How to reduce paper clutter

The last few weeks I have been looking at the amount of resources used made of paper and how these could best be dealt with. Despite best efforts to stop junk mail and catalogues it became apparent that it still streams in the house.

MAIL

• Mail gets opened near the paper recycling box and generally there is very little actual communication that needs a response.
• Inbox- I have set up rules for incoming emails so the important ones get directed to their named inbox and junk box. It means being less overwhelmed by the amount of messages in the IN box. Turned off the 'ping' when an email comes in so I am not tempted to an immediate response.
• Unsubscribe from emails you are not interested in.
• Do not create accounts when purchasing items online and do not give out your email address when asked in shops or create an alias email for that purpose which redirects immediately to junk email.

GOING PAPERLESS ON BILLS

• Bank statements and utility bills can now be received digitally as opposed to a paper copy.
• Try to find out which companies offer paperless billing and choose that option. It will reduce the mail being opened and also saves the company money.
• Set up a reminder monthly to check the digital bills and keep a copy on your computer. Mine are divided into business and private bills and accessible anytime.

LETTERS,RECEIPTS,OFFICIAL PAPERWORK

• Letters from Government agencies, receipts and official letters are quite often kept in a folder and in any case should be accessible for 7 years.
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• To save them on a computer you will need a scanner. I save information in 3 places : computer, backup locally and a folder facility in the cloud.
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• I am a fan of Evernote as my back up because since having a stroke I have difficulty finding things and the notes saved on Evernote allow them to be searched by any word, as well as being available on mobile phones so in essence you carry the ability to carry vital information with you wherever you are.
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• Simple Life Together has a podcast episode six,dedicated to going paperless and Brooks Duncan  has a whole website dedicated to going paperless.
• Vanessa Hayes has a big range of videos to help organize anything in your home but in particular an action file.
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BOOKS AND MAGAZINES

• Books are available digitally as a direct download to an e reader or often as e-books which reduces the amount of book shelving space you need in your home.
• I like that idea a lot but often there are books I will refer to often and those I still like to have in a hard copy on the shelf.
• As far as magazines go, I am gradually changing any subscriptions to digital ones. Zinio have a great range of magazines and if you have an Ipad you carry with you a great amount of reading material.
• Cookery books and Craft Magazines are being revisited and the articles and recipes that are of interest are scanned in, using Evernote I can search for the recipe anytime. Many cookery books tell a story and are good companions for cooking seasonally.

How to plan a sustainable wardrobe

Over the last years I have tried to plan my wardrobe requirements using different criteria than before in an effort to:

• minimize expense and impulse buys
• more sustainable fabrics( no dry cleaning only fabrics)
• make them instead of buying mass produced( clothes miles)
• better fit and less angst about body size
• any colour scheme
• locally sourced and produced( less travel miles)
• I want to know where my clothes come from
• deliberate decisions based on my needs not my wants

The starting point has to be the colours in fashion for spring/summer 2013 ( thanks to Pantone Colour reports)

The colour of the year is heralded to be emerald green. More information can be seen on Pantone's website :http://www.pantone.co.uk/pages/fcr.aspx?pg=21005&ca=4

Looking at my public wardrobe requirements I intend to have the following additions of new clothes :
1 pair of hemp trousers ( could be dyed in any of the above colours)
1 cotton summer cardigan
1 short sleeve/long sleeve colourful warmer top ( in case we have a chilly summer and for the transition to autumn)
The items in my wardrobe go along three phases in rotation :

• new clothes for outings ( in that seasons colours)
• last year's clothes for wearing casually and around the home
• gardening and work clothes( after which they get recycled, upcycled into something else, or given away)

I could see what is available in secondhand shops instead of buying new and then dye it but in pursuit of the make and mend movement and to enhance my skill levels I am considering making them myself. Over the years I have found that making your own garments creates an attachment and appreciation for the resources used in producing the item and an appreciation of the quality of materials used. Apart from that I enjoy making things that are individual and am steering away from the mass produced look.

Colours are personal and I have a black base of mix and match items to which colourful items are added as and when.

When the items are completed they will take their place in my capsule wardrobe and I will then do the same for the autumn/winter wardrobe. I can always scour the charity shops and car boot sales for accessories in other colours or support individual makers on etsy.com. A search for emerald green items threw up quite and array of possibilities:http://www.etsy.com/search?q=emerald%20green&view_type=gallery&ship_to=GB


In time I have come to appreciate that there are four seasons and that each season has its own focused activity. Winter is to hibernate and prepare for spring, spring is all about starting the garden, summer about enjoying sunshine, the garden and the long available daylight hours and autumn is about harvesting, preserving and slowing down to winter.

I have 3 months of winter left after which the gardening season will kick in so there is no time to lose.
3 months and 3 projects.

January - cotton top
February- trousers
March- transition cardigan

Let's see if I can pull this off and how I get on.
 

Organising a pantry

Creating Space & Removing Clutter:
How To Organize A Kitchen Pantry

Organised cupboards and pantries can become a reality this year and before starting a pantry full of fancy goods this year, it makes sense to have a tidy up. The above video has some excellent points to make. Little labels would indeed make it easier for others in the household to look at the contents and maybe venture cooking something without creating chaos.

Stackable containers are worth considering and Lakeland offer a variety of sizes and shapes to achieve a neat and tidy cupboard.

For the love of books

As the nights draw in and TV just really is not an option, I can be found in a rather tatty chair next to the wood burner, cosy hand knitted socks on my feet, a small glass of damson gin and a good book.
How do you go about getting books to read without spending a lot of money?
I recently joined readitswapit, an ingenuous way to revolve your books and exchange them for other reading material. Its really simple, you list your books, you make them active and people send you an email when they want to swap with you, you look at their list of books and if anything grabs you, you just swap. You send the book in the post and you receive your reading material in the post. When you have read the book you can make it active in your swapping library and so it goes on.
The result is that I now have 9 new books to read which is promising.
A definite alternative to the library and no addition of stuff on the shelves. And if your interests have changed you can go and explore a whole new world.

Cost of living

Autumn Grazing


How did you get to live in the house you are now?

Housing costs depend on what choices have been important to you and are currently important to you.

Some questions to explore :


How much space do we need?
How can we maximise the space versus costs of property?
What are our housing needs?
How much are we prepared to pay for our housing costs?
Do we need to own a property?

If you did not reassess your housing costs before here are some ways of saving money or making your house help make ends meet.

Check that your house meets your needs ( i.e. could you manage with a smaller house, smaller garden different location etc). If it feels too small ask yourself how you can make it appear to be bigger? What is the core issue that makes you feel you need a larger house?
If you have a mortgage on your property check that you have the best possible rates and that you can manage the payments. How much are you prepared to pay for the way you live?
If you have a spare room, would you consider taking in a lodger. There is an issue with lack of privacy but if extra income is necessary could it be an option. Aim for maximum occupancy for your home which will also reduce your ecological footprint. Ensure that you have lodgers on a contract basis to protect yourself and your home.
Have you insulated your home as much as is possible both in terms of investment and possibilities in your home?
How much stuff do you need? Can you continue to declutter?
Is working from home a possibility cutting out commuting?
How much vegetables and fruit can your garden provide?
What temperature are you comfortable with?

With hindsight anything is possible; as I see people move into their new home I recall the many many boxes of stuff I packed, paid to be moved and then never needed. It is not a quick process but part of the downshifting journey.

My definition of success is total self acceptance. We can obtain all of the material possessions we desire quite easily, however, attempting to change our deepest thoughts and learning to love ourselves is a monumental challenge.

10 ways to prepare for winter

A polar bear snuggles up with her cubs

For the last few weeks I have been preparing the house for winter so what follows is a general list :

1. Sweep the Chimneys and clean out the grates fully, repairing any cracks with fire cement.
2. Sort out the snuggly duvets - send to cleaner is necessary
3. Check the winter wardrobes, who needs what in the way of coats, jumpers, boots, slippers, wooly socks etc. Make a list of woolly socks to knit over the next few months to keep the sock chest full.
   
4. Make sure we have some nice heavy thick curtains for the windows and doors.
5. Make sure we have enough wood stocked up for fireplace. Order any extra now before the prices go up and the rains make the logs wet.
6. Make a checklist of seeds to prepare for spring planting
7. Ensure we have enough cold and flu, cough mixes, Calpol, prescription meds in the house.
8. Make sure we have some 5lt water containers in case of burst pipes or other emergencies
9. Ensure we have a stock of candles, batteries etc (in case of power cuts)
10. Replace the normal energy saver lightbulbs with daylight energy saver bulbs

If you have a car make sure it is full of fuel in case of emergency and get the sewing machine out to make draught excluders.

Yesterday we went for our monthly trip to the town and got a few supplies, in particular clothes for the youngest person in the household who was in need of some trousers without holes, some new wellington boots. He wears most of his clothes and shoes out as they are third hand and sometimes feels that he has a raw deal so a little trip to town makes his day as well as a visit to the library.

The weekend will be spent tidying up and getting the wood supply closer to the fire. A big freeze is expected next week and that will test our resolve regarding the heating challenge. More on that tomorrow.

500th post -going public

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. If we really know how to live, what better way to start the day than with a smile? Our smile affirms our awareness and determination to live in peace and joy. The source of a true smile is an awakened mind.
From Nhat Hanh -Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life, Bantam reissue, 1992, ISBN 0-553-35139-7

Introducing the person behind the blog:
I started using this blog to express my thoughts on reducing our carbon footprint and to regain a perspective on a healthier lifestyle. The advantage of doing so in an anonymous way has enabled me to express those thoughts more easily than if I had been asked to speak in front a group of people about my passion for nature, the environment, what is possible and what is difficult.

This is the 500th post and having just published a selection of posts in Rich Pickings from Berry Cottage, I want to thank you for all your responses and encouragement.

When I return in December we will have moved into our local village shop with a view of continuing our vision of reduced carbon footprints not only for our family but involving the whole community. Can we get our village to take steps to go green? How will we deal with trade waste, what are the options, the choices faced, the opportunities. Join us for the next instalment.


What makes you smile?

Working with preschool children and watching their capacity to embrace each day, each new experience with all their senses makes me smile. Young faces smile, old faces smile, emocicons smile but many people rarely do. If smiling is our outward sign of happiness lets show each other that life is worth embracing by smiling. When the boys were little we would go splashing in puddles, dance in the rain and fall in a soggy heap on the floor. When the robin comes close to me while I sit in the garden, or when during sleepless nights I observe the stars in the sky and the moon lighting the world, I smile and I am grateful to be here. Going out on a cold day when the sun shines and the snow is on the mountains makes me smile, the world smiles at us in many ways and lets us know it is happy we are here. Can we smile back?

I dare you to try an experiment : take a walk and smile. The world will look different and people will react differently. Then take the walk without smiling and notice the difference within and in the world. If we can show our life energy with a smile, imagine what that would do to the world.

I was introduced to meditation by Brandon Bays, and it helps me focus on the parts of my body that are in pain. I listen to the spaces in between and ask what can be done today to help my body heal, feel more relaxed and happy. It brings inner peace and it makes me a lot nicer to live with. A daily dose of smiling, joy and beauty are a necessity.

Smiling is very important. If we are not able to smile, then the world will not have peace. It is not by going out for a demonstration against nuclear missiles that we can bring about peace. It is with our capacity of smiling, breathing, and being peace that we can make peace. Nhat Nanh

And to celebrate 500 posts, I leave you with Charlie Chaplin until I return at the beginning of December for the next chapter.

Musical interlude

But to feel music is an extremely individual experience. It’s made by the individual and for the individual. In order to be lowered in that “empty tree” that are Mozart and Bach, we need an education to listening. Only then one succeeds in gathering the pure transcendence that emanates from some of their compositions. In those pages - according to the moments and the state of mind - I reach different levels of reading, partly even unconscious. I obviously find God there, but also the cosmos, the Mystery, the Everything. Which perhaps are the same thing. Because after all the point of arrival of whatever spiritual music is the same, even if we call it with different names. For this I don't have doubts: the sacred music is the most beautiful music that there has ever been in West.
Angelo Branduardi

Some of the music that inspires me is that of Angelo Branduardi and Andreas Vollenweider. Both are storytellers that use music to tell modern stories. Angelo Branduardi uses ancient texts and poems as his material and Andreas is a visual musician using the palette of the orchestra, Quite unique sounds. Both men have found a different way to express their potential. They have found their voice.

Enjoy.

Conversations with Downshiftingpath

Rich Pickings ...

a selection of post...

By Anne Howe

Book Preview

In creating a personal present to my family and friends, as well as a tool to create a memory of the place we live in, I have created a book with a collection of posts from this blog. I am edging towards the 500th post and that too seems a landmark achievement.

It started with an idea from the PodcastSisters and via Blurb I created a book which has about 200 pages and a variety of photos. It also includes some material that was posted on Angora's Journal.

The cost of the book is the cost charged by Blurb for publishing it and sending it to you. Making it public made me feel very nervous and excited at the same time. The books arrived today, and I am pleased with the end result.

The last 3 years have been a very difficult period in my life and I realise that that has not always shown through in these posts. Downshifting requires engagement on all levels and being able to respond and make an active choice is a very challenging process. I am beginning to be more comfortable with the idea of sharing the reality of that with you, the reader and in doing so, I would like to invite you to engage with me too by leaving comments if you can.

Memories are not just for Christmas

Laughing Couple Opening Christmas Presents Beside Christmas Tree


54 days to go I think?

I sent this in September....to test it on my friends. The feedback has been great so I thought I would share it with you all.

Dear Fairy Godmothers


I would like to propose a dramatic change in the way we approach Christmas this year and am writing to ask you if you would be happy with the following :

adults - tokens only. I would rather see you in person and spend time with you in whatever way makes you happy ( as long as it is legal!) so lunch together, cinema trip, day at health farm, trip to a yarn festival, farmers market,wellie throwing? whatever send me your wishlist, share your passion with me.( If you want to go riding, and share that with me, let me know, whatever it is, as your friend I am willing to give it a go)

children over 16 - I propose to send them virtual giftcertifiicates in order that they may buy something that aids their education or musical tastes, or book tokens. (Boring probably but I am not sure they want to spend time with us). Small thing under the tree.

children under 16 - I will be limiting the gifts in monetary value this year. Again, come and spend some time with us and create memories:, go ten pin bowling, share a meal,teach them a skill ( test you patience), take us to the zoo, drive diggers, go to a cricket game, rugby game, theatre...

The reasons are that for our family in any case Christmas has become so commercial and in reality we like gifts, but relationships are more important. When the children were small, an overloaded tree seemed magical. This year, we will hopefully have moved house and Christmas will be about spending time together.

I hope that does not offend anyone and will make your Christmas shopping lighter and not less magical.

Memories are not just for Christmas but for a lifetime!

Best wishes

the other fairy godmother

For the love of books

Historic Reading Posters - October Bright Blue Weather

I have a strange affinity with books. As a child I did not like them ( probably to do with having to read them) and now I quite delight in sitting down, near the fire with a good book. So in an effort to make them go around, I have found the following ways to apply the reduce, reuse and recycle message.

Reduce

I have a real problem with that, having an Amazon wishlist makes my appetite for books insatiable, its a good tool, not just for buying books but for making a list of the ones that I would like to read.

I see whether they are available for free at the library or whether I can persuade the library to buy a copy for general consumption ( Am I really the only person who wants to read this one?).

Next you can share a book with a friend who has the same taste in books, or you just think they have the same taste, it gives you something to talk about.

There are books you only read once and those you want to keep forever and read again and again, reference books and beautiful books.

By now, the shelves are groaning and something has to be done.

Here are some useful sources :

Free ebooks. I use these with reading software that turns them into audiobooks.
Project Gutenberg - There are over 20,000 free books in the Project Gutenberg Online Book Catalog. A grand total of over 100,000 titles is available at Project Gutenberg Partners, Affiliates and Resources. Good source of classical works and just lovely to browse.
Similar available from questorbooks.

Reuse

A good local source for me is the Oxfam bookshop and those situated in university cities offer a wider range of material.
The charity shops in my area also have a system where any donated books are sold for a fixed fee ( as we are a holiday area this is great for summer beach literature).

In the USA you could try booksfree.
Search for books on ebay
You can buy books secondhand on amazon too.
A trip to Hay on Wye the capital of secondhand books in the UK. ( also has excellent coffeeshops so I hear!)


BookCrossing. An unique system for the adventurous travellers in search of books. A very basic explanation: read a book, label it with a unique book number, and then leave it somewhere. Anywhere. You can leave it in a coffeeshop, with a friend, on a park bench ("releasing it into the wild"). There are designated book crossing spots all over the world, but they're not required. If someone picks up your book, if they find it, they write a review of it online, and you can read all the reviews of the particular book you "released into the wild".You can also look at book crossing spots in your area to see what books have been left there, and go pick it up if you want. Interestingly, there's a map that shows where books are "released" or "caught" all over the world — in real time. Quite interesting to add some interest if you do not want to go shopping , go and hunt for a book. Live dangerously....

BookHopper. List books that you're willing to post to people, and when they're requested, you post them (at your cost). You can also request anyone's books. The more books you list, the more you can request.

Bookmooch - a bookswapping service where you earn points, another one is paperbackswap, and readersunited.

If all else fails, donate or recycle as paper. Or use as craft projects, to hold up your bed as a student, to paper the walls with, be creative......share the gift of reading.

Who would have guessed that reading could be this fun....great activity to do during school holidays, go hunt for a book for free.
Added as recommended by Jake - readitswapit in the UK

The coal house - living in 1927 in Wales

BBC Wales are scheduling a historical programme over the next 3 weeks where 3 families will return to 1927 and live in 3 miners cottages as families of that time.
The families will have to work together, the women and children during the day while the men are working 8 hours, underground in the coal mines. There will be no heating, no computers, no washing machines and a garden with some vegetables like curly cale, parsnip etc. This programme will not only show the hardship in that period of history but might give us an indication of what life could be like without electricity and fossil fuels easily accessible. The men will be paid by the amount of coal they haul up which will determine the food on the table.
What I noticed was the lack of stuff they have and the space limitation. Families will each have the same amount of space, 2 rooms down and 2 rooms up and one family has 6 children including baby and toddler. The programme can be accessed on BBC Wales. You can look at some pictures about the coalhouse here.

In the meantime, Kate Rusby's song about my young man shows you some pictures of coalmining and set the scene. Communities were destroyed in the 1980's when a large proportion of coal mines shut down a fate not dissimilar to what is happening in the farming and manufacturing in the UK.

Reducing packaging on monthly deliveries

Ferdinand Cheval, Rural Postman and Fantastic Architect

Ferdinand Cheval
Ferdinand Cheval, who was born in 1836 and died on 19th August, 1924, was a French postman who spent 33 years of his life building an "Ideal Palace" (French Palais idéal) which is regarded as an extraordinary example of naïve art architecture.

To boost my immune system and get my body to work properly , I take vitamins, minerals and supplements. I guess its the norm now, despite eating what we believe to be a healthy diet, I still have a form of malnutrition. It simply means that my body is missing a few vital elements for optimum energy and taking a pill seems to be an easy way to deal with that.( I am working on addressing that imbalance through nutrition).

To make life a lot easier, I chose to have them delivered monthly and bought into setting up a wholesale account ( not that I use it in quantities, I just thought that doing that would save me money). What seemed like a good decision has now been scientifically proven to be not so good. It can be better and needs an adjustment.

For convenience sake, I have the same order each month and it arrives promptly in a small cardboard package with small polystyrene peanuts in it. The cardboard gets recycled and the peanuts saved for when I send off a package later in the year ( holiday time). That takes me 10 mins to do.

Each time a package gets sent, a cardboard box gets created, filled, despatched, travelling by air, in van to arrive at my doorstep. For this privilege I pay £ 8.00 per month postage. ( Over 1 year that makes £ 96.00.)

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that if I were to order a whole year's supply in one go ( minding the expiry dates on the bottles - 2 years from now), I would still be charged £8.00 postage and packaging. So still a £ 91.00 difference.

I then looked at the difference between my wholesale account and buying it direct online and noticed that if I put in an order for a year's supply, the difference would be £ 80.00.

The conditions to having the wholesale price is that I need to order every month to keep my status and although very convenient in the long term it is not saving me any money and grinds somewhat due to the miles and packaging it creates doing so. Ordering the quantity for 1 year also allows me to order a larger bottle holding 3 months supply cutting out 2 smaller plastic bottles to recycle.

Ordering yearly, without wholesale discount will therefore not cost me any more and will save £ 11.00, 11 cardboard packages being sent by air,. van, manpower to be delivered to me as well as 2 hours of my time. I will end up with less polystyrene peanuts to store and will have to find space for more vitamin containers but in the end, that seems a better way to achieve the same result.

One slight hiccup is that ordering a whole year's supply is making an initial dent in my account, in order for time and packaging to be saved . To restore financial balance, I will add the amount I would have paid each month into my savings account and then when the time comes to reoorder next year the money will be there waiting with interest.

Point to ponder : If you order something monthly, what is it costing you in time, packaging and can it be done in a different way?

Fair weather gnome....

After decluttering the house for months, no, years....I left the boys to go to the village fete and when I returned from my day out to Fibrefest, stuff had crept in. I have been wondering how the stuff arrived in the house and now I know, very slowly, very easily.
They bought a typist chair for £ 1.00, a bar stool for me to sit on (?), a clock ( we have about 10) and the whistling gnome.

The whistling gnome, as the name implies, whistles when you pass the doorstep. Useful in some ways but not really the thing, as it cannot stay out in wet weather. I can see how it has been discarded after the summer we have had. The idea is that it will warn us when someone approaches. The dog is now apparently jobless, replaced by a whistling gnome. Granted, the gnome is cheaper, runs on batteries and does not go out in wet weather but the dog is far cuter and reliable.

Other stuff has been arriving in the cottage......A few nights ago, my DH put his foot down and stopped pandering to the cats. They have a habit of demanding to be let out in the middle of the night and so far he has been obliging, getting up and then crawling back up the stairs. A few nights ago, now that my DS 1 gets up at 6.30 am to go to school he gave up on pandering to the cats. This is in principle a good idea, but they have ways of making you comply.

Last night, turning out the light, I heard a rustling sound behind my bed, behind the bedside cabinet. I put the light on, and the noise stopped, followed by a scuffling. Something was moving fast. I am not fond of large spiders, so I thought I would put the light out, listen.......and yes, there again was the noise. Put the light on and looked in between the gap between the bed and the cupboard. Something flashed by, it had a tail. Back light off, waiting, noise appears again and when the light went on, a very small mouse ran back along the track. I ended up telling it it could stay there for the night as long as it was quiet and then promptly must have fallen asleep.

As I have said before, cats have ways of getting you to behave in your own home. Well, they are in for a shock when we move.

Guess today, I will be clearing out the bedroom in search of the lodger.

10 ways to reduce rubbish

Plastics for the Home


Admittedly, I have been plastics kid. Who would be without plastics, as a child of the sixties. My barbies were out of some sort of plastic. Gradually the stuff appeared everywhere, wrapped in plastic, I even had a plastic coat in its heyday to ward of the rain, plastic shoes, plastic cutlery, plastic lampshades in bright orange. ( OK you can guess my age now).

Honestly never gave it a second thought, it was normal to have everything around in plastics, they made everything from it and everything was great. Up until now.......

1. Check what is in your bin

Get scientific and check what exactly you are collecting that needs to be thrown out. Record what you throw away during a week and think about how you could reduce this. By avoiding disposable products and reusing, repairing and recycling where possible you will be amazed at how much waste can be avoided. Check your local council website to see what can be recycled and where.

2. Separate your rubbish into items that can be recycled and those that cannot be recycled.
There are 5 groups of waste that can be recycled : paper, glass, aluminium ,steel and cans, and organic waste. Find out where your local collection points are and recycle where you can rather than putting them in your bin with the rest of the rubbish. have a go at reducing your rubbish bin contents by 50%.
3. Encourage those around you to recycle and reduce. Think when you are out shopping what you are bringing back and how you will have to deal with the waste created. Check the services available in your area and if they are not available, write to the Council and ask about better services.
4. Avoid products that cannot be recycled, so avoid plastics if at all possible. Find out from your local council what they are doing about reducing plastic waste. Re-use plastic bags and use permament shopping bags and baskets while out shopping.
5. Avoid fast food and its packaging. The energy used to produce and pack convenience foods is high. Avoid food packaging that is foam packaged and covered in plastic. If you do eat fast food, check with the manager how and what they recycle of the packaging on offer. If they do not recycle, question why not and decide whether ethically you want to support this sort of business.
6. Reuse as many household goods as possible :old cotton sheets have been turned into choir cravattes in our village, but can make good dusters, floor cloths, baby bibs, cushion covers, patchwork, wheatbags and so on. Charity shops will take clothes and goods and many community groups are open to receiving your stuff with open arms. Freecycle the rest. We pass on clothes, toys and books to other families in our area, as we have generously received in the past. Think before you buy, we have been successful in finding a drumkit and offered storage with free usage for it while the owner has no room to store it. The result is free use of a drumkit that will be returned at a later stage.

7. Dispose safely of your waste, do not just burn it in your garden. Check with the council for safe waste disposal of motor oil, paint chemicals and other toxic materials.
8. Compost, use a wormery or bokashi bin, or all three.Check whether your council has a scheme where compost bins are provided free of charge. Bokashi and wormeries are available from wiggly wigglers. If you have no garden, find someone who has or take on an allotment.
9. Use recycled paper products when possible. Make notepads from scraps of paper, reload your computer with sheets that have bene printed on one side, reuse envelopes and buy address labels to stick over envelopes so they can be reused.
10. Use the mail preference service to have your name removed from mailing lists which will reduce your energy consumption too and give you more time.

Sweating the small stuff

Home Is Where One Starts


With a purchaser for our house at the ready, the organising hat has been put on. This is a stressful time because so many things could just as well go wrong, and we could end up not selling. Anyhow, we are on the road of uncertainty to somewhere else, which means that my head is full of things to do, plants to save, pots to water, etc.

I phoned around a few removal firms to ask them to give us a quotation to move us from A to B and one of them commented:

Actually, you have very little stuff to move.

Music to my ears. One of those eureka and satisfying moments, when a downshifter realises that indeed, it is noticeable that there is little stuff about. A few months ago my Aunt visiting commented that you could see the house was for sale, it was so tidy and nothing much on show. There is not much to show really, a life without stuff is very liberating. When the man checked the inside of my wardrobe he was shocked.........that will fit in one special box. We are now unusual I guess, not very much stuff but when you have little stuff you do not need to store it, service it, insure it, clean it, move it, look at it......you get the picture.

You might now think how it is possible to live a satisfying life with little stuff. I dare you to try it, give some of the stuff another home, reduce your needs, reuse your stuff or give it away to someone who will appreciate it.

The only challenge I have at the moment is how we are going to move the food larder and the jams......the removal man assured me that he was quite capable of handling jam jars with kid gloves, food had been moved and stored before.

We are going to be radical this move....we will not be moving out and moving in on the same day. Who really needs that kind of pressure. It is a luxury we have available, Time. We will be moving slowly, out one day, then the small stuff will go in storage for a week or so while we clean the house we leave, hand it over and then move into the new house, when we have cleaned it, opened the windows and looked at it with fresh eyes.

We will technically be homeless or in between homes for a while, and as where it would have scared me in the past, I know that I can do without the stuff, I am who I am and as I cannot take it with me in the end, I have come to realise that I have an identity without my stuff. My life may well be in boxes in the next few weeks to come but when it comes down to it......there is very little I need on a daily basis. ( The food larder is giving me headaches still though, shall I can, shall I wait......)

Positive Global Change Award

Thank you thank you...for alllowing me to share our life here at downshifting path with you. I believe in gratitude and spreading it about......Thank you Mark for nominating me for this award.


The award is the brain child of Climate Of Our Future to commemorate blogger's efforts around the world to share their knowledge, thoughts and inspirations in making this a better, healthier, more sustainable world.

So, in keeping with the participation rules -- I, in turn, pass this Bloggers for Positive Global Change Award to the following 5 bloggers:


Frugal for life - Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying. The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things. ~Elise Boulding. Dawn shares every day, a tip to reduce consumption and live a content life in a simple, frugal way.

Path to Freedom.- the Dervaes family seek to live more enviromentally conscious, simple, agrarian and self-sufficient life by bringing about change in our daily lives - one step at a time in an urbgan setting. They hope that their journey will insprire fellow travellers who are on the path less traveled.

Our family's mission and struggle will be to continue to acquire the total package of brains, guts and knowledge necessary to become self-sufficient pioneers and better earth stewards.
"To use our hands as weapons of mass creation and to walk the path to restoration and renewal."
~ Jules Dervaes

Beansprouts - Melanie with 4 otherslive in a very small ex-council house with a very small garden on the edge of farmland. They grow some of their food on an allotment a couple of miles away. They try to be "green", whatever that means.

Down to earth Rhonda Jean lives with her husband on an acre of land which they share with two Airedale Terriers, some chooks, a cat and a worm farm. They live a simple, partially sustainable life in the foothills of a rainforest mountain range in Australia.

The Kitchen Garden The Kitchen Garden Network provides information on the world of food matters. Through our blogs, photos, podcasts, videos, interviews and demonstrations we empower consumers and diners with what they need to know about food, cooking and the intersection of agriculture with politics. Check out Podchefs mission and links to the podcast

Go and say hello, explore and enjoy.


Fellow Positive Global Change Award recipients, it’s easy to participate in this meme. At minimum, you can proudly display the BPGC badge( Click here for the image url )on your blog and bask in the glow of our collective good will. If you are sharing the kudos, however, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging.The participation rules are simple:


1. When you get tagged, write a post with links to up to 5 blogs that you think are trying to change the world in a positive way


.2. In your post, make sure you link back to so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.


3. Leave a comment or message for the bloggers you’re tagging, so they know they’re now part of the meme.


4. Optional: Proudly display the “Bloggers For Positive Global Change” award badge with a link to the post that you write up.

Podcasting idea

We have the technology, not the knowhow however at the moment and we could do a podcast on downshifting path.

I have put a poll in the sidebar where I would like your honest opinion on what you think about that. PLEASE VOTE
Its an idea at the moment, I am a bit shy about it really......but maybe its the way forward in the internet sphere.....
If you are a seasoned podcaster and you are willing to be a sort of buddy to help me set this up, please send me an email.

live your dream

A Red-Billed Tropic Bird Flying in a Cobalt Blue Sky

After 3 years of downshifting and reflecting on what prompted such a change in my life, I feel I am beginning to flow a little better with life. Sitting in the sun, having had a near perfect soup with home made bread and stretching my toes while watching a buzzard fly high in the sky were one of the highlights of my day today.
When I left home as a teenager I was full of hope to a new life in a new country but instead of following an inner guidance to be who I really was, i was caught up in a world that seemed to mould me and in which I found my place. Somewhere though this did not sit well and for years after reading John Seymour a little seed planted itself to have a simpler life. I recall countless visits to the surgery where after a short discussion I would come away with some medication and a gentle nod from my Gp asking me to reassess my life. I must say that at that time I had no idea what he meant but he did warn me to listen to my body.
I ignored his advice, kept dreaming, handled every pressure that came my way with immense effort and harboured a shrinking dream of ever getting out of the ratrace. A husband with a chronic illness, a 12 week baby did not seem to be the perfect timing to downsize. That was 12 years ago.
Why am I telling you this? Because like children, there is no perfect timing to change from dreaming your life to living your dream. It involves risk and eventually something needs to change. For me, crashing with chronic fatigue syndrome was not only a heavy blow but at the same time, being bedbound for 6 months, left me plenty of time to dream and thus the concept of less is more was put into action.
Many life decisions I have made have been made for the best reasons, but underneath the dream of living a unique life that suited my values and beliefs got lost.
If you have such a dream, while the sun is shining and watching a buzzard fly in the sky, I want to invite you to go and find out what your dream is today and ask yourself what needs to happen for you to make that a reality. Then take one step.....its a simple thing to do.

Let you dream become a reality.

More on awards

It must be something in the air...... but Heather from Wigglywigglers sent me an email to say that the wiggly podcast has been nominated for the Mouse and Trowell award which is simply fab. If you feel you want to go and have a look and vote for her you can do so here. Go on, she needs the vote and every vote counts......
There are some other blogs there that are great to look at too.

On the same day the awaited bokashi bins arrived and it looks good. My Dh did say ' what have you ordered now' as we have a no buy imbargo in place but I told him its an experiment which calmed him down a little.( he is used to my madness) A giant cardboard box with 2 plastic bins and entourage seemed an unlikely purchase.

Having my salad/ prawn wrap I sat and read the leaflet and it seems simple. I like the idea that the liquid that oozes out and needs collecting on a regular basis can be used as a feed for the plants ( watered down..) and I cannot wait to give it a go when I come back from my visit to Belgium. For the moment, the bins are stored in the kitchen.

I am going to be away for a week and if I can will look in from time to time. Not sure that I can post pictures but words might be good.

I am leaving the garden in the care of DH and small boys.....nothing can therefore go wrong. ( final last words)

The posy in the picture is a simple arrangement of primrose, wallflowers and cerinthe major.