Tag Archives: environment

If you are stuck, don’t stick at it

I recently learnt some major lessons. I moved and was in a place which I knew just didn’t feel right. It was okay, it just wasn’t the right environment. And I had been offered a place before.

Initially I thought it was important to stick with it. So I did and nothing changed. I lay in bed feeling not particularly happy and knew I wa stuck.

Eventually through a set of circumstances, I ended up in the place I was originally offered and have stayed there ever since. I am now in the right environment and am like a plant in the right soilk-thriving again.

This simple story has shown me two things

  1. There is a need to be in the right place
  2. Perseverance is sometimes not the right choice. Sometimes it i s simply that wer are on the wromg path.
  3. Change is a choice as is being stuck
  4. Humans like plants need to be in the right soil to grow and thrive

If you are4 in the wrong environment then maybe it is time to move. Life involves a series of choices and I wish you happiness as you pursue the best path for your life X

Let’s change the environment by wearing rubbish

I have become fascinated by thinking about rubbish, because there is so much waste and yet also so much concern about our planet being consumed by landfills and what goes in them. So what can we do? I think we can commit ourselves to doing things differently, like this wonderful article shows us:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c77jz3mdmezt/recycling

If we each play our part, the planet will be helped to continue to thrive and flourish. This isn’t just up to governments, individuals can do this too. I thought you might be interested to see the project I manage.

https://www.allchurches.co.uk/news/putting-the-unity-in-community/

These are just two examples of what can be done. Let’s not just chuck things away without really thinking whether they could be recycled. Pause; charity shops are now collecting again and organisations such as The Salvation Army help numerous people with free items. Maybe someone in your circle may not have as much as you and could be blessed by that item of clothing that has hung in your wardrobe unworn for several months.

Today’s recipe of hope is a challenge; find one item that you do not need and do something useful with it. Be creative and please let us know what you decide to do.

May we all help save our planet together X

Acknowledgements

BBC news online (accessed 19/12/2020)

AllchurchesTrust

Seeing hope in rubbish

Hello everyone. It has been a while. The challenges of having a fractured wrist have been significant and I am glad my hope quota was quite big before it happened!

I have always felt we can do a lot more about waste than we do. A few recycling boxes on a kerb never really cut it in my view. So, during this pandemic, I have set up a project that in my view is about those who have redistributing to those who have not.

We have been running what started as a clothing bank and has now metamorphosed into a free charity shop. We give away many things that could go in the bin; used socks, used or unworn bras, men’s underwear, worn flipflops. I may not need to use a clothing bank, but many people do. Many women are unable to afford bras or new underwear, many men are unable to afford socks, underpants or boxers. This is shocking and true. And many British people are walking around with holes in their shoes, or trainers that are split. Many families cannot afford to feed, yet along clothe their children. I feel we are living in twentieth century Victorian England.

I write this not to shock, but because it is the truth. I live and work in one of the most deprived areas in the South East of England. Many people are struggling; this week’s foodbank queue went up the street about 100 yards-250 parcels are going out each week!

So what can be done? Well pure and simply each of us can do something. Small acts of kindness, befriending the lonely, simply thinking of other people makes a difference. Someone recently sent me a card because I have fractured my wrist. That meant a lot. Someone recorded me a beautiful encouraging message today. Someone else has been guest blogging for me. These things touch my heart.

|Today’s recipe of hope is to touch someone’s heart. Be creative-someone paid for a coffee for the car behind at Costa recently and that made someone’s day. And use your gifts. Some of my friends are the most amazing hosts and make incredible food in their home made pizza oven. Let’s all make a special effort to spread that hope around.

Love to you all X

Hope for the environment

Today I want to write about hope for our planet and what we can do as a practical contribution towards making big, significant and lasting changes.

I think we can reverse some of the damage done by making conscious efforts and choices to change things. So I am going to try not to buy flavoured sparkling water any longer, because it comes in plastic bottles. I am also going to avoid buying plastic bottles of water and instead use a water bottle I already have. These are only small efforts but if other people do the same, we will not have as much plastic waste. I will endeavour not to buy any clothes, because I already have many lovely things. And I already often have clothes passed from my mum who is very generous and has lovely taste.

During lockdown I have begun to see how easy it is to bow to the god of materialism, without even noticing it happening. I have been lured in in the past and it is amazing how much we can manage without.

There is an amazing story of Afroz Shah, a man who cleared up Mumbai beach. In 2015 he decided to take action and picked up more than 5 million kiolgrammes of trash in three years. Turtles came back to the beach after 20 years. He deserves the United Nations Champion of the Earth Award.

Afroz is an inspiration. Thank you Afroz. And we can all learn from him, making the world a better place.

Today’s recipe of hope is to do your part to help the environment. Clear some plastic from the beach, take a rubbish bag to clear some extra bits littering the ground. And always clear up after you.

May we all work together to help our environment. X

Hope for the environment

There is much on the news about the environment. Greta Thunberg inspired me recently at her speech at a rally in Bristol. I feel those of us who have been on the planet a long while must consider doing things differently.

So what have I been doing to change things? I have set up a clothing bank and a mini food bank at the project where I work. I have started to talk to friends about how much waste we can save and to challenge myself with whether I need to buy any clothes or whether I can manage with the ones I have.

I think it is about being creative and looking at life through environmental coloured spectacles. And here is one example that has really made my week.

We had a family party on Friday and it involved a huge buffet, for fifty people. and the very generous caterers in my view over-catered and made a sumptuous feat for about a hundred. It was put out and then a lot came back. I felt I should have helped clear it up, but it was left to one person, who was tired and so cheese and egg sandwiches, quiches, sausage rolls and scotch eggs came home, all thrown about and in disarray.

I spent time disentangling them and boxing them up and in the end there was a lovely large pile of boxes. We had some for lunch which was very nice. However food can so easily become dangerous if it is left out. I was so sad because the decision was ultimately made to ‘chuck it’. Hundreds of pounds of food waste was not my idea of good environmental management!

Then, out of nowhere I had a brainwave. Someone I know keeps chickens, so I contacted them. And yes they were so pleased to receive the scraps and none was wasted. The seven chickens have been enjoying the sandwiches and other food and the rest will just go back into the ground.

I felt so happy to know that I had been creative in my waste management. I feel there is a responsibility to not be cavalier about things I may have not cared about before. Because I will be exiting this planet someday and I want to have done my best to care for it.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I went to a wake recently, celebrating the life of someone who cared deeply for the planet. She rode a bike or walked and was committed to environmental issues. She was always out and about as a beacon to light the way for caring for our earth. And she has inspired me. I wonder what she would think if she knew about the chickens. Somehow I think she would smile her beatific smile and say ‘well done’.

Today’s recipe of hope is to make a change to the environment; use that food you were going to throw away, take things to charity or have a swap clothes session with your friends. Give unwanted food to a homeless charity. If we all make small changes it will make a massive difference. And please let me know the outcome!

Have an environmentally friendly week X