I have in the past been successfully marketed to by the manufacturers of the swiffer mop and have enjoyed the benefits of such convenience. As I become more aware of my environment and develop a deeper interest in the needs of the planet along with the incessant attempt at corporations attempts to make money, I begin to ask questions of these ‘convenience’ products. Continue reading
Last night I watched a great documentary; “Surviving Progress“. It was inspired by a best-selling book by Ronald Wright and includes Martic Scorsese as one of the executive directors.
The message is amazing and very true to my own beliefs. It really tries to address the current issue with our global over consumption. Continue reading
Dear Coffee Shop,
Whilst I understand that refusing to serve coffee to a customer that hasn’t brought in their own mug is not best business practice for a coffee sop, I also recognize that most coffee shops are doing very little to encourage the use of reusable mugs. Aside from offering a discounted rate, very little is being done! It is something that deeply upsets me and should be regarded of higher importance than it currently seems to. I will offer a suggestion to all coffee shop owners below as a way to encourage an increase in re-usable cups and a decrease in unnecessary waste!
I know the onus should not necessarily be on the coffee shop owner Continue reading
Came across this great idea for using old forklift pallets.
Today, my spirits have been lifted. I was fortunate enough to locate ‘Earth Blog 21‘ directing me to the video below of Prince Charles addressing those in attendance at the Rio PLus 20 summit. He has quite undeniably stated that the global population needs to take our climate and sustainability more seriously and not ignore scientific evidence that our planet is heading to catastrophe if we do not change out ways.
It is amazing that a public figure such as this, has stepped up to the plate and laid it out how it is. For the first time in my life I have developed a true love of this man. In previous weeks, I have been nonchalant in regards to Britain’s monarchy, but this piece from Prince Charles has garnered some support from me.
I encourage you to watch the Speech in its entirety, but to capture a few quotes that really struck me:
“We continue to ignore the painful lessons of the so called green revolution in India, by intensifying our food production methods in such blinkered, chemically and technologically based ways, that the land and the oceans are both beginning to fail.”
I admire that he too believes that the use of chemicals in food production is causing our natural environment to fail.
”Tragically we can not even plead ignorance of the consequences of our actions as the scientific evidence is overwhelming, the impacts are well understood. There is wide spread consensus within each discipline, which when put together with all the rest, forms a powerful aggregated picture, that we can il afford to ignore!”
Prince Charles is clearly saying, that we should not be ignoring the science on these matters and that it is time to do something.
“It is perhaps a trait of human nature; to act only when the worst happens, but that is not a trait we can afford to rely on here. Once the worst does happen, Im afraid, this time around, it will be too late to act at all.”
Very dramatically at the end of the video Prince Charles enforces his message, that now is the time!
This piece has opened my eyes to how the Monarchy is detached from politics and therefore has nothing to fear regards any repercussions of what is said. This allows Prince Charles to state what he truly believes which takes some courage in todays society.
I know we are no longer in the days where Kings & Queens rule by fear, death and beheading people, which is a good thing, but I can only hope that the new peaceful process of encouragement from Prince Charles can spark recognition of these huge chalenges the world faces and spurs some influential people into action.
We don’t need to wait until governments change the rules, you can change today by choosing where you spend your money and how you live your life.
During the speech Prince Charles makes mention of the Hake fisheries of South Africa. I decided to look this up as I was concerned about fish farming and whether or not he supported this in anyway. The declaration for the Marine Program does not mention any support of fish farming, it does mention that the program wishes to reverse the decline of wild fisheries and:
Sustainable fisheries are profitable fisheries in which good management is rewarded by good livelihoods, dignified employment and strong communities. That is why sound economics must underpin sustainable fishing. Sound economics must create positive incentives for robust management so as to achieve long-term sustainability while at the same time making short-term unsustainable practices less attractive.
Thank you for reading – I hope you too found some encouragement in this and want to make relevant changes to enhance our future and the future of other generations to come.
I decided that before my upcoming trip to costa rica I needed to get some new hiking shoes as mine were literally falling apart!
I thought about heading out to various stores and thought about the huge unfortunate expense I was about to experience.
This perceived expense was completely stamped out following an unexpected stumble into a used clothing store.
Whilst sat amongst piles of clothes and shoes that were arranged in tue style of a typical hoarder, I came across a pair of hiking shoes. These shoes were the exact same model as the ones already on my feet, except maybe a year newer and lacking the holes that mine were proudly sporting! They were my size and upon trying them on I exclaimed that the lady had a sale.
A mere five dollars lighter I walked out of the store completely in awe of how the universe had provided me this amazing answer to the intention I had only set about thirty minute prior.
The world works in mysterious ways and my new, used shoes, rock!
Taking a flight is bad enough for the environment as it is, but when we take into account the amount of waste that is generated by the meal times on a plane, it really adds up.
Living in a different country to ones parents does unfortunately carry with it a need to travel. In an attempt to reduce my waste trail, I took an aluminum drinks bottle onto the flight. I was able to refuse the plastic cups, that they seem to hand out with complete disregard to wastefulness.
This is a very minor alteration and a simple offering. I wish I could make a larger contribution and change the system more so. Next step would be to pack your own suitable meal and refuse the inflight meal.
Some great pictures from Chris Jordan capture the amount of waste from airline cups.
Everybody needs a good root now and again right!? So here’s one I suggest.
Awesome Healthy Tea
Yes, I apologise, some of the more dirty minded amongst us may have had something else in mind when reading the title of this post, but no, I am a clean living guy and distance myself from such gutter talk.
Liquorice root is an amazing herb that not only contains a bunch of anti-depressant compounds but also is known to reduce congestion. It has a whole list of potential uses, which are outlined in this article.
I decided to hunt out some liquorice root tea bags, not only to reap the benefits of a good root, Continue reading