Working towards a sustainable lifestyle

Read more about the article Season’s Greetings!
Festive Season

Season’s Greetings!

It has been a hard year for most of us, and I am sure that the challenges which COVID-19 (and Brexit) have brought to us have made keeping to zero waste practices difficult, if not impossible, at times. But if you are still reading this, then your resolve is still there, and it is a step by step process which we are following – so WELL DONE for all the efforts you have made this past year!

There are so many things we can do over the festive season to ensure that we reduce the waste which we produce:

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December 18, 2021
Read more about the article Product Review: Tea from Bird & Blend Tea Co.
©Bird & Blend Tea Co.
Bird & Blend Tea Co. / Eco-Friendly / Environmentally Friendly / Ethical / Products / Sustainable / Sustainable Living / Tea / Vegan / Vegetarian / Zero Waste

Product Review: Tea from Bird & Blend Tea Co.

The Bird & Blend Tea Co. is “an eco-conscious, independent, people-focused, award winning Tea Mixology Company on a mission to spread happiness and reimagine tea” – As a Tea-Lover myself, this statement alone piqued my interest!

So, when my loose-tea cupboard was looking bare in October, I popped off an order to them, and I was not disappointed!

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November 30, 2021
Read more about the article Plastic Categories Explained (and how to recycle)
Photo by Nariman Mosharrafa on @Unsplash
Products / Recycling / Zero Waste

Plastic Categories Explained (and how to recycle)

There are seven main types of plastic that you use around your home. These are broken down into the following categories. The numbers, in three looped arrows, are called their ‘plastic resin codes’. These are often stamped on plastic packaging and can be used to quickly identify what type of plastic you’re dealing with.

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November 15, 2021
Read more about the article One Woman and Her Dog on Holiday
Poppy exploring on a stony beach in Pembrokeshire
Travel & Tourism

One Woman and Her Dog on Holiday

A holiday in Pembrokeshire with a Puppy

This is the first holiday I booked with Poppy (then only 6 months old!) and so we started slowly.  There are many websites around for dog-friendly holidays, holiday cottages, B&Bs etc.  What the accommodations don’t tell you is that there is often a restriction on the Number – or type – of dog(s) that you are permitted to take with you. 

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October 18, 2021
Read more about the article Science, Heritage & Culture: Jodrell Bank, Cheshire
Planet Pavilion ©Jodrell Bank
Travel & Tourism

Science, Heritage & Culture: Jodrell Bank, Cheshire

For as long as I can remember, Jodrell Bank played a large part in my life. It was where my parents would take my brother and I at the weekend, where we went on school trips, and, in the past decade, proved to be a great place to simply go and think. There is something awe-inspiring about such an enormous telescope situated in the middle of the Cheshire countryside, something that puts life on our planet back into perspective. There really is much more out there.

The world famous Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, part of the University of Manchester, has been a much-loved visitor attraction for many years, as well as an internationally significant space research centre.

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October 4, 2021
Read more about the article Travel & Tourism: Post-Brexit, Post-COVID and Pro-Sustainability
Sunrise at Quiraing, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Brecon Beacons / Cairngorms / Dartmoor / Exmoor / Lake District / Lock Lomond & The Trossachs / New Forest / North York Moors / Northumberland / Peak District / Pembrokeshire Coast / Snowdonia / South Downs / The Broads / Travel & Tourism / Yorkshire Dales

Travel & Tourism: Post-Brexit, Post-COVID and Pro-Sustainability

If you’re looking to fly less and do your bit with learning how to be eco-friendly, why not test the waters closer to home? Despite the fact that the UK is home to a surprisingly diverse range of landscapes, its natural beauty has traditionally been overlooked in favour of holidays abroad – especially in warmer climates.

With a plethora of environmentally friendly attractions, sustainable places to stay and zero-waste restaurants on our doorstep, the UK has everything you need for a wonderful getaway, with much reduced carbon footprint.

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October 1, 2021
Read more about the article #PlantBamboo, #UseBamboo, #CompostBamboo
Photo from Pixabay https://pixabay.com/photos/grown-up-born-earth-nature-soil-1637302/
Bamboo / Bamboo Cutlery / Bamboo Straws / Bamboo Straws / Compost / Compostable / Organic / Products / Recycling / Zero Waste

#PlantBamboo, #UseBamboo, #CompostBamboo

So… what do you do when your bamboo item has reached the end of its life? Is bamboo compostable?

Well, this depends greatly upon what the item is composed of… Composting is a great way to recycle yard waste such as leaves, twigs, grass clippings, weeds, and dead houseplants, as well as food scraps from the kitchen. And if you have ever grown bamboo yourself, you will know that some (compostable) garden waste is produced.

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September 24, 2021
Read more about the article #PlantBamboo for Construction, Building & Architecture
Heart of School, Green School Bali, Indonesia Source: ibuku.com
Bamboo / Building Materials

#PlantBamboo for Construction, Building & Architecture

Bamboo’s ability to grow in the tropical, subtropical, or even temperate areas makes it an abundantly available plant in the world. As bamboo is so versatile, this renewable resource is often used in many applications, some of which I have covered already, but notably for construction, building & architecture due to its good mechanical properties as a natural building material.

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September 22, 2021
Read more about the article #PlantBamboo for Cutlery
Jungle Culture Bamboo Cutlery
Bamboo / Bamboo Cutlery / Products

#PlantBamboo for Cutlery

Single-use plastic cutlery is one of the biggest contributors to the plight caused by plastic pollution. There are over 1600 known species, with thousands of uses. One of which is for the production of cutlery.

Jungle Culture have a carpentry studio located approximately 150km from Hanoi, in the rural province of Thanh Hoa, where their bamboo cutlery is hand-carved. The topography of Thanh Hoa province (large swathes of the region are covered in steep, rocky mountains) and the high annual rainfall (3 times more than the average in London) makes it the perfect location bamboo to grow in abundance. The bamboo is then sustainably farmed by the locals who have used it for the construction of their homes and handicrafts for generations.

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September 21, 2021
Read more about the article #PlantBamboo for Fabrics, Yarn & Fashion
Photo by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash fabric
Bamboo / Clothing / Fabric / Fashion / Yarn

#PlantBamboo for Fabrics, Yarn & Fashion

“35% of all micro plastics in the world’s oceans are from synthetic textiles”

International Union for Conservation of Nature

There are over 1600 known species of Bamboo across many parts of the tropics and subtropics, with thousands of uses – including for the production of fabrics and yarn for the fashion industry.

Why choose (clothing made) from Bamboo fabric?

Bamboo is environmentally friendly: not only is it a renewable resource, but pesticides and fungicides are not required during farming. In fact, there is no other plant used in clothing that is as well-suited and gentle on our precious planet than Bamboo.

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September 20, 2021