Tips, news, and stories about sustainable living from the EarthEcho community.
...what happens the moment you split "local" and "in season" apart. Because most of the year, in this country, you can't actually have both. And that's where people's instincts start leading them astray.
The average UK household throws away around £470 worth of food a year. Not spoiled, or gone off through any fault of its own, just food that got bought with good intentions and never quite made it to a plate.
People who start walking more of these small trips tend to notice something they weren't looking for. They feel a bit better. Their head's clearer by the time they get where they're going. The whole thing is less stressful than sitting in traffic wondering if you are going to arrive in time.
How can we water our gardens when our waterbutts have run dry, there is no prospect of rain, tap water is a luxury (both in terms of potential scarcity and in financial cost) and hosepipes have been banned?
For our very first Shop Spotlight I am spotlighting a small UK company called Anything But Plastic.
There’s a moment that happens to a lot of people at some point. You’re standing in a garden centre and you think, “I could grow some veg.” Fast forward a week and you’ve got three tubs on the patio, a packet of seeds, and a level of optimism that suggests you’re about to become fully self sufficient by Tuesday and be the lead in a remake of The Good Life (showing my age there).
If you have ever wandered through a supermarket in the UK, you’ve almost certainly seen the little red tractor logo staring back at you from packets of meat, milk, eggs, and even some fruit and veg. It looks reassuring. Friendly, even. A nice, simple signal that says, “this is good stuff”. But what does it actually mean?
Here’s a situation that feels very familiar once you start paying attention to your choices. You’re standing in a shop or scrolling online, and you have two options. One looks better for the environment. Lower emissions, less packaging, fewer resources used. The other feels stronger ethically. Fair wages, better treatment of workers, maybe better animal welfare. And they’re not the same product. So, which one do you choose?
How to spot greenwashing in the wild
If you’ve ever stood in a shop holding two versions of the same thing, one slightly cheaper and one that claims to be “better for the planet”, you’ll know the quiet panic that follows. Which one is better?
