ReNewy Living is an eco-living social enterprise dedicated to empowering our community to live a locally sustainable lifestyle everyday. We do this by showing that realistic change doesn’t require an all-or-nothing approach.
Grounded in Newcastle NSW
The terminology “being sustainable” was not a part of Mardi’s everyday growing-up lingo, as this was a natural way of living. A multitude of little things led to why ReNewy Living started – a big Midnight Oil fan, becoming a mum in 2005, listening to many stories of previous generations and seeing & hearing about the ongoing crises.
A love for the outdoors, hiking, remote bush camping and independent travelling deepened Mardi’s commitment to sharing this journey of what sustainability means.
With twenty years of early childhood teaching experience plus a rich lifetime of personal experiences, founder Mardi Lee believes in the power of people. As a natural inquirer and positive facilitator, Mardi sets the foundations for being supported by and well-connected with people who share the same interest in eco-living.
Deep respect and care for the diversity of life on earth contribute to our understanding of why we need to tread lighter on the planet.
Similar to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems child development theory, we can action change by starting with ourselves, our family and our local area. French for Tuesday helps us be more confident about taking steps in the right direction, which could look like a squiggly line of imperfectness. But our goal is the same – to improve the quality of the wellbeing of people and the planet.
Helping Make our Spaces Healthier Places to Live
At the heart of ReNewy Living’s ethos are three main focus areas for helping us make our places healthier places to live – community, cherishing the natural environment and diversity in sustainability.
In addition, positivity, empathy and persistence when challenged (also known as resilience) are some overarching virtues guiding the process of change with learning.
Sense of Community
A sense of community is about bringing people together. French for Tuesday’s eco-living community shares a diverse outlook with similar values and goals – to improve the well-being of people and the planet.
After twenty years as an early childhood educator, mentor, and leader, I appreciate the value and importance of people. Teaching is about building relationships. Eco-living shares the same ethos as teaching – it’s a dynamic and organic process of building a community that takes time, understanding and patience.
Fostering a sense of belonging and connectedness, we can learn from and teach each other, form new relationships and solve problems together. French for Tuesday aims to be the connection for the community to stimulate and sustain lifestyle changes with achievable local actions, which contribute to being a global, eco-living citizen.
Cherish the Natural Environment
French for Tuesday acknowledges that people and our natural environment have a close and enduring relationship.
We must work together to cherish and look after the variety of Australian plants and animals and respect life on earth as a living heritage with a lasting legacy.
French for Tuesday prefers the phrase “eco-friendly”, meaning that what we do is not harmful to our environment and is different for everyone. We have our strengths & comforts in ways we contribute to being eco-friendly, sharing much diversity in what we do and how we do it.
The three themes of eco-friendly living for French for Tuesday are to reduce textile waste, food waste, and plastic waste. Let’s be confident that we do our best within the knowledge, choices, culture and context available to us at the time and use history as a tool for reflection and continual improvement.
I hope French for Tuesday inspires you to live sustainably everyday, so we can keep leading a lifestyle from the heart for the people and our planet to thrive.
Let’s Live Sustainably Together
French for Tuesday shows you how to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle every day by:-
- having engaging stories with original photos & authentic videos,
- offering coaching sessions and workshops,
- sharing local eco events within the community, and having
- an online eco store that’s all about secondhand, handcrafted and creative reuse items.
My regular email newsletter, facebook and instagram enhances all of this good stuff with extra little stories.
About Mardi
Mardi’s helping the thinkers and doers to live a simple, eco-friendly lifestyle every day. Building a sense of community, cherishing the natural environment and recognising the diversity in sustainability are foundational for understanding our need to live lighter on the planet.
For Mardi, living sustainably looks like building a wholesome & connected community; being considered in what we do; choosing secondhand first; acknowledging a diversity of opinions, history and facts to understand how we reached this extreme; and living well within our means by prioritising simplicity, people and place over things. And always keeping “refuse” and “reduce” at the top of our minds.
Mardi’s lifetime sense of place & belonging is with Lake Macquarie and Newcastle, the Central Coast and Southern Sydney.
Explore ReNewy Living
Thanks to everyone who supports French for Tuesday with a few dollars. I’m so thankful to have you as part of our community. Thanks a cuppa for buying me a “coffee” here!