Whilst looking in vain for some ant powder in the garage, I came across a blast from the past - a half full plastic bottle of Ark window cleaner. What a find! Out of the ark more like! We worked out it must be twenty years old and have moved house with us six times. […]
Filed under: green cleaning on June 30th, 2007 | No Comments »
My daughter told me the other day that when you point at someone, three fingers are pointing back at you. I assumed she had been told this at school, but it turns out it was on some American sitcom!
It dominated my thoughts as I was reflecting on yesterday’s comments. Maybe the only way to bring […]
Filed under: sustainability, recycling, simpler lifestyle on June 26th, 2007 | 2 Comments »
I hate waste. Here are ten of the worst offences that make me see red on a regular basis:
1. Books that are bought and never read
2. DVDs that are only ever watched once
3. The lake of milk left in a bowl of cereal when all the cereal has been eaten
4. Drawing on only one side […]
Filed under: Reduce, recycling, simpler lifestyle on June 25th, 2007 | No Comments »
My boys tell me that gullible is the only English word not to appear in the dictionary. I don’t know why. It gets used in our house to describe me all the time.
I consider gullibility an endearing feature. It shows a trust in people, a faith in humankind, a lack of the destroying cynicism that […]
Filed under: fair trade on June 19th, 2007 | 1 Comment »
“Just a spoonful of Fairtrade sugar makes the world a fairer place.” according to the Fairtrade Foundation. I don’t know about just a spoonful - since I’ve been baking regularly, I’ve been getting through sugar mountains. All sorts - raw cane, golden caster, Demerara, Muscovado - in all sorts of yummy recipes (see below*).
During the […]
Filed under: fair trade, cooking on June 17th, 2007 | No Comments »
It’s always good to find someone struggling with the same ethical dilemma as yourself. Perhaps that’s why I enjoyed Martin Love’s article “The end of the road?” in the Ethical Observer magazine this weekend so much. Mind you, his Volvo sounds in a much worse state than our minibus. Give it time.
He reaches the conclusion […]
Filed under: sustainability, travel on June 13th, 2007 | No Comments »
I realise now that yesterday, I let slip something that I have been hiding for months from you. Not entirely deliberately, you understand, but I was a little fearful of your response, I have to admit.
We are not an average two car family. We do not even own a car. We have a minibus, our […]
Filed under: sustainability, travel on June 8th, 2007 | No Comments »
I am one of the lucky ones. I got caught speeding recently. In a Ford Transit minibus no less. I did not get three points on my licence. I got to attend a three hour speed awareness workshop instead. And this was where I was introduced to the idea of the cultural acceptance of speed.
And […]
Filed under: culture, simpler lifestyle on June 8th, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Yes, it is, it really is!
On the same day that I heard of a student returning home from university for a summer break of FOUR MONTHS (!), I received my first mail order Christmas catalogue of the year through the post. I haven’t even got our summer wardrobe out of the loft and we are […]
Filed under: Uncategorized on June 6th, 2007 | No Comments »
During the recent Bank Holiday weekend, I found myself with a group of people from all walks of life, with very different outlooks and very different opinions about everything! We were thrown together at Pontins in Southport (wow!) with one thing in common: we all had sons who played for the same football team - […]
Filed under: shopping on June 4th, 2007 | No Comments »
