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Why bother?

A new project

We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.
— Anne-Marie Bonneau (The Zero Waste Chef @zerowastechef)

This is the reason I wanted to create this project. It’s partly about easing the burden we all experience when we know how messed up our planet is becoming. I love being outside and exploring all the beautiful places where I live in Victoria and the rest of Australia, and also back in my home country, England.

We are very lucky already in these places; our parks and beaches are pretty, clean, and usually pristinely conserved by local authorities. However, that story is only one side of things. A huge amount of our waste ends up in other parts of the world, and the ocean, without us even realising or meaning for that to happen. It’s just bad planning with a dose of poor execution thrown in, and we are all accountable for this.

My mission is to help turn the tide on waste. Even in the smallest way, it will make a difference.

I’m just getting this new project going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

Featured

Hi, I’m Ruth.

I’m here to tell you about an idea I had recently, and to share a project which I think will make the world a slightly better place.

What’s the idea?

It’s simple. I want to start a social enterprise within my community where I can lend camping and outdoor gear to local folks. And why do that? Well…

Because it means that less people will feel the need to buy single use or disposable supplies when they take a short trip away
Because it will help me to share my thoughts on sustainability and champion greener and more responsible ways of getting out into the big beautiful world we live in

I’m hoping that by doing this, I can help others achieve the same satisfaction I get from a really thoughtfully planned, well-equipped journey into nature. I’m so glad you’ve read this far and I hope you’ll join me in watching this project develop.

#zerotohero #bigdreams #outdooradventure #greendreams #sustainability #lowwaste #zerowaste #camping #holidays #thegreatoutdoors #planetearth #mothernature

Rome wasn’t built in a day

…however tents can be, so we’re going to keep pushing on!

The first few months of this year have been a little tough and hectic, however I’m really keen to keep developing this little project. We’re looking into collaborating with other lending libraries, more info on that soon.

For now, I’m heading to a festival this weekend so while packing, I’ve finally got around to taking stock of all the items we currently have, so here’s a basic list for anyone who’s curious – we don’t just lend Eskies. This project is about making a wide range of outdoor items available for people who want to borrow them short term.

Below is what we have so far, please get in touch if you would like to find out more about borrowing:

Two person tent x 1
Pop up tents x 2
Beach chairs x 2
Folding armchair x 1
Sleeping mats x 2
Yoga mats x 2
Coolboxes (aka eskies!) x 3
Beach umbreallas x 2
Camping lights (various sizes and battery types)
Large backpack x 2
Powerbank x 1
Kitchen items (various, e.g. reusable cups, mugs and plates)

The next step for us is creating a webpage with photos and more info to enable people to book items, so we have started looking into MyTurn.com which seems ideal for this kind of project! Watch this space for updates on that.

And while I’m here, a little wishlist for future plans, in case the camping gods wish to bestow any of these upon us:

Solar power charger
Solar LED lights
Reusable water containers
Rechargable batteries & charger

Leave No Trace

Being resourceful

Spending time out in the natural environment does wonders. It can also be so satisfying when you go on an outdoor adventure and Leave No Trace.

This is a concept I first came across in 2017 when I had just moved out to Australia, and I went to a bush doof with some friends. The organisers (at Happy Daze, in Northern QLD) strongly emphasised that each festival-goer take a firm stance against litter and excess waste. They echoed a rule of thumb that’s sign-posted all around Australia’s national parks, where you are instructed to take your rubbish home with you. This means there are no bins available on site and you need to pack up all your stuff (including the empty beer cans).

This approach had a huge effect on my attitude towards waste, especially in the context of camping trips. More and more I saw these principles adopted all around the world, with the Take 3 for the Sea campaign being a big influence too.

After a few years of honing my camping game, I now have a few small ways in which I’m proud to say I’m doing my bit:
– reusing melted ice from our esky to do dishes
– taking face cloths & tea towels instead of baby wipes or kitchen towels where we can
– making an easy to use waste area as soon as we set up camp

I’m still working on more all the time, it seems every time I go camping someone has thought of another ingenious way to repurpose or thoughtfully dispose of things we need. I’d love to hear your ideas, please comment or send them via the Contact page!

Watch this space!

Thank you so much for reading about the Borrow My Esky project.

Hi friends. If you’ve read this far, you probably get the idea – my little project is like airbnb for tents and outdoor items. I want this to be accessible and easy, so I’m working on how to make this a success. By offering up my camping gear to those who want to buy stuff they can’t afford/don’t need, my mission is to help people avoid getting caught up in the awful consumer whirlwind that is planning and preparing for a camping trip.

It’s very early on in the piece, and I’m sure this idea already exists elsewhere but I really want to make this work for people in my community – I only started this blog yesterday morning – but I think I’ll need help getting the word out there. If you have any ideas or advice I’d love to hear them, and in the meantime watch this space as I’ll be launching the booking system over the next few weeks – once I figure out how!

How it works

I live in Brunswick, Melbourne and love to go camping whenever possible. However, we have a heap of new and used camping accessories that are only used a few times a year, and instead of storing them away in the dark I am planning on sharing this valuable resource with my community.

By sourcing everything second hand, we will lower the environmental impact of kitting yourself out for a camping trip, at the same time providing quality goods that you wouldn’t be able to buy cheaply. The main focus is to become a project that helps people reduce their waste and single-use items when they go camping.

Stay tuned for more info on what’s available and how to access it! Thanks for reading. 🙂