This is not my... Week 31 07
This Section; Background; The point
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Saving energy was never so easy... |
Just been reading about an appliance that you can get to help turn things off standby.
Nigel's Eco Store has energy saving eco kits which you plug in and then remotely turn off rather than leaving your appliances on standby.
Not 100% sold (as you can just turn things off at the wall) but according to the Energy Savings Trust, we waste £37 electricity per household by leaving things on standby. Which - when translated into wasted energy - can be most simply described as sh*t loads (otherwise known as 2.5 700MW power stations worth).
So maybe anything to help us save it is worth a thought.
Anyhow - since it is finally resplendently sunny outside I reckon we just turn everything off (ok - maybe not the fridge) and head out to whichever park, beach or scrap of land is nearest to make the most of it.
Watching cricket tmrw which has to one of the most energy saving of activities.
Cricket is - after all - a sport containing much milling about and not very much doing anything else. I mean, it's practically just sunbathing standing up.*
Ah - sunbathing for the environment... perfect!
Have a good one.
Susie x
*A little bit bitter about this. Have been informed that girls aren't able to play. Ridiculous. And highly sexist. Women have been playing since 1745 (and most likely before that) when the local press explained that:
"The girls bowled, batted, ran and catches as well as most men could do in that game." - The Reading Mercury 26 July 1745
And English female cricketers won the inaugural world cup in 1973.
Hmpf.
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Really...? |
Considering the summer has so far seen nothing but it doesn't seem quite so urgent to save water.
But water needs pumping and often heating and so wasting it is also a waste of energy and a few pennies here and there.
I have - once again - broken our shower.
No idea how I do it?
And it is only when I get near the bathroom.
Snapped the shower cord... took the door knob off... broke the toilet handle... twice.
Much as Mr Strong gets his power from eggs, maybe I get mine from a good nights sleep?
Anyhow - the UK energy saving site estimates that:
"A five minute shower uses about a third of the water of a bath, saving up to 400 litres per week."
Guess I'd best get the electrician round.
Have a lovely day!
x
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But how slow can you go...? |
My life is generally spent in pandemonium.
Juggling lots of things at a time, forgetting others and narrowly avoiding calamity (or - on the odd occasion - not avoiding it!)
I like it but am constantly chasing the point when everything is organised.
After reading Tom Hodgekinson's latest book though, I am on a mission to do less, worrying less and buy less.
So far the first is still escaping me utterly but - hey - two out of three aint bad!
Anyhow - the editor of the Idler makes some great arguments for a slower life. He insists that it is not only much more enjoyable but better for the people we live with and the planet we live on.
Perfect.
Therefore, our website of the week/month/whenever we get round to it is the Idler. Take a deep breath, slow down and have a wee look.
Anyhow - better go.
The Grease theme tune just came on the radio so I have to dance round the kitchen!
See you later x
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Or is it...? |
So I managed to persuade my lovely brother into lending me his car this weekend.
I don't drive often.
I don't have any need to.
But I was traveling to all sorts of random places and - otherwise- I couldn't get there and back for work.
So I did.
I set off from Wimbledon on a beautiful sunny afternoon, wound the window down and reveled in the freedom that comes from your own set of wheels.
The radio was on, I was calm and collected in the city traffic and excited about the journey ahead.
And then came the problem.
So was everyone else.
So many people, in fact, that it then took two hours to get out of London, stewing in the exhaust fumes and doing a spot of lady-like perspiring in the hot box.
Grrr.
But that was nothing in contrast to the journey home.
It was me against the clock.
I had a meeting at two and was heading again on roads I didn't know.
All was going brilliantly.
Until the M25.
How do you drive, read the map and get the right road?!?
So complicated.
Anyhow - after assessing that going from J21 to J13 shouldn't involve seeing J23 I did a U-turn straight into more standing traffic. Half of the M25 was affected. The half that I was navigating.
The debate on canceling the meeting then ensued.
I might just make it.
There could be time.
At 10 miles an hour the turn off was easy to spot - but less easy was negotiating the small roads into the city.
Nevertheless there was only one small detour. Unfortunately a detour that resulted in a bit of a collision with a pigeon. Poor wee thing. (Well - they do say road kill is organic...)
A little hot, bothered and shaken I arrived at my destination, delighted that I had got through all everything thrown at me with just enough time to race to the train and work.
I checked the car, locked it and chucked the keys through my brothers letter box.... right before realising that the one thing I had left inside was my wallet... with money, cash card and travel pass.
Argh!
Anyhow, eventually - and with the help of a lovely lady called Sam - I got to work.
On the way I checked my messages.
My friend Penny had called.
"Just saying hi. Got the train home no problem. It was great, read the paper and had a bit of a snooze. Hope the drive was ok."
Hmmmm.
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.
