This is not my... Week 3 07
25/01/07 - The world at your fingertips?
This Section; Background; The point
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Everyone loves a bit of it... |
Especially if it involves hot young men!
Worked way too late for my own good yesterday so didn't get chance to explore anything exciting to write about but I did get out at lunch to buy a compass.
Off this weekend to get lost somewhere in the North Downs (which are apparently just above the South Downs... wherever they are) and so need to learn how to use one.
So far I have failed miserably.
The compass pointed north straight to the thames from my office - which would have been great if I didn't know that my office was - absolutely and categorically - not south of it. Hmmmm.
Anyhow - it got me thinking about an article I read on the weekend about a 6 foot something adonis who set up Adventure Ecology in order to educate children about climate issues.
He has been trekking to the poles and building rafts and doing all number of other manly pursuits (swoon) but uses it all to highlight climate change.
In addition, his site has fun games to play.
So - if you are young, young at heart or bored on a Friday - why not have a wee look.
Me - I'm late for work again - so better run.
Have a great weekend though.
See you on Monday (if I am not still roving through the countryside cursing my map reading skills!) x
25/01/07 - The world at your fingertips?
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It truely is the information age... |
Our eminent leaders may be at the Davos World Economic Forum but we can get in on the debate from the comfort of our homes / offices / a cafe in Milton Keynes etc by simply asking questions on their site.
Amazing.
The world is indeed getting smaller.
Haven't had chance to look through it yet but thought I would stick the link up in case you have some time to ask clever things.
Have a mind like a blancmange (which is also a pretty tricky word to spell...) at the minute so might leave my inciteful comments and queries to a little later on!
Anyhow - whatever you do get up to this fine day - have a lovely one!
x
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Oh it is just so exciting... |
Makes me feel like a small child!
(Aka - even more immature than on a normal day - oh boy....)
Have a frighteningly daunting number of things to do - but surely taking time off to make snow angels would be a good use of time too...?
Though what would make it more fun I would imagine is if you were living in a Hobbit house! How cool is that?
Anyhow - off out to play.
With this global warming thang it may be best to make the most of it!
x
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Sometimes it is the simplest things... |
Been reading a fascinating book on systems and organisational structures (honest it is really interesting - The Birth of the Chaordic Age if you are intrigued) and it pondered on ingenuity.
I.e. that people are incredibly ingenious and that we don't make enough of their skills, ideas and knowledge.
Got me thinking so much that I couldn't sleep. (Damn books that do that).
So I am now super sleepy and not feeling at all ingenious, or indeed all that competent to get through some of the more complicated parts of the day (showering, going to work, learning Yiddish..)
Are you allowed to pull a sicky because you got a bit distracted in deep thought...?
(Hmmmm - I remember all too late why I tend to shy away from anything more intellectual than Captain Caveman...)
Damnation.
Anyhow - not quite so ingenious but another simple thing that we don't do enough of is telling people what we want.
After getting the Government to introduce a climate bill, Friends of the Earth are on a mission to make sure that the one they do introduce is effective.
Which sounds like a good idea to me.
If you fancy, check out the Big Ask site for a super quick and easy way of emailing your MP to ask for it.
Brilliant.
Right - off to brave the day... after perhaps just a little lie down...
x
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That's up to you to decide... |
The Independent launched a packaging campaign today to get supermarkets to cut out unnecessary packaging.
Brilliant idea (pioneered last year by those ladies at the WI)!
I'm not a big fan of packaging.
Especially when you get really sharp objects - scissors, knives, tweezers - sealed in so tightly that the only thing which will release them is the sealed in item itself (ah the perverse irony...)
Some I know we can't get away from but most things we buy today are wrapped once for cleanliness, once for labeling and once more so they are in an intriguing shaped box that's only only purpose is to make them so big you need extra shopping bags to bring them home (grrr, grizzle etc)
So - yeay for the Independent.
Hope it works.
Anyhow - not sure what the campaign will entail but why not check it out and get involved if you can.
Have a lovely start to the week! x
This section will be a daily, well - Monday to Friday daily, editorial. (Have to keep some time aside to keep up the ritual wine drinking / dancing as if being chased by bees.)
I promise to make it my mission to investigate something each day on exciting forays to find new stuff, fun stuff, ethical stuff and anything involving break dancing men with extremely toned physiques.
Let me know if you think of something I should go and visit or if you have any great ideas or information. (Any dodgy suggestions will be politely declined... or not so politely, depending entirely on what they are!)
For today, though, please just have a look below to find out how this whole thing came about. I hope that you are having a lovely morning.
See you tomorrow,
Susie x
Background to This is not my...
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What is this site all about?
Well, as all good ventures do, it started in the pub with the ominous words "I know, why don't we...?" |
What was different, though, was that it still seemed like a good plan in the morning (and somewhat less injurious than trying out extreme ironing, the other suggestion...)
Anyway - once again we had been supping beers and putting the world to rights when someone mentioned the unmentionable, despite our disaffection with the state of the world, none of us was actually doing anything positive to change it.
Whether this was complacency or apathy, who knows - but we were definitely leaving it to others to make decisions and take action for us on issues about which we felt strongly.
We live in a free society, but often things seem to happen as a fait accompli. The war in Iraq, ID cards, the fact that we will eventually succumb to watching some of Big Brother no matter how hard we try...
And we just go along with it. But that is ok, right? I mean, we aren't exactly encouraging the abuse of others - are we?
Ok - so maybe my new top might have been made under less-than-perfect conditions and I suppose that means I am supporting those conditions, but - I have to buy something to wear, so what other choice do I have?
And that was the problem. What - and where - are the choices?
So we decided to investigate. Surely in this free society we have other options; we just need to know how to find them.
So we went online. There are some great directories already for ethical and/or environmentally friendly products, but for us these didn't go far enough. We were on a bit of a roll and decided that these products deserved more active promotion.
We wanted to make as many people as possible aware of the practical things they can do to live life in a better way.
So on this site we will provide information about easy, positive and ethical consumer choices. These are choices that won’t necessarily cost you more, either.
In our directories you will find environmentally friendly and ethical companies and products across the following categories:
Clothes
Energy
Food and Drink
Health and Beauty
Home and Garden
Office
Recycling
Restaurants
You will also find plenty more to lure you back to the site on a regular basis. So come back to have a wee look.
Plus we will be working on video's, events and curious antics to keep important issues in the public eye – and provide us with much entertainment and amusement at the same time.
Give us a shout if you want to get involved!
Anyhow - take a look. Explore… investigate… probe away.
We hope you like it; we hope you use it.
