Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically and to Permaculture principles, which we share with Chickens, Cats and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!

I am a Master Composter and have spent more than a decade as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council.
I'm a self employed Environmental Educator so I run workshops and events where I talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. I also run crafts workshops and Forest School/outdoor play sessions in our wood.

We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.


To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!


Wednesday 10 December 2008

Another good article on Climate Change.

Carrying on with the Climate Change theme today's article in The Guardian by George Monbiot makes good reading (as always with something written by George)

I also strongly recommend reading the whole series of articles in this section.

It astonishes me, that we are STILL arguing about IF man made Climate Change is happening! How many times do people have to shown the evidence before they "get it"?

I accept that it is hard for us individually to influence Government policy and it is easy to feel powerless to act in the face of such an overwhelming issue.

BUT, we surely all owe it to our own children as well as the whole of the human race, to act NOW to at least try to affect what we can personally control?

Doing what we can, like using less fossil fuels, joining a campaigning organisation, repairing stuff rather than throwing it, switching off lights, washing at 30 oC, buying local food, recycling, hanging out some washing on a line to dry, consuming less, composting, growing some veg, reusing stuff to make other stuff, saving energy and resources, thinking more and all the million and one greener ideas which are widely available so EVERYONE could do SOMETHING, are all at least a start in reducing our personal Carbon Dioxide emissions.

It has got to be better than blindly walking towards disaster, doing nothing...

Surely?

Comments welcome...

9 comments:

  1. (Posted by Aromatic but Blogger ate it when I was moderating!)

    Here! Here! CW!! Its all extremely frightening. I wholeheartedly agree that we all should do our bit.. its got to help. I personally do as much as I can and I am always looking at ways to improve. I have a real problem with my use of the tumble drier at the moment which I have to use at times due to the small home I live in. I do however try to cut out other things to balance the use of said evil drier.... Anyway I degress... with the credit crunch hanging over our heads it makes sense to be 'green' as it saves money in many ways....
    I wish we could all have our own wind turbines (smaller versions) and solar panels and I do think the government (sorry if I talking through my rear, but its how I feel)could do much more to help with these issues.I am aware they help out with grants regarding solar energy, but its still very costly even after a grant. I think government money could be better spent regarding green issues! We need to embrace natural energy so we can be rid of fossil fuels... we are slowly killing the world if things stay as they are.. and that is very SCARY!! It frightens me enormously!!!
    Love Jane xxx

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  2. Well my BIG change starts in the New Year. We are completely leaving behind our old way of life and returning to a simpler one.

    We will be growing our own veg and fruit, keeping chickens and ducks. Hopefully acquiring a couple of beehives and generally putting our mark on 5 acres of the Great British countryside. We are starting a wormery, refreshing a huge duck pond, in total we hope to bring back to life a small farm as it was many years ago. We hope to be as self sufficient as possible to be within 2-5 years.

    My only regret is that the Aga is oil fired, although we do have a wood burning fireplace in the farmhouse.

    If everyone made SOME changes it would help. Hopefully our changes will.

    Sue xx

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  3. washing at 30 oC

    Alas, we've been forced to turn it up to 40 because the clothes were coming out almost as grubby as when they went in :(

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  4. Well, I wash at 40 for some things, and I DO, do a 60 wash about once every couple of weeks...but for things which are in need of a wash but not stained I find 30 is ok..

    Maybe its our washing machine agitating it more? or something?

    I also use soapnuts to wash a lot of loads....

    but 40 is still better than 50 or 60 oC washes all the time, which is what some people do......

    its the general principle I was getting at, to lighten our Carbon footprint, rather than specific things...

    ;-))

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  5. I know, but the guilt factor is still there! Though I hope it's off set by the fact that (unlike some people I know) I do not switch the car on and leave it running while I go back indoors to have breakfast in order to defrost the windscreen...

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  6. Lots of people I know are washing at 30 or even 20 but adding lots of Vanish and the like, as well as harsh detergent, to get the clothes clean. That makes no sense at all to me. It's not just about energy - checmicals and their disposal/lingering effects have to be considered.

    I have washed at 40 degrees forever. Occasionally I do sheets at 60 just in case of nasty creepies, but other than that, I don't see the need to wash things at a hot temperature.

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  7. Good point about what the clothes are washed in BW...its not JUSt about lower temp washes if you then use a harsh chemical washing liquid!

    we use Bio D wash powder or soapnuts as well as vinegar and essential oils for a final rinse...and I would be happy to put the grey water produced on plants in the garden, but as it is the water goes into our own septic tank then into a soakaway which waters trees in the wood...

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  8. Hello there,

    I've been really enjoying your blog Compostwoman!

    It's been my life's ambition to figure out how to live sustainably. After 25 years I've decided that it's down to the individual to take resposibility for their actions. How they do that has to reflect their immediate environment, physical and mental capabilities and resources. What else can we do? I'm sure I don't know.

    It's all a bit too overwhelming otherwise. I've had so many friends burn out trying to take on the tidal wave of climate change (and other environmental issues, I burnt myself out fighting against animal cruelty and woodland protection). While that activism is crucial and still has to be done, I think it's important to remember that in the end we can only do what we can do and as long as we all actually DO what we CAN DO then it should all balance out nicely.

    Blinky moses as a first comment that's a bit long winded, sorry CW!! Off I go...!

    hen
    xx

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  9. Hello Hen and welcome to The Compostbin!

    I agree, whilst it would be wonderful if TPTB actually got up of their collective arses and DID SOMETHING about Climate Change issues, even if they don't, WE all can make some sort of difference by just doing SOMETHING, anything really...and its ultimately about individual personal responsibility, isn't it?

    and yes, I spent several years where I was the very active co ordinator of a very active local FOE group, the chair of another environmetal group , AND was self employed doing similar stuff as my "day job" as an Environmental Community Advocate and Activist

    This was during the BSE incinerator and bypass building
    90's...and fighting those were my specialisms...(!)

    so burn out is a thing I well understand! and I sympathise with you I really do...

    I gave up doing that sort of stuff for a couple of years when we first moved over to here as I was just so shattered and sad and disullusioned etc.....

    but them I got a second wind and started campaigning on mobile phone mast planning issues....and GM crop trials...and the Badger Cull...

    ! Sorry, I digress there...( See! I do longwinded replies, also!)

    (btw long first comments are absolutely fine by me, so no need to apologise!

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Hello! Thank you for reading my blog and for commenting. I try to reply as quickly as I can and I really appreciate your interest in my life and doings here in The Compost Bin.

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