Weekly Tip #12: Reject bags for life!

... a small rucksack is much more practical!

Isn't nature brilliant?

I love this time of year. As I look out my window, white cherry blossom is starting to emerge among the trees along the river. I'm still in my running gear after jogging up the valley. As I entered Jesmond Dene, there was a flash of black, white and red over my head. I stopped and got my first really good look at one of the woodpeckers who I've listened to for 8 years. No shimmering flash of a kingfisher this morning, but I still have a big fat grin on my face as I get stuck into work.

I'm lucky - I live in a river valley less than 20 minutes walk from Newcastle City Centre. If you struggle to get out and commune with nature, why not try out BTCV's Green Gym - fitness and fresh air!

It shouldn't happen to a (green) dad...

I'm over the moon that my son has said his first word...

...except it is...

"car"

Aaaarrrrgggghhh!!!

Weekly Tip #11: Nematodes

Slugs will soon be decimating your garden if you don't act to stop'em. Don't use the horrible toxic blue pellets, use nematodes instead - we use Nemaslug and it works great.

Green office pet peeves

Every week I get a couple of PR pieces sent to me. I normally ignore them, but I quite liked this 'survey' from Xerox about what people get peeved about in the office:

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The Full List

The top ten environmental pet peeves among U.S. office workers:

1) Mindless printing resulting in increased waste (40%)
2) Leaving lights on (37%)
3) Lack of recycling bins (33%)
4) Excessive air conditioning in summer and heat in winter (29%)
5) Excessive use of paper products, like cups, plates, etc. (27%)
6) Coworkers not recycling (27%)
7) Coworkers not printing double-sided when they can (24%)
8) Too many cover sheets when faxing or printing (24%)
9) Having to store paper copies of existing, electronic files (24%)
10) Leaving computer on and not powering down when going home (23%)

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Interestingly number 10 would be no 1 on my list. What do you think?

(First published on the Sustainable Business Blog, but I thought it was relevant here too!)

Biodiesel good or evil? Part 2

Once upon a time biodiesel was a jolly good thing. Now it is evil incarnate.

Offsetting was once a brilliant idea, now it is morally abhorrent.

Surely, within these wild swings of opinion, there is a sensible middle road where the benefits can be had without the downsides?

Just a thought...

Weekly Tip #10: Go for quality, not quantity

In these days of semi-disposable furniture and fashion, choose quality, timeless purchases over cheap and cheerful everytime.

Time to rearrange the fridge (& the fruit bowl)

If you've been reading this blog for a while you'll know my view that food is probably our biggest impact on the environment - land use, pesticides, fertilisers, transport, processing, refrigeration, packaging, retail and waste all add up to a huge impact. Wasting food is obviously a bad thing and, of what we buy, a third is wasted, half of that unnecessarily (the rest is tea bags, peels, skins and 'endy-bits' that we can't eat).

Well I'm going to have to change my fridge habits (bung it all in except marmalade - horrible cold on hot toast) having read this interesting article in the Guardian about food storage. I've always assumed that cooler = better preservation, but apparently it is not the case for many vegetables - it actually cuts their shelf life. So it's going to be a busy weekend.

I've already evicted the bananas from the fruit bowl. I knew the ethylene they offgas helps ripen tomatoes, but I didn't realise they over-ripen other fruit, leading to them "going off" earlier.

Every day is a school day...

Weekly Tip #9: Target a Grot Spot

Inspired by spending Sunday morning hauling rubbish out of the river that runs past our house - why not get some friends and neighbours together to tackle a grot spot near you? You'll be surprised about the amount of rubbish you can collect in an hour or to, and you'll improve the area for people and wildlife alike.