Reflections and actions during COP26 and going on
7th July 2022
Picnics get us out and about. They are a great way of appreciating and enjoying the natural world around us. They offer great opportunities to be creative – be inspired by picnics in literature and art; have a picnic breakfast or midnight feast; or pick foods from other parts of the world.
https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2020/05/the-best-picnics-in-literature
6th July 2022
The bins at St Margaret’s fair contrasted with the bins on Sheen Common, our local green space. These were overflowing with discarded picnic waste – plastic wrappers, plastic bottles, cardboard boxes, plastic bags. Some items could have been taken home and recycled. Better still is to make picnics that involve no waste – sandwiches wrapped in beeswax clothes or packed in lunch boxes. Water or squash in refill bottles. Fruit loose in a cotton bag. Slices of cake and biscuits packed in a tin.
5th July 2022
Having to think before we discard or throw something away is a good thing. Maybe what we are discarding could be repaired, or reused or at the very least be recycled. Maybe it was surplus to needs and now we know not to get it future. Maybe it is the packaging that is superfluous and next time we can find a different supply that comes with zero waste.
4th July 2022
Small plastic packets for crisps and individually wrapped biscuits, sweets and ice creams and many other snacks proliferate and can often be seen as wind blown litter. Why not use the impetus of Plastic Free July to make a break and stop buying these products. Look for chocolate bars wrapped in paper and freshly served ice creams in cones. Prepare snacks in advance putting dried fruits and biscuits into reusable containers. Take a banana – they come with inbuilt packaging!
3rd July 2022
The Woodland Trust is petitioning governments across the UK to protect ancient trees. Do sign! Increasing biodiversity is as much about maintaining what we have as it is about rewilding. Ancient trees support a huge number of different animals, birds, insects, and micro-organisms. They are also historic landmarks that are just as important as historic buildings.
2nd July 2022
Following on from yesterday, Greenpeace has set up a petition asking the Government to transforming food system to switch the emphasis from meat to plants.
1st July 2022
According to the UN’s Global Climate Action newsletter, declining biodiversity is an increasingly acute problem. “The faster we degrade and lose biodiversity, the worst climate change, and the food crisis, will grow. The sooner we act to protect, conserve, sustainably use and regenerate nature within the 2020s, the stronger our chances of reaching net zero emissions before 2050 and becoming resilient to impacts we can’t hold back.”
Reducing our consumption of meat will alleviate declining biodiversity by reducing the pressure on the amount of farm land needed to produce the food we eat and freeing up land that can be re-wilded.
30th June 2022
And last from the batch, red carlin peas. Using the last of the week’s OddBox, I fried onion, garlic and red pepper together and then added cooked potatoes and cauliflower, stirred a while before finally adding the drained peas and a couple of spoons of chutney. Here it is being served with baba ganoush.
29th June 2022
The wrinkled peas have become a version of risi bisi but rather than rice I have used porridge oats. Beginning with a chopped onion and come garlic cooked in oil, I added the oat flakes as if I were making a risotto. Next I added the peas and their cooking liquid and a chopped tomato, and stirring from time to time allowed the oats to swell and absorb the liquid. For extra flavour I added some pepper and nutmeg. Once the desired texture was achieved, I added some nutritional yeast flakes (ones fortified with vitamin B12). Another time I might add lemon juice and zest, or parsley, or salted lemon for different flavours.
28th June 2022
The yellow split peas have become this week’s sandwich spread. This is a type of hummus ( true hummus is made from chick peas). The drained peas are blitzed to a paste with the juice of a lemon, some olive oil, garlic and a couple of spoons of tahini. Exact quantities vary as necessary to achieve the desired texture. If it becomes too runny, I add pumpkin or sunflower seeds to thicken things. Extra flavours come by adding pepper or paprika, lemon zest or herbs: I especially like dill.
The Green Tau 