Spring Cleaning: Less Chemicals

I've written about chemicals and better cleaning products quite a few times (you can read some of my posts here: How to be Eco-Friendly in your Bathroom and Using Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products  - where I list quite a few useful ones that we use in our house) but it's quite an important thing, so I'm going to touch on it a bit more.

One thing you should probably stop using if you do, are air fresheners. I wrote a whole post on spray cans etc, which you can read here. I'll tell you about the problem: aerosols and any spray products in pressurised containers release more volatile organic compounds (VOCs - they're bad) than all the vehicles in the UK (this research was released in 2021). When these VOCs react with nitrogen oxide in the sunlight, they produce a smog that harms human health and crops. A better thing to is open windows, but that only really works in warm weathers. 

You can also easily brighten up your home with plants (read my post on them here). They don't actually change the air in your home that much, but they do raise moods. 

There are a few books out there that give you good products to use, and even make yourself. One of them is Clean and Green by Nancy Birtwhistle, which gives you 101 Hints and Tips for a More Eco-Friendly Home. My mum has read it, and I want to read it, and one of the most mentioned thing was lemons, which can be used for so many things to clean (hence the cover of the book).

Thank you for reading this week's post. Hope you have a good week! See you next Sunday.

Violet

         xxx

Spring Cleaning: Clothes👗

I'm currently writing this in an AirBnB, on a little wooden desk in front of a window that rattles whenever the wind blows. It is very atmospheric and it feels like you're living in a classic book!

Anyway, as Spring is coming around soon, I thought it would be good to start a small series just about Spring Cleaning on this blog, and I'm going to start off with clothes. So:

Clothes mean different things to many people, for some it's so they can stand out, but to others it's so you can be comfy. To me, it's just to be comfy. I don't really buy designer clothes or anything, it's not anything to do with the environment, I've just never really bought any (I buy many more books than clothes😂). One of the problems with clothes is fast fashion. I wrote a whole post about it, which you can read here however I will touch on it in this post:

Fast Fashion

Fast fashion is where main-stream companies sell trendy clothes for a cheap price, and because they are just for a trend, they are worn maybe once or twice and then thrown away. Everything about fast fashion is fast (see in the name): the rate of production, the delivery, the customer's decision to buy it and how long the clothes are worn for. The clothes are usually low quality which means even if you love something it won't last very long. Taking part in fast fashion leaves a huge dent in your carbon footprint because of the greenhouse gases released in the making (because the garments are often made of unsustainable materials) and after throwing them away.

The easiest thing to do (and something I've mentioned in many posts) is giving your clothes to charity shops, and buying from them. However, over lockdown (since it increased the rate of people clearing out) a lot of charity shops became too full to take any more things. So note you should always contact the shop before dropping things off to them because they might refuse you. You can read more about that here.

However, giving to charity is not the only thing you can do. Many websites have popped up over the last few years, where you can swap or buy clothes from someone online. One of them is: Bandi. It is a website where you can find someone of the same style, size and shape as you and swap clothes for free. You use a Bandi Bag (which are reusable) to put the clothes in, give it to your local drop off point, and there you go! 

There are obviously many other websites like Bandi, and you may even have one that you use! If you do, feel free to recommend them. 

Thank you for reading this week's post! I hope you have a great week!

Violet

        xxx

Eco-Anxiety😟

What is eco-anxiety?

It’s where the thought of climate change and global warming causes stress, anxiety and even depression and it affects so many people (a lot of teenagers too). To the American Psychology Association, eco- anxiety is "the chronic fear of environmental cataclysm that comes from observing the seemingly irrevocable impact of climate change and the associated concern for one's future and that of the next generations". The fact people get eco-anxiety just takes the problem of climate change to another level. It’s really easy to notice climate change, without even reading the news or anything. Early Springs, late Autumns, sweltering Summers, any sort of weird weather - things that wouldn’t have happened a few years ago.

"The concern can escalate as you experience climate change in your daily life. You worry about record temperatures. You feel anxious when you buy anything packed in plastic. You might lose sleep because of your concerns about the future of our planet. Your feelings of it being out of your control can cause panic. Some people are deeply affected by feelings of grief, helplessness, frustration, stress and even violence and aggression, due to their inability to make a difference." says Hypnotherapist Andrea Szentgyorgyi.

What should you do if you have eco-anxiety?

Even though it's good to stay informed, sometimes limiting your consumption of news is the best thing to do. Constantly checking and refreshing a news page can overwhelm you with negative thoughts. I'm not saying that you should block out everything because that wouldn't be good. But restricting reading the news to a short bit of time everyday can help. You could also take time to change parts of your life to be more green (the key words there are: take time) and it can be a reminder that you are helping when you're feeling anxious. Accepting what you cannot change helps too - it's a very hard thing to do a lot of the time, but if you say to yourself "I am doing my best" it can feel easier.

Any type of mental health problem is really hard to get out of once you're in it, so this will take time. I am not a professional, and you will find many more tips to help online than what I've put here. Below, I've put a list of some good websites about eco anxiety if you want to know more.

Thank you for reading this post. I hope you have a good week - see you next Sunday!

Violet

xxx

Here are some helpful websites:

• Happiful
• Zenerations
• BBC ideas (video)
  
• BBC Bitesize
  
• Iberdrola
  

Using reusable pots! ♻

In 2020, I wrote a whole post on Tupperware Boxes, talking about how they are better for the environment and when to use them. Well, in January, where I live, a campaign has been started about making takeaways eco-friendly. 

What's it about?

Basically, they're asking all the local takeaways to join a "Bring Your Own Container" campaign, so customers don't take home disposable containers and throw them away as soon as they are finished with them. 

Why?

Disposable containers are not recyclable, and yes, you can reuse them a few times however they aren't sustainable enough to last forever. They are taken to landfill or an incinerator and being burned has a huge impact on the environment. It's a vicious circle: we think we need the pots for takeaways etc and so we keep extracting and burning fossil fuels for the plastic in the pots, and then repeating the process because people only use the pots provided from restaurants once. Overall, they contribute significantly to climate change. The aluminium ones (that are in the photo above) can be recycled with your tins and cans, after you clean them. 

You'll have to make sure your pots are completely clean and dry before taking it to the takeaway. Some places may refuse to take your pots, and use their disposable ones and there are many reasons for this, maybe because they find it more hygienic to use their own.

You could try to get in touch with your local takeaways and ask them if they could try taking customer's reusable pots, if they don't already.

Of course, this only works if you go to the restaurant and order it there, and not if you have it delivered to your house.  

Thank you for reading this week's post!  See you next Sunday!

Violet 

        xxx