January was my "buy nothing new" month. I did actually fail a bit - I "accidentally" bought an umbrella. That said not having bought it wouldn't have done much because I did need one, so not buying it for the whole of January would only have delayed me buying it til february, and then I may not have seen the charity umbrella that I ended up buying. There were also several other things I needed which I put off buying until February (for instance a new eyebrow pencil, the good shopping guide etc). Most of these I have actually still not bought, but I don't think the challenge will reduce my consumption of those things, I have not been using my eyebrow pencil any less for instance, so buying one in january would just have meant i had it ready to start using sooner. There were a few items I probably would have bought if it hadn't been the challenge, which I have now forgotten about and no longer want, so the challenge was successful with those things.
Talking of things which haven't been bought and therefore have slipped from the mind, hence I didn't really want.... I wonder how many of the possessions in my own home are actually category instances of that that just managed to get past the first filter. Which of the things in my home would I not have missed had I never bought them? Time to find those things and get them out, free up the house and mind, and try not to fill it with these things again!
I think a challenge is a good way to focus the mind. Obviously I was already aware that everything I buy has a carbon and a waste value associated with it, both post consumer and in production. In fact production is something that has been bothering me more and more of late, but I think i will leave that barely touched upon for now, and will come back to that issue another time.
So even though I knew all that, and do think about it when I buy things I think sometimes I push it to the back of my mind, whereas the challenge brought it to the front of my mind (most of the time, except when I was in tescos and bought the umbrella). So, even though I am not continuing with the challenge this month, I am still thinking about all new purchases and trying to decide how necessary they are. I am trying to buy predominantly used where possible, or not at all. Most of the things we buy we were living perfectly happily without for many years before, we don't really need them at all. Of course part of being a human is having some things we don't need, but do like, and I am happy with that. I try to make these things things which make me feel happy, and if possible fair trade and sustainable. Where this isn't possible I am not going to beat myself up for tiny things. I am on a journey and doing the best I can, and doing better over time.
Monday, 15 February 2010
Monday, 25 January 2010
A small problem? No, a micro-problem!
My microwave is broken, well maybe it isn't even very broken, but it's making funny noises and doing weird things with the lights, and basically I'm a bit scared of microwaves so we haven't tried anything since then.
I have tried calling every microwave repair person in the city, and just outside and they either never answer their phone and don't call back, or the wrong number is listed on yell! If I travel too far it will become a toss up which is more environmentally friendly, repairing the microwave and driving to get it done or just buying a new one.
Apparently currys will recycle my old one, but that doesn;t help all the resources and waste it will take to make my new one, plus the energy expended to get the other one recycled.
I read a thing a while ago that said if you already owned a microwave then it was environmentally sound to use it as they use less energy than conventional ovens, but that if you didn't have one already it was doubtless unethical to buy one. But now I am trying to find out how bad they are, and pretty much drawing a blank.
At first it was OK, but now I am starting to wish there was one. I don't use it loads, but I do steam veg in it, and reheat meals which have been made the day before. I think it is less environmentally sound to keep using the cooker to reheat, and to use extra washing liquid and water to clean things which have stuff baked on.
The last microwave has lasted about 8 years, so it;s not like it's an everyday purchase, but not a once in a lifetime one either.
I don't really know what the best thing to do is. Nothing until January and the buy nothing new challenge is over!
I have tried calling every microwave repair person in the city, and just outside and they either never answer their phone and don't call back, or the wrong number is listed on yell! If I travel too far it will become a toss up which is more environmentally friendly, repairing the microwave and driving to get it done or just buying a new one.
Apparently currys will recycle my old one, but that doesn;t help all the resources and waste it will take to make my new one, plus the energy expended to get the other one recycled.
I read a thing a while ago that said if you already owned a microwave then it was environmentally sound to use it as they use less energy than conventional ovens, but that if you didn't have one already it was doubtless unethical to buy one. But now I am trying to find out how bad they are, and pretty much drawing a blank.
At first it was OK, but now I am starting to wish there was one. I don't use it loads, but I do steam veg in it, and reheat meals which have been made the day before. I think it is less environmentally sound to keep using the cooker to reheat, and to use extra washing liquid and water to clean things which have stuff baked on.
The last microwave has lasted about 8 years, so it;s not like it's an everyday purchase, but not a once in a lifetime one either.
I don't really know what the best thing to do is. Nothing until January and the buy nothing new challenge is over!
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
What a load of bog roll!
With regards to Going Paperless I decided to monitor how much toilet roll I used. Crunchy Chicken reckons that the average american uses 8.9 sheets on average per visit to the throne room, adding up to a total of 57 sheets per day. Wowzers!
Since monitoring I have found that it varies, or can vary greatly, day to day, even (hopefully this won't be TMI) if there are similar jobs to be done on the throne each day. However, either Americans use single ply loo roll, or they do more poos or something because my daily average is 13.25 sheets.
This does admittedly add up to 4836.25 sheets in a year, which with rolls of 200ish sheets is 24 toilet rolls a year. Which actually is 2 per month, which I would have thought would be more than I used, but there you go.
Of course this doesn't take into account blowing your nose and the like, but I do try to use a hanky. I do that partly just because I prefer the feel of real cotton on my face, and not toilet paper, but now I am actively trying to reduce paper wastage I shall make sure I use that.
Monday, 18 January 2010
Nothing New there then!
So, since January 1st 2010 I have been on a self-set challenge to buy nothing new. However if you read my last update on this challenge you will be aware that I did rather intentionally buy somehting new (some fairtrade christmas crackers for next year) and somewhat accidentally and without thinking about it a bottle of water, although this remains arguably within the rules as I didn't state anything about water consumption. I do however have some vaguely coherent internal rules about buying bottled water, and such a purchase would normally be one I would try to limit, however on that particular day I had forgotten to take a bottle of water with me, and I did need a drink, so is it better or worse to buy a bottle of water or a bottle of fizzy pop? There weren't a great deal of highly ethical options in the motorway services shop.
It is also rather dolefully that I admit to accidentally buying an umbrella. I know, I know, how can one accidentally buy an umbrella? Well, my umbrella has been around for a good few years and has been half way round the world with me and back again, it has been well loved and well used for some time now, but is also broken. One of the arms/spokes? won;t extend. It catches in my hair, and drips onto my neck, and the taggy bit then hangs in my face, trying it the other way round seemed far worse in terms of how dry i was keeping, or rather how wet I was getting. This I have been putting up with, but now it is getting tempramental in whether it will actually let me open it up and stay opened. The mechanism seems to be gone. It's a shame because it has been good for not turning itself inside out in the wind, it also folds up really small making it not only a great companion for travelling, but also an easy addition to my bag.
So, I saw this teensy umbrella reduced in (argh, dare I say it? I am reducing the amount i go there) Tesco, it was perfect. I left it on the shelf thinking of my (not ethically related) new year's resolution of having a budget per month, and thinking an umbrella was a particularly unsexy way to spend my limited budget. Then at the cash desk I decided that I do in fact need an umbrella and so should get it. Proceeds to Marie Curie too (although I do know that it's probably about 10p they got). It was only on the way home that I realised my mistake.
Still, I was going to buy a replacement umbrella soon enough, resisting buying it wouldn't have really changed anything about the world, just ever-so slightly delayed it.
There are some things on my want list though, they will have to wait til February though. 12 days to go until I can have:
-a glass drinking straw from http://www.glassdharma.com/straws.html
-the good shopping guide. This year I want to get a lot better at avoiding products from unethical companies
It is also rather dolefully that I admit to accidentally buying an umbrella. I know, I know, how can one accidentally buy an umbrella? Well, my umbrella has been around for a good few years and has been half way round the world with me and back again, it has been well loved and well used for some time now, but is also broken. One of the arms/spokes? won;t extend. It catches in my hair, and drips onto my neck, and the taggy bit then hangs in my face, trying it the other way round seemed far worse in terms of how dry i was keeping, or rather how wet I was getting. This I have been putting up with, but now it is getting tempramental in whether it will actually let me open it up and stay opened. The mechanism seems to be gone. It's a shame because it has been good for not turning itself inside out in the wind, it also folds up really small making it not only a great companion for travelling, but also an easy addition to my bag.
So, I saw this teensy umbrella reduced in (argh, dare I say it? I am reducing the amount i go there) Tesco, it was perfect. I left it on the shelf thinking of my (not ethically related) new year's resolution of having a budget per month, and thinking an umbrella was a particularly unsexy way to spend my limited budget. Then at the cash desk I decided that I do in fact need an umbrella and so should get it. Proceeds to Marie Curie too (although I do know that it's probably about 10p they got). It was only on the way home that I realised my mistake.
Still, I was going to buy a replacement umbrella soon enough, resisting buying it wouldn't have really changed anything about the world, just ever-so slightly delayed it.
There are some things on my want list though, they will have to wait til February though. 12 days to go until I can have:
-a glass drinking straw from http://www.glassdharma.com/straws.html
-the good shopping guide. This year I want to get a lot better at avoiding products from unethical companies
Saturday, 16 January 2010
Travel
...the romance and sense of adventure is undeniable...
So says Time Out's Great Train Journeys of the World about 5000 mile journey on the trans-siberian railway. This is a journey I took this year. We left home by bus, then first class train to London, where we had a champagne (not very ethical I'm sure!) in the longest champagne bar in the world. We boarded Eurostar that lunchtime, and arrived in Brussels in the afternoon. A short train ride later and we were in Cologne for dinner and the rest of the evening.
Later on day 1 we boarded our first sleeper, bound for Warsaw
Day 2 we arrived in Warsaw, and had lunch and some chill out time there, before boarding our second sleeper train to Moscow, through Belarus. So, 48 hours of travelling time and 1924 miles later and we were in Moscow for 3 days.
Then we started the third day of travel. Yaroslavsky station in Moscow saw the start of, arguably, the greatest train journey in the world (and said to be the longest, except we went trans-mongolian, which is slightly shorter. At 21.35 Moscow time we boarded Train number 4 bound for Beijing.
The train travelled through western Russia and into Siberia, and then into the steppe land of Mongolia. You go to bed one night and wake up the next to the rolling green hills, desolate except for the occasional ger
Then gradually the scenery shifts as you enter and traverse the Gobi Desert
We were even lucky enough to see wild camels. I had pretty much given up hope, and then there they were!
The sunsets on the Mongolian plains
Later that same night we arrive in China to a fanfare! Literally. The bogies then need to be changed, which is a lengthy process. We then have a quick shop in the station shop, which is possibly the most exciting thing I had ever done in my life before that moment. Words cannot describe how excited I was to be in China. Then I somehow managed to sleep, and woke up to China proper. People in conical straw hats line the edges of the railing, digging and planting and tending to things
Later that same day we arrived in Beijing station. So 6 days and 4735 miles later and we are at our destination of Beijing (this so far makes 8 days of travelling and 6659 miles totally)
After 3 days in Beijing the journey begins again with an overnight train to Shanghai
10 hours and 914 miles later and we are in Shanghai (total so far 8.5 days and 7573 miles)
The next day we left China on a ferry found bound for Kobe, Japan
So, 2 days and 1093 miles later and we were in the land of the rising sun. So far we have spent 10.5 days travelling and 8666 miles have been traversed. What an adventure!
From Kobe we travelled to Kyoto, and then after a couple of days in Kyoto we travelled by Shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo
On the last day we took a private railway line up to the lakes of Fuji. Unfortunately Fuji was surrounded in low lying cloud that day, so despite climbing some metres upwards, on foot, not cable car, we could really only see the foothills of Fuji, and the space in the sky where the summit would be
It's hard to be precise, but I think we travelled about 1636 miles within Japan on trains
So about 10.5 total days of travelling time, plus odd couples of hours here and there, and just over 10000 miles travelled, by train, bus, underground train, boat, ferry, monorail, coach, minibus, rickshaw and pink swan shaped peddle boat! And that gets you half way round the world!
Unfortunately we didn't have time to make the same journey home again, so we had to fly. But I am committed to eradicating flying from here on in!
Of course this does still have a carbon impact, but it is lower than by flying, and happening at ground level, and is not compounded by some of the additional gases in aviation pollution.
So says Time Out's Great Train Journeys of the World about 5000 mile journey on the trans-siberian railway. This is a journey I took this year. We left home by bus, then first class train to London, where we had a champagne (not very ethical I'm sure!) in the longest champagne bar in the world. We boarded Eurostar that lunchtime, and arrived in Brussels in the afternoon. A short train ride later and we were in Cologne for dinner and the rest of the evening.
Later on day 1 we boarded our first sleeper, bound for Warsaw
Day 2 we arrived in Warsaw, and had lunch and some chill out time there, before boarding our second sleeper train to Moscow, through Belarus. So, 48 hours of travelling time and 1924 miles later and we were in Moscow for 3 days.
Then we started the third day of travel. Yaroslavsky station in Moscow saw the start of, arguably, the greatest train journey in the world (and said to be the longest, except we went trans-mongolian, which is slightly shorter. At 21.35 Moscow time we boarded Train number 4 bound for Beijing.
The train travelled through western Russia and into Siberia, and then into the steppe land of Mongolia. You go to bed one night and wake up the next to the rolling green hills, desolate except for the occasional ger
Then gradually the scenery shifts as you enter and traverse the Gobi Desert
We were even lucky enough to see wild camels. I had pretty much given up hope, and then there they were!
The sunsets on the Mongolian plains
Later that same night we arrive in China to a fanfare! Literally. The bogies then need to be changed, which is a lengthy process. We then have a quick shop in the station shop, which is possibly the most exciting thing I had ever done in my life before that moment. Words cannot describe how excited I was to be in China. Then I somehow managed to sleep, and woke up to China proper. People in conical straw hats line the edges of the railing, digging and planting and tending to things
Later that same day we arrived in Beijing station. So 6 days and 4735 miles later and we are at our destination of Beijing (this so far makes 8 days of travelling and 6659 miles totally)
After 3 days in Beijing the journey begins again with an overnight train to Shanghai
10 hours and 914 miles later and we are in Shanghai (total so far 8.5 days and 7573 miles)
The next day we left China on a ferry found bound for Kobe, Japan
So, 2 days and 1093 miles later and we were in the land of the rising sun. So far we have spent 10.5 days travelling and 8666 miles have been traversed. What an adventure!
From Kobe we travelled to Kyoto, and then after a couple of days in Kyoto we travelled by Shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo
On the last day we took a private railway line up to the lakes of Fuji. Unfortunately Fuji was surrounded in low lying cloud that day, so despite climbing some metres upwards, on foot, not cable car, we could really only see the foothills of Fuji, and the space in the sky where the summit would be
It's hard to be precise, but I think we travelled about 1636 miles within Japan on trains
So about 10.5 total days of travelling time, plus odd couples of hours here and there, and just over 10000 miles travelled, by train, bus, underground train, boat, ferry, monorail, coach, minibus, rickshaw and pink swan shaped peddle boat! And that gets you half way round the world!
Unfortunately we didn't have time to make the same journey home again, so we had to fly. But I am committed to eradicating flying from here on in!
Of course this does still have a carbon impact, but it is lower than by flying, and happening at ground level, and is not compounded by some of the additional gases in aviation pollution.
Go paperless?
It's what all the eco-types are doing, and what all the big businesses are doing to greenwash the rest of the shady practices, encouraging you to go "paperless". I have gone paperless with my bank accounts, credit cards and several utility bills.
Then I started thinking about reducing other paper products... I currently use kitchen roll (for holding my boiled eggs, cleaning up spills in the kitchen, wiping the grease off my hands if we have a take away, and as the first absorption layer when pressing tofu) and of course, toilet roll.
I was reading Fake Plastic Fish and Beth was recommending some cloth alternatives to kitchen roll. The particular ones she recommended were totally natural (no plastic hiding in them like most cloths and cloth wipes) and biodegradable/compostable when the end of their life is reached, and come in minimal card packaging. Unfortunately they only seem to be available in the US. I am sure there must be some sort of equivalent product in the UK, I need to do some research to find it, but I wanted those, I liked the look of them.
Then I was thinking about the bog roll (I would never say that out loud, I call it "loo paper" normally!) and actually said to someone, "don't worry we won't be getting rid of that" (except I probably shouldn't have said it out loud because experience has taught me that many of the things I now do, think and like are things I have previously said "never" to). I actually didn't really even think anyone (except in countries where bidets are the norm, or people are very poor) didn't use it.
We buy 100% recycled paper. But then I was reading on Crunchy Chicken about her cloth wipe challenge. Strange I would read this at the same time I have been thinking about it. She and her family use cloth for "#1s" and paper for "#2s" but plenty of people apparently use wash and wipe even for number 2s. This would be very impractical for us as throne room is quite distinct from the washroom, so to speak.
Anyways, for the time being I don't think I will be making that change, and I doubt I ever will, but as I say, I used to say I hated dreads, thought washable menstrual wear was a bridge too far and wouldn't want my lip pierced, I didn't like soya milk and thought it was ok to fly.
I used to think paper wasn't that bad... it biodegrades over time, it comes from sustainably managed forests or it is recycled. Then I learned that it degrades anaerobically in landfill and produces greenhouse gases, so I stopped throwing any paper away at all. For many years now it has all gone in the recycling, been used up, or gone in the compost. Then I stopped buying paper that wasn't recycled as far as reasonably possible because of the higher energy costs in virgin production as compared with recycling. But of course the energy costs of recycling are far higher than not using it at all.
Crunchy Chicken states that on average US citizens use 8.6 sheets of paper per trip to the toilet, which she equates to 57 sheets per day, which I calculate to be 6.63 toilet trips per day. Much as I love her blog, really? US citizens go to the toilet more than 6 times a day? Using 8.6 sheets even just for a wee? Maybe that is single ply figures so really it is 4.3 of our usual 2 ply, but even that sounds like a lot, even for an average across #1s and #2s. Some people must be using hella toilet paper!
Anyway, an effort to reduce toilet paper consumption for the sake of the paper, the waste, and the costs of cleaning the water seem like a good thing all round.
TMI? I have used 7 sheets so far today. I haven't been trying to use a minimal amount. I thought I would just see, for curiosity's sake how much I use in a day, and then maybe try to reduce. How much do you use each day?
Then I started thinking about reducing other paper products... I currently use kitchen roll (for holding my boiled eggs, cleaning up spills in the kitchen, wiping the grease off my hands if we have a take away, and as the first absorption layer when pressing tofu) and of course, toilet roll.
I was reading Fake Plastic Fish and Beth was recommending some cloth alternatives to kitchen roll. The particular ones she recommended were totally natural (no plastic hiding in them like most cloths and cloth wipes) and biodegradable/compostable when the end of their life is reached, and come in minimal card packaging. Unfortunately they only seem to be available in the US. I am sure there must be some sort of equivalent product in the UK, I need to do some research to find it, but I wanted those, I liked the look of them.
Then I was thinking about the bog roll (I would never say that out loud, I call it "loo paper" normally!) and actually said to someone, "don't worry we won't be getting rid of that" (except I probably shouldn't have said it out loud because experience has taught me that many of the things I now do, think and like are things I have previously said "never" to). I actually didn't really even think anyone (except in countries where bidets are the norm, or people are very poor) didn't use it.
We buy 100% recycled paper. But then I was reading on Crunchy Chicken about her cloth wipe challenge. Strange I would read this at the same time I have been thinking about it. She and her family use cloth for "#1s" and paper for "#2s" but plenty of people apparently use wash and wipe even for number 2s. This would be very impractical for us as throne room is quite distinct from the washroom, so to speak.
Anyways, for the time being I don't think I will be making that change, and I doubt I ever will, but as I say, I used to say I hated dreads, thought washable menstrual wear was a bridge too far and wouldn't want my lip pierced, I didn't like soya milk and thought it was ok to fly.
I used to think paper wasn't that bad... it biodegrades over time, it comes from sustainably managed forests or it is recycled. Then I learned that it degrades anaerobically in landfill and produces greenhouse gases, so I stopped throwing any paper away at all. For many years now it has all gone in the recycling, been used up, or gone in the compost. Then I stopped buying paper that wasn't recycled as far as reasonably possible because of the higher energy costs in virgin production as compared with recycling. But of course the energy costs of recycling are far higher than not using it at all.
Crunchy Chicken states that on average US citizens use 8.6 sheets of paper per trip to the toilet, which she equates to 57 sheets per day, which I calculate to be 6.63 toilet trips per day. Much as I love her blog, really? US citizens go to the toilet more than 6 times a day? Using 8.6 sheets even just for a wee? Maybe that is single ply figures so really it is 4.3 of our usual 2 ply, but even that sounds like a lot, even for an average across #1s and #2s. Some people must be using hella toilet paper!
Anyway, an effort to reduce toilet paper consumption for the sake of the paper, the waste, and the costs of cleaning the water seem like a good thing all round.
TMI? I have used 7 sheets so far today. I haven't been trying to use a minimal amount. I thought I would just see, for curiosity's sake how much I use in a day, and then maybe try to reduce. How much do you use each day?
Friday, 15 January 2010
The buy-nothing new challenge....
Half way through... I meant to update weekly, but life kind of got in the way of things.
My challenge to myself was to buy nothing new for the whole of January. My self-set rules allow me to buy used second-hand.
15 days into January, what have I bought? Have I bought anything new? How is the challenge going?
Well, disappointedly I tell you I did in fact buy something new only 4 days into the challenge. I was in Oxfam, and saw the fairtrade crackers I wished I had known about before I had bought non-fairtrade ones for christmas just gone, but also kind of pleased I hadn't known about, cause if I had have done I would have bought them, and at twice the price for half as many it would have been 4 times as expensive. So there they were in the January sale at half price! So, 2 boxes in hand ready for christmas coming which I will no doubt be hosting (hopefully with a BabyOrganik) I remembered my challenge. I left the queue to put them back. Then decidedly stepped back into the queue. I thought that if there is a BabyOrganik at christmas I may decide not to spend the extra cash and so no fairtrade crackers would get bought, I also thought I didn't want them to go to waste and wanted Oxfam to sell them. I basically decided on the spur of the moment that fairtrade of somehting you actually *want* to buy beats self-set challenge.
On the day before that I also bought some things, but I don't think they can count - I bought screenwash and deionised water for the car... as I had been driving along at 70mph I got a load of snow on the windscreen, so went to clear it and smeared muddy slush all across the windscreen hampering visibility. Pulled the wash stick to squirt it and nothing happened. Cue mega anxiety and semi-immediate (as soon as safely possible) stoppage to resolve the issue, hence screenwash and water. Surely safety also beats self-set challenge? Stop me if you think I am just talking myself out of all my purchases and therefore rendering my challenge void.
What probably wasn't okay was the bottle of drinking water I bought at the same time to try and cure the anxiety induced dry mouth I was suffering from. I didn't specify at any point to what level foods and drinks would count.
I have made a few other purchases this month, but they have all been used items, or experiences, or consumables - a used purple cord skirt, 2 cinema tickets, a drink in a bar, a used white stuff gilet, that's all I think. Although, now I come to think of it, one of the cinema tickets was for Avatar 3d and I had to purchase 3d spectacles. I think that probably counts. That only just occurred to me.
So, now we know the mistakes I have made, has it made any difference at all? Have I avoided buying anything or are these the only things I would have bought anyway?
Well, I said "no" to curry at from the take away across from work today, partly based on the excess packaging issue, although that isn't strictly in this challenge. I have avoided bidding on ebay on a few things I actually would have quite liked - a pink spotty cord skirt, some ethnic style leggings and a pair of fairtrade gloves as a present for Mr Organik. I really need a new measuring jug, but for now I am making do with guestimating multiples and fractions of tea mugs! I also nearly bought a replacement for my waning eyebrow pencil, until I remembered. I will have to eke that one out!
So half way through and my fails are as follows:
My challenge to myself was to buy nothing new for the whole of January. My self-set rules allow me to buy used second-hand.
15 days into January, what have I bought? Have I bought anything new? How is the challenge going?
Well, disappointedly I tell you I did in fact buy something new only 4 days into the challenge. I was in Oxfam, and saw the fairtrade crackers I wished I had known about before I had bought non-fairtrade ones for christmas just gone, but also kind of pleased I hadn't known about, cause if I had have done I would have bought them, and at twice the price for half as many it would have been 4 times as expensive. So there they were in the January sale at half price! So, 2 boxes in hand ready for christmas coming which I will no doubt be hosting (hopefully with a BabyOrganik) I remembered my challenge. I left the queue to put them back. Then decidedly stepped back into the queue. I thought that if there is a BabyOrganik at christmas I may decide not to spend the extra cash and so no fairtrade crackers would get bought, I also thought I didn't want them to go to waste and wanted Oxfam to sell them. I basically decided on the spur of the moment that fairtrade of somehting you actually *want* to buy beats self-set challenge.
On the day before that I also bought some things, but I don't think they can count - I bought screenwash and deionised water for the car... as I had been driving along at 70mph I got a load of snow on the windscreen, so went to clear it and smeared muddy slush all across the windscreen hampering visibility. Pulled the wash stick to squirt it and nothing happened. Cue mega anxiety and semi-immediate (as soon as safely possible) stoppage to resolve the issue, hence screenwash and water. Surely safety also beats self-set challenge? Stop me if you think I am just talking myself out of all my purchases and therefore rendering my challenge void.
What probably wasn't okay was the bottle of drinking water I bought at the same time to try and cure the anxiety induced dry mouth I was suffering from. I didn't specify at any point to what level foods and drinks would count.
I have made a few other purchases this month, but they have all been used items, or experiences, or consumables - a used purple cord skirt, 2 cinema tickets, a drink in a bar, a used white stuff gilet, that's all I think. Although, now I come to think of it, one of the cinema tickets was for Avatar 3d and I had to purchase 3d spectacles. I think that probably counts. That only just occurred to me.
So, now we know the mistakes I have made, has it made any difference at all? Have I avoided buying anything or are these the only things I would have bought anyway?
Well, I said "no" to curry at from the take away across from work today, partly based on the excess packaging issue, although that isn't strictly in this challenge. I have avoided bidding on ebay on a few things I actually would have quite liked - a pink spotty cord skirt, some ethnic style leggings and a pair of fairtrade gloves as a present for Mr Organik. I really need a new measuring jug, but for now I am making do with guestimating multiples and fractions of tea mugs! I also nearly bought a replacement for my waning eyebrow pencil, until I remembered. I will have to eke that one out!
So half way through and my fails are as follows:
- 2 boxes of oxfam fairtrade crackers
- bottle of drinking water
- 3d glasses at cinema
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
