I am fortunate to live in an area blessed with a plentiful supply of water. Our maritime climate is driven by moist air coming in from the Atlantic Ocean, heated by the Gulf Stream. The air cools as it rises over the mountains and loses its excess moisture as rain.
Loch Katrine in the Trossachs has supplied the city of Glasgow with clean fresh drinking water for over a century and a half thanks to the work of the Victorian engineer John Frederick Bateman. When we have such an abundance of water there is little pressure to save water and you may be thought daft for even suggesting it but are there wider environmental benefits of reducing water consumption here?
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Showing posts with label #ctww. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #ctww. Show all posts
Monday, August 13, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Change the World Wednesday - 23rd May 2012 - Packed Lunches
This weeks Change the World Wednesday Challenge is to make a waste free lunch.
Five mornings a week I make up packed lunches for myself and our two children hence this challenge is particularly appropriate. In terms of packaging, this is the most wasteful meal of our day and it can only be marked as a "fail - must try harder".
But I'll start with the good bits. I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to packed lunches: the cornerstone of any packed lunch should be a piece. It can be a cheese piece, jeely piece, cheese and jeely piece or any other type of piece: egg, ham, tuna, banana - anything that fits between two slices of bread. We do well here with home made bread. It has flour, yeast, water, sugar and salt. No preservatives, no additives, no packaging (the flour comes in biodegradable paper bags) and no transportation.
So far so good but when all the additional things are included we start to go down hill. The children take refillable water bottles to school for during the day but single use cartons of fruit juice for lunch. You know the type: plasticy cardboard cartons with a plastic straw in a polythene wrapper glued to the side. Then there are crisps, raisins or other dried fruit, pots of yoghurt and cereal bars or biscuits - not everything every day but two or three from the list. Almost all have packaging.
We have tried buying in bulk then filling reusable containers but the kids keep losing lids or breaking the containers. Understandably, they have more important things to do at lunch time, like playing hopscotch, skipping or football, rather than putting their lunch things away properly.
I look forward to reading other posts on this challenge in the hope of gaining inspiration.
Related links: If you don't know what a jeelly piece is, this link may help:Five mornings a week I make up packed lunches for myself and our two children hence this challenge is particularly appropriate. In terms of packaging, this is the most wasteful meal of our day and it can only be marked as a "fail - must try harder".
But I'll start with the good bits. I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to packed lunches: the cornerstone of any packed lunch should be a piece. It can be a cheese piece, jeely piece, cheese and jeely piece or any other type of piece: egg, ham, tuna, banana - anything that fits between two slices of bread. We do well here with home made bread. It has flour, yeast, water, sugar and salt. No preservatives, no additives, no packaging (the flour comes in biodegradable paper bags) and no transportation.
So far so good but when all the additional things are included we start to go down hill. The children take refillable water bottles to school for during the day but single use cartons of fruit juice for lunch. You know the type: plasticy cardboard cartons with a plastic straw in a polythene wrapper glued to the side. Then there are crisps, raisins or other dried fruit, pots of yoghurt and cereal bars or biscuits - not everything every day but two or three from the list. Almost all have packaging.
We have tried buying in bulk then filling reusable containers but the kids keep losing lids or breaking the containers. Understandably, they have more important things to do at lunch time, like playing hopscotch, skipping or football, rather than putting their lunch things away properly.
I look forward to reading other posts on this challenge in the hope of gaining inspiration.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Change the World Wednesday Challenge - 16th May 2012 - Permaculture, part 2
Following on from last weeks challenge of learning about permiculture, it is time to put the theory into practice for this weeks challenge:
Now that we've observed the area around us, let's use that knowledge to plant something. Choosing a location which considers rain fall, sunlight, "pests", etc., plant something using sustainable methods such as double digging, companion planting and natural pest control. Use natural compost instead of fertilizer. And
then ... come back and tell us all about it.
Or ...
If you've already planted, tell us all about the process ... did you choose the garden's location based on natural elements? Did you prepare the garden using double digging? Did you make use of natural compost and companion planting? How do you control pests? And, knowing what you now know about Permaculture, will you make any changes next year? We want to know everything.
Every year is a bit of an experiment, growing different varieties in different locations with varying results. I have found that the factor which influences results most is the one we can least control: the weather. Other factors, such as pest control and feeding the garden, are more controllable and I wrote about some of them here. I guess it comes down to not bringing in unnatural or unpleasant things and allowing nature in around the edges.
I must be getting something right because the garden is teeming with life. My daughter has been learning about mini-beasts at school and she was fascinated by this critter that she found under a stone:
I'm not sure I fancy the chances of the newly planted out turnip seedlings (below) with it and its friends about.
And it isn't only the creepy crawlies, this rather sociable little chap stopped by for a visit:
He first landed on the handle of my trowel a couple of feet away from me before moving to this stump by the time I took my phone camera out of my pocket. I had another couple of visits over the afternoon, not for my company but for the freshly dug soil and its bountiful supply of dinner!
And so on to the last task of the day, earthing up the potatoes we planted a few weeks ago:
These were the first earlies. The second earlies planted in the last week of April are just starting to break the surface. The potatoes in a sack that was in the west side of the garden has grown faster than the one on the east, but they may not have been planted as deep. I will continue to observe.
Last Weeks Permaculture Challenge:
http://reducefootprints.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/change-world-wednesday-ctww_09.html
and
http://ecowarriorme.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/change-world-wednesday-challenge-9th.html
Post script: Came home today to find not one, not two but three robins in the garden at the same time, so it may not have been the same one being very sociable!
Now that we've observed the area around us, let's use that knowledge to plant something. Choosing a location which considers rain fall, sunlight, "pests", etc., plant something using sustainable methods such as double digging, companion planting and natural pest control. Use natural compost instead of fertilizer. And
then ... come back and tell us all about it.
Or ...
If you've already planted, tell us all about the process ... did you choose the garden's location based on natural elements? Did you prepare the garden using double digging? Did you make use of natural compost and companion planting? How do you control pests? And, knowing what you now know about Permaculture, will you make any changes next year? We want to know everything.
Every year is a bit of an experiment, growing different varieties in different locations with varying results. I have found that the factor which influences results most is the one we can least control: the weather. Other factors, such as pest control and feeding the garden, are more controllable and I wrote about some of them here. I guess it comes down to not bringing in unnatural or unpleasant things and allowing nature in around the edges.
I must be getting something right because the garden is teeming with life. My daughter has been learning about mini-beasts at school and she was fascinated by this critter that she found under a stone:
I'm not sure I fancy the chances of the newly planted out turnip seedlings (below) with it and its friends about.
And it isn't only the creepy crawlies, this rather sociable little chap stopped by for a visit:
He first landed on the handle of my trowel a couple of feet away from me before moving to this stump by the time I took my phone camera out of my pocket. I had another couple of visits over the afternoon, not for my company but for the freshly dug soil and its bountiful supply of dinner!
And so on to the last task of the day, earthing up the potatoes we planted a few weeks ago:
These were the first earlies. The second earlies planted in the last week of April are just starting to break the surface. The potatoes in a sack that was in the west side of the garden has grown faster than the one on the east, but they may not have been planted as deep. I will continue to observe.
Last Weeks Permaculture Challenge:
http://reducefootprints.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/change-world-wednesday-ctww_09.html
and
http://ecowarriorme.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/change-world-wednesday-challenge-9th.html
Post script: Came home today to find not one, not two but three robins in the garden at the same time, so it may not have been the same one being very sociable!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Change the World Wednesday Challenge - 9th May 2012 - Permaculture
This weeks challenge is to think about the principles of Permaculture and how they relate to our own environment.
On first reading the challenge I began thinking of my own garden: the high fence down one side that is perfect for growing beans, peas, sweet peas and sun flowers or the shady corner at the bottom where nothing grows and is now home to the compost heap.But then I read posts by Mrs. Green and Lynn Fang which opened my eyes to the wider application of the principles of Permaculture, bringing nature in to our cityscapes.
In many ways it is related to the disconnect between many people and their natural environments, the gulf between increasing numbers of urban dwellers and the natural cycles that sustain us. I like the idea of connecting our urban green spaces: making corridors for nature and wildlife between our parks, for example and re-introducing traditional varieties.
In one of life's little coincidences, I borrowed Food for Free
by Richard Mabey from my local library a couple of weeks ago. It talks of the harvest obtained from hedgerows, forests and other wild places that was used to supplement rations during the first and second world wars. Many of these places have been depleted in the intervening years through changes to more intensive agriculture with larger fields and less hedges and expansion of our towns and cities but there is still a great variety if you know what to look for and where. The author also writes of the fear many people have of wild foods, a largely misplaced fear that they will poison themselves. Other than a very small number of fungi nothing will kill you in the UK. This is another case of our growing unfamiliarity with nature.
There seems to be a reluctance to include fruits, berries and other edible plants in to urban parks and public gardens, possibly from the above fear that people will be poisoned or simply because people will help themselves. I wonder how we can get some more brambles, gooseberries, bilberries and apples in to our parks... perhaps some guerrilla gardening?
Related Posts:
Mrs Green's Post: http://littlegreenblog.com/green-home/environment-issues/international-permaculture-day/
Lynn Fang's Post: http://lynnfang.com/2012/03/open-source-permaculture-interview-with-sophia-novak/
On first reading the challenge I began thinking of my own garden: the high fence down one side that is perfect for growing beans, peas, sweet peas and sun flowers or the shady corner at the bottom where nothing grows and is now home to the compost heap.But then I read posts by Mrs. Green and Lynn Fang which opened my eyes to the wider application of the principles of Permaculture, bringing nature in to our cityscapes.
In many ways it is related to the disconnect between many people and their natural environments, the gulf between increasing numbers of urban dwellers and the natural cycles that sustain us. I like the idea of connecting our urban green spaces: making corridors for nature and wildlife between our parks, for example and re-introducing traditional varieties.
In one of life's little coincidences, I borrowed Food for Free
by Richard Mabey from my local library a couple of weeks ago. It talks of the harvest obtained from hedgerows, forests and other wild places that was used to supplement rations during the first and second world wars. Many of these places have been depleted in the intervening years through changes to more intensive agriculture with larger fields and less hedges and expansion of our towns and cities but there is still a great variety if you know what to look for and where. The author also writes of the fear many people have of wild foods, a largely misplaced fear that they will poison themselves. Other than a very small number of fungi nothing will kill you in the UK. This is another case of our growing unfamiliarity with nature. There seems to be a reluctance to include fruits, berries and other edible plants in to urban parks and public gardens, possibly from the above fear that people will be poisoned or simply because people will help themselves. I wonder how we can get some more brambles, gooseberries, bilberries and apples in to our parks... perhaps some guerrilla gardening?
Related Posts:
Mrs Green's Post: http://littlegreenblog.com/green-home/environment-issues/international-permaculture-day/
Lynn Fang's Post: http://lynnfang.com/2012/03/open-source-permaculture-interview-with-sophia-novak/
Monday, May 7, 2012
#CTWW Challenge - 2nd May 2012 - Barbecues
It's the Bank Holiday weekend, temperatures are back to single digits (celsius) and there is a cold drizzle. Ideal conditions to think about this weeks Change the World Wednesday challenge:
This week, consider Eco-friendly Grilling/BBQing. Please share all your ideas for cooking outside. Here's a hint ... Charcoal Briquettes
are not necessarily Eco-friendly. Need another hint to get going? Check out this POST.
We don't tend to use the barbecue often: our weather is too unpredictable to plan ahead for them so they are rare spur of the moment occasions. On one memorable occasion when we did plan a bbq, our guests took shelter indoors while I cooked under an umbrella.
As they don't feature large in our lives, I hadn't given much thought to the environmental impact of bbqs. I figured that, since charcoal is made from wood that it is probably carbon neutral if it comes from sustainable sources, although probably not very efficient. I had also read that the ashes could be added to the compost heap. However these assumptions were proven wrong when I read up for this challenge.
I came across an article in Science Daily (link here) which looks at climate related emissions from propane gas compared with charcoal and it also highlights that most charcoal used in the UK is imported from areas in Africa where the first cover had been depleted.
Charcoal briquettes also have added ingredients which make them unsuitable for use in the compost heap put garden. These additives may include borax or starch to bind the charcoal, nitrates to aid ignition or sometimes anthracite to improve performance of the briquettes.
Traditional lump wood charcoal tends not to have the additives but it is more likely to be made from tropical hardwoods which may not be sustainably harvested.
Is this the end for summer barbecues then? Or should we replace our barbecue with a gas one?
As we use the bbq so infrequently, it will take a considerable time to repay the embodied energy of a new gas bbq with savings from each use. And a gas bbq does not satisfy that primal urge to create fire! It looks like the answer for us, if we get a summer, lies in sustainably sourced lump wood charcoal. Or cooking indoors a normal but eating outside.
We can't be good all of the time.
Finally, if you haven't tried barbecued pineapple, give it a go: take a whole pineapple, cut in to quarters lengthwise then grill. Delicious.
Related post:
Elsevier (2009, May 12). Grilling With Charcoal Less Climate-friendly Than Grilling With Propane, Study Finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 7, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090512093254.htm
Sunday, April 29, 2012
#CTWW Weekly Challenge, 25th April 2012
I'm no expert gardener but I do like to potter about and usually manage to grow some things. We started sowing seeds a three weeks ago and this weekend, to coincide with this weeks #ctww challenge, we planted our second early potatoes. We have grown potatoes for a couple of years now, planting them in sacks that can be topped up with soil as the plants grow. At harvest time, the bags are simply tipped out for lots of potatoes.
The Plan
We plan on planting three batches of potatoes: first earlies, second earlies and main crop. According to the guides, they take about 10, 13, and 20 weeks to grow respectively. The first and mains were planted a fortnight ago and the seconds this week so we should be harvesting in July, August and September.
Getting started
Read more »
The Plan
We plan on planting three batches of potatoes: first earlies, second earlies and main crop. According to the guides, they take about 10, 13, and 20 weeks to grow respectively. The first and mains were planted a fortnight ago and the seconds this week so we should be harvesting in July, August and September.
Getting started
Read more »
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
#CTWW Weekly Challenge, 18th April 2012
This Week's Challenge:
This week's challenge is from Stephanie.
This week take a walk and pick up trash. Then, come back here and tell us what you found (photos of what you collected would be great)!
I must confess, this week time and weather got the better of me so I.m digging in to the dim and distant past for this challenge. The Thursday before Easter to be precise. I went for a fresh spring walk at Palacerigg Country Park in nearby Cumbernauld. The country park specialises in rare breeds of domesticated animals but I was there more for the fresh air and to see how spring was progressing.
I walked from the visitor centre to the start of Brockhurst Woods when I spotted a clear plastic bag snagged on a tree just above head height, so I grabbed it and stuffed it in my pocket, then headed down Glencryan with a spring in my step, pleased at doing a good deed.
Further on, I came across what I initially took to be a pond but later found was a small reservoir, pictured above. As I drew nearer, my heart sank. Beer cans, broken glass litter strewn on the banks and in the water. You can see them floating in the photo above.
The area is clearly frequented by some of the more anti-social locals for boozing, littering and fire raising, with partly burnt out living trees, like the one below.
Clearing up this area is, I feel, beyond the scope of this weeks challenge and really needs a well equipped squad with waders, protective gloves and other safety equipment to get the litter out of the reservoir.
It was really disappointing "discovering" this place only to find it trashed through lazy people's carelessness but we do need accessible outdoor places near our towns and cities. Walks through the woods is good for us both physically and mentally. We just need to work out how to get people to take some responsibility for their actions.
Fortunately it didn't ruin the walk completely! There was lively birdsong, flowering gorse bushes, fantastic fungi and and wind blown trees of gigantic proportions.
So what challenge is in store for us tomorrow...
So what challenge is in store for us tomorrow...
Monday, April 9, 2012
#CTWW - Daily Challenges 2012
Change the World Wednesday is a fantastic concept curated by Reduce Footprints which sets a weekly challenge to reduce our environmental impact. Over the period of Lent, Reduce Footprints has set a daily challenge under the banner of an Ecumenical Lenten Carbon Fast. I have been following these challenges on and off but March has been a particularly busy month and I haven't had the time to blog or otherwise respond to most of the challenges but now as Lent draws to a close I have some free time to reflect on the challenges and post some comments.
The challenges:
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