I'd be an eco-warrior. There, I've said it. There are some regrets I have about the way this life is lived in this consumerist society we call the UK. We all have choices to make, and these choices have consequences. Such is life....
I'm quietly passionate about saving the planet. I believe this is best done by careful use of our resources - be it energy (keeping heating down / improve insulation - saves on the bills and reduces the greenhouse effect), transport (food miles, people miles, pollution, carbon emissions), choosing recycling / upcycling / freecycling and by trying as much as I can to be anti-consumer - in that I'm not influenced by the global brands and shop purposefully in charity shops and the like - I hope in some small way to 'tread lightly' and do as little harm to the planet as I realistically can.
When we were on summer holiday this year I read a book called 'The Moneyless Man' by Mark Boyle.
The premise was: 'is it possible to live for a year in the UK without money?'. The surprising answer is yes. If you're a fit young man, it would appear that is it absolutely possible to live for a year without money. He planned it carefully, found a place to pitch his freecycled caravan for free (in exchange for 3 days of work on a farm each week), and was attuned to eating seasonally and in glut and from the supermarket bins he and his friends raided regularly.
The book highlighted the amount of waste that goes on - food waste from supermarkets being an especial bugbear, but to my mind he was preaching to the converted. Whilst idealistic in the extreme, I had to admire his stance, and his gumption for sticking it out, and although some of his practices would be difficult if not impossible to translate into everyday living for the majority, it gave me hope. That there are still dreamers out there.
Here's a link to tell you more about it: http://www.moneylessmanifesto.org/the-moneyless-man-book/
Apparently he's now been doing it for three years. I'm impressed. There are certain things I couldn't do without. Hot running water (showers); no matter how bad on food miles I need my tea 'normal style' not nettle; and with certain issues pertaining to the menopause (it's an age thing) I've discovered that I function much better, on many levels, by ditching dairy and replacing it with soya. He's a 35 year old male. I'm an almost 50 year old female. Some things don't compare.
But his aspirations appeal to the essential me, to the teenage me, to the rebellious me and to the me before me. In a parallel universe I'd be ... more me than I feel I am. This probably explains a lot. Well, it makes sense to me at least!
Night night y'all.
Kat
I'm quietly passionate about saving the planet. I believe this is best done by careful use of our resources - be it energy (keeping heating down / improve insulation - saves on the bills and reduces the greenhouse effect), transport (food miles, people miles, pollution, carbon emissions), choosing recycling / upcycling / freecycling and by trying as much as I can to be anti-consumer - in that I'm not influenced by the global brands and shop purposefully in charity shops and the like - I hope in some small way to 'tread lightly' and do as little harm to the planet as I realistically can.
When we were on summer holiday this year I read a book called 'The Moneyless Man' by Mark Boyle.
The premise was: 'is it possible to live for a year in the UK without money?'. The surprising answer is yes. If you're a fit young man, it would appear that is it absolutely possible to live for a year without money. He planned it carefully, found a place to pitch his freecycled caravan for free (in exchange for 3 days of work on a farm each week), and was attuned to eating seasonally and in glut and from the supermarket bins he and his friends raided regularly.
The book highlighted the amount of waste that goes on - food waste from supermarkets being an especial bugbear, but to my mind he was preaching to the converted. Whilst idealistic in the extreme, I had to admire his stance, and his gumption for sticking it out, and although some of his practices would be difficult if not impossible to translate into everyday living for the majority, it gave me hope. That there are still dreamers out there.
Here's a link to tell you more about it: http://www.moneylessmanifesto.org/the-moneyless-man-book/
Apparently he's now been doing it for three years. I'm impressed. There are certain things I couldn't do without. Hot running water (showers); no matter how bad on food miles I need my tea 'normal style' not nettle; and with certain issues pertaining to the menopause (it's an age thing) I've discovered that I function much better, on many levels, by ditching dairy and replacing it with soya. He's a 35 year old male. I'm an almost 50 year old female. Some things don't compare.
But his aspirations appeal to the essential me, to the teenage me, to the rebellious me and to the me before me. In a parallel universe I'd be ... more me than I feel I am. This probably explains a lot. Well, it makes sense to me at least!
Night night y'all.
Kat
No comments:
Post a Comment