The magazines were full of wonderful articles about bio-diversity, debates on ‘clean coal’, and some nice stuff about veg growing, but what struck me most was the mood of the editorials.  The pile dated from Summer 2008 just as the Credit Crunch saga was beginning to unfold.  The Autumn 2008 editorial, written as the full implications of the crisis were becoming clear to us, was an urgent call from Paul Allen for a national investment programme akin to post WW2 reconstruction, based upon sound and sustainable principles.  As he said, we had “been partying on our natural and social capital for decades, rather than preparing for long-term challenges.”  It struck me then, as it does now, it would take a great deal of political will and bravery to put an end to that party and face up to our long-term challenges.  It’s not easy to envisage people willingly giving up the luxuries of the western consumer lifestyle, the short-termism of our current political system means it would be political suicide for an MP to suggest that they should.

Fast forward a couple of years and the main political parties earnestly tell us there will be hard times ahead and that cuts will have to be made somewhere at some point.  Now they want us to appreciate their ‘honesty’.   Interestingly neither Labour or Conservative want to cut the 97bn that renewing our commitment to Trident will cost.  I think the Lib Dems are doing some strange kind of fudge on that, I’ve not quite understood them to be honest, feel free to set the record straight in the comments.  

Nevertheless, my vote counts, doesn’t it?  Well not exactly.  We don’t have a Green Party candidate in our constituency, but even if we did my vote would probably be wasted and my views would find no representation in parliament.  At the same time I truly fear any move towards the right, so sadly voting tactically in our small, marginal constituency makes sense here.  I guess then, at least my vote does count for something.  The safer a constituency the less an individual vote counts.  Your voting power will also be compromised if you live in a larger than average constituency.  If you’d like to find out more about how much your vote counts in your constituency a visit to Voter Power  will be enlightening.  My voter power here is 0.729 of a vote, which sounds bad but compares very favourably to a national average of 0.253.  Nevertheless, over 60% of votes in our constituency in the 2005 election would have been, in essence, discarded. 

The best possible outcome this week might well be a hung parliament and a nationwide call for  electoral reform and a system in which every vote counts equally.  I would like to see all people’s views (even those I strongly disagree with) represented in a system of government that has a true and fair mandate.  Maybe then politicians can start being more honest about our futures and work for the changes we need to make.  

And why the 3rd of March?  Does this commemorate the birth/death/other of a famous mathematician?  I’m appalled to admit I can’t think of a single famous mathematician off the top of my head.  (Feel free to help me out here!)  Is it the day on which many people (like me now I’ve just realised my watch thinks it’s the 31st February) figure out they are going to have to wind their watches on for 72 hours before the date reads right? 

Maybe the 3rd March is the only day left that hasn’t been carved out of the calendar by some other deserving cause.  I’m afraid I am beginning to suffer from world day fatigue.  I am unlikely to ever remember the date of any one of them.  Anyway, I can’t let this special day go uncommemorated and thought that the most fitting thing for this blog was a reminder of the 350 cause.

390ppm = current concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

350ppm = the safe upper limit of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Now do the maths as they say, or just visit www.350.org.  And Happy World Maths Day to you!

The cold weather always turns our attention to our less than efficient and somewhat crude plumbing and heating.  We would like to have a water heating solar panel (we would like to have PV panels too) but we are not allowed.  We live in a listed building on a conservation site and even something as inoffensive as a slimline panel on the roof is a no-no apparently.  I’m all for preserving our heritage but I would like it to be presupposed by a need to preserve the planet first.  I think a planet would make heritage sites so much more accessible.  If only there was some way we could bypass all the red tape at the local planning department.  Perhaps we could put in for a nuclear reactor?   

The Gates of Hell are About to Open:

(Mind the gap) is a fabulous book by John Connelly.  We are reading it together aloud as part of our ongoing efforts to find cheap and low-impact family entertainment. It is cheap, it is definitely harmless and generally more funny than it is frightening.  And it is hugely entertaining.  Connelly’s hell is populated by weak, flawed and vulnerable demons.  Their desires and actions are governed, in turn, by avarice and a need to be loved.  They fear their superiors and loathe their inferiors, and some of them are a little power crazy.  Not a whole lot different from us then?  Oh, for something simple, pure and uncomplicated – like a parsnip. 

 I made about half the quantity of vegetable soup that I’d originally intended to.  At about 2.00pm  the sun shone briefly and persuaded some dog walkers at least that they ought to get out.  Our friend Alan and his son Ade were our first victims.  We told them they had to drink our soup and pose for a picture whether they liked it or not! 

After that we had a steady stream of people throughout the afternoon.  I was really pleased at how happy people (and they were a diverse bunch!) were to talk about climate change issues and many of the people we spoke to were already making their own efforts to lessen CO2 emissions.   I found it funny, but somewhat disheartening that some people are automatically suspicious if you offer them anything for free.   But even those who didn’t take soup or seem interested did at least take the literature from us. The old guy with the whippets didn’t say a single word and he seemed slightly lost.  But  he obediently, if silently, drank his soup and posed.  I hope he found his way home okay.

These guys turned up in their home-made canoes which we thought was definitely deserving of some off-road soup.  Better still they let the girls have a go, I think canoeing is going to be the next craze around here.

I was glad in the end we made the effort and hopefully we reached some people.  Children I think, remember doing things like this and it gives them a sense of agency in their world.  If they succumb to futile nihilism then surely there would be little hope for the future.  Oh yes, and we had some very nice soup for our tea!

The Man from Salford started it.  I was quite surprised.  It is not like him to instigate environmental initiatives, especially if they might affect the contents of his stomach.  What he proposed was that we should, as a family, start a 100 mile diet.  In other words, we should only eat foods that have been produced within a hundred mile radius of our home.  (If I was of a cynical nature I might suspect he had already done a mental checklist on this that reads: beer, beef, cheese! ) 

The first thing I said was, ‘What a fantastic idea.’ So, we’ve established a sound principle.   The second thing I said was, ‘What about lemons?’ Get ready, here come the get out clauses!  Between the three of us we could think of several more food items we couldn’t imagine doing without.  And so the preliminary negotiations started.  Welcome to the Hazlehurst Summit. 

‘Surely,’ we reasoned, ‘there should be healthy and fair trade beyond our hundred mile boundary?’  Here comes the compromise.  We decide we are each allowed three overseas  luxury items.   Why three?  Well if we write lots of extra stuff in now it means we have something to negotiate with at future summits and it will look like we’re making meaningful compromises without ever actually reaching the agreed target.

I added to my list teabags, basmati rice and, of course, lemons.  Goldilocks had a preposterously long list of things that she couldn’t possibly live without.  Historically, of course, she has not consumed as much as us.  She is still developing.  Who were we to say she shouldn’t eat all the junk that we happily consumed as children?  However we were pretty certain, that with the exception of tinned tuna, most of them consisted mainly of chocolate and sugar.  (It is possible that someone within a hundred miles of us grows sugar beet but I don’t know where it goes, I’ve only ever seen cane sugar on the shop shelves.)  So that was her three luxuries sorted.  

The Man from Salford having, thanks to Goldilocks, already ensured a supply of chocolate, needed only to add coffee and soy sauce to his list.  He looked smug whereas I could have still added loads of food products to my list.  My concern here was spices.  Get ready for a bit of carbon trading.  ‘I may produce many goodies containing spices,’ I reasoned, ‘but you are consuming the larger portion of those goodies.  I think I should be entitled to your third list item and I say it should be spices.’

It was a tense moment, maybe just to derail the whole process he might suddenly affect a fondness for caviar and declare that he couldn’t walk away from the table without it.  I would be without my spices (which I couldn’t walk away from the table without) and the whole deal would be off.  But The Man from Salford is a good man, he has his reputation to uphold (if not a Nobel prize) and in any case is extremely fond of curry.  The Hazlehurst protocol was ratified and the signatories slapped each other on the back and congratulated themselves on having reached an historic agreement.

If you would like our leaders to take Copenhagen seriously and come away with the best possible deal for all our futures why not visit one, or indeed all three, of the following;

You could sign the petition calling on Barack Obama and US representatives to take firm and positive action at  Blog Action Day.

You could sign a letter written to Gordon Brown at Oxfam’s Here and Now.

You can visit Greenpeace 12 Policies and write a letter to your MP asking them to make a commitment to the green agenda.  If your MP is anything like my MP you’ll get a letter back saying, ‘What a fantastic idea but what about lemons?’  Actually she said she was glad Greenpeace was taking this initiative but it wasn’t ’feasible’ and that her Government was fantastic.  

I am going to remove the pips from the two lemons that are sitting in my fruit bowl now and plant them as a symbolic reminder to myself on Blog Action Day to make sustainable food choices. Who knows, there is a chance I may get my 100 mile lemons. 

What about you? I’d love to hear what three luxuries you would choose! Any suggestions to help us meet our targets always welcome.

Writing this saves me editing today’s post right now and I can task avoid until next Thursday -Hooray for Blog Action Day!  Of course I’m inviting fellow bloggers to click the button and join me on Thursday 15th October.

Besides frolicking men however (Gossypium do rather nice stuff for women and children too by the way) I thought it was high time I included a blogroll.  At least we can keep our feet dry when exploring the web. These are some of my favourite places to visit currently and I’m sure I’ll be adding to the list.

First up is A Self Sufficient Life.  I take my hat off to Mr and Mrs Dirtyboots, I don’t know how they find time to do all the stuff they do and then write about it aswell, even their three dogs have a blog!  Well worth a visit for lots of ideas, recipes and pointers. 

I visit The  Birds In the Meadow just to drink in the beautiful nature photography.  Bird takes fantastic pictures often accompanied by thoughtful and lucid prose.  She makes nice stuff too.  I wish I was that clever!

When I first started this blog I made a deliberate and conscious decision to try and keep things light-hearted.  My reasons for doing this were largely based upon the notion there is no need to preach to the converted but every need not to alienate everybody else.  A sustainable future necessarily has to involve everybody.  If you find my ‘eco-topia’ approach a little unrealistic and sacharrine a visit to Environment Chaos is probably the antidote.  This site deserves a wider audience.

Focus Organic is one of my favourite sites for having a peep at what’s going on over the pond.  It is a gateway to all manner of fascinating blogs and articles.  Sephanie is a lovely lady to deal with who works really hard at promoting eco-sites, go visit and take your blog with you!  

Forum for the Future is probably already well known to many of you.  It examines issues of sustainability from a broader perspective and I feel offers a realistic basis for business initiatives and  for policy making at local, national and international levels.  I am never bored by a visit here.

Mrs Green is another energetic blogger to say the least.  Little Green Blog offers a really good snapshot of what’s hot on the green barometer in bite-sized digestible posts – I think the idea is you can make quick visits, but I just end up reading more posts! 

Positive News is a recent discovery but now I’ve found it I’m going to be a regular visitor.  It is what it says it is, go there for a lift and inspiration.

Last, but certainly not least as they say, is Self Sufficient-ish.  A great site and a great resource, I’ve learned so much from visiting here.  It has a really lively and active forum also, full of lots of friendly people with very silly names like..er…Goo?

A nice wet weather pic for you of sparkling horsetail ferns!

Thank you Joseph.  Please say hello to your big brother William for me and also thank your Mum and Dad for lending me their copy of Positive News.  For those of you not familiar with Positive News it is a paper that celebrates the efforts of people from all around the world who are trying to live more sustainable lives.  While not blinkered to the very real challenges facing our planet, Positive News makes a sustainable future appear both possible and desirable.

I was particularly inspired by the article on DV Sridharan and his Point Return project in which he is attempting to restore to life a barren wasteland in India.  I also loved reading about the small house movement, although if we’re going to go in that direction (and we hardly live in a mansion as it is!) The Man from Salford and Goldilocks are going to have to do much better on the declutter front.

If you want to be on the pulse of all that is good in our world right now, click the Positive News button below.

There seemed to be a general agreement that global temperatures should not be allowed to rise 2°C above pre-industrial levels and there was also a distinct lack of commitment when it came to how this should be achieved.  Everybody has their excuses and their reasons for not cutting their particular CO2 emissions.  All this will continue to be debated around the world at various meetings leading up to the Copenhagen Summit in December. 

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It seemed a good time to re-read ‘What About China?’ an excellent book from Sawday Publishing which examines our reasons and excuses for inaction when it comes to environmental issues. Very few people would admit to actually wanting to destroy the planet, but………..?

I suggested to The Man from Salford the other day that we should ask the local pub about buying their used chip oil as a way of reducing our dependency on diesel for the generator.  His response was something along the lines of, ‘You do realise that every man, woman, child and dog in India is going to be driving a Tata by next week.’  I do realise this, it is broadly true (probably not children and dogs though) and our buying used chip oil probably won’t make a huge difference in the great scheme of things.  This is exactly the conundrum that ‘What About China? addresses.

When I re-read the book  I felt I must have missed quite a bit out first time round, possibly this is because the book is written in a question and answer format which enables dipping in and out and makes for easy, digestable reading. I’m possibly reviewing a book I haven’t read in its entirety, I clearly need linear narratives to keep my brain on track!  Linear narratives however do require some form of closure, and few books on the subject of environment end with ‘happily ever after.’  This is the problem, why bother? It’s all going to go pear shaped regardless of what anyone does.

If you have doubts about why you should bother recycling, why you should bother walking a bit more, whether it is worth banking ethically or buying organic foods then this is a book that will convince you and others to try harder.  And what about China?  The West may no longer be the largest overall emitters of CO2, but on a per capita basis we still are.  The Chinese are not stupid either, they realised long ago that dependency on fossil fuels cannot continue and have funded immense research into renewables and have also funded high level training and education to turn out the future experts we will need in these fields.  The attempts of the Chinese to combat global warming actually make our Western governments look pretty feeble by comparison.  I hope we will step up to the mark at Copenhagen. 

Please get hold of this book.  I’m going to the pub to raise a pint to China and definitely will be ordering a portion of chips!

Just as the sun has started shining  and The Man from Salford is happily throwing igniting fluid all over the barbecue, (FSC charcoal, he chirps, better than burning kerosene on the Rayburn), I suggest we might stop to consider our level of meat consumption.  He is not amused, but world hunger is hardly a laughing matter.

Last week aid charities claimed to have given out record levels of food aid this year, although did point out that in part this may be because they are becoming more effective at meeting need.  Nevertheless, despite evidence to the contrary on our supermarket shelves, there is a global food shortage. 

There are a number of reasons for this shortage.  Rising world population is certainly a huge issue.  The burning of food for bio-fuel has restricted availability and pushed prices way beyond the means of many of the world’s poor.  At local levels food production is halted or disturbed by shifting and unpredictable climate events.  A year ago Dr Rajendra Pachauri suggested we should all consider being vegetarian for one day of the week in order to protect the environment. 

Environmental solutions at a global level do not always translate well on a local basis however.  Yes meat production does contribute to 18% of the worlds greenhouse gas emmissions.  This is not just because of bovine flatulence.  Huge swathes of rainforest are lost either to  provide grazing for cattle or to produce soy feed for that cattle.  This type of farming is not sustainable and does no favours to the world’s poor.  Yet the beef cattle pictured above can hardly be held responsible for destruction of rainforests.  

These cows are our local cows.  Willow and I were on one of our wild flower hunts when I took this picture.  I liked their reflection in the canal.  There was a group of fourteen in this field including calves and a bull.   It is hardly a scene of intensive or aggressive agriculture.  When Goldilocks first started to talk she pointed to a field of cows not unlike these, giggled and said, ‘Look, they’re eating the floor!’      

Eating the floor around here means pasture.  The land is not suitable for large scale arable cultivation, or at least not without resorting to unsustainable methods.  Much of Britain consists of this type of pasture land.  Livestock graze on grass, the grass (all being well) is cut during the summer months to provide winter feed.  The soil in this kind of pasture stores carbon safely away.  The pasture is rich in nitrogen fixing clovers and can be sustained without resorting to energy intensive fertilisers.  A Turkish lentil farmer would think I was bonkers (and our local farmers would agree with him) for importing lentils to eat when we have such a rich source of high quality protein on our doorstep.

Nevertheless, meat from pasture could only sustain somewhere in between a third to two thirds of Britain’s current meat and dairy consumption.  This means our over indulgence in these food products is still almost certainly contributing to environmental degradation and world hunger.  

I found a George Monbiot article from a couple of years ago, (failed to bookmark for reference and now can’t find it again!) that suggested a weekly allowance of 420g of meat per person per week would constitute a sustainable portion.  It doesn’t sound too bad, especially if like me you like mixing it all up with pulses and veg anyway.  I can make a rasher of bacon go a long way!  But I think it’s hard to insist people self ration in this way and can’t help feeling there’s something slightly misanthropic about it.  Eating with your friends and family is, after all, a celebration of life.

I would rather people made a positive choice to engage with good wholesome vegetarian foods, as Dr Pachauri suggested, at least one or two days of the week.  That’s why I’ve chosen as my book of the month Rose Elliot’s Vegetarian Supercook. My friend Sylvie from Toulouse bought me a Rose Elliot vegetarian cookbook twenty years ago, it’s now out of print so I couldn’t make that my book of the month.  This is the inscription that Sylvie wrote:

I give you this book, which should be useful to cook a happier food…It is so important to have a Happy Stomach!

I really wish it was possible for everyone in the world to have a happy stomach.  If you are interested in issues of world hunger and climate change  and would like to take positive action why not visit  Oxfam’s Here and Now initiative?