Planet Savers blog

I’m really glad to see that the Local Government Association is looking into plastic packaging in supermarkets. Still too much, they say. Well, I think anyone looking at this site will agree wholeheartedly with that. Worst offender was LiDL for the amount of packaging but, surprisingly for their environmental statements, Marks&Spencer were worst for using recycle-able packaging. However, the report did not say if this was because they are using materials that are already recycled.

There’s a lot to learn about plastic packaging and the whole carrier bag issue. It’s one to be investigated further. Watch this space!

Not many entries lately, that’s coz I’ve become involved in a local project. Since it’s relevant, I’ll chat about it here. There is a movement sweeping the world raising awareness about the dangers pof plastic, particularly to marine life. This web site talks about the problems for turtles in particular. Many people are now questioning the need to shops to offer plastic bags. so many of them just blow away and cause soooo much damage.

So a couple of local residents and I are joining forces and want to make our own town plastic bag free. We have set up a website and will be approaching all the shops and shoppers asking their support for the cause.

We are not the first group to tackle this in their own town by any means, but it will still be a very new arena for us. It’s already changed me. My growing awareness of plastic means that I can’t walk past an errant plastic bag in the street any more. I have to pick it up and put it in a bin. That’s another turtle saved…

“For some reason energy consumption has become a status symbol,” David King told Reuters today. “If we invert that and look down on people who are wasting energy, I think we can begin to manage the problem.” David King is the UK’s chief science adviser, “Treat energy as a very precious commodity…never use energy unless you are making good use of it. We’re talking here about a culture change.”

Well, this calls for a serious culture change but I think it’s a goodie.

This site is all about the individual. What we are and what we do has an effect of those around us. That doesn’t mean we have to walk around polishing our halos. Just drop this title into the conversation and watch the subject change :>)

I have a conundrum.

As a regular Riverford Veggie Box person, I took advantage of their dairy delivery as well so my organic milk arrived with my box once a week.

A few days ago there was a knock at the door and a rep from the local family run dairy asked if I were interested in being part of their milk round. “Think local” is very much a part of saving the planet. So, having established that they do organic, I signed up.

My first pint arrived on the doorstep this morning and I noticed that the milk comes from an organic farm in Bedfordshire. This means it has travelled from there to my dairy in Chesham and then out to my house via the milk float. Since I am still having my Riverford box delivered, I have increased my milk road miles considerably.

Environmentally, of course, I should go local for all my produce and some would say that I should put this above my preference for organic produce. I disagree with this one, though, health and principles play a part in our decisions. I don’t want to fill my body with chemicals and I don’t want to encourage their use in our fields. Neither do I want to eat meat from an animal that has been badly treated during its lifetime.

Having said that, I try to buy UK grown produce or, if not much is available, EU. I won’t buy courgettes from Israel, beans from Kenya, or peppers from Chile. We can no longer sustain the luxury of airfreighting food around the world to places where there is sufficient without it.

Which brings me back to my milk conundrum and buying local…