{"id":657,"date":"2020-11-18T02:49:22","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T02:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk\/eco\/?page_id=657"},"modified":"2020-11-18T02:49:22","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T02:49:22","slug":"live-a-normal-life","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk\/eco\/how-to\/live-a-normal-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Live a Normal Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, you\u2019ve woken up, what now?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s that moment. Every eco aware person has had that moment. It\u2019s always in a different location, but you&nbsp;always&nbsp;have the same chilling feeling.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I was in a store of the UK biggest supermarket (I\u2019m sure you can guess).&nbsp;In the centre aisle, I did a 360 degree turn. Every shelf, every trolley, every basket,&nbsp;in every person\u2019s hands,&nbsp;every aisle space all I saw\u2026 plastic. It\u2019s terrifying.&nbsp;Opening my bathroom cupboard after&nbsp;seeing clips of&nbsp;Blue Planet&nbsp;(no, I\u2019ve never seen a full episode \u2013 I know I couldn\u2019t cope). Yes, that moment of panic.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For&nbsp;others,&nbsp;it\u2019s watching the \u2018majestic\u2019 event&nbsp;(yes, this is exactly how the national news article described the event)&nbsp;of an&nbsp;orangutan&nbsp;being beaten to death by a man in a digger&nbsp;whilst&nbsp;destroying&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;home&nbsp;to make way for the&nbsp;palm trees for oil&nbsp;(now, look at the ingredients in that bar of chocolate you are eating- it doesn\u2019t taste as good any more does it?&nbsp;Google&nbsp;the words \u2018Nutella palm oil\u2019 and go to images \u2013 you\u2019ll never eat the stuff again).&nbsp;Maybe, its&nbsp;pictures of starving polar bears invading towns in Siberia,&nbsp;because we have spent 30 years warming the planet and melting the ice caps,&nbsp;destroying their homes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For&nbsp;20&nbsp;years, I\u2019ve been a directionless eco&nbsp;activist&nbsp;with no idea how to change my lifestyle or what to do.&nbsp;So, I decided that enough was enough. I was going to practice what I preach,&nbsp;and I was going to&nbsp;live the life that I wanted.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you don\u2019t know where to start. Here is some guidance:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Give up beef and lamb. If you can\u2019t, then only buy it from a farmer\u2019s market where it has been made on an eco-farm (yes, they are rare, but they do exist). There is more livestock on&nbsp;Earth&nbsp;than people,&nbsp;and&nbsp;the journey of birth to plate of cows and sheep has the biggest carbon footprint of any other food source.&nbsp;The Amazon rainforest is being destroyed at a rate of 4 football pitches a day, just so you can go to your local steak house and grab a beef burger. Seriously people, just stop eating it or if you can\u2019t,&nbsp;buy it from a UK eco farm; they do amazing work&nbsp;(tip \u2013 you won\u2019t find it in any supermarket or butchers. You will only find it at a&nbsp;farmers&nbsp;market with the word organic written in big letters).&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Embrace plant-based diets. If you don\u2019t know how, put vegetarian recipes into google and a countless amount come up. The BBC\u2019s Eat Well for Less&nbsp;programme&nbsp;and Bootstrap Jack Monroe&nbsp;have&nbsp;some fantastic guidance.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/xrwellingborough.files.wordpress.com\/2019\/10\/beefvbeans.png?w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-188\"\/><figcaption>Compare beef with beans to see which one is better for you and the environment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I\u2019ve saved an average of \u00a34 per week by moving to an organic veg box scheme. I had always assumed they would be more expensive so avoided them for years. Now, on hindsight, I realised that&nbsp;I\u2019d been buying out of season worldwide veg and not only is there a massive carbon footprint, it\u2019s also&nbsp;really expensive&nbsp;too. That said, I have had carrots in every single box every week for a year. My life does seem to be represented by \u2018100 things to do with a carrot\u2019&nbsp;(have a tub of grated carrot in the fridge and add it to everything).&nbsp;I will never buy shop bought coleslaw again, my homemade coleslaw is way better, and I can\u2019t cook\u2026.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Embrace UK and EU based food. Do you really need strawberries in December?&nbsp;If the packaging was substantial enough to come on a boat, then this isn\u2019t as bad as you might think.&nbsp;Never buy any food that would have come via air freight,&nbsp;ie. Flimsy packaging from outside of the EU. Wine bottled in the UK has a lower&nbsp;carbon&nbsp;footprint than if it was bottled a source in the land down under.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Never, under any circumstances, throw food away. Learn&nbsp;to love your left overs and&nbsp;embrace&nbsp;your freezer.&nbsp;If food waste was a country,&nbsp;in&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;own right, it would have the 3<sup>rd<\/sup>&nbsp;largest carbon emissions.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Bring your own \u2013 take&nbsp;your own bags for the loose fruit and veg. If you do need to buy meat, bakery products&nbsp;or a take&nbsp;away;&nbsp;take your own containers. Absolutely loving my local curry house\u2019s&nbsp;reactions to my&nbsp;Tiffin and Tupperware.&nbsp;A shout out to Merlin\u2019s and Mem Saab in Northampton for being so open minded.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Research&nbsp;your own carbon footprint&nbsp;through questionnaires&nbsp;on the net. Use these to work out where&nbsp;there are the&nbsp;biggest polluters in your life. I know that I&nbsp;create 75% of my allotted carbon footprint, made worst by the fact that my local council has cut public transport meaning I can\u2019t work if I don\u2019t own a car.&nbsp;As an eco-activist, I now spend my time lobbying my local council to stop building new roads and putting&nbsp;the money into public transport instead.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Consider everything you buy? Do you really&nbsp;need it? Yes,&nbsp;I know you want it, but do you really need it? If you ask yourself this question 3 times at the point of sale, if any of the answers is no, don\u2019t buy it and consider this a bargain (don\u2019t we all love a bargain?).&nbsp;It\u2019s amazing how much money you can&nbsp;save.&nbsp;I was completely debt free age 36, just by taking this approach to shopping.&nbsp;Consider that&nbsp;new skirt&nbsp;you want to buy was made by slaves in the&nbsp;Far&nbsp;East (don\u2019t kid yourself),&nbsp;put on a truck to the docks,&nbsp;put on a boat, to come into a dock, to be loaded onto another&nbsp;truck, to go in a warehouse, to be put on another&nbsp;truck, to go in a shop, to go in your car. All funded by fossil fuels.&nbsp;At most of these stages, it gets re-wrapped in fresh industrial shrink wrap (life length \u2013 150 years).&nbsp;Yes,&nbsp;that new top might look wonderful, but do you really need it? (and don\u2019t get me started on online shopping, that\u2019s even worse).&nbsp;30,000 pairs of Ugg boots&nbsp;can&nbsp;be shipped across&nbsp;Europe in 1 day; this is the power of modern logistics. Seriously people, do you really need it? I still own and wear a dress that I bought for my 6<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;form leaving do. I\u2019m now 41&nbsp;(with a lot more wrinkles)&nbsp;and I still get compliments on the dress.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Together we are strong&nbsp;\u2013 only by joining together can we make a difference. Join the social media pages of your local Extinction Rebellion or Greenpeace page and if you are comfortable, go along to a meeting and find out what it\u2019s all about.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/xrwellingborough.files.wordpress.com\/2019\/09\/fb_img_1569140770171.jpg?w=720\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-68\"\/><figcaption>Ruth is a founding member of Extinction Rebellion Wellingborough<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Research the facts. The NASA website is a good source. If you are like me, and have the attention span of a gnat, then just put \u2018Heading to Extinction\u2019 into You Tube.&nbsp; Talk to everyone you know about your findings. If I can talk the guy trying to sell me a charity direct debit&nbsp;subscription,&nbsp;into being an&nbsp;eco-activist,&nbsp;then you can talk to&nbsp;all of&nbsp;your friends and family.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Reduce your flying and never fly for business any more \u2013 this is what skype is for.&nbsp;If you can\u2019t reduce your flying, carbon off set it.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Stop buying plastic \u2013 rather than focus on what you throw away, consider not buying plastic.&nbsp;Yes,&nbsp;leave that&nbsp;fossil fuel&nbsp;in the ground.&nbsp;There is&nbsp;actually a&nbsp;lot of advice on&nbsp;how to reduce your plastic, more than you think. I\u2019ve informed my local council that their compulsory bin bag, creates me more plastic than I create. It now takes me 1 full month to&nbsp;fill&nbsp;1&nbsp;compulsory&nbsp;bin bag. It can be done.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Stop buying new clothes without investigating all your local charity shops first&nbsp;\u2013 it\u2019s amazing how much money you save by being environmental.&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;actually done&nbsp;this most of my adult life&nbsp;(mainly because I\u2019m stingy). At least 70% of my whole wardrobe is made up of second-hand clothes&nbsp;and people at work are surprised by this when they&nbsp;praise&nbsp;me on my work wear.&nbsp;My go to \u2018interview dress\u2019 was \u00a34, 15 years ago.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Read \u2018This is not a Drill\u2019 or \u2018Greta Thunberg\u2019s book\u2019&nbsp;and join the movement.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Increase the&nbsp;habitats&nbsp;in your garden and research micro ponds on the RSPB&nbsp;website. Re-wild as much of your garden as possible and never use&nbsp;plastic grass (the slug trails look wonderful over this anyway). Put in a hedgehog house and hole and persuade your neighbours to do the same.&nbsp;Avoid block paving and paving slabs,&nbsp;which increases localised flooding and embrace stones and grass.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/xrwellingborough.files.wordpress.com\/2019\/10\/fb_img_1568187482153.jpg?w=720\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-189\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some things didn\u2019t go so well\u2026&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Composting&nbsp;is this just a weird complex science that&nbsp;seems completely beyond me. My compost bin looks amazing from the outside (it looks like a beach hut, yes I actually have a mini beach hut in my garden) however&nbsp;it doesn\u2019t seem to do anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m not even going to attempt a wormery, it\u2019s hard enough keeping the plants in my garden alive. I doubt the worms would fair very well around me.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trying to go vegan and being plastic free \u2013&nbsp;\u2018the&nbsp;computer says no\u2019&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I forgot to postpone the delivery date of my \u2018Who Gives a Crap?\u2019 loo rolls and now I have a year\u2019s worth of loo rolls in the house. Every cupboard in my bathroom and spare room are full of loo rolls and I have a pile waist high in the bathroom. You live and learn\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, are you up to the challenge? Give it a&nbsp;go!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Written by Ruth Hemmingway for Wellingborough Eco Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So, you\u2019ve woken up, what now?\u00a0 It\u2019s that moment. Every eco aware person has had that moment. It\u2019s always in a different location, but you&nbsp;always&nbsp;have the same chilling feeling.&nbsp;&nbsp; I was in a store of the UK biggest supermarket (I\u2019m sure you can guess).&nbsp;In the centre aisle, I did a 360 degree turn. Every shelf, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk\/eco\/how-to\/live-a-normal-life\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Live a Normal Life<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":658,"parent":652,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-657","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk\/eco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk\/eco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk\/eco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk\/eco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk\/eco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk\/eco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/657\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk\/eco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk\/eco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk\/eco\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}