Eco Worrier - Times Online - WBLG

Bear with me please fellow eco-worriers

I am leaving my laptop and escaping to the west coast of Ireland for a short and hopefully ethical break. In the meantime, here are a couple of my current favourite blogs. For food, you can’t do better than a combination of Chocolate and Zucchini (I made the eponymous cake the other day using courgettes from our soggy but still productive plant - and it was everything I hoped it would be. Find recipe here) sprinkled in with some Sceptical Cook (I love the simple style that is used to talk recipes; no poncey descriptions, just straight food). To veer towards more environmental subjects but without going for a direct or even sense-driven approach – that would be too easy - I’m a big fan of Kitchenwitch and Hedgewizard's diary. Treehugger can of course do no wrong and for growing inspiration, I like to peruse My Tiny Plot.

Coming up next weekend (1st/2nd September)

Not usually mad keen on plugging events on this blog, but because I know it will be fun, let me tell you about the Soil Association Organic Food Festival taking place in Bristol.
Along with all the usual foodie yumminess (a celebrity demo kitchen starring Barny Haughton of Bordeaux Quay, Darina Allen of Ballymaloe and food writer Sophie Grigson, plus over 300 organic food exhibitors) there will be a fashion show featuring 16 organic fashion companies (see pic for skirt made by Seasalt, reduced to £30 in its summer sale), set to the trip-hop sounds of Daddy G from Massive Attack. All in all, a very Bristol affair, but not to ignored by the rest of the country.

Eco-scepticism: how do you fight back?

Peter wrote in yesterday to respond to my blog about eco-arguments. He says what bugs him most is when friends say to him: I’m not convinced about this Global Warming thing.  “This is one of the great cop out lines used in response to any proposed eco-friendly activity,” says Peter. He suggests that I do a post asking for the best responses to this line, which, being a fine idea, is exactly what I’ve decided to do. Thanks Peter!

So, how do you deal with a sceptical friend? I must admit, I inwardly groan when someone challenges me by saying: but isn’t it all just natural weather patterns and the fault of the sun. I have several friends who I suspect enjoy being controversial more than anything else. They like to provoke a rise and I refuse to be coaxed into an argument about it. The facts are out there. There are few reputable scientists who will deny that climate change is happening and that it is triggered by man-made emissions. Even George Bush has grudgingly accepted it - or at least pretended to - so how can anyone say “I’m not convinced” ? I’m through with trying to persuade people. Please let me know if you have other tried and tested tactics, more effective than becoming a cross-patch like me.

Gooseberries: where are you?

Always called 'goosegogs' by my grandpa, there is nothing I like more than a summer gooseberry fool, made with Greek yoghurt or even mascarpone. Apart from, perhaps, a hot bubbling goosegog puree, sweetened with brown sugar and served with cold, thick cream. Without these sour little fruits, I have no excuse to sit in the garden in the evening, pretending to top and tail. I've checked my local shops and the nearby Waitrose to no avail. Can anyone point me towards a source? While on the subject, can anyone tell me why my crumble goes soggy when I make gooseberry crumble. It seems to sink into the gooseberry mixture. What am I doing wrong?

Eco-confession of the week

Queuing for a coffee in Liverpool Street station yesterday, the woman in front of me asked if the café – a popular high street chain, but no, not Starbucks, I’m not that way inclined - had Fairtrade coffee. There was a kafuffle. The barista asked the boss, the boss looked a bit lost and everyone stopped grinding coffee beans. After several minutes, during which time the queue had broken into impatient tutting noises, it was confirmed that yes, a Fairtrade option was available.

I silently saluted the woman and followed in her lead by asking for the same myself. But I also flinched slightly when she made her request. Somehow it was a little shrill; a little self righteous. The people who overheard were not thinking: ‘Bravo! Here is a woman advancing ethical consumerism and supporting coffee producers in developing countries. They were thinking: “Here we go, another rice cake munching middle classer who does her shopping in Wholefoods.”

Why is it that doing the right thing when you’re shopping is often cringe-making? Try asking in a supermarket if your veg has been shipped or flown or even where the organic milk section is. Likewise, when I stopped to buy flowers the other day, I was primed to ask if the florist had any flowers grown in the UK. But something stopped me. I could hear what I sounded like. Exactly the same as the woman I heard in a North London butcher loudly demanding to know whether her guinea fowl had been corn-fed. I didn’t like the comparison, so I grabbed a bunch of lilies and left.

What I have is what I need

Seven months into Eco-Worrier’s Wardrobe Challenge (click and you will find) it’s becoming easier and easier. Honestly, I’ve never felt more content with the clothes in my cupboard and with my possessions in general. I look around our flat and I realize that what I have is what I need. Is this that elusive thing called satisfaction? Or is it smugness. Anyway, I like it. It’s a balanced sort of feeling. I’m not saying I look any better (possibly worse) or that our basement flat has stepped out of Elle Decor (there is no Elle Decor in Hackney) but it goes to show that if you stay away from the shops for a few months, your quality of life will probably improve.

These days, I have time; I see my friends; I make yummy things to eat; I grow green things in the garden -  and sometimes purple ones. My two aubergine plants have created thumb-sized swellings. I'm thrilled. Given the summer's lack of sunshine, it's a miracle.

Although it is only clothes that I’m officially forbidden from buying by The Challenge, pretty much everything that I might previously have trotted off to spend my money on has lost its appeal. Thus, I am getting richer. I suspect this is because clothes shopping doesn’t only make you want a new dress, it triggers a desire for a lifestyle to accompany it. Some glamorous cocktail glasses from Habitat perhaps? And what about one of those retro shawls hanging temptingly near the tills? But the thing is it still won't transform you into Carrie from Sex in the City. You might as well wear your old clothes and ruin your nails in the garden. Sounds like fun to me - and you can always treat yourself to a cocktail afterwards.

Local versus global

A thought-provoking piece written by Alice Fordham in The Times today (find it here). Alice hits on the biggest contradiction and complication when ethical food shopping: whether to support local producers at the expense of the developing world. My add-on would be: by buying African beans, are you actually helping the farmers when they are (unless they are Fairtrade) probably being squeezed by multinational traders? I've always wondered whether they wouldn't be better off growing more crops for their own markets rather than worrying about ours, something that makes them permanently vulnerable. But then I'm no economist.

What I do know is that you have to rely on commonsense when buying your supper. Sometimes this is easy. Why choose apples from New Zealand when in no time at all, there will be tasty British versions coming into season? For products that cannot easily be grown in the UK, it is sensible to buy them from sunny countries. If nothing else, they will probably have a lower carbon footprint. But other times it gets complicated and our enthusiasm for British produce seems little more than protectionism. According to the Independent, farmers in Europe are guaranteed a price for their sugar which is three times higher than the world price. That doesn't seem fair. So my question is this: can you believe in Bob Geldof's 'trade not aid' as well as 'buying local'? I'd be grateful for any help here.

Why save water?

The sun might be out at the moment but after the general sogginess of the past few weeks, it’s hard to imagine that water is still a precious resource. Much of what has fallen in the past month will have run into rivers and into the sea. Counter-intuitively, the reason the water outlook for the next few months is rosy, according to Water UK, is because we had a decent amount of rainfall last winter.

The water cycle takes longer than most people realize. Especially if you live in dry areas, such as southeast England, where most of your water comes from underground aquifers. These are restocked during the winter. Late autumn to spring is known as the “recharge period”. There is usually more rain and none of it will be used up on gardens and crops. Between spring and autumn, the growing season, little of what falls makes it to the underground aquifers.

In the spirit of water saving, this weekend I’m sorting out my water butt, an eco virtuous affair made from recycled plastic (pictured above, find it here). Until now, it has simply been collecting rainwater that falls into it. What I should have done, weeks ago when it arrived, is fix it up properly to the drainwater pipe coming off our house. The scary thing is that it looks as though I’ve got to hack into the pipe to fix the diverter inside it and then drill a hole in the side of the butt. Both of these activities sound like a recipe for disaster, which is why I’ve roped the eco sceptic boyfriend into doing it. We’re off to buy a saw now. Wish us luck.