It is now many months post-launch of Small Footprints and I finally made it a priority to sit down and write my first ever blog post!  

And so I begin with a bit about me. My life as a mountain kat, (aka KittyKat), is abundant and full....... I am greeted each morning by a loving husband and a smiling baby (yes, that's us!) and there is absolutely no better way to start my days! I am relishing every moment of early motherhood and I am truly in awe of our sparkly little creation. Go Bella!!

I am aspiring towards a simple life, the idea being to slow down the pace, make life choices based on sustainable values, take a step back from the rat race and basically to rethink our modern existence from a holistic perspective. Is there an alternative, better way to do things? The answer is always, 'of course there is!'. My dream is to create a space and time on this Earth that is special, one that my budding family and I can call our own, and at the same time, take responsibility for our own ecological footprint.

My husband and I created Small Footprints as a place for us to share our thoughts, experiences and ideologies with like minded souls in an attempt to subvert the dominant paradigm and to learn, grow and improve our lives. We want to make a difference and we want our kids to inherit a cleaner, brighter future than we did. We want them to be aware of more than just the pursuit of money at any cost... that a healthy environment does matter.... that the Earth is our living, breathing, home.

Our eco journey starts at home. We chose to buy in a hinterland village on the East Coast, Queensland, surrounded by rural area's and expansive state forest, but close enough to the nearby coastal cities and business centres to be convenient for work, shopping, family and friends. We live in a north facing pole home made from wood and glass situated on a quarter acre sloping suburban block. Some of the more obvious systems we have inplace to bring our living in line with sustainable values include two water tanks (totaling about 65,000 litres) that supply all of our water needs, a 1 kilowat grid connect solar system (see Small Footprints ECO-blog for more info), a Rinnai continous flow gas hot water system (only heats water as you use it), an on-site self draining septic system, a self-intalled grey water diverter, vegetable & herb garden, fruit tree's, compost & chickens, and recently we upgraded our Toyota hatchback to a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid Sedan.

In terms of appliances we rely on naturally occurring breezes and a couple of ceiling fans for cooling in summer rather than air-conditioning, we use a 4 star water saving front loader washing machine, a water saving shower  head, power saving light bulbs and lcd monitors & tv (these use less power than the old crt monitors). We have an internal wood heater for heating our home in the cooler months (we support Landcare Australia and there efforts in continuing to produce sustainable forests).

In light of peak oil and global warming these carbon reducing systems are all essential components of our grand ECO plan, but as the homemaker of the family I will be 'blogging' about the smaller pieces of the puzzle that, in my mind, will altogether result in a change towards a simple life....... the day to day choices we are presented with as consumers regarding food, baby needs, cleaning & beauty products, clothing, homewares and investments...... as well as sharing ideas and experiences with nutrition, wholefoods, natural therapy, spirituality, enjoying nature, community, environmentalism (the new religion?), parenting and the human psyche..... and practical ideas for around the home on saving money, gardening, cooking, op-shopping, recycling, reducing waste, avoiding the throw-away culture, music, craft and..... well, it's an unplanned journey and so I guess whatever topics & events spark interest along the way!