tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-387238232011-04-21T22:42:12.829ZThe lighter side of ecological disasterecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.comBlogger361100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-16653838999036197742011-02-19T20:00:00.002Z2011-02-19T20:03:39.848Z

My postman collects antique jigsaws, he has asthma, Amazon drives him crazy and his wife runs her own business and earns more than him. he has been a postman for over 20 years. The wife of this weeks Tesco delivery man left him and the guy last week is passionate about reading to his baby.Connect people connect. In person-even if only briefly-it is a powerful way to feel alive.

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-34793722971566683042007-06-25T20:20:00.000Z2007-06-25T20:40:45.620Z

It's no good convincing myself otherwise. As carefully as I scoop them up from the garden and drop them in a plastic bag, it makes no difference whatever. Those poos are going nowhere. And they're going nowhere because of the bag. Protected in their totally-un-biodegradable cocoon they're not going to make it back to Mother Earth where they might do some good.It's even more nonsensical that I

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-35568600329806640322007-06-22T09:41:00.000Z2007-06-22T10:09:44.705Z

Having discovered that Tesco are running their own recycling depot in their car park, I decided this would be a good place to dispose of the by now almost unmanageable plastic mountain.It seems that, whereas only a year or two ago there were restrictions on what plastic could be recylced, now it appears we can take along whatever we like. This is great news, because being such light items, it's

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-53318162816081635432007-06-07T18:57:00.000Z2007-06-07T19:19:22.827Z

The first thing I should mention is the sterling job Beloved has made today of cooking up all our veges (organic) into three delicious-looking dishes, a fritata, a stewy thing and definitely a soup. She thought I should mention it so I have. Quite rightly.I keep getting flyers through the post and falling out of the Guardian newspaper I have to put up with suggesting we get a satellite dish and

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-55449956592687420052007-05-30T17:32:00.000Z2007-05-30T18:14:38.750Z

Until two weeks ago I believed our local council gave used computers to organisations for reuse and recycling. I based this belief on the Barnet website, http://www.barnet.gov.uk/ which states that computer and home office equipment - and I quote - "are collected by organisations for reuse and recycling".However, this was not my experience when I took one of the family's many PC castoffs to be

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-77652306171141867652007-05-29T12:42:00.000Z2007-05-29T13:03:02.434Z

I was shocked yesterday to spot a used bath towel in the rubbish (garbage) bin (can).Yesterday, coincidentally, was the day I took Beloved to Brent Cross to buy a set of new bath towels, only the best. It was a moment of great generosity, although it is true we did go halves on the towels. The previous bath towels were still in perfect working order, although admittedly a bit tatty around the

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-3635185080317186942007-05-03T21:09:00.000Z2007-05-03T21:47:51.668Z

I'm always willing to give a new innovation a try. Excluding, to some extent, laptop computers, which I work with and after a point can't stand the sight of. About two weeks ago I took a trip to Brent Cross shopping centre in search of some replacement bedside lamps.The reason for the trip was a mild case of false economy. Not the serious sort, where you get yourself an old banger and it keeps

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-10247194150676186092007-04-20T17:39:00.000Z2007-04-20T18:04:42.747Z

Recently I've been troubled by the slowness of the hot water as it travels through the house to the downstairs shower.It's not as if we live in a mansion, although what exactly you'd call a mansion is completely subjective. If you're home is a mud hut in an African village, I live in a mansion. If you happen to live in a mansion, our home is a modest Victorian terrace in a humble street.But it's

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-83397557622552849652007-03-26T17:34:00.000Z2007-03-26T17:49:30.324Z

I am still on the lookout for biodegradable plastic bags to put the used cat litter in. To put the used cat litter in, when I have finished the daily emptying of the cat litter, that is. For the cats are old, and are now on special diets, the sort that are labelled 'Perscription Only', have unfriendly names like 'KD' and 'ES' and come in large bags costing around £33.00 for a month or two's

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-5738805289843976152007-03-21T18:44:00.000Z2007-03-21T18:50:35.633Z

It's been a while since my life slowed down enough to blog again. Today's the birthday of someone special - can you guess who?I took the advice of Galli Galli Sim Sim and a couple of weeks ago finally got round to kicking the Coke habit - both diet and sugary. All my cravings were psychological, it turned out. I could indeed change if I really wanted to. Fortunately I was provided with a

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-74965371267113386632007-03-08T22:33:00.000Z2007-03-08T22:39:57.494Z

What a relief! It wasn't the timer at all that was causing the dishes to be covered in specks of something that looked like dried muesli. A quick trip to the Bosch website and I found a video explaining how I might start to take the dishwasher apart and address the problem at source.'The problem' turned out to be a blockage in one of the water jets the dishwasher so relies on to get the dishes

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-3124825771163228172007-03-07T21:17:00.000Z2007-03-07T21:28:45.326Z

Today approximately 1.5 million mobile phones were thrown out, recycled (maybe) or otherwise disposed of. That's a statistic entirely made up by me, but it will do fine to make a point.Everyone seems to have a mobile phone. I have one, and even a spare one somewhere in case it breaks down. Beloved has one, the kids have at least one each. I think there's another in the shed for emergencies.The

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-75313798777874734792007-02-28T21:54:00.000Z2007-02-28T22:05:29.044Z

I thought of calling this "throwing apples out of the car window", but my journalistic experience has taught me to keep it snappy, so I am sacrificing good English in the interest of populism. I think this makes me a man of my times.I few months ago, a woman was fined by her council for throwing an apple out of her car window, apparently in total disregard of the local by-laws. I mean, hadn't she

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-9535821500198512402007-02-22T21:08:00.000Z2007-02-22T21:10:50.169Z

Of course, not everyone else might agree with me. How good to feel the sweet, wet pitter-patter of the much-needed rain and imagine it gently filling our parched waterways and reservoirs, and generally raising the water table.Still holding out about flushing the loo though, although I will flush when away from home. I mean, I dont' mind what you do in your own home but ...

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-1022467488121869592007-02-22T21:05:00.000Z2007-02-22T21:07:29.876Z

My stomach has taken on my principles and won - yet again. I'm back on the diet Coke, complete with aspartame artificial sweetener produced by Monsanto, and the only thing I can do to defend myself is to drink it less often - maybe every other day instead of daily.

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-69555938272256935352007-02-21T20:00:00.000Z2007-02-21T20:20:06.280Z

The e-cloth is an interesting concept, a way of washing your car without using soap or water. I used it the last time I washed the Prius, which was some time last year. On reflection I believe it was the previous year. Doesn't time fly?I bought the e-cloth very soon after buying the car, they kind of 'went together'. The idea was a good one. I had just purchased a new car, a good one, and I was

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-81037174524287340022007-02-18T13:20:00.000Z2007-02-18T13:21:21.688Z

Al Gore announces climate change concerts (USA) – Eco-activist and possible 2008 presidential candidate Al Gore has announced a series of worldwide concerts to focus on the threat of climate change. The lineup will feature more than 100 top acts including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Snoop Dog and Bon Jovihttp://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12238World politicians and industrialists agree on tackling

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-8775233241263257452007-02-15T22:49:00.000Z2007-02-15T22:59:22.161Z

Great news - we're back on the organic box after a gap of about two years. Last time we hit paydust with the idea due to a lack of commitment - mostly by myself - to using up all the organics with clever meal planning and creative use of the cooker.In this respect I fell down on the meal planning and use of the cooker, preferring to prepare ready-made meals such as eggs and breakfast cereal.

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-67142633453298845562007-02-14T20:56:00.000Z2007-06-26T09:32:43.838Z

Ok, Coke is really only 39% sugar, according to its makers. I try to visualise how far up the can 39% is, and then imagine it to be full of white sugar, before I pour the lot down my throat. Not a thrilling prospect, coming as it does just one week after my heart scare (later downgraded to a pulled muscle).That leaves me with a real dilemma. The same one, actually. Trying to not drink Coke at all

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-29040664811624810592007-02-14T20:43:00.000Z2007-06-26T09:29:37.718Z

I have had to take the dishwasher off night rate electricity after about eight weeks. This is due to a coating of something like dry crumbs on the outside - and inside - of many of the dishes. For some reason, highly curved dishes such as cups and glasses seem more prone to this problem than flat ones like dinner plates. Cutlery seems largely unaffected.After trying a couple of times to clean the

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-64411590766868920222007-02-11T10:47:00.000Z2007-02-11T11:07:22.487Z

Branson offers £25 climate reward (UK). Virgin boss Richard Branson has offered a $25US reward to scientists who help find a way to save the planet from the effects of global climate change, by extracting carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere. Branson describes this as the largest prize ever offered.http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2007/2007-02-09-09.asp#anchor1Ethical fund top of league

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-86133715777631918192007-02-07T22:41:00.000Z2007-06-26T09:27:13.758Z

I wouldn't do it in my own home, so why do it at work? Yet somehow the idea of not flushing the loo when at a client's site seems like letting the side down.I'm only talking about wees here.There is a sign on the wall requesting that we leave the little room in the condition we'd like to find it, and I'm not being true to myself. I'd like to find it with every toilet seat up, the bright yellow

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-31804709352784126802007-02-07T22:28:00.000Z2007-06-26T09:24:53.258Z

This is a theme I feel I'll be returning to again and again.What on Earth is in that disturbingly bright and cheerful Cillit Bang plastic bottle containing the miracle power cleaner? I'm looking at it now, and it's a purple bottle with a bright red lid and a striking label of orange, pink and white. I don't know what image it is supposed to convey, but 'demonic' is the feeling I get from it. It's

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-90420744533732140632007-02-07T22:10:00.000Z2007-06-26T09:20:07.877Z

A dispute has broken out in the household. Is it permissable to place envelopes in the local authority paper recycling bin? Beloved things no, I believe it's yes.This is the same council who only recently fined me £50 for driving in a bus lane on the say-so of a camera hidden somewhere in the same bus lane. This was on Boxing Day - a bank holiday in the UK. How beaurcratic can you get? When I say

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-58792157230686997202007-01-30T21:16:00.000Z2007-06-26T09:18:09.285Z

I'd like to take the train to work and avoid using unnecessary and polluting oil products. But because I work forty miles from home I'd have to pay a standard fare of over £20 a day, which is £100+ a week. A monthly ticket would cost a cool £293.80, or £67.85 a week, using the accountant's trick of dividing by 4.33 to get weeks.Actually that's probably comparable to the cost of filling my car,

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-78885094547502280372007-01-28T09:16:00.001Z2007-06-26T09:13:08.230Z

When the bill came yesterday my initial reaction was disbelief. I was going to call the company that supplies our power (using sustainable energy of course) and use some of my own energy - which only seems to sustain itself until about 9pm - to find out what on earth was wrong with their billing system. Instead, I decided to put together a quick spreadsheet showing the approximate amount of

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-78442400749734582332007-01-28T09:14:00.002Z2007-01-28T09:16:06.866Z

20 Jan 06: Are lifts down the road really necessary? And how much does a kitchen mop cost to run? The daughter could not bear the thought of walking the half-mile to the tube station due to a combination of inclement weather and the fact she was wearing ridiculously high high-heels that were two sizes too large. Is it really necessary to take the car on such short distances? I thought not, so I

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-68118523821852544562007-01-28T09:14:00.001Z2007-01-28T09:14:35.029Z

18 Jan 07: I solve the disposable cup problem but what about the fruit salad containers? I have finally got round to using an old Evian bottle instead of numerous disposable cups for my frequent trips to the water cooler. It's not always easy to fill something that large, but I get satisfaction from knowing I'm doing my bit in this regard. Another dilemma - how much water should I put in the

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-52148275786474141162007-01-28T09:12:00.000Z2007-01-28T09:13:36.125Z

What does 'ecoxiety' mean? n. the feeling one gets when contemplating the difficulties involved in trying to live an environmentally-friendly life maybe. Or maybe you have your own definition .... I'd love to hear it.

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-5528573338676062862007-01-28T09:11:00.002Z2007-01-28T09:17:39.352Z

17 Jan 07: What can I do with my used polystyrene boxes ? These things are getting to be a bit of a liability. It's the same with plastic cups, and the expensive looking insulated paper cups you get with hot drinks. It's so easy to 'forget' to recycle them, or not even bother. After all, the feeling of getting a brand new one with every drink is kind of 'mothering'. The cup gets a little grotty

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-78828343256457538462007-01-28T09:11:00.001Z2007-01-28T09:18:18.571Z

As I look out over the discarded packaging of an eaten fruit salad (freshly prepared). What sort of plastic is it? Will it remain in a landfill for about a thousand years while it slowly decomposes? But even if it has a ‘recyclable’ sign on it (it does) where on Earth am I going to dispose of it? Must get a plastic crusher so I can take it to the council recycling some time. Is there such a thing

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-3684112779577416122007-01-28T09:09:00.000Z2007-01-28T09:18:50.446Z

I went to an interfaith dialogue group today. That's my new thing. I mean, learning to actually listen to each other seems better than trying to prove how wrong anyone else is. By pure change the topic of discussion (there always is one!) was 'sustainability'. I honestly thought it was going to be about how long we can sustain these old religions, but it was about the environment. I can tell you,

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-84366418139922622062007-01-28T09:03:00.000Z2007-01-28T09:04:03.184Z

Will they, won't they? That's the question. It's amazing how much change there is in people's attitudes because of global warming. So M&S are promising to become carbon neutral from 2000-and-whatever. I'm optimistic. Not so sure about Tesco though. I wonder which Minister had a private word in whose ear at the golf club? Somehow I've acquired a bottle made of someting called PTFE. It's some sort

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-85289193566815822802007-01-28T09:01:00.001Z2007-01-28T09:01:54.243Z

14 Jan 06: I become a cyclistHello again. In a stroke of -well, brightness - I came up with the idea of using the bike that's been sitting around in the shed for about four years getting rusty. This was a fitness idea, although it doubles up neatly as a route to self-righteous gloating. Having invested around £40 in Halfords for the various accessories I was ready to go. What fun! Although the

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-49668768349782402142007-01-28T09:00:00.001Z2007-01-28T09:00:40.508Z

12 Jan 06 - Eco-battles with Tesco 6.30am Using less after-shave lotion has exactly the same effect on the face as using more. The bottle does not make it easy to put tiny amounts on my face, but I could always get one of those soft plastic bottles with a 'squeezy' lid. 8.00 Arrived at the office minus my green tea so was forced by addiction to purchase a cappuchino in the cafeteria. One more

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38723823.post-1169717239066626792007-01-25T09:26:00.000Z2007-01-25T09:27:19.076Z

Hello reader. I am moving Ecoxiety here, meanwhile you can find it at http://ecowatch.blogspot.com

ecoxietyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13352709808422976762noreply@blogger.com0