Successful Sustainable Living Workshops During 2013

Kim loves teaching this workshop, and she does all of the instruction for this one.  I am her obedient helper for this course.

This is the way she sets up each student’s workstation.  They get to take home quite a few candles and a small box of melts.

These are all the wooden soap moulds that I made for the class.  I am getting a bit of a dab hand at these.  I can whip up eight moulds at home in about 3 hours without rushing.

This is the set up for the students.  The table in front is where I make the first batch of soap as a demo, and the four student workstations are set up against the wall.  This is so we have adequate ventilation after adding the sodium hydroxide to the water to make lye.

This was a great class with everyone taking home a 1 kg block of scented and coloured soap, which in 4 weeks will be ready to use.  Kim also sets up a little shop to sell materials and equipment that the students may want to purchase.

Last week, Ben and I gave a presentation about Computer Security in the Home.  I scared the bejeebers out of eight ladies at the Diamond Valley Library, and quickly got their attention within the first five minutes.  I talked about the methods that cyber criminals can steal your money, and how to prevent getting scammed.  I also discussed malicious software on desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.  They were so grateful at the then of the class and I expect that they all went home and changed all their online passwords to stronger ones!

One lady even admitted to have fallen for the very prevalent Microsoft Support call scam.  This scam is where they (the bad guys) call your home around 7pm pretending to be Microsoft and convince you to let them fix your computer even though there is nothing wrong with it.  They then fleece you of your credit card details or Internet banking credentials or charge you US$160 for the privilege of scamming you.  She now knows better.  I give these presentations because I believe that if I want people to learn about all the great stuff online, like say sustainable living, I want them to be safe learning about it.

That takes us to Sunday just past.  I taught a Mozzarella and Ricotta class for five student at Melton South Community House.  Kim was my assistant for this one.  There is not much washing up after the class as each student brings their own pot and spoon.  I provide the ingredients and the camp stoves.

It is a great little class and everyone goes home with their own Mozzarella that they have made.  Quite a bit was eaten at the end of the class as well, because we serve up some sliced baguette so the class can try their cheese.  Kim then plays shop, and sells kits if the students want to make more cheese at home.

So, that was the very last class for 2013, as we now take a break over the hot summer months and begin again in March 2014.

I can proudly announce that we will both be teaching people sustainable living skill in 2014, both locally and around the Greater Melbourne area.  I have a few sustainable living presentations booked already that will be held during February (Sustainable Living Festival event), and all our other classes are locked in for the first term at Melton South.

If anyone is interested in attending a class, you can find all the course dates over on our Little Green Workshops website, within the tabs for each subject.

Thanks so much to all the students who attended our classes during the entire year.  Both Kim and I are very excited about what 2014 may bring!

Here’s to a great year ahead teaching people new skills in the new year.

Have you attended a sustainable/simple living workshop near you during 2013?  What did you learn and was it worthwhile?