WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES?

I have to admit that now my mindset has been changed, now that I want to do things differently, the sheer amount of changes could be overwhelming. I think this is my personality though, can be a tad over enthousiastic and then the energy just is not there to carry it out.

I thought about this some more and actually that is probably what is happening all around. Imagine us to be a living thing just like the earth. The energy levels are getting a bit low, we are overheating a little, we need to let our hair down and relax, things are going badly wrong with temperature control and we have these organisms that seem to be just soo demanding.

Norene's post about plastic bags set me off again. What is the alternative I ask? It seems that plastic bags are just handed over whenever you shop and so the following seemed to be possibilities:

• Check out what your local supermarket does about plastic bags. Tesco for instance has a collection point in its store to collect and recycle the bags.
• Use canvas bags wherever possible and refuse plastic bags in town when they are offered to you. ( This may sound like hard work, but eventually it will become a habit).
• Buy locally produced food where possible. That means investigating what is available locally and see how you can change you shopping habits.
• Try a local vegetable box delivery scheme to avoid plastic wrapped vegetables and fruit.
• Avoid disposable goods such as nappies, plates,forks,yoghurt pots,cosmetic wipes, tissues, razors,kitchen towels, computer cartridges. Look at alternatives available.
• Drink tap water ( instead of buying bottled water) and use drink bottles to take drinks to work and out of the house.
• Give gifts and treats that do not clutter, such as trip to theatre, cinema, aromatherapy etc.

That seems to be plenty to think about. That is the theory and what can I do to make that practical? Try doing the waste diary which should give you some indication as to what goes in your bin.

I also wrote to my local waste management company to ask how plastics can be recycled. There is a facility to recycle plastic bottles, but nothing else and I am waiting to hear what they say. A carrier bag tax would be great I think, would get people to think about it more.

Ok, off to make some bread now and ponder some more on alternatives. It is beginning to feel like a waste diet.

The videos posted on the freecycle site have been collected and as a result I received a very nice mirror shelf made out of driftwood. Thanks