Do I Need That? 🤔

I'm going back to school next week (it's gone too quickly!), and I remember when I went into year 7, I had to buy a whole lot of new stuff. Now, looking back, I ask myself whether it was necessary to buy that pencil case, when I had rather old but perfectly good one at home, or those new pens when there were definitely some lying round the house. Well, I bought them and I have used them over the year. What I'm getting to here is - not just with school, but any time - you need to think before you buy something. 

When buying things for school there are a few things you can do when shopping for new supplies which are more eco friendly. For example; instead of buying a pack of two pencils, two pens, a rubber, a sharpener and a ruler or something, you should buy one big pack of pencils, one big pack of pens etc (preferably if they're boxed in cardboard instead of a plastic bag because then you can usually recycle them). And then you could put it in one old box and you can keep going back to that box instead of buying more. Another thing is, do you really need another pencil case? Like, pencil cases usually last quite a while if you buy a good one. The one I use has a huge ink stain on it but I still use it.

Then, when you buy just normal things, you can also stop yourself. For example, stop yourself from buying little things (which are usually wrapped in plastic) that looks cute or something😂. Sometimes buying something that is bigger is better, like buying a bigger bottle of shampoo that will last longer. My mum bought a huge bag of muesli in March and we're only reaching the end of it now. It's quite cool actually, how long it's lasted. 

Thank you for reading this post! I hope you liked it. See you next Sunday!

Violet

    xxx

Walking in Nature! 🏞

Every weekend (when we are allowed) my family and I go on a long walk to a national park, the countryside or lakes; rain or shine. Just yesterday we went on a walk and got completely soaked, but we still carried on. I always enjoy it; it makes me feel calm and happy. 

Have you heard of the word nemophilist (pronounced nem-o-fill-ist)? Well, it means someone who has a love for forest or woodland scenery, or someone who visits them. I like the word a lot, and thought I should just mention it🙂.

Anyway, as much as I love the scenery of nature, sometimes some things ruin it. At least twice on our walks, a bright piece of colour which shouldn't be there obscures the scene. What I mean by a 'bright piece of colour' is a bit of litter. I mean, nature is the worst place to litter! Not only, as I mentioned, does it damage the landscape, there will be a lot more wild animals who could pick it up and feed it to their young (or my dog will spot a tissue and eat it, yes it's disgusting, and yes we try to stop it, but we can't help it if they're all over!) When you're on a walk in the proper countryside with nothing around except trees and grass etc, there's probably not going to be many bins around. But that doesn't mean you drop or hide any of your litter! You could bring your own bag to put your things in, or you could place it somewhere if you know you're coming back the same way and you can collect it when you come back (but that might not be so nice for the people walking behind you). 

Also, there are usually signs up, but you shouldn't feed any animals if you happen to see some - unless it is said to be okay or you are given a particular amount and type of food by someone who works there. I'm sure we've all fed bread to birds sometime in our lifetime. Although bread isn't harmful for them, it doesn't have the protein and fat that are necessary for them to have.  

Thank you for reading this post. I love going on walks in nature, and it's much better than using your time on screens (which I'm sure we're all guilty of). See you next week!

Violet

          xxx

Going to Local Eco-friendly Businesses!🚶‍♀️

Where I live, we have loads of local small businesses that my parents love to visit; whether it be cafes, restaurants, stores or markets. Just yesterday we went to the Chorlton Maker's Market where lots of people gather and sell homemade things like soap or food or art. 

It's good to shop in small local businesses because instead of putting your money in huge companies that ship over seas and use a lot of plastic, you are paying for things which are probably homegrown, homemade and more sustainable. And of course right now, it's better not to travel as far.  

There are lots of reasons why shopping at local stores is better for the environment. The first thing that comes to mind is if you live locally, there's no reason to drive. You could walk or cycle and contribute less to emissions.  If you live in the countryside and have to drive, you'll probably have great farmshops near you selling food that they grow or produce on their own farm.  Also, if you buy something from an eco-friendly business, you know it's probably going to last. That's the whole point of something eco right? That it's sustainable. And, while the business is still small, they usually prioritise responsible manufacturing.  

Thanks for reading this post. See you next week!

Violet

         xxx

Eco Friendly Ways to Use Your Dishwasher! 👍

Do you have a dishwasher at home? If so, how often do you use it? Do you use it more than washing by hand? Personally, I don't mind doing the washing up (we don't really do it that often, we use our dishwasher) but I know others who hate it. Well, you may be happy to know using a dishwasher can be more environmentally friendly than your usual chore. Can be. You need to use it in a proper way for it to be. Here are some rules you should follow:

1. Scrape all left over food on your plate into the compost bin (food that hasn't been touched could be eaten the next day) instead of putting it straight into the dishwasher and clogging up the drains or wasting more water by rinsing them before.
2. Make sure your dishwasher is completely full before running a cycle.
3. Use the Eco cycle if there is one, or the coolest cycle possible 
4. Run it in the middle of the night to use the most of greener electricity (I'll explain that in another post).

There are also ways you can make the washing up more eco friendly if you don't have a dishwasher. They're mostly the same, for example: 

• Scrape all food into the compost bin before washing
• Make sure you have a full load (or a lot) of dishes to wash before running warm - not hot - water. 

But there are also other things like:

• Run half a basin of cold water to dip the bubbly dishes into when you're done (instead of running them under a stream of more water).
• Wash less grubby dishes first (like glasses and cutlery) and then the dirtier dishes like plates and bowls. This makes sure you don't need to run more water to make it cleaner. 

An average household could use up to 30 litres a week if their washing up and rinsing is done under a running tap. You can use much less water if you don't run the tap for so long; every minute a running tap could waste a week's worth of drinking water (8-12 litres). 

Thank you for reading this post, I hope you liked it. I got most of these facts from This Book Is Not Rubbish, which I've mentioned before. See you next Sunday!

Violet

         xxx

Explaining Greenhouse Gasses and the Effect! 🚕

You may know everything you want and need to know about greenhouse gasses. Personally, I've always found it a little confusing and I forget it. So I'm going to explain it for people like me, so hopefully you'll leave my blog having learnt something. 

Greenhouses (the buildings) are made of glass and are built for the sunlight to seep in, warm the closed area and not let the warmth escape. That is why greenhouse gasses get their name, because they do the same. They allow the sunlight into the Earth's atmosphere and keep it there to warm us up, which is good because without them, the Earth would turn freezing cold. 

This is a step by step on the greenhouse effect: 

1. The Sun provides energy.
2. The energy enters the Earth's atmosphere.
3. The Earth absorbs this energy as warmth, although some of it travels back up through the atmosphere to space.
4. Greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide help keep the warmth inside.

But it's not all good.

Scientists worry human actions are adding too much of these gasses to the atmosphere, trapping too much warmth in which causes the Earth to heat up (and icebergs to melt!).  For example: when we farm animals, we fatten them up and animals like cows let out the gas methane; burning fossil fuels like coal causes carbon dioxide. 

 However, there are ways to help reduce greenhouse gasses (as always😄):

• Turning off lights when you leave rooms - use less energy
• Eat less red meat 
• Plant a tree - plants help by taking in carbon dioxide and giving out oxygen
• Drive less: walk or cycle more!
• Cut down on hot water and air conditioning
• Use the 4Rs! Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Thank you for reading this post, it's more on facts than tips, but still. I hope you learnt something (maybe I just reminded you about something you already knew) when you read this. See you next Sunday!

Violet

         xxx