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Lakeland: an answer or a problem?

Can’t decide whether this from Lakeland – brought to my attention by Yorkie, so thanks very much – is A/ a genius invention to solve my live-in eco-sceptic lover’s problem.
B/ a waste of plastic and a typical example of other products invented by Lakeland, such as spiralizers and herb holders. C/ something I shouldn’t be spending this amount of time thinking about.

When I browsed the Lakeland catalogue the other day, I was torn. Yes, there were some seriously nifty items, things that you didn’t realize you needed until you saw them - teapot drip catchers, for instance. But no one in their right mind really need these. I couldn't help thinking: is this retailer creating problems in the kitchen or solving them?

Weekend habits

I wouldn’t like to speculate about how you spend your weekend, but if, by any small chance, you are planning a trip to B&Q this Saturday (worse things have happened) you’ll be in the right place to scoop some energy saving info.

The store has teamed up with The Energy Saving Trust and will be giving out information on energy efficient products as well as running special offers on them. Some stores will even receive a visit from an Energy Doctor who can diagnose your home’s ill health. Insulate, insulate, insulate, I imagine to be the advice. If you want to know how, this website Think Insulation is a good starting point.

Personally, I’m quite proud – and a little bit smug – about never having been to a B&Q. What do you reckon, am I missing out? It could be because I’m not much of a DIYer. I also worry that I would realize we possess inferior shelving units and gardening tools if I spent any time there. The same goes for Ikea. I hitched a lift there with a friend once, years ago, and brought back a couple of nice things, but that was the only time I've let myself loose among the swedish pine and floor cushions. The thing is, it’s not the easiest place to reach if you don’t have a car. When we bought our flat earlier this year, it was easier to keep an eye out in auction houses, such as Criterion and go fishing in skips, than plan a bus journey to the Croyden IKEA. Then again, I haven't told you about my John Lewis habit...

Biscuit bizness

Can you help Gervase, my eco sceptic live-in lover, with his biscuit troubles? Most days, he wraps up a couple of chocolate biscuits in silver foil to take to work along with his Tupperware box full of lunch. Very sweet, I know. And yet, it is an unnecessary use of silver foil, there's no two ways about it. He says if puts the biscuits in with his lunch, they taste of salami. If they travel loose or in a little bag, they go stale. Is there such a thing as a biscuit Tupperware container? And can you believe that my life consists of worries such as these?

I can’t help thinking that A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down will have an answer, if anyone will. Have you seen the site? An expert in all teatime rituals, its author runs a Biscuit of the Week section and in depth analysis of common - or garden - biscuits of the digestive and gingernut variety.

Julie and Julia

Reading this book at the moment and loving it. Now I'm hooked on the blog too, although I gather it should be the other around. Julie Powell got a book deal on the back of her excellent blog. Anyway, if you like food and you like reading about food and you like the way food weaves its way into your everyday life, like I do, you’ll enjoy both. Although Julie is on holiday at the moment so the blog is quieter than normal.

In the book, there’s lots of laughs; a certain honesty about relationships and life in your late twenties that I admire, and some mouth watering recipes, mostly revolving around several pints of cream and slabs of butter, since it has a French recipe book at its heart. So, don’t be put off my the super girly cover. 

The only thing that worried me, and I’d love to hear from Julie on this, was a couple of remarks about food waste. When she cleans out her fridge and cupboards, she describes, opening a black binbag and piling everything in. Hmm, naughty! And when she mentions Christmas with her family in Texas - where it never gets cold enough to enjoy an open fire - she says they turn on the air conditioning just so they can light a fire. Do people really do that?

It reminds me of a friend who made the mistake of telling me that her favourite way of going to sleep was with the central heating on and the bedroom windows wide open. Not impressed by that, I wasn't. Not at all. Do people do that as well?

Why cows are back in my good books

I don’t know about you but I’ve been avidly following the debate sparked by Joanna Lumley’s comment article which pointed out the significant role that meat and dairy consumption has on climate change - yes, yes, it's the farting cows, we all know that now.
At least we think we do. A series of letters, mostly from farmers, flooded in to The Times, you’ll find them here, reminding readers that the relationship between cows and the environment is more complex than we realize.
This made me wonder if I was a little hasty in my previous proclamation that true eco-worriers shouldn't eat meat and dairy. There are good reasons to eat less of it, as listed here by No Impact Man - my new favourite blog. But the more I find out about the symbiotic relationship between livestock and land, the less I believe that Joanna Lumley and her ilk grasp the full story. By converting grass to fertilizer, cows not only reduce the need to manufacture artificial fertilizer, they also lock up carbon that would otherwise be released by rotting plants. On top of all this, farms are already looking into ways of turning the methane cows create into fuel – it’s happening here. 
When I visited an organic dairy farm in Pembrokeshire this summer, the words of the farmer, David Lort-Phillips stayed with me (see him and his family clan above). He couldn’t believe that people were blaming cows for climate change.
“Animals perform a vital function in the countryside,” David told me. “By grazing and producing manure that in turn improves soil structure and quality, they help us to manage the land and produce healthy cereal crops.”
I am inclined to agree. Let me know what you think.

Best of the blogs

Nice that Eco-Worrier was listed sixth in this list of the Top 35 Environmental Blogs. It made my day. Until moments ago, when I read the words “in no particular order” and my bubble burst. Oh well, good to be on there, anyway. I recommend a quick scan of the list to see if there are any blogs that you’ve yet to sample. I discovered No Impact Man, with whom I am sure I will develop a good relationship (here is a New York Times article about what he is doing), and ethical consumerism blog Haute Nature.
Shame, that I didn’t manage to post on Blog Action Day – a fantastic concept - but I was in Devon, away from both wi-fi connection and laptop. Bliss!

Btw, has anyone read this book by Barbara Kingsolver, author of The Poisonwood Bible? It's the memoir of her year feeding herself and her family from homegrown and local provisions and it’s next up on my bedside table.

Where can you recycle Tetrapak?

Masses of emails coming in about this. Who would think it? Flimsy little cartons that your juice arrives in and they kick up more debate than Al Gore’s Nobel Peace prize. It goes to show that it’s often the little things that trouble us, in our attempts to become earth-friendly. The fact that your morning glass of OJ comes from an irritating combination of materials that are difficult to recycle sets you off on the wrong foot. After covering it here, I admit that I was cynical about Tesco’s promise that it was setting up facilities to deal with the cartons at its recycling centres. But so far, I have learnt from readers that you can take your Tetrapak to the following places (click below to reach the list). I should also add that it’s worth, going to the Tetrapak Recycling website where there is an interactive map.
Thank you to everyone who emailed me

Safe to saddle up

If you need a little convincing that cycling to work really is a good idea, take comfort in this article by Grist (one of my favourite sources of eco news and commentary, albeit with an American slant) that claims biking is safer than it used to be. The health benefits massively outweigh the risks, says the writer.

And if it’s getting safer in the States, where the motorcar rules, it must be alright for us Brits. Various arguments are aired, including one that suggests since cycling in cities is considered dangerous, those who do it are risk-takers and therefore accidents are likely to be higher than normal among the cycling population.

There are also some statistics on fatalities per million hours of activity. They conclude that cycling is only a fraction more dangerous than taking an airplane. On second thoughts, I’m not sure whether that is comforting or not. 

Anyway, it’s a good time of year to flag up the benefits since it is becoming harder to saddle up in the mornings as temperatures drop. By November, I’ll be fearing for the tips of my fingers. Last year, I had a terrific response to a post I did about how to make cycling in winter bearable.

Then again, lots of keen cyclists I know say that cycling in winter is better than in summer; less sweaty, less people and somehow it commands more respect. That’s what I tell myself, anyway, as I pedal off in the morning, desperately trying to get my limbs warmed up.

How to grow winter veg

My garden looks a bit grim. Bunches of tomatoes are still green with no intention of turning even the palest of reds (must make them into this chutney anyway); the water butt is still overflowing, and all my other edibles – aubergines, courgettes and beans – have had their glory days. I’ve been pulling them up and bundling them into the brown garden waste bin that our council collects. But it seems a shame to give up on the garden just because it’s turned a little chilly. Defiantly, some days, I pull on a jumper and sit out at the picnic table to drink my tea. On a bright autumn morning, it’s as beautiful as any summer’s day. But as the flower beds thin out, I know it's appeal will diminish too. This is the problem with growing plants that provide food. When the growing season is over, it’s a bit of a let down. What now? Is there anything that grows under watery sun and icy blasts of wind?
Let me know what you grow over the winter months. In return, I’ll share some nuggets of wisdom from my research into hardy veggies. So far, I’ve gleaned the following:

Eco gadget alert

Yesterday I set up my Electrisave - a gadget that measures how much electricity you are using at any one time in your home - which has been recently rebranded Owl. If I wasn’t already a demon for switching off and powering down, I am now. Better than that, I am an informed one with figures to back me up in case of confrontation. Don’t be put off, imagining it’s like plumbing in a dishwasher or rewiring a plug. It isn’t. It’s really easy. You fasten a click to the wire coming out of your electricity meter, pop in the batteries, press a button and it’s up and running. Such a relief after the rumpus with the water butt. Then, you run around the house turning everything off, so the reading turns as close to zero as possible (we left our freezer and fridge running so it stayed at about one unit – sorry not sure what the units mean yet, something to do with parts of kilowatts but that’s in lesson two). One by one, you turn things on, running over to the little screen to see how many points it has risen. Even Gervase (otherwise known as the Eco Sceptic Boyfriend) was excited, or at least pretended to be. But before I waffle on about what I’ve learnt, to demonstrate just how practical I am, I shall compile a functional (slightly masculine) list of Things I Have Learnt:

1/ That our incandescent light bulbs (that’s conventional, non energy-saving ones) shift up the reading by over one point, compared to our energy saving ones that don’t have any impact on it at all. Not even 0.1 of a percent. Amazing!