Recently in education Category

This is my last post for Community Care, and I'd like to thank all readers, especially the few who have written interesting comments, and my employers at Community Care who have been so good to me.

Over the past few years there's been a lot of noise about the evils of plastic bags.  They've been blamed for filling up landfills and inflating people's carbon footprints, mimicking jellyfish and confusing turtles, even being labelled 'witches knickers' when blown into Irish hedges and trees.  Now, in the grand scheme of things, plastic bags are not the biggest of our consumption 'wrongs', despite a million being given out every minute.  But every little thing we do to improve the problem helps us go in the right direction.

There are many ways to convey a message.  And when it comes to climate change and overconsumption, there are blogs, protest marches, films, and I've just discovered poetry.

So, I'd like you to click on this link: http://www.myspace.com/dannychivers and then click on the poem 'Consumed' by Danny Chivers, and listen, whilst you read the text.  But as I'm inexperienced in this bloggy webby thing, I've discovered that clicking on this opens Danny's page in the same window so you'll have to open a new window with this page in to read the poem at the same time.  Getting the message across isn't always that easy!

I quite like the idea of Lent, despite my not being Christian.  I like the idea of giving up stuff... eating less... perhaps no chocolate, or stopping something more 'sinful' like smoking... Anything which can reduce our profligate consumption has got to be good, and if this reduction helps our health, even better.

Earlier this week I took the train up to Middlesborough to do some filming wih the BBC, for the programme 'Inside Out' which has local editions for the different regions.  I'd been asked to go and help a radio presenter, John Foster, start a week of living on a pound a day.  This was inspired by a book by Kath Kelly called How I Lived a Year On Just a Pound A Day.

As the Green movement gathers speed and more and more people realise they should be part of the solution, as if they are not, they are part of the problem, more networking websites pop up.  I don't know how long it's been in existence, but I've discovered ooffoo.  This is hosted by The Natural Collection, and is a platform which allows people to swap and recycle, share information or ideas, read reviews and discuss things.  It is restricted to things which benefit the Planet and people... and I've listed my compost as an 'offer'.  And if you were wondering where 'ooffoo' came from... it's HTML programming speak for the colour green!

I only learned about the new 'Early Years Foundation Stage'  a few weeks ago, catching up on a Summer Edition of Green World which had got lost in my cluttered day bag.  I was appalled to find that very young children are now, by law, being compelled to explore ICT technology and are subjects of targets and literacy goals.

I subscribe to a number of email newsletters, and one came through last week with news of an eco-calendar which has caused a bit of controversy. Ethical Junction member Flipside Vision have produced a 'Calendar of Climate Change' for 2009 with a plethora of wonderful images depicting our world, many of which have significant connections to climate change themes.  For instance, February has an image of a Dutch painting of a windmill and a canal, and alongside this, a smaller picture of modern windmills which generate electricity.

Late last week I had a meeting with a new friend who had come to York to participate in a historical re-enactment event.  I knew nothing about this pastime/lifestyle apart from seeing quite a few re-enactors at the Norfolk Park event in Sheffield a few years ago, when I attended as Professor Fiddlesticks. It looked as if they were having fun, but I though little more about it.

Books per se are not that green.  They use lots of resources in their manufacture, are printed in one place and have to be carted all over the place and are heavy.  Most are only read once and then sit in a bookshelf... OK, bookshelves are a way of sequestering carbon, but really we should share our books and use libraries more... but I am going to suggest you go and buy a good book. (And when you've read it, lend it to friends!)

I am very fond of Kate Lock, whom I first came accross as a columnist in the York Press, and soon met as she was having some problems with her compost and she asked a volunteer York Rotter to come and sort it out.  It turned out that she was on some kind of mission to be greener and that my assisting her meant that I would appear in the book she was crafting.  That book is now on sale and I have spent a good few hours of my holiday immersed in it..   'Confessions of an Eco-Shopper, the true story of one woman's mission to go green' (ISBN 978 0340 954676, Hodder & Stoughton 2008) is an excellent read, with everyday challenges such as having a veggie-box delivery and wondering what to do with unknown veg,  growing her own herbs and salads, ethical fish suppers, dispensing with the bleach and using vinegar instead, experimenting with 'green and reusable' sanitary protection, finding out if fair-trade tastes as good as 'ordinary' teas and coffees.  Kate put a lot of effort into researching the book, trialling all-sorts of products and lifestyle changes.  Of course my favourite 'Isle' (its arranged like a supermarket!) is the one on rubbish and recycling, where we follow her path from non-composter to happy and successful rotter, even trying out a wormery and 'Bokashi' to recycle her cooked and meaty foodstuff wastes.

I read the book cover to cover, and learned a lot.  It is really good to read a female approach to living a greener life... so many commentators are male, and they tend not to write about clothes, cosmetics or sanitary-wear.  So I am going to shamelessly plunder some of these topics for future blog posts.  Although Kate thanks me for helping her with her composting, I'm sure she will see this as a 'fair swap'!