21st October 2022
O what joy! The first baby bison in thousands of years has be born in the UK at the Knepp rewilding project. The three female bison arrived at the project in July but unknown to everyone one was carrying a calf.
Counting on…day 355
Category: Counting On …
Reflections and actions during COP26 and going on
Counting on … day 354
20th October 2022
Again to conserve water, we recycle grey water. Water for hand washing collects in a bowl and is saved in a jug and/or flushed down the toilet. Water from flannel washes and from the hot water bottle are also recycled. At more expense you can install a tank, some form of water treatment and a pump to recycle the water to toilet cisterns and/ or a garden tap.
Counting on… day 353
19th October 2022
Sometimes it is hard to get a feel for the scale of the things we are trying to achieve. This reports comes via The Guardian: “The UK is one of more than 100 countries committed to protecting “30×30” as a way to halt the destruction of the natural world. However, just 3.22% of land in England and 8% of the sea is being properly protected and managed for nature, according to the report from the environmental charities coalition Wildlife and Countryside Link (WCL).”
The Wildife and Countryside Link is a coming together of 66 wildlife related organisations whose combined membership exceeds 8 million. Hopefully this will give this new grouping a powerful voice.
Counting on … day 353
18th October 2022
Despite recent rain, forecasters predict that the UK will still be feeling the effects of this years dry summer in 2023 with farmers having to rethink what crops they grow using less water. Whilst domestic use is only a small portion of total water consumption, it is still important that we treat water in our homes as a precious resource and conserve it.
Both to save water and to save energy, we have switched from daily to weekly showers with a flannel wash on other days – I don’t think we smell!
Counting on … day 352
17th October 2022
Dried autumn leaves strung on a thread make an attractive alternative to a Christmas paper chain. Now is a good time to collect leaves of different shapes and colours. Some leaves are better than others – horse chestnut leaves shrivel very quickly whereas sweet chestnut, oak and acer leaves keep their shape and colour. You can keep the leaves between the pages of a book until needed.
Seed pods can make interesting decorations when strung on a thread or hung as baubles. Pine cones too make good Christmas decorations.
Counting on … day 351
16th October 2022
Next month world leaders, heads of NGOs, businesses and charities will be taking part in COP27 addressing the climate emergency. According to Alok Sharma, the COP26 president, it is important that all participants arrive in Egypt with the same spirit of urgency, collaboration and compromise that underpinned the success of COP26 in Glasgow. One of the key issues to be resolved will be the establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund. Let us prayer with urgency that that spirit will prevail.
Counting on … day 350
15th October 2022
Baking without using the oven. Ovens use a lot of energy, so if you can avoid using them it helps reduce your carbon footprint. Instead you can use a heavy frying pan as a griddle and bake foods such as Welsh cakes, soda farls and potato farls, drop scones, griddle scones and Staffordshire oatcakes.
Welsh cakes
250g plain or half and half plain and wholemeal plus baking powder
75g vegan butter
75g currants/ raisins
1 tbsp chia seeds soaked in a cup of hot water
1 tsp Nutmeg
A little oat milk
Lightly oil a flat based frying pan and set over a medium heat to warm up.
Rub the butter into the flour and add the remaining ingredients using enough oat milk to bind to a dough. Roll out about the thickness of a thumb and cut into rounds.
Place the rounds into the pan. When they are browned on one side turn them over.
Counting on … day 349
14th October 2022
Tomorrow is International Repair Day!
Right to Repair Europe suggests we ‘Try a fix’
- Clean, revive or fix something – take a look at some tips here or check out iFixit and Spareka for brilliant guides on how to fix almost everything.
- Share a photo of your repair on social media with #RepairEverywhere
Counting on … day 348
13th October 2022
An observation: when I was a child every household had a single dustbin of size that could be lifted to empty it in to the dustbin lorry. There were no recycling bins or garden waste bins. Now households all have a wheelie bin which is at least 50% bigger plus two or more recycling bins, a food waste bin and, as required, a garden waste bin. How come we produce so much more to discard?
Counting on …day 347
12th October 2022
Moments of joy are for celebrating! Yesterday at the Wetlands Centre, I saw a kestrel suddenly swoop down in front of the hide and snatch a small creature from the grass. Clutching it in its feet it flew off to a bank and slowly ate its prey.
The Green Tau 