This is not my... Week 39 07
05/10/07 - Go go go
04/10/07 - The quest
03/10/07 - More buttons!
02/10/07 - All it takes is
01/10/07 - Not sure
05/10/07 - Go go go
 |
Hustle blue team one... |
On the news, you can't fail to have seen a few pictures of melting ice caps and such headlines as:
- Climate crisis
- World is warming
- We're all going to die and it wont feel as nice as a sauna
And you will also have noticed the reports on what to do about it:
- Turn off lights
- Don't fly
- BLAME CHINA AND THE US - it's all their fault - there's nothing we can do!
But I like to live in hope.
The US government wont yet agree to emissions targets (and if they don't other big polluters are less likely to limit theirs) but the political backlash is getting stronger and stronger. (They've got Arnie on the case after all.)
So I was delighted to read this morning that the Democrats are sending a team to the UN climate meeting in December to try to push for greater cuts.
Go the Democrats.
No idea whether it will achieve anything concrete but it is a step in the right direction in any case.
And it's sunny.
And it's the weekend!!!!
Brilliant.
Have a good one.
Susie x
04/10/07 - The quest
 |
is on... |
Had to get a suit the other day.
Managed to get away with looking disheveled in the office for quite a while but eventually agreed to pretend to be a grown up and went shopping.
Actually it is not too bad (though I haven't progressed to wearing the jacket yet) but I now have an issue.
Dry cleaning.
Hmmmm.
Dry cleaning generally uses a lot of chemicals.
I would expand on this but it is early and involves use of the word 'perchloroethylene' so I will - instead - direct you to a nice (short) and comprehensive article on Tree Hugger.
Anyhow - it appears that wet cleaning or CO2 cleaning (nearly all the CO2 is captured and used in the cleaning process) are the two most environmentally friendly alternatives.
The only problem is - I can't immediately find anywhere in London that use one of these methods.
So I shall undertake an epic mission to track one down. Even if it takes me to the edge of the world and the end of time. It could be hard. It could be dangerous. But I shall succeed!
Susie
P.s. If you know of one - drop me a line! x
03/10/07 - More buttons!
 |
Can things get any better...? |
Ok - so - actually it gets a bit boring after a while but it was quite exciting to start with.
Had lunch with my Granny the other day and had to drink from champagne glasses as that is all we had in the house.
I would like to pretend that this is because we only drink champagne (daaaaarling) but in reality it is because after a house party back in April we ended up with only one glass remaining (I should probably clarify this by pointing out that we only had four to start with.)
Anyhow - lunch reminded me to get some more.
So I tracked down some recycled ones on the Natural Collection website using their.... on-line catalogue...!
It's brilliant - you can turn the pages and everything. (Easily pleased.)
Quick word of warning though, if you are also looking for glasses, the household things are around page 100. Will save flicking through the 99 women's wear ones before...
Anyhow - best potter along to see what else has in store. Hopefully something almost as exciting involving Orlando Bloom, T'Pau songs and a small tunnel in Cumbria...
Have a good one!
Susie x
02/10/07 - All it takes is
|
some fish and a button to push... |
Ah - yesterday was a long one.
Was helping my brother move. A little bit on the hung over side.
Luckily, he is a kind soul and so let me spend the first hour 'guarding the van'.
And - after the fish and chips (not cod), hilarious impressions of my mother (Mum - really - will be ringing you later!) and playing with the hydraulic lift - the world became a happy place once again.
Plus - as an added bonus - I got free chocolate on the way home.
Divine, fair trade chocolate.
Which - as we all know - makes you lose weight rather than put it on...*
Perfect.
Anyhow - best get on with some work after all the shilly-shallying but have a brilliant day!
Susie x
*This may not be scientifically proven...
01/10/07 - Not sure
|
it was such a good idea... |
Ouch.
Have the day off to help my brother move house and so ended up in the pub yesterday afternoon.
Very bad.
Even the thought of activity makes my head hurt.
Might, therefore, go over armed with coffee and the number for Any Junk.
They are a professional removals company - who make a point about recycling - so I'm sure they would do a better job.
Mind you, I don't think he is throwing that much away.
Which means we have to take it all out again at the other end....
Oh dear.
It's going to be a long day!
Hope you have a good one.
Susie x
28/09/07 - If it wasn't for those
|
pesky... |
Moths...?
Something is eating our clothes.
Well - so says my friend Kim.
My clothes all have so many holes in them already it is difficult to judge.
But something is eating her clothes and the guess is that it is moths.
Nice.
Anyhow - hopping on line it appears that moth balls:
a) Smell
b) Are full of chemicals
c) Are carcinogenic
Great.
Thus I am going to create my own as per Annie (of 'Ask Annie' fame?) on Care2.com:
"Natural Moth Balls (Repellent Sachets): These sachets are lovely to tuck into sweater drawers and hang in closets. Most health food stores sell bulk dried herbs.
2 ounces each of dried rosemary and mint
1 ounce each of dried thyme and ginseng
8 ounces of whole cloves
- Combine the ingredients in a large bowl.
- Blend.
- Make sachets by choosing a 4 x 4 inch piece of natural fiber with a tight weave, such as silk.
- Sew three sides together, then fill with the herbs and sew the fourth side shut.
If you have wool moths already, the best spray is to make one of neem oil, adding 1/4 cup of neem oil to 1/2 gallon water, with a dab of liquid castile soap, in a spray bottle."
Or (far more realistically) pray that they have some natural ones already in Whole Foods (aka - you will need to re mortgage your house if you shop here) on Kensington High St.
Anyhow - running a bit later after the early morning moth location exercise so best potter a long.
Have an amazing weekend though!
Susie
P.s. pictures of moths were a bit dull so I thought I'd add one of a monkey that looks like a weird orange Teletubby instead.
x
27/09/07 - Bloody, wounded
|
but not beaten... |
Oh my.
Managed to split my head open whilst undertaking a dangerous tea making exercise yesterday.
Fortunately, I was by the sink at the time and was thus able to bleed happily in to it whilst refusing to let anyone look at the wound (and - of course - muttering about stitches, head shaving and the fact that I might not make it through the night).
Eventually, though, my friend Kim got bored of the unnecessary drama and plonked a towel on my head it till it stopped.
Thanks Kim!
Anyhow - the only problem now is that the towel is covered in blood.
In the (hazy and delirious...) state I was in, my first thought was to chuck it away - but it was pointed out that this was hardly the best approach from someone who goes on about recycling.
Which left stain removal.
And thus I have located.... ECOZONE!
Brilliant - apparently they now have proper environmentally friendly brands. Will track some down.
Be good actually.
I can do my jumper.
And my shirt.
And - in fact - all of the other clothes I currently wear with the stains in the faint hope someone thinks they are designer...
Anyhow - after that and the 'upholstery sprain' I seem to have incurred on my little finger - I'd best be off to research some less hazardous pursuits.
Like base jumping.
Have a good one!
Susie x
26/09/07 - Staple guns
|
and a ballistic missile base... |
Upholstery, it is absolutely the way forward.
My first class yesterday was great - largely because it involved destruction (ok 'gentle removal') of the bits of the chair no longer required and playing with a staple gun.
Brilliant!
But it did bring home to me how little I know about how things work and how we can reuse them.
My parents were forever fixing things (it was always alarming when Dad put them back together and there were parts left over) and my grandparents wouldn't dream of throwing anything away before it had fallen apart - literally.
And still I shun the library for the lure of Waterstones, have no idea how to use a bobbin and add most of my - vaguely weathered - items to our burgeoning land fill.
Hmmm - shall make a greater effort not to.
And thus - in the spirit of recycling - try to locate £750,000 to convert this missile base (on Ebay no less) into an activity centre for underpriviledged children!
Ok - I have a tenner.
Who's in????
Susie x
25/09/07 - I reckon
|
they are just jealous... |
Starting a new hobby today.
It's going to be pretty out there.
It's going to be pretty full on.
It's going to be... Upholstery!!!
I am so excited. Despite the fact that everyone keeps taking the mickey (and that the course requirements insist on 'stout' shoes...?)
I was looking for furniture a few weeks ago and kept coming across amazing things.
But things that cost about £400.
As a child my mother would take us to all sorts of auctions and pick up incredible bargains and I just thought - well - maybe I can get some of those things and do them up.
Save a few pennies, recycle a bit of furniture and get exactly what I want in the end. Perfect!
(If you feel an urge to do the same I just found somewhere on hotcourses.com)
Anyhow - will keep you up-to-date with progress. How hard can putting a new seat on a stool be....?
Have a lovely day.
Susie x
24/09/07 - Playing
|
with the boys... |
Ah man - forget staying in and watching the rugby, on Saturday, Top Gun volleyball was where it was at.
Lots of men's chests, baby oil (you can get eco-friendly stuff) and some very impressive shapes made for a highly entertaining afternoon!
And the fact that no one could really play, the person with the net arrived an hour late and that it was quite tricky to hit the ball with baby oiled hands didn't matter even slightly.
Will definitely be plotting some more 'energy-saving' pursuits in the next wee while.
Though the fact that it is sheeting down with rain as I write this could be a bit of an issue....
Anyhow - back on the mission to get the loft insulated (laziness has meant it has, so far, been quite a long mission) and so will let you know how I get on.
Oh and the leaders of 80 countries (though not Mr Bush) are meeting at the UN today to figure out what to do with this darned climate change thing.
Keep your fingers crossed.
Have a brilliant start to the week.
Susie 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...
 |
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.
