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10 tips for eating sustainably
Here are a few tips on how to reduce your impact on our planet 3-5 times a day just by stuffing your face with deliciousness.
1. Buy Organic. Organic food is higher in nutrients, free of neurotoxins, free of pesticides, hasn’t been gas ripened, supports biodiversity and generally just tastes better. If you can’t afford to do a full organic shop start with what you can afford and make sure to always wash non-organic food in a mixture of water and apple cider vinegar to remove the majority of the pesticides.
2. Buy Local. Reduce your food miles.Food miles refer to the number of miles between the farm your food came from and the place you bought it. For example if you bought a delicious mango from your local supermarket that has come from Mexico that’s roughly 5551 miles as the crow flies! Find your local farmers market and see what you can buy that is close to home.
3. Cut out processed and packaged foods. I’m not saying that you need to cut out all junk food and never have chocolate again – but think about all the unnecessary packaging that just goes to landfill every time you buy a multi pack bag of crisps from your local Tesco. Bake your own treats! Home cooked meals are generally healthier, encourage mindful eating and most importantly you know what you are putting in to your body.
4. Say no to tuna! I know what you’re thinking “but Jess – tuna is delicious and comes in very convenient easy open cans”. This may be true – however it’s also true that tuna is being hugely over fished which is devastating for the marine life. Also it’s full of heavy metals such as mercury – there is even a possibility of heavy metal poisoning from eating too much tuna. Also dolphins.
5. Learn to cook. I hinted at this one before. I have been really surprised to discover over the past few years that there are so many young adults who have no idea how to cook. Cooking connects us with our food. We appreciate it – we learn to love the process and want to know more about the food we are preparing.
6. Eat seasonally – your body best assimilates food that is seasonal and local to where you live. Get back to the ol’ farmers market and then get in the kitchen.
7. Grow yer own! Grow something. Anything. I live in a little flat with a little garden in London and I have five edible plants growing in my little temporary space. Five! It was lovely harvesting the elderflower a few weeks back – or making myself a nice fresh mint tea straight from the garden. Growing your own also helps attract bees to your garden and bees are our friends.
8. Be prepared. Cut out the convenience foods. It’s not often you’ll find me in a food free environment. I usually always have a piece of fruit on my person. I get hungry. I’d rather eat fruit that some highly processed food like substance.
9. Get involved with meat free Monday. The meat industry alone contributes one-fifth of man made greenhouse gas emissions. Reduce the amount of meat you eat – take a day off and enjoy the benefits of eating vegetarian for a day. You’ll find your tummy will thank you for it too. Don’t believe the lies about protein. It’s impossible to be vegetarian and be protein deficient without also being calorie deficient. #JustSaying
10. Forage – hooray for the free food movement. Look up local foraging groups or maps online and see what you can get for free from mother nature!
Vote with your food dollars! Every dollar you spend on local, organic food is one less dollar spent on the industrialised food system. We all have the power to change the way the world eats – one meal at a time!
Tweet or instagram me to let me know what you think!
JW x
If you’re interested in reading more about health and wellness my friends Matt and Tegan have written an incredible book called 365 Day’s of Wholeness – you can buy it here
Another year older – and hopefully wiser
Twenty eight today!
Another year older (and hopefully a little wiser.) It’s been a huge year with many highs and lows. I’ve lost my way and found a new path many times over. Over the past year I feel like I know myself better and appreciate myself so much more. I know who I am – I am happy with who I am – and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
I am a very emotional person and I had always thought of this as a weakness – but it’s not. It’s a strength and one that I am so grateful to be blessed with. Yes I am a cryer – yes I am sensitive – but I wouldn’t and couldn’t have it any other way. My creativity is fuelled by my intense emotions. I’ve done all my best work in times of great happiness and great sadness. I am no stranger to heart break. But for me heartbreak doesn’t just happen in a romantic interest. Heartbreak most often comes in the form of a friendship – someone who I love and care for and give and give and give to as that is my nature – someone who lets me down. I will never change – I never want to. I want to fall in love with new and wonderful friends every day from now until forever. I want to love and nurture them – care for them and support them in their dreams and help them achieve all the wonderful things I know that they can. If those friendships then fall apart – drift away – or go in a new direction I am now okay with that. I just feel lucky to have met such wonderful and exciting people on their own incredible journeys and adventures. I’m so happy to be a part of their journey – a character dancing like a maniac in a story that they will one day tell.
For today I am grateful and so humbled to have so many people from all around the world who have made me feel so special and so loved. I appreciate every letter – comment – photo – everything. I’m feeling the good vibes coming my way and intend on giving all that love back out again to all those beautiful souls I’m blessed to cross paths with in this period of my life.
So thank you to everyone for your kindness and your love today and every day. I am honoured to have such magical people in my life.
Until next time wanderlusters x
Tweet me @jessicaswander or follow me on instagram @jessicaswanderlust
OBSERVATIONS ABOUT ENGLISH MEN
How naughty of me – indulging in such fun generalisations. I’ve been involved in many discussions about English men over the past year and thought it’d be rude not to share my findings with you. Note to all English men – this is all based on my personal experience and that of my friends. I’m certainly not saying that you’re all like this – but there definitely is an emerging pattern.
- They are far more gentlemanly. This one particularly applies to the northerners (YORKSHIRE) – they open doors, buy you flowers and make sure you get home safe. Bless their little cotton socks.
- British men tend to have a lot more emotions (yes I’m serious – read on) that they have absolutely no idea how to deal with and certainly can’t talk about – they isolate themselves in their minds and wait for it to all go away. I’ve never met an Englishman who is capable of openly discussing what is upsetting them. They are chronically emotionally constipated.
- They are not particularly sexual beings. I’m not saying that they don’t enjoy sex , they are bad at it or they don’t want to have it. But they tend to want it less frequently and be less of an animal in the bedroom. British men have the least sex in Europe. Fact. In a recent survey English men were voted the second worst lovers in the world mostly for being lazy in bed (German came in at number one for being too smelly). However 11% of British men in their 20s-30s have paid for sex (probably because they can be lazy when they’re paying for it).
- They are terrible people during the World Cup – and even worse when their team inevitably looses.
- They don’t like it when you try to pay for dinner. I’m a bit funny about this particular point – I always like to at least pay my way especially when it comes to dating – I hate the idea of someone thinking that I owe them (I am a strong independent woman and I don’t take shit from no man).
- They avoid awkward conversations up to the point when it becomes in issue. Literally – they make it worse by not talking about it and wait for it up come to a head and then they apologise. They are very apologetic – even when it’s not needed.
- They are excellent flirts and have great banter. You can almost never get bored chatting with a handsome Englishman – oh so cheeky.
Let me know what you think wanderlusters – english men – yay or nay? Go on – indulge in some cheekiness x
Tweet me or Instagram your thoughts – or connect with me on Facebook.
Duck & Waffle London – what a view
My gorgeous wandering gypsy friend Simone Smith came to London for a visit so we decided we’d go check out the mad view of London from Duck & Waffle located on the 40th floor of Heron Tower. Unfortunately my phone died and I didn’t get to take many pictures but you get the idea.
Later we ended up somewhere in Shoreditch drinking cocktails and dancing like absolute mentalists. Rad views. Rad people and all in all a wicked night.
Where to Next? Working Holidays for Australians
With my time in the UK quickly coming to an end I’ve been thinking a lot about where I’ll head to next. I love Australia and there’s a fair chance I’ll end up there in the long term but life is for living and exploring and experiencing.
Ernest Hemmingway said ” It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it’s the journey that matters, in the end.” I want my journey to be a grand adventure full of laughs and love and yeah – a few palm trees, beaches and ridiculous love affairs wouldn’t hurt either.
On that note – and because I like lists here is a list of countries that have a working holiday programs for young Australian adventurers.
- Argentina
- Belgium
- Canada
- Chile
- Republic of Cyprus
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Hong Kong
- Republic of Indonesia
- Republic of Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Republic of Korea
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Spain
- Sweden
- Thailand
- Taiwan
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- Uruguay
Where is your next adventure wanderlusters? Have you lived in any of these places? I’d love to hear about your experiences so please get in contact and tweet me @jessicaswander.
x
**Keep in mind that the visa requirements are different for each country so you might not be eligible for every one.
Rome: The Colosseum
Rome is an incredible city with loads to see and do – but you just can’t go there without visiting the Colosseum.
The colosseum is absolutely thought provoking. For those of you with active imaginations like myself it’s easy to see past the seas of selfie stick wielding tourists and imagine the horrors that took place in this incredible amphitheater. Make sure you either get there early to line up if you don’t like waiting or buy a skip the line ticket (or book a tour). Entry is free on the first Saturday of the month – but get there damn early.
Entry prices
€7,50 for EU passport holders (lucky bastards) and people between 18-25. Make sure you have your ID with you.
€12,00 for everyone else (like me)
FREE for people under 18 years old and on the first Sunday of the month.
FUN FACTS (so you don’t have to pay for a tour guide)
- It’s the number one tourist attraction of Rome.
- Building started in 72AD and was completed in 80AD (olllllld!)
- Also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre – something about the Flavian Dynasty Emperors.
- It’s the biggest amphitheater in the world and is listed as a wonder of the medieval world.
- This giant concrete and stone building is considered to be one of the greatest feats of architecture and engineering.
- Could hold between 50-80,000 spectators.
- The last gladiatorial fights took place in 435AD.
- Festivals and games sometimes lasted up to 100 days (now that’s a party!)
- Mini naval battles were held there.
Energy & illness
After months and months of absolutely abusing my body an trying to do too much with the little time I had – I decided that it was time to be kinder to myself and my body.
I started with making sure I was eating loads of healthy nutritionally dense food, drinking lots of water, practicing gratitude, moving my body, meditating more regularly, not drinking other than the odd beer (just one) after work… And then I got ill. Just when I was starting to look after myself properly again.
It’s made me think about how much I tend to give all my love and care to other people and how little I give myself. I’m sure this is something that many people do and it’s just no good for you. I was so worried about everyone and everything else that I honestly believe I’ve managed to poison myself in the process. I am letting go of all the negativity I’ve been holding on to and focusing on all the good and wonderful things instead (such as the exceptionally handsome doctor at the hospital).
Inhale love ; exhale hate.
Peace and love wanderlusters – it’s good for you.
Italy will probably make you fat
Hoorah! I have arrived in Italy – one day in and I already love this place to bits!
However – I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to look the same when I leave as I did on arrival. The food here is AMAZING and there’s just so much of it! I mean – all the best foods are Italian ; Pasta, pizza, gelato, canolli… the list goes on.
Sorry Mum and Dad – looks like i’mma be single for a little while longer.
tweet me @jessicaswander
follow my adventures on instagram @jessicaswanderlust x
The fairytale
I want a fairytale. I’m not ashamed to say it. But my fairytale doesn’t involve your stock standard Prince Charming, a white picket fence, two kids and a house in the suburbs. In my fairytale we fall madly in love and travel the world having adventures and changing the world in our own special way.
My Prince Charming is two tons of fun, sustainably minded, loves all the critters big and small, and smiles often. We challenge and inspire each other to do more and be more. A life full of laughs, adventures, and stories to tell.
And they lived adventurously ever after.
tweet me @jessicaswander or find me on instagram @jessicaswanderlust
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