Recent Comments

1. Stop Taking Plastic Bags From Shops - 25 Oct 2005

   We’ve been trying to use our own bags in shops for several years now. I have two enormous bags from the Lakeland company which I use for “big” shops eg. the weeks’ groceries from the Co-op. You do have to be a bit careful as to how you load them, otherwise they’re too heavy to lift! I sometimes get funny looks from the shop assistants when I use them, but I’ve got used to it now! I also have several cloth bags, including a “say no to plastic bags” one which I bought from A Rocha at Greenbelt this year.

2. Shop locally - 25 Oct 2005

   We try to go to the local farmers’ market on a Saturday for meat & cheeses. We have an organic box of fruit & veg. from Abel & Cole every week.We have a very good organic meat shop in Bath, & at least two shops that sell Ecover products & refills for them.

3. Buy Presents That Make A Difference - 25 Oct 2005

   We’re doing something radical this year…..the focus this year has been very much on the G8 & the Make Poverty History campaign, & we felt hypocritical supporting that & wearing MPH wristbands & then settling down for the usual presentfest at Christmas. Added to this, our 17-year-old daughter spent 2 weeks in Uganda this summer with her church youth group, & saw a lot of poverty at first hand. We decided to ask all the adults to whom we usually give presents, whether it would be OK with them if, instead, we donasted an equivalent sum of money to a school in Uganda which our daughter worked at in the summer( & at which she hopes to work again for a few weeks next summer).We explained that we obviously didn’t expect a present from them! To our delight, they all agreed, & several have even contacted us since to ask if we minded them giving us some money for Uganda on their behalf too.We’re delighted with their response-we have so much compared to people in developing countries, this seemed like a logical response to the year’s events.

4. Put Your Money Where Your Heart is (Bank Ethically) - 25 Oct 2005

   Like several others, we don’t have a local branch of the Co-op bank. I really dislike doing business by phone, ditto online, so I guess I’ll be staying with my present bank. I do have a charity credit card, but find that tricky as the monthly payment is due at such a time that, in order to pay it off, I always seem to be going overdrawn as my pay goes into my account the following week.Am having a moral struggle with myself over this one at present!

5. Switch off and unplug appliances and chargers - 25 Oct 2005

   Most pieces of computer ancillary equipment ie scanners, printers, speakers do not switch off completly. You can buy a adaptor from www.oneclickpower.com which will switch off all the equipment once the computer is turned off. We have used one for about a year and no longer have the standby lights blinking at us when the computer is off!