The Kindle

I read alot. Alot alot. I read so much, in fact we both read so much that we must keep the local charity shops going just by the number of books we buy and give back to them. I don't always give the books back, some I like to keep and read again and again. We don't have the biggest house in the World so we can only keep so many before our house starts looking like a library. We already have quite a few shelves.

I thought the answe to the issue of not just storage of books but also the eco credentials of books i.e. the cost to the environment in just the paper along must be huge so I asked for and received one of these little lovelies for my birthday...

 

Amazon

My hubby just doesn't understand how I could and it is a bit of a joke between us in our household. Jon says that he could never make the switch, he likes the look and the feel of a book. I do too but I read so much I just thought it made sense one little device for shelves and shelves of books.

So..... to keep the banter alive my husband sends me this link to an article....

 

Despite the notion that if you read enough books on them, they'll have a lighter footprint than printed books, the reality is something less appealing altogether.

"Necessarily, the increased consumption of print and digital books has led to an ever-increasing demand for the materials required to create, transport, and store them. In the case of eBooks, though, vast amounts of materials are also necessary for the eReaders themselves, and this is something typically overlooked by proponents of digitization: the material costs are either ignored, or, more misleadingly, they’re classified as the byproduct of the tech industry instead of the book industry... In other words: the carbon footprint of the digital book industry is mostly growing in addition to, not to the detriment of, the growing carbon footprint of the print book industry."

Read the article for yourself here: Treehugger

So what do I think? Hmmmm now I am not so sure. Man it is hard trying to do the right thing. I have no intention of getting rid of my kindle any time soon, I am not really a gadgety person so I can see myself having it for a long haul and I will look after it so I can't see it going off to landfill any time soon. This bit is me:

Unless you are both an incredibly avid reader as well as someone who cares for their gadgets and does not replace or upgrade to new models, e-readers just simply don't live up to the lighter footprint they promise. Instead, we should stick with our library cards.

 So I guess I am OK.... for now. I so know where the phrase comes from.....

 

A HUUUUUUGE Inspiration - Lammas & Living in the Future

I just wanted to share with you one of my inspirations and what has sparked off the change in the way we want to live a more ethical sustainable life. Jon and I are constantly talking about where we want to live and how and this is a topic that we are always talking about with our friends too. We are not certain what the answer is but we keep on discussing it and looking at ways in which we can change our lives.

We came across the Lammas Project and their podcasts on itunes and youtube "Living in the Future" and we were simply blown away by it. If you too are interested in sustainable living and all things eco you too I am sure will be blow away. The pod casts are no more than 10 minutes long, averaging about 5 minutes actually and there are 42 in all (I think unless they have created more). It might be a bit "bitty" to watch but I urge you to watch all of them in order, I think you will be glad you did.

My writing skills don't let me write about how much this has inspired us. I so want to live there, Jon is not ready yet but we are working our way towards being more eco friendly.

Please do watch the first installment below then watch the rest.... there are some really interesting hints, tips etc on how you too can change your life. You don't need me to tell you about it, just watch it and enjoy and we'll see you in Wales!

my new little business

In keeping with my principles I have created a little side line which I would like to introduce to you...

 

Mrs Brimbles - A little bit of curiosity mixed with a love of life, of whimsy, eco, shopping from small independent traders and a bit of up-cycle to boot!

So what will I be doing? I will be making and selling things. Lots of lovely things that I have made and up-cycled.  First in my repertoire is these lovely Soy Wax candles.....

WHY SOY WAX?

1. Soy wax in kinder to the environment as it not made from petroleum as the usual paraffin candles are.
2. Soy candles can last almost 50% longer than their paraffin cousins
3. Soy wax melts evenly and can burn evenly all the way down – it produces a larger melted wax pool around the wick
4. Soy wax can be cleaned up with soap and water
5. Soy wax does not produce as much soot so you won’t get any of those dark patches on the ceiling and you are not inhaling it either!
6. Soy wax burns at a lower temperature which means that the fragrance lingers and does not get burnt away as fast.
7. People have even been known to rub the wax on their skin as a moisturiser (Mrs Brimbles does not sell candles for this purpose so does not recommend it on this basis)

So most of my jars and containers for the candles are upcycled as are the materials I used to embellish them with.

So what do you think?

I have a facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/MrsBrimble and it would be great to see you over there!

Coping with the strain. The over the shoulder boulder holder!

Now my bras bless 'em do have to take a lot of strain. I am not a skinny minny that is for certain.

The other day I heard and felt an almighty SNAAAAAAAP!!! There goes one of the wires in me bra again. This happens alot which is a real shame as the rest of the bra is in really good condition like new really and it seems such a shame to throw it away because that is all it is good for, landfill. It's not as if you can give it to the charity collection.

Well that is what I thought anyway until I put a post on a forum asking for advice on what to do with used bras. One of the ladies suggested that I repair it. I didn't think you could buy new underwires but oh yes indeedy you can.

Here: http://www.sewing4u.co.uk/47-bra-underwires this is just the underwire for approx £2
But here: http://www.thebraangel.com/#/the-bra-repair/4541283568 is a kit for £2.99 which for the not so good at sewing as me is the perfect solution.

Brilliant.

Not only a few pennies saved but also an environmentally friendly answer to a throw away culture.

My internal conflict eco vs niceity: National Stationery Day

Through the wonders of Facebook I found out the today is National Stationery Day. I love the initial paragraph on the promoting website:

The bit that actually got me is "Do you believe in the importance of writing by hand?". Now this is where I am torn between niceities and Eco-ness. I don't know where my heart lies. It is true that we never get any post these days. We don't even get bills anymore. Banks and utility companies have switched to e-statements under the pretence of being environmentally friendly, it is but call me an old synic but somehow I can't help thinking that the cost saving behind e-bills is more of a reason that the eco one!

When was the last time you received a letter in the mail?

So part of me with this blog and journey wants to get back to doing nice old things that are dying out, like the chutney making, things that will give me a feel good factor, enhance my life and make me appreciate where our consumables come from. So from that point of view I am all up for the letter writing business. It is more personal and has more meaning that wizzing off an email. On the rare occassion that I do get post, I love it, it's so exciting and I think it shows people you care far more than an email. So for all that it gets my thumbs up.

So where do I stand from an eco point of view? This is what I am struggling with. Sending letters and cards is encourgaing our use of paper and card. What are the environmental implications of that? I did a search and came accross this website: http://www.secret-life.org/paper/paper_environment.php it's probably best if you go there and read it for yourself rather than me paraphrasing.

Paper making does seem to be quite intensive though.

Image credit: http://www.secret-life.org/paper/paper_environment.php

I have to say in the past I have been a bit of a stationery addict, I was always buying something or other but have cut back these days, in part mainly because I haven't been anywhere to buy any!

I am still learning on our little journey and I need guidance from time to time. I love what the campaign stands for in terms of sending letters but it conflicts with my eco point of view. Arghhhhhhh!!!!!

Lovely weather for Ducks!

As the old saying goes, isn't it "lovely weather for Ducks". If you haven't heard of that expression, it basically means that it is wet and / or pretty miserable. It has just started to brighten up here but is still pretty wet. It is what we used to call "rainy day play". The pigs and buns are stuck inside as am I. I don't feel hardy enough to go outside today, I am preferring to be inside with a nice warm cup of tea, comforted in the knowledge that nothing really needs doing in the garden, it is all just silently growing away.

I find human nature and the pysche quite interesting in as much as you might not have needed or wanted or planned to go out anyway but as soon as it is raining and you feel like you can't you get all depressed. I don't think we are all that good these days of entertaining ourselves and thinking of things to do. This made me think of the 80s, I remember we used to have lots of power cuts, as a child I used to find it fun, then tedious. Luckily we haven't had a power cut for ages but I wonder what we would all do if we had one that lasted all evening long.

So anyway I am inside, looking out at the rain and thinking of my water butt outside slowly filling.

Taken with my mobile phone - rain drops against my window!

We have a small slimline butt in the garden which collects the rain from the car port. We then transfer water from there into a much larger butt that we have stored in the car port and when they are both full we tend to fill buckets up. This may seem excessive considering we don't have a particularly large garden and lots of veggies but it is surprising in the hot summer months just how much water you can get through. We use it up in no time and then look to using the bath / shower water.

When you start saving water in this way it makes you think alot about how much you do actually use, when it comes out of the tap it is all too easy not to realise just how much you are using.

Over Packaged!

Over packaged! What to do with all the packaging!

I ordered some items online; I know there are eco issues concerned with this in terms of the mileage and delivery. I find it a bit of a hard call between buying something unique and shopping from an independent person versus the eco concerns of the petrol etc in shipping it to me. I think as long as I am looking at other areas that we live in a more eco way, I can justify this. I did quite a big shop as I knew I would need some items further down the line so I did a bulk buy to cut out the need to order again so I think in my head that I did the right think. I hope so anyway.

When it arrived it was a different story though. I opened the door and the courier was carrying quite a big box. To start with I was not actually sure that the parcel was for me. The box he was holding looked far far too big for the items I had ordered. I was not wrong though it was for me. When I opened the box I was confronted by polystyrene chips. Lots of polystyrene chips.  Then even more polystyrene chips. 

I finally managed to did my items out and I would say without exaggerating that a good two thirds of the box was full of chips still. 

Two things

1. What on Earth am I supposed to do with them? Can they be recycled?
2. Do I let it go I do I contact the supplier with my concerns? I don’t know if that makes me a bit of a whinge bag or not. The items I ordered were perfect and the delivery was immaculate. Do I say anything?

I started to get my thinking cap on and realised that I could do the following with the polystyrene:

1. Put them in the bottom of a plant pot to aid drainage
2.  Keep them for moving house and packing
3.  Give them away for people selling things
4. Get really creative and make random craft projects with them / junk modelling

I would really like to know if there are any other ideas out there. I am going with the keeping them option at the moment. Don’t know what else to do really. All I can say is, just as well we have a car port we can store them in!

Easter

I had a really restful Easter and it was lovely. We saw family and we had time to ourselves to chill out too. I guess we are like most people in that it is all to easy to forget what Easter is all about and "the reason for the season". I think we just get caught up in such busy lives we forget to slow down from time to time. I know when I had a full time job I did just that. I was a right stress head most of the time. I used to get stressed that I was tired and didn't feel like cooking so we got a take away which I had to go to work to pay for - the cycle goes on!

These days now I work for myself and came juggle my time I do make sure I take a rest. The only trouble working for yourself is the pressure to feel like you should be doing something. I have to admit I didn't switch off completely but I didn't feel compelled to turn on the laptop and start working either.

It was good and it was needed. Batteries are sufficiently charged now.

For us it was a shame that it was wet over the bank holiday but the garden is looking all the more better for it.

My main reason for this blog post is eggs. Both real eggs and chocolate ones!

Most weekends we sit down together and eat a nice breakfast, have a pot of tea and talk. Make the most of not having to rush around. Easter Sunday was no exception and a yummy bolied egg (or two) was in order. I just wanted to show you this little picture that I took with my camera. The two eggs were in identical egg cups and were lined up next to each other. The smaller one on the left is from a shop. Can't remember which one. The one on the right is from the farm shop Jon goes to near Woburn. Now you can't tell me that is not value for money!!! Free range, local (ish) and independent but above all, big and tasty!

 

We were both very lucky to receive chocolate Easter eggs. I have to confess that I probably ate more than I should have but at the time I enjoyed it. I felt sluggish this morning though and had to work some of it off at Step class. I am so going to pay for that tomorrow!

Anyway, looking at the eggs, it got us thinking just how much packaging is used in Easter eggs. Now as a child, some of the excitement was seeing this big beautiful packaging with gold foil sparkling away inside. As an adult I can't help thinking what a waste and also a bit of a disappointment. The egg looks huge in the packaging but take it out and you haven't actually got that much chocolate. 

We tried to be mindful when purchasing eggs this year of the packaging but very few manufacturers seem to have cut down on the amount they use. Why is this? It seems that it hasn't gone un noticed. Do a google search and many articles will come up. One from the Telegraph caught my eye:

The 2012 Easter Egg Packaging report concluded that the percentage of Easter egg boxes taken up by chocolate had not reduced from last year's amount of 38 per cent. 

That is a lot huh? I guess we are partly guilty for buying but we can't help what we are brought. All we can do is recycle the waste and be good in other ways!