Recent Comments

1. Stop Taking Plastic Bags From Shops - 07 Oct 2005

   It took me ages to get in the habit of taking my Bags for Life to the shops, but now I don’t even have to think about it.

   As we unpack the bags at home, we stuff them all into one bag and leave it by the front door to put back in the car boot next time we go out.

   I find my Bags for Life last at least a year.

   Also, those bottle carriers are brilliant to keep and fill with your empty glass bottles, jars etc to take to the recycle bin. I pack them flat afterwards, and keep in my porch.

2. Shop locally - 07 Oct 2005

   We buy organic vegetables, order and pay online, from www.riverford.co.uk – seem much better value than the supermarket and the food is really fresh – picked in Devon on a Wednesday and delivered to us on a Thursday.

   Alas, there is nowhere round here locally that does organics.

   Meat and fish are also a problem – we can buy frozen organic meat online, but I am not a fan of anything prefrozen. Does anyone know if there’s anywhere you can order fresh meat and fish online? Or in the Dorking area of Surrey? If so, do let me know!

   Our first priority is to shop Fair Trade and second is organic/ecofriendly. We do quite a lot of our shopping at Waitrose who have the best range of organics, Fair Trade and Ecover products.

3. Know your local political leaders - 07 Oct 2005

   I’ve emailed and faxed my MP, Sir Paul Beresford, quite a bit, especially on issues of human rights and the recent incitement to religious hatred bill. However, don’t often get any reply!

   The council bit I find confusing. I wanted to contact someone recently about recycling and improving the facilities in our area, but even the council weren’t sure if it should be them or the county council I should be contacting, and if so, who!

   So – some more to do on this one, when I have the time…

4. Go Local - Join A Food Cooperative - 07 Oct 2005

   We grow some of our own vegetables and herbs, and often swap produce with neighbours and friends who grow different crops.

   Would love to abandon the big supermarkets – but smaller shops seldom open late or early enough for me to fit shopping round work.

   What would be great would be a small chain of shops which sold organic, local, fairly traded, ecofriendly goods. Anyone come across one, or one where you can buy online?

5. Switch off and unplug appliances and chargers - 07 Oct 2005

   I didn’t know this either!

   Also, remember to switch your TV, CD player, etc off standby. I know from when I worked at the Dept of Environment briefly that they said a lot of energy was wasted by leaving electrical items on standby.

6. Switch To Energy Saving Lightbulbs - 07 Oct 2005

   Thanks for the tip, Kevstar1 – I had no idea you could get so many different types of energy efficient bulb.

7. Recycle Your Stuff - 07 Oct 2005

   We did a day in our village where everyone put anything they didn’t want out on their drive. Anyone that wanted any of the stuff could just take it. Everything from old sewing machines to half used cans of paint and tiles.

   Some people run swap centres online for their community, another way to do the same thing.

8. Give A Gift That Keeps On Giving - 07 Oct 2005

   Instead of posting Christmas cards to friends last year, I sent e-mails with all our news and greetings, and bought a goat for a family in Honduras.

   A friend bought a goat on my behalf as well, and gave me a small plastic goat as a reminder. I’m now thinking of collecting a farmyard set over time!

   Apart from Christian Aid, other Christian charities offering similar schemes include The Salvation Army (who provide microcredit business schemes, a good business Christmas gift that Rachel and Drew might be interested in) and World Vision.

9. Ditch The Disposable Items - 07 Oct 2005

   Thanks for the tip, have just gone and bought a mooncup!

10. Resist Over-Consumption for Christmas - 02 Jan 2006

    One Christmas when i was very hard up, I made little sweetie boxes and covered them in foil wrapping paper (which helps to keep the contents fresher). Then I spent several days making lots of traditional sweets (e.g. peppermint fondues, coconut ice, rocky road, rum truffles) and put 12 in each box. You can get paper ‘cups’ to put each sweet in.

    This Christmas, I asked to be given an ‘alternative’ gift, although only one person did this.

    I gave several people fairly traded goods – I bought some cheap wicker baskets (£8 for 3) from Robert Dyas and filled each one with Fair Trade items which I bought at Oxfam and a local church, e.g. rice, pasta, chocolate, tea, coffee, biscuits.

    Next year, my plan is to ask anyone that knows me to limit their spend on me to £5, or to buy an ‘alternative’ gift. I found from my experience this year that receiving one of these gave me much more pleasure than most of the other things I was given.

11. Start A Generous blog or journal - 02 Jan 2006

    I want 2006 to be the year that I become more ‘thoughtful’, in both senses of the word. So I began a journal yesterday. I got one small enough to fit in my handbag so that I can jot thoughts down when I have them – too often, I get inspired, or receive wisdom, or feel God speaking, and in the rush of life I forget before I’ve had a chance to stop and reflect.

12. Give Thanks Before A Meal - 02 Jan 2006

    I learnt recently that is a Buddhist practice to eat ‘mindfully’ – that is, taking time to appreciate each mouthful with gratitude. I thought I would try this practice from a Christian perspective, eating a meal with ‘thankfulness’. I found that it helps me to really appreciate the food, its provision from God and the cook’s efforts; It stops me from chattering through the mealtime (you can’t chatter and concentrate on the goodness of the food!); and it means that I eat more slowly and digest the food better. OK, so it’s not always practical (e.g. when you get invited out to dinner) but you can do it at home.

13. Become a Fair Trader - in your community or workplace - 02 Jan 2006

    I’m looking at becoming a Fair Trader, although storage space at home is at a bit of a premium. However, coming up to Christmas, I hold jewellery parties for two charities – Saltmine Trust (www.saltmine.org) and Open Doors UK (www.opendoorsuk.org).

    With Saltmine, they have taught unemployed and disabled people in Bulgaria (where there is up to 80% unemployment outside of the main cities)how to make lovely jewellery. It is imported into the UK and you can then ask for a pack to sell via church etc. If you’re interested, ring Saltmine on 01384 454800 and ask to speak to Chris Clarke.

    With Open Doors, the wives of some wrongfully imprisoned Christians in Mexico make beautiful friendship bands and bags to help them feed their families whilst their husbands are in jail. You can find out more by emailing Jenny Wales of Open Doors at jennyw@opendoorsuk.org.

    The jewellery is unusual, reasonably priced, and fairly traded – ALL the proceeds go back to the communities that made each piece.

    It sells best in the period leading up to Christmas – I hold jewellery parties at different homes round our village.

14. Consider those lonely at Christmas - 02 Jan 2006

    My husband and I don’t have any kids. We have some friends in a similar position. Next Christmas, we have decided that we want to spend Christmas Day helping at a soup kitchen.

    But I love the idea about inviting people in some sort of need for a lovely Christmas celebration. We did something similar last summer – had a big Sunday lunch for friends who were single parents, or didn’t have a lot of money. The way we got round the embarrassment factor was to ask if they could bring a small contribution – e.g. some fruit. But would be interested in hearing other ways of making this work.