The bottles and jars I use to mix up my “TLC in a Bottle” are glass, and although these may be heavier to transport, I feel that they can be recycled more effectively more often than plastic. I also use aluminium rather than plastic caps where I can. The labels are recycled paper.

I rarely fill my bin at work, taking almost everything home to recycle, eg/ used couch roll makes excellent firelighter in my burner and the worms love breaking it down in my compost bin in the summer. I think we should all get more savvy where we can about composting and regenerating our earth to grow food healthily which in turn impacts our health. Education and community collaboration has a big part to play here.

Under pandemic conditions I am not using couch roll, using reuseable cotton covers which are changed between clients and dried outside as much as weather permits.

Old towels are reused e.g. donated to animal charities or cut up & used as cloths.

I reuse stationary and packaging wherever possible & paper is either recycled or sustainably sourced.

Good time management minimises travel and fuel consumption. I have a turn off policy, save water & use organically grown herbs from the garden for teas and treatments

I only purchase natural toiletries and cleaners and use refill services.

I bank with the Cooperative Bank as I believe they are one of the most ethical banks around who try to be careful to invest money in sustainability.

Personally, I try to be ethical but still need to make improvements & that is usually money dependent. We buy organic & local when we can, but I confess to the convenience of supermarket shopping all too regularly. Our family tries to avoid frivolous consumption of “stuff” choosing to spend our money on good food & preloved. I have used 100% natural toiletries for decades, often making my own low impact deodorants and buying locally made goodness like soap, shampoo & conditioner bars etc.

I have a steel re-useable water bottle (not aluminium due to traces that can be ingested). I feel “bare” if I leave home without it. I use recycled loo roll & buy natural products where possible. I try to eat ethically but know there is room for me to improve this.

This is the main reason we sold our house, where we had a very productive veg & fruit garden, including a mini polytunnel, & bought a 1.9acre field. It took us years to finally achieve and finally managed this in 2017. We have already planted hundreds of young trees with underplanting of fruit, perennial vegetables & herbs as part of our mission to plant a permaculture food forest. We try different composting ideas & make our own liquid feeds. We feel we are just playing as our knowledge has many gaps, but we felt we needed to consume less & plant more, and that actions speak louder than words. We aim to improve our own food production, hopefully share what we grow & learn as we improve & learn, leaving a legacy our child could be proud to inherit.

As I learn and join up more dots, I will try & improve to reduce my impact on the planet in my home, field & workplace. Always learning … looking after me, looking after you, your family, our community, “our planet”.

“Nobody really owns anything. We give back our bodies at the end of our lives. We own our thoughts, but everything else is just borrowed. We use it for a while, then pass it on.
Everything.
We borrow the sun that shines on us today from the people on the other side of the world while they borrow the moon from us. Then we give it back. We can't keep the sun, no matter how afraid we are of the dark.” Deborah Ellis, award-winning author, feminist and peace activist