Wood for the Trees

A few years ago I watched a programme called Hugh's War on Waste. It highlighted the crazy amount of food that gets wasted each year and has really made me think. The stats day that; UK households threw away 7.3 million tonnes of wasted food in 2015.  And before it even gets to our houses farmers are wasting enough fruit and veg to feed 2-4 million people , that's enough to feed  6 UK cities their 5 a day for a year. If you look at those stats alongside the Trussel Trust's mid-year report on foodbank use that " 586,907 three day emergency food supplies [were] given to people in crisis in first half of this year, a 13% increase on the same period last year – 208,956 to children" We are wasting a staggering amount of food, yet we have the situation that lots of people cannot afford to feed themselves or their families. It really is quite sickening. My children are quite fussy eaters (well mainly the older one, the younger one just copies her). People used to as...

I have been on my journey into a more ethical and minimalist style of living for a little over 8 months now. Something I have been wondering is whether I'm making any difference at all. With the amount of plastic in the oceans set to triple over the next 10 years, with scientists warning that the planet's sixth mass extinction crisis is under way, is there any hope? And how can buying some soap instead of shampoo or a bamboo toothbrush possibly be enough to avert this crisis? Well it's not. Not on it's own. But individuals have power, businesses want us to think that they are in charge of telling us what we should buy and how we should live, but quite the reverse is true. We decide on how businesses operate by putting our money into them when we purchase things. 15 years ago I was involved in the Fair Trade movement. As a student group we read a policy that the restaurants on campus were supposed to offer fair trade options. So off we went, and asked for a fair tra...

I've been vegetarian for more than 20 years now but quite recently I've been trying to eat more of a plant based diet. When I became vegetarian it was because I didn't really like meat anyway and I had reached the age where I discovered I was allowed to make choices about my own lifestyle. Then as I got older and more aware of what meat was, I found it even more yucky. Of course, I inevitably got the 'dont you miss bacon?' questions (no as bacon basically tastes of salt and I still eat salt) and the 'do you eat fish? My friend is a vegetarian and they eat fish' (well they're not vegetarian then are they? 🙄) But generally people accepted my choices. As the years went by eating out became easier as restaurants accepted vegetarianism as mainstream and I no longer had to construct a meal from the side dishes. I bumbled along quite happily with my cheese dishes and egg dishes. Then I discovered I was an idiot. The problem with culturally accepted norms...

1) Buy secondhand Second hand will save you money, many people sell or give to charity shops things that are almost like new. Clothes, toys, books etc. Of course there are also items which  aren't recommended that you buy new. (Article by The Balance website) 2) Wash clothes at 30 Most everyday clothes that are not heavily soiled can be washed at 30. Washing clothes too much can also damage the fibres, jeans and jumpers especially may not need to be washed if you've only worn them once. 3) Dry clothes outside if you can If it is damp outside, raining or there's frost on the ground then it is unlikely that your clothes will get any drier. However any other day then stick them outside if you have an outside space. Even if they don't get fully dry then this will lessen the amount of time they need to dry inside or in the tumble drier. Drying your clothes inside will also save you money over a tumble drier but ensure good ventilation to your home. Ideally if you...

The three ethical deodorants I've tried so far haven't ended up well. Firstly I used salt rock for a while but noticed minimal improvement and it didn't prevent me being smelly. Infact the salt rock itself ended up smelly! Given that the smell is caused by bacteria and the salt is supposed to stop bacteria growth this means that bacteria was growing and thriving on the salt which was supposed to stop it. This was problematic. Maybe I just have super strength bacteria? The next ones I tried were T'eo and The Greeench from Lush. I tried T'eo first, this was a solid bar and had no plastic packaging, it worked really well in terms of stopping me smelling but after a few weeks of use I got a bad reaction to it. I went back to Lush and talked to the staff who recommended The Greeench as this was more gentle. However this came in a plastic bottle and I still got a reaction from it. Next I tried Earth Conscious. This came in a nice tin and I was able to apply it us...

My 5yo loves to watch YouTube. (Very heavily monitored, only as a treat but still...) What she most loves to watch is people unwrapping things and people playing with toys and demonstrating them. Judging by the amount of views and by talking to other parents this seems to be all the rage for 5 year olds. At the moment she likes to watch LOL dolls. This has of course led to 'mummy can I have an LOL doll?'. If you have not had the misfortune to know what this is, let me describe some of the video to you. First it is covered in packaging layered round it and so you must remove some disposable plastic wrapping, then a bit more disposable plastic wrapping, then a bit more. This then leaves you with a round plastic ball. It has different sections which you can open. You open the first section and inside is some plastic packaging, which you open and there are some small plastic glasses. Then you open another section, more plastic packaging, inside some shoes. You continue to do t...

Shampoo soap bars can take a little while to get used to, they're different in format and nature to bottled shampoos. Firstly they don't contain SLS. SLS or SLES stands for Sodium Lauryl Sulphate or Sodium Laureth Sulphate. What is this? SLES is an inexpensive and very effective  foaming agent . [1]  SLES,  sodium lauryl sulfate  (SLS),  ammonium lauryl sulfate  (ALS), and  sodium pareth sulfate  are  surfactants  that are used in many cosmetic products for their cleaning and emulsifying properties . Wikipedia So it is added to shampoos as a foaming agent. So the first thing you will notice is that shampoo soap bars don't foam in the same way as shampoo does. Psychologically this may make you feel like your hair isn't getting as clean as we've all been sold the line that foam is good. So why don't they put it in? Firstly it is a cheap ingredient often made from Palm oils. Secondly it is an irritant, although studies have show...