This will be an odd little update as I have a selection of random thoughts cluttering up my mind while I type. As I tap out this sentence I haven't even come up with a title for this blog post, just because I don't really know what I'm going to say yet. It also explains that rather lame introductory sentence! To update those reading that haven't been following my blog, I'll outline my world very briefly. (This also helps focus my mind somewhat).
I guess my eco-story started many years ago. I've always had an affection for nature and I grew up in a vegetarian family; I was always the one picking slugs off the path on rainy nights, so they didn't get trodden on. I guess those were my first steps toward the person I would become. In recent years I've seen so many people changing their lives for the benefit of our future world and I've decided to make a conscious effort to count myself among them.
I admit that in my younger years I was as much an avid consumer as everyone else. I loved shopping and nothing was more exciting than a trip into town to find a bargain or two, especially if buying shoes was involved! In some ways I was forced to change my ways, from a financial point of view at least, when I went from having a full time job to working only two days a week. I decided to leave my 40 hour a week office job when I realized that the money that came with it wasn't worth the stress it created in my life. I often worked up to 55 hours a week just to keep on top of the work; additional hours always unpaid. I found that if I just lived a more modest life I could actually afford to create that perfect work/life balance. That's not to say that my days away from work are spent lounging around enjoying the scenery. With less money around I'm spending my days growing what food I can, cooking all our meals from scratch (going vegan was also a factor in this) and general housekeeping. I'm getting into making my own household products, which takes time initially, but in the long run is more cost effective and healthier. Limited spare cash also means that I don't have fancy holidays, new cars or loads of nights out. Thing is, now I'm happier in life I don't really feel a need for them and I don't miss them. Unconsciously I was buying myself treats to cheer myself up, when all I needed was to live a different sort of life.
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| Fruit growing is a little addictive. What could be more exciting than a flower bud, that will turn into yummy berries this Summer! |
I work for the
National Trust, a conservation charity, during the Summer season at the
Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve. This closeness to our historic landscape, with all the thousands of species that call it home, has also changed me. Not only did I first meet my boyfriend there last Summer, I now feel that I have a job that compliments my life and way of thinking.
The last six months has been a bit of a roller-coster for me and that was partly why I created this blog. I wanted to share the things I learned and I wanted to connect with people that would share my journey. My ultimate goal is to learn the skills to build myself an earth home and create a plant-based small-holding where we can be largely self-sufficient - off-grid and less dependent on the world as a whole. I honestly believe that individuals have the power to change the fortunes of our planet and my way of doing that is by taking responsibility for my impact on upon it. I'm on a personal mission to eliminate plastics, promote handmade, eco-responsible products over mass-production and generally think about the consequences of every action I take. What pollution was created in making the thing I'm using? and what pollution will be created when I dispose of it? What resources were used in it's manufacture and can they be replaced? Can the item I'm using be re-used or must it be disposed of after one use? Is there a second-hand or naturally made alternative? All of these thoughts fill my head with every item I see and use. It's not something to underestimate. Once you start looking at the world like this you realize how blindly we act just getting through an average day. I am taking things slowly, allowing my habits to change and allowing my thinking to adapt organically.
As you may have noticed I am using this blog post to reflect a little. This Thursday is my 35th birthday and I look upon it as a firmly placed milestone. This is the year I am making the most significant changes to my life and I will one-day look back upon it and reflect again. This Thursday is also election day, which any readers in the UK will have been unable to avoid noticing. I have never taken an interest in politics before, but for the first time in my life I'm actually looking forward to heading down to the polling station. Once you start taking interest in the world around you, you can't help but be inspired to act. Like many people, as a younger voter I always subscribed to my parents view and voted in-line with the rest of my family. As I have become more aware I have, almost by accident, taken an interest in the party policies. I suddenly notice when so-and-so of this party states that they support the badger culls, or thingme-bob of that party is supported by businesses involved in fracking.I'm not interested in much else they have to say, I already know they don't share my views. Then I notice a party that seems to want all the things that I want. A better future for our planet as well as the people (and creatures) that live on it....
As you may have guessed, I'll be voting
Green this Thursday. I've had a few challenges when I've told people about this. Probably the most noted being from my own boyfriend, who is currently studying animal conservation at university. We were discussing which way to vote when he said that, while he liked the idea of going Green and appreciated some of their policies, he was worried that they hadn't enough experience at running a country. What happened if they came to power in the future but then crapped it up, due to inexperience? I think this thought has possibly crossed a few minds as this party has risen in prominence. My answer to him, however unhelpful it may have been, was to remind him that the top two parties both had centuries of experience and they had still managed to crap it up. The only way you get to have an opinion about the way the country is being run is to vote for whoever you truly believe in and take the risk. At worst it'll be another few years of people complaining like hell and blaming the government for every bad thing that happens to them. At best, it could be a new way of living in this changing world. I know a lot of people this election will vote strategically, 'Lets get this person out by voting for their nearest competitor'. For me, this just makes them part of the problem, for when that person turns out to be no better than their predecessor they only have themselves to blame. So, whoever you choose this Thursday please go with your heart and do something to connect with those that may shape your future.
I'm heading back into my own little world now. I was reading the ingredients list on the back of my bubble bath this morning and I no longer wish to bathe in unpronounceables... I have to find a way to make my own! Until next time friends.
