Unpronounceable bubble bath... and why I'm voting Green this election.

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.

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.

Vegan Self-Sufficiency and Off-Grid Living

I'm having a bit of a grumble today. While having a little sit down and tea break I thought I'd have a look to see what was happening in the world of facebook. I saw some interesting posts and shared a few to my page 'Making the Change - My Eco-Sensitive Home'. Then I saw some things I didn't really want to see...

You see the trouble with the self sufficient, off-grid living pages, is that most of them cater to your average omnivore. Along with the 'how to generate your own energy' and 'how to reuse everyday waste' articles, they also share a lot of the 'how to cure your own meat' and 'how to raise your own sheep' articles. I don't like seeing them and I don't really find them that appealing when they crop up in my newsfeed. I am working toward a future where I am off grid and largely self-sufficient in food, but I'll be living on a plant based diet. 

 I thought surely there would be a few pages for vegans who did, or wanted to, go off grid - but no. That's to say, if they're out there they don't have easily searchable titles! I follow a few pages for vegans on fb, but sadly so many of them get into the realms of animal rights, that I don't enjoy seeing their posts either. I'm not a fan of gore. I've been a vegetarian my entire life and more recently replacing my dairy with vegan alternatives, so seeing these posts does nothing but upset my mind for the day. So, I've decided my facebook page is a 'positive posts only' page. I'll share only stories of the steps we're taking in a positive way and on ways to improve life, not dwelling on the many horrors in the world (they seem to be well covered by every other vegan, conservation, sustainability page out there.) If anyone knows of any vegan/self sufficiency pages that buck this trend please let me know so I can share them to my page followers!

We recently watched Cowspiracy, a documentary about the meat industry and it's contribution to the global conversation crisis. Regardless of your views on meat/animal rights/conservation I recommend you watch it and encourage your friends to do likewise - it's certainly interesting to see how some of the worlds major conservation charities are dealing with it! If you're veggie or vegan there is one scene in it where they kill a duck, which I averted my eyes from, but otherwise it's gore free. This hour and a half documentary actually does change lives and in turn, the future of our planet... because of it my meat-loving boyfriend is now considering a plant-based diet. Not because he is interested in animal rights, but because he can't feel happy studying conservation at Uni and supporting an industry that is destroying the planet. 

Little changes - Eliminating Plastics

I thought I'd add a little update about some of the small, day to day changes that I'm trying to make. I guess it's worth mentioning that my long term plan is to someday create my own sustainable home, live off grid and be moderately self sufficient. My present living situation doesn't really allow me to up sticks and go 'live the dream', so right now I'm making a slow progression toward my ultimate goal. I'm currently under the impression that any changes in habit and lifestyle I make now will make 'living the dream' an easier transition in the long run. 

I'm quite sure that if all my home comforts were taken away over night I would cope perfectly well, but as I live in a house with people that don't share my enthusiasm for saving the planet I am trying to introduce new things a little at a time.

When I first became interested in this 'eco-friendly' thing I used to see lots of clever ideas while browsing the internet and it did contribute to my feeling of wanting this change. One day, when I have my off-grid little abode, I will undoubtedly take more of an interest in eco-friendly plumbing and creating my own electricity. For now though, my aims are smaller. I am simply looking at my daily actions, and more importantly purchases. I think about how these items are manufactured and where they have come from. I think about how I use them and what waste is created by doing so.   

The most obvious change I wanted to make was the elimination of plastics. Most trips to the supermarket generate a mountain of plastic debris. Since focusing in on this particular issue I have started to really appreciate where I can buy things loose, or in paper or glass containers. The elimination of plastics has several areas to look at:

FOOD PACKAGING: This in itself has really made me think about my diet as well. Many of the loose ingredients (dry goods and fresh vegetables) are healthier than their highly processed alternatives, so by avoiding the packaged foods I'm also avoiding some really unhealthy junk food! Naturally, this has meant more time in the kitchen making things from scratch, but as I enjoy cooking this is no bad thing. Another side effect of buying slightly better quality ingredients, either because they're local and I can buy loose or because they are packaged in glass jars that I can re-use, is that I am conscious of making my money go further. I am eating less food, but of better quality. I have also started looking out for where I can buy ingredients from artisan makers (if I can't grow it myself!). I am fortunate enough to live near a couple of working windmills where I can buy flour and a tea merchant that will weigh loose tea and decant it into my own containers in decent quantities. As I get into this life I'm sure I will find new ways of acquiring the little luxuries I may otherwise miss out on.

EVERYDAY HOUSEHOLD: There are many items around the house that are manufactured in plastic because they are intended to be disposable or because they're not things that many people want to invest money in. Laundry baskets, dish scrubbers, pegs, bins - the list is endless. The vast majority of these things do not need to be made in plastic. Indeed, until a few decades ago, all of these things were made in wood, glass, cloth or ceramics. As I move around my house now I am looking at things all the time thinking 'I wonder if I can find that made in something else'. More often than not the answer is yes and even better, they are being handmade by artisan crafters. By looking for these things to replace the plastic ware, I am not only thinking about the planet, I am also supporting a small business. The ideal is to make them myself or to source these things locally, to reduce the distance these items have to travel, but if necessary I will order from further afield. 

BUYING NEW: I have always had a fondness for vintage and antique items, so buying new doesn't happen often here. The trouble with buying new, especially furniture and clothing, is the pollution created in manufacturing, not so much how long you can make it last. There is usually packaging to be disposed of too. I think the thing here is to think about how you like to live. This lifestyle is much more about make do and mend, not keeping up with the trends. I firmly believe that picking up pieces you love, however eclectic the overall look or your home ends up, is far better for the soul than buying a whole new collection of furniture every time you decorate. 

For some ideas about where to find good replacements for the plastic in your life check out my pinterest board 'Sustainable Living'