Thursday, December 14, 2006
Thursday, September 28, 2006
It's been one week...
and no new bags, which I'm quite pleased about.
It's not easy though...today I had to refuse a bag twice in the same shop. And I keep forgetting to take old plastic bags with me, so I either end up with a very full handbag, or carrying things, which is actually not so bad. I do worry that I look like I've stolen things because they're not in a bag though.
It's not easy though...today I had to refuse a bag twice in the same shop. And I keep forgetting to take old plastic bags with me, so I either end up with a very full handbag, or carrying things, which is actually not so bad. I do worry that I look like I've stolen things because they're not in a bag though.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Also
On the true nature of plastic bags
Oh dear, I knew I'd never live up to such high promises.
Anyway, as Richard Fish would say, Bygones.
It seems fitting, that as this blog is named 'child of our times' I should at times display some cultural relevance, and show how I am indeed a member of Generation Y. So focusing on an issue that is very relevant, I'm gonna go eco on you.
I know we're destroying the environment. It's a nightmare. And there are so many things they want us to do...drive less, take public transport more, stop flying places, recycle, plant trees, the list goes on. The thing that's been getting to me though (for longer than those new Tesco ads have been around) is plastic bags. We use so many of them, and for a few years now I've been trying not to use too many - when it suits me. I got told off in M&S for putting my new purchase into a Primark bag a little while ago. It's not quite enough though, is it? here are some things I've discovered about plastic bags...
Plastic bags can kill birds, whales, seals, turtles...
Plastic bags take between 20 and 1000 years to decompose - so that once they've killed an unsuspecting bird, whale, seal or turtle, and the poor mite decomposes, the plastic bag will emerge more or less intact, ready to strike again at any moment.
They've been implicated as a cause of major flooding in Bangladesh
Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.
In the UK we use around 220 bags a year each.
They make the world look really ugly, strewn along our coastlines (amongst the 12 most common items found in beach clear-up operations) and even peppering the Himalayas.
Australia has the best anti-plastic-bag websites on the net.
So here's the pitch. I'm gonna see how long I can go without getting a new plastic bag. We've got a big draw-ful of them in out kitchen, so re-using should be good for quite sometime. I guess we'll see what other ideas I come up with.
Part II will be to see how many uses I can come up with for a humble, but deadly plastic bag.
Number 1 - use it for crushing Ginger Nuts (an essential ingredient in Banoffee Pie - don't you wish you'd come for dinner last night?)
Wish me luck.
(oh, and feel free to submit entries for 1001 things to do with a plastic bag)
Anyway, as Richard Fish would say, Bygones.
It seems fitting, that as this blog is named 'child of our times' I should at times display some cultural relevance, and show how I am indeed a member of Generation Y. So focusing on an issue that is very relevant, I'm gonna go eco on you.
I know we're destroying the environment. It's a nightmare. And there are so many things they want us to do...drive less, take public transport more, stop flying places, recycle, plant trees, the list goes on. The thing that's been getting to me though (for longer than those new Tesco ads have been around) is plastic bags. We use so many of them, and for a few years now I've been trying not to use too many - when it suits me. I got told off in M&S for putting my new purchase into a Primark bag a little while ago. It's not quite enough though, is it? here are some things I've discovered about plastic bags...
Plastic bags can kill birds, whales, seals, turtles...
Plastic bags take between 20 and 1000 years to decompose - so that once they've killed an unsuspecting bird, whale, seal or turtle, and the poor mite decomposes, the plastic bag will emerge more or less intact, ready to strike again at any moment.
They've been implicated as a cause of major flooding in Bangladesh
Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.
In the UK we use around 220 bags a year each.
They make the world look really ugly, strewn along our coastlines (amongst the 12 most common items found in beach clear-up operations) and even peppering the Himalayas.
Australia has the best anti-plastic-bag websites on the net.
So here's the pitch. I'm gonna see how long I can go without getting a new plastic bag. We've got a big draw-ful of them in out kitchen, so re-using should be good for quite sometime. I guess we'll see what other ideas I come up with.
Part II will be to see how many uses I can come up with for a humble, but deadly plastic bag.
Number 1 - use it for crushing Ginger Nuts (an essential ingredient in Banoffee Pie - don't you wish you'd come for dinner last night?)
Wish me luck.
(oh, and feel free to submit entries for 1001 things to do with a plastic bag)
Saturday, September 09, 2006
A note before I leave
Just a few quick things...
- I'm off to France today. My parents are there on holiday and called on Wednesday to invite me & Mark to join them for the weekend. The wonders of budget airlines make this possible, so we're nipping out to the Loire Valley, travelling very light, which should be fun.
- I've applied for a job, it's very taxing and basically took me all week, but it's done. Wish me luck!
- I went for a run, this is fun.
- Since my long post about deciding to get a new attitude, I did, and was much more productive, this is good.
- Jerry & Vic came for dinner on Thursday, they're wonderful and I love & miss them.
- I feel sick when I get up too early.
- The view of the sky from our dining room is fit.
That is all. Back soon xx
- I'm off to France today. My parents are there on holiday and called on Wednesday to invite me & Mark to join them for the weekend. The wonders of budget airlines make this possible, so we're nipping out to the Loire Valley, travelling very light, which should be fun.
- I've applied for a job, it's very taxing and basically took me all week, but it's done. Wish me luck!
- I went for a run, this is fun.
- Since my long post about deciding to get a new attitude, I did, and was much more productive, this is good.
- Jerry & Vic came for dinner on Thursday, they're wonderful and I love & miss them.
- I feel sick when I get up too early.
- The view of the sky from our dining room is fit.
That is all. Back soon xx
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Oops, I did it again..
So I'm not very good at updating this. I'm going to try a new regime. Daily updates eh? I'm not sure if it's unwise to make such great promises though...far too easy to fail. I am however spurred on by the fact that a good friend from home discovered this blog, so that's got to be a good thing right?
Last week was mission week. Maybe we need a recap though...
I've just moved to Luton, along with 5 friends from Cambridge, to start a church from scratch. We like to call this 'church-planting'. I guess it's cos we hope it grows or something. It's not gonna look like a lot of churches - no big old building with stained glass windows, but hopefully lots of Jesus, and lots of loving people in this town.
Last week a load of our friends came over for the week to kick start this a bit. As well as talking, learning and praying, here are a few things we did...
- bought chalk and graffiti-d Luton with bits of Isaiah 60 (it's about Luton)
- went to the 7-11 round the corner to offer prayer
- decorated a tree with sweets
- buried a bottle of wine
- anointed the town hall with oil
- fasted for a day (and drank chocolate milk)
- met people in pubs
- nearly joined a gym
- had a bbq
- went to Standalone Farm
- met some wonderful people at St Matthew's church
So it was fun, and it felt pretty significant. I cried quite a lot (thankfully not when we were out chatting to people in pubs and bars), and realised some of how hard it's going to be. I guess that brings us on to this week.
Up until 31st July I had a job in Cambridge that I really loved. I quit though, so now I'm unemployed. Tomorrow I'm going to speak to a nice person about Job Seekers Allowance, and hopefully housing benefit too. (I've also decided that when I get those, it'd be a good time to get eye tests & dentists & things done, cos they'll be free.) But I do really want a job. The lack of routine is pretty bad for me, the less I do the less motivated I am, so I can get pretty lazy (this may or may not have been worsened by the arrival of Seasons 1-6 of Buffy on DVD). And applying for jobs takes quite a lot of motivation, and there aren't many jobs around that I want to do, and the ones that I do want to do I'm not quite qualified for, or not in the right ways, and it's really hard.
But how about a fresh start with this? How about I go to bed at a reasonable time, and get up early, and go for a run (with my new shoes that give me blisters), and get on with things, and apply for two jobs tomorrow? How about it?
Check back soon and I'll let you know how I get on.
Last week was mission week. Maybe we need a recap though...
I've just moved to Luton, along with 5 friends from Cambridge, to start a church from scratch. We like to call this 'church-planting'. I guess it's cos we hope it grows or something. It's not gonna look like a lot of churches - no big old building with stained glass windows, but hopefully lots of Jesus, and lots of loving people in this town.
Last week a load of our friends came over for the week to kick start this a bit. As well as talking, learning and praying, here are a few things we did...
- bought chalk and graffiti-d Luton with bits of Isaiah 60 (it's about Luton)
- went to the 7-11 round the corner to offer prayer
- decorated a tree with sweets
- buried a bottle of wine
- anointed the town hall with oil
- fasted for a day (and drank chocolate milk)
- met people in pubs
- nearly joined a gym
- had a bbq
- went to Standalone Farm
- met some wonderful people at St Matthew's church
So it was fun, and it felt pretty significant. I cried quite a lot (thankfully not when we were out chatting to people in pubs and bars), and realised some of how hard it's going to be. I guess that brings us on to this week.
Up until 31st July I had a job in Cambridge that I really loved. I quit though, so now I'm unemployed. Tomorrow I'm going to speak to a nice person about Job Seekers Allowance, and hopefully housing benefit too. (I've also decided that when I get those, it'd be a good time to get eye tests & dentists & things done, cos they'll be free.) But I do really want a job. The lack of routine is pretty bad for me, the less I do the less motivated I am, so I can get pretty lazy (this may or may not have been worsened by the arrival of Seasons 1-6 of Buffy on DVD). And applying for jobs takes quite a lot of motivation, and there aren't many jobs around that I want to do, and the ones that I do want to do I'm not quite qualified for, or not in the right ways, and it's really hard.
But how about a fresh start with this? How about I go to bed at a reasonable time, and get up early, and go for a run (with my new shoes that give me blisters), and get on with things, and apply for two jobs tomorrow? How about it?
Check back soon and I'll let you know how I get on.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Once upon a time in Luton
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new town, it's a new blog.
I'm sitting in my new house, watching Big Brother Live while waiting for the rain to stop so I can go into town. I moved three and a half weeks ago, and it's taking a while to feel settled here. We haven't really had a normal week here yet, and I think we're still to have a night with just the three of us in the house.
Things I need to do at the moment include:
sort my room out
get a job
buy some trainers so I can go for a jog.
So this afternoon I intend to - look for a good sports shop in town, not just somewhere that sells Adidas and Nike, but one with decent, trained staff; go to the Job Centre. I'll leave the room sorting for another time.
I'm sitting in my new house, watching Big Brother Live while waiting for the rain to stop so I can go into town. I moved three and a half weeks ago, and it's taking a while to feel settled here. We haven't really had a normal week here yet, and I think we're still to have a night with just the three of us in the house.
Things I need to do at the moment include:
sort my room out
get a job
buy some trainers so I can go for a jog.
So this afternoon I intend to - look for a good sports shop in town, not just somewhere that sells Adidas and Nike, but one with decent, trained staff; go to the Job Centre. I'll leave the room sorting for another time.
About me
- I'm liz
- From Luton, United Kingdom
- I've just moved to Luton with a bunch of friends, and we're gonna change the world.