas into practice straight away, but yes, we are slowly making steps towards a more sustainable household. Thanks to this blog, I now have a keep cup, I have given keep cups to friends, I compost everything I possibly can, I use glad wrap once in a blue moon, we get 50% of our electricity from renewables through Synergy, and I’m using (secondhand) modern cloth nappies as much as my baby can tolerate. I look at what goes into our bin and think about that sitting in a heap somewhere, that’s enough motivation already, hey?
Keep on spreading the word, and I’ll keep on doing what you do :D
Hi Lauren, thanks so much for your lovely comment and sorry I didn’t reply sooner…we went away for the weekend and I didn’t have internet reception. Pleased to meet you too : ) I do recognise the names of the people who comment regularly, and the more you comment the more I get to know you too!
Sounds like you’re doing great things! Small things really add up when you look at them together. Doing things slowly but moving in the right direction is a good combination! Using cloth nappies is awesome – so many nappies get sent to landfill. I’m sure I read somewhere that using cloth nappies makes it easier to toilet train your child too – partly cos they have more awareness as they can feel what’s going on, and probably partly cos the parent gets sick of washing them! When I was a kid my mum only used cloth nappies (I’m not sure disposables were invented) and I was toilet-trained at 18 months apparently!
Thanks so much, and I will do!
My dream would be compostable disposables :D Now there’s a business idea
I love this idea about sharing fun facts about yourself. Your updated About Me page is excellent! I may have to follow your lead this summer and do something similar. Of course, I will give you credit if I do. :)
I think it is very scary to put ourselves out for people to see use when we first start blogging. Some of my thoughts were
“once it is on the internet it will never go away.” and ” You are giving away your sense of privacy each time you post” Somehow Facebook seemed safe and I was afraid of blogging. Funny how the mind works. :)
I’m glad you started opening up so people can learn more about your lifestyle!
Ah thank you! I’m glad you like it : )
That’s exactly it…although I’m not sure I ever thought of Facebook as safe either! But the internet is such a valuable tool for learning and sharing, I realised I needed to embrace it! And I’m so glad I did.
Very cool, thanks for sharing all this info about yourself. I blogged anonymous for about 2 years before I gave that up and added my real name. For me, it was because the path of minimalism that I was on was so different from everyone around me, that I wasn’t ready to share it with anyone but my closest friend and family. It was scary enough to make drastic changes in our life without having people telling me I was making a mistake.
I’ve come far enough in my journey to realize that everything I’ve done has worked out for the better, and it’s easy to share the now successful journey with others.
Hi Eric, thanks for your comment. I agree with you, I felt that some of the people who know me (or knew me before I got really interested in all this) might think it was weird, or judge me…but slowly I’ve become more comfortable sharing things, as I’ve received so much support and nice comments from like-minded people around the world! I can totally relate.
I also agree that after a year or two, once you’re comfortable and happy with the way you live, it’s far easier to share compared to when you’re first starting out – (or first writing about what you do)!
Hey Lindsay, Read your new About Me page. I think it sums up what you do pretty well. My wife and I having met you know who you are and think putting things about you will help others better connect with you. Cheers
Thanks! Glad you could take the time to look and let me know what you think : )
Hello! I’m new to your blog through the Plastic Free July tip to line your bin with newspaper!
I’m sorry to disagree but cockroaches are not cute! They are the most fierce creatures around!!
But I am with you on zero food waste- my plate is always empty no matter how full I am!
Good luck with Plastic Free July. I also gave up clingwrap a long time ago but after moving house have lost alot of good hBits such as setting up my compost bins and using reusable shopping bags so these are some of my goals for the month, as well as reducing my reliance on packaged items such as frozen peas.
:)
Hello there, nice to meet you too! Haha, maybe that’s because I’ve only seen them occasionally – if I had an infestation in my kitchen no doubt I’d think differently!
Glad to hear you’re another plate emptier : )
Yes, I think Plastic Free July is a great way to get back into old habits that we’ve let slide, or getting round to all those things we’ve been telling ourselves that we’ll do but haven’t quite got round to…
Hello, I recently stumbled across your blog and absolutely love it. I would eventually want to get to where you are right now. Little by little :) (I tried searching for a way to contact you and finally resorted to commenting on this post)
I have made my recent entry into the no poo world and have curly wavy hair. I love how your hair looks and would love to know how you style it. Mine NEVER ever looks as good (it didn’t even with commercial products). Do you use any particular finger styling technique? I would love to know! Thank you :)
Hi Neha, thanks so much! Keep practicing and you’ll get there, I promise. Little by little is exactly the way!
Erm, the hair styling questions makes me laugh, because I don’t style it at all! I just wash it and it does its own thing! Often I twist the curls with my fingers to try to separate them a bit, but I’m not sure it makes a huge amount of difference… My hair has a mind of its own. I guess having a good cut helps. I don’t really know what a good cut is, but I assure you I have had some bad ones in my time!
Loved this story and now following you on Instagram from Canada
Thanks Sonia! : )
This is such an adorable post :) Thank you so much for sharing! I feel a lot like you regarding blog privacy (I still don’t have my photo on my new blog)… About games, you should try Carcassonne (my favorite) and I also love Clue. Very simple games but I always have the best time playing them. I’m really glad I’ve found your blog and am loving to go through your posts*
Thank you so much Lee! Writing this blog has definitely been a journey of the personal development sort, as much as the sustainability one! I have Carcassonne actually, and I love it! I have the regular game with a couple of add-ons (Inns and Cathedrals, and Traders and Builders, and I think a tile expansion pack), and I also have the standalone Hunters and Gatherers version. I will look up Clue!
Hope you enjoy the rest of my writing Lee! : )
Nice to meet you, thanks for the tea :)
I’m on a similar journey across the world near Istanbul.
Thanks for lots of tips here on your blog,
I shall be putting your links on my zero waste posts here on: http://www.multitudeofones.com