My ethical journey all began about 13 years ago I guess, when I turned vegetarian. Well, I suppose it probably began before that as I first turned vegetarian when I was 11, some 19 years ago now. It didn't last long. I used to sneak things made of meat as though it mattered whether anyone else knew, not whether I knew. My mum at that time said she wasn't prepared to cook two different meals. At that point I don't think I even really knew why I thought it was wrong to eat meat. I went back to eating it properly and kind of pushed the idea to the back of my mind until I was 17 when I decided I could no longer carry on doing what I thought was wrong. I then knew why I didn't want to eat animals any more and from that point on I haven't. From there I went to university and I don't know as ethics figured much in my life.
Then there are other things that I have always just done I suppose, energy saving light bulbs, recycling glass and drinks cans and washing at 40 degrees. I guess the rest of the journey started about 2 and a half-ish years ago, when I started to think I was into ethical living but didn't know much about it. I then bought flights to Amsterdam for a friend's birthday at new year, rather ashamedly I admit I didn't even think there was an alternative. Then that Christmas I received the Rough Guide to Ethical Living, which was the starting point for many of the subsequent changes in my life. Including the guilt I felt for taking that flight to get to Amsterdam, which is where I was when I read that book.
So, what do I do?
House and Garden
- electricity from 100% renewable supplier Good energy
- Insulation in roof was increased this year
- Energy saving light bulbs used throughout and in lamps
- Heating used sparingly (we only use it in the evening, and daytime at weekends, never in the morning, and only once there is a real need, this year we didn't have it on at all until the last week in November for 1 day, and then not until December)
- We only flush the toilet when necessary
- No hosepipe used
- Garden in semi-wild state to encourage wildlife (OK this has come about more through inactivity than plan, but I do prefer it, it just needs a little more planning to introduce wild flowers and such)
The bad or the to-do
- we only have single glazing so that leads to some heat loss, Mr Brown-eyes wants uPVC, but I don't, but I would like some sort of secondary glazing, and some better curtains
- I used dulux paint last time I decorated, and I have half the paint for the next time, so I will do then too, but after that I want to use an eco-paint company
- Sort out the garden to keep it tidy, but increase wildlife, particularly bees
- would like a new boiler and heating system with thermostatic control
Cleaning and Laundry
- We wash at 30 degrees and never use the tumble dryer
- we use soap nuts to wash in, no softener
- we use ecover toilet cleaner, parsley kitchen cleaner and some sort of natural bathroom cleaner
- we use all recycled paper products - toilet roll, kitchen roll etc
The bad and the to-do
- I have a fair few less environmentally friendly cleaners, although to be fair, that Mr Muscle oven cleaner has been under the sink (well this sink and the last) for the past 8.5 years, I don't use much of it!
- I plan to buy no more bad cleaning products, but I don't really know what to do with the ones I already have... Just use them up I suppose and not replace them. Throwing them away would cause harmful chemicals to leech into landfill, is this better or worse than very slowly putting them into the water supply? I just want them gone from under my sink, but I find myself looking at them and not using them. I could give them away to someone who uses those sorts of products, thereby ever-so slightly reducing the number of them that they would buy, hmmm....
- I would like to get into making my own home cleaners. I do use vinegar occasionally (I actually don't clean very often!) but have not used bicarb or borax for cleaning ever!
- Get some heat retaining curtains
- Only use environmentally friendly paint after I have used the paint I already have and for the jobs already planned for with that paint
- reduce paper products - I have seen some cloth alternatives to kitchen roll
- switch to sustainable cleaning cloths and brushes - no plastic, biodegradable
- There is still a bottle of fairy and a bottle of anti-bac soap - no more fairy, no more anti-bac, no more liquid soap (sure Mr Brown-eyes will agree with this)
Travel
- We own one small energy-efficient car which I only use on longer journeys
- I walk to work and get the bus for short journeys
- I get the train where possible and almost always for journeys where I am a sole traveller. I do this even when it costs more and is more inconvenient
- I limit flying
The bad and the to-do
- would like to travel by train more, I just wish the train companies did not make this so hard, for instance to do the 42 mile journey I wanted to do tomorrow would cost us about £9 for the round trip between the 2 of us, door to door. To get the train would cost us £31 EACH, plus the bus tickets to the train station, plus it takes longer, and we could only leave here at 12.39 or later and we wanted to get there in the morning. It doesn't make the train a very viable choice a lot of the time. I don't know the way around this. In the example I have just given we are simply not travelling, but this isn't always an option
- I would like to say I will never fly again, but that is probably unfeasable. I would definitely like to say as well that I will never fly again in Europe. We aren't too bad with this... in 9 years I have taken 5 short haul return flights and a single long haul flight. Some of those were before I started trying to restrict flying. I want to take my holidays by train from now on. I started this year with the train to China (yes, train all the way to China, then the ferry to Japan. We went all the way to Japan without stepping on a plane, unfortunately this is where the single long haul flight came in for the return journey)
Food and drink
- I am vegetarian
- I am committed to reducing dairy
- I try to buy local and reduce supermarket shopping, shopping mainly with ocado
- I try to cook food from basic first ingredients
- I buy some things organic
- bananas, tea, coffee and sugar are all fair trade
- I partially switched to fair trade only chocolate and supported some traffikfree events which have resulted in more major brands being traffic free
The bad and the to do
- Start using an organic box scheme
- ALL dairy to be organic, or non-dairy, if that makes any sense!
- Less supermarket shopping
- Eating out in small businesses only
- ALL chocolate to be fair trade
- I want to grow some of my own veg
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
- We recycle all doorstep stuff which includes certain plastics, paper and card, glass and metals
- We save our tetrapaks to take to the nearest tetrapak recycler when we go
- I take our vegetable waste to work to put in the compost bin
- I compost brown card and paper, except some of the paper bags which I keep to take to the supermarket to put veg in
- We have reusable bags, and should we accept any bags we keep them and reuse
- I buy recycled, upcycled and second hand goods
- I save all wrapping paper and packaging to reuse
- We have some dynamo powered electrical products
- I would like my own compost bin, and water butt
The bad and the to-do
- The biggest thing for me is that I buy too much. I like to look nice and have a passion for clothes and shoes. I do need to reduce this though if I am to stop hidden waste from production and transportation. This is biggie for me.
- Find somewhere to recycle broken plastic bags, batteries (which are currently saved in a pot in the kitchen) and foil (which I have just started saving even though I don't know who will recycle it!)
- There are still too many plastic bags in my house. They should be used up and then eradicated completely. To be fair though many of the bags are years old though!
- Too many of the products we use have too much packaging, I should stop using these and write to the manufacturers to tell them why. Unseen packaging is however a concern for me
- switch all battery powered products to rechargable batteries
Health, Hygiene and Beauty
- Switched to the Mooncup ages ago and have never looked back; health, environment, waste, finances, it's a winner all round!
- started using cloth pads, my favourite sort being Luna Wolf, I also like that buying these generally supports small female run businesses
- switched all cleansers, soaps, moistursers, toners and deodorants to Lush
- All cosmetics are non-animal tested - Bnever, Urban Decay and Barry M
- switched to zero packaging shampoo, deodorant, and make up remover all from Lush
- switched to washable cloths and pads in place of cotton wool for make-up removal
- Some natural remedies for hayfever, insect bites, headaches etc
- I take showers not baths
The bad and the to-do
- My hair - is made from plastic and dyed with chemicals. I tried to use henna but it didn't do anything. I don't really know how to resolve this situation, but it is top of my priorities to find a solution for
- There are still a few disposable menstrual products, want to not use these at all
- Stop using shower gel as much, even though it is from Lush, to reduce packaging, see it as a treat only
- Nail varnish and nail varnish remover - I don't know of an ethical nail varnish remover, except chipping it off, which is what I do frequently resort to!
- Reduce cosmetics I suppose.... argh
I think this post got very long and complicated, far more so than I had ever envisaged. I suspect I have forgotten many things. My main targets beyond those set above are:
- To become more involved in activism
- to ensure that if and when a baby green-eyes comes along that we maintain what we have already started
This post is not attempting to be a pat-on-the-back congratulatory post, more of view of where I have come from, where I am going to, and what there is to do to get going in that direction.
(no tags because it will only let me have 200 characters which isn't enough for all the tags and i can't decide which to include, I shall just tag it challenge, because overall it is a challenge to improve)
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