EcoBerry

Consumer Hell - George Monbiot

A recent article in the Guardian by George Monbiot which echoes some thoughts I've had regarding the need of the Government to promote economic growth even if it has no meaningfull correlation with happiness and well-being.

See the article here: Consumer Hell

A long time . . .

Okay well its been ages since I typed anything. Perhaps I'm not the blogging type or perhaos i just get too distracted by other online activities!

Anyway a little in the way of an update is in order I suppose. The no buying new stuff is going relatively well I would say. I have been trying for the last 6 or 7 months not to buy any new stuff - can't remember exactly when it started but it was probably in March sometime. If I needed a new thing I would just have to get it 2nd hand or not at all. Food obviously not included!

The idea behind the plan was to not add to the demand for resources. Initially this actually led to a huge spree on ebay when I realised just how much I could buy. This, however, isn't really in the spirit of cutting down on consumerism so I soon stopped and have just intermittently bought things I need since then.

The biggest challenge has arisen from the fact that my main hobby is scuba diving. Now with scuab diving equipment there is a large element of safety to consider when buying equipment and for this reason there is a lot of caution about buying used stuff. I have, however, bar a few items managed to get what I need used. I figure buying kit from other divers not only helps to cut down on demand for new items but helps to put a few quid in peoples pocket. In the current financial climate surely this is a good thing. More difficult is trying to do my diving related hobby of underwater photography without buying new gear, but I'm trying.

I think I have only bought 4 brand new items in the last 7 months. All of them have been small diving related stuff that I found v. difficult to buy second hand - I mean where the hell are you meant to acquire second hand bungee cord? The fact remains though that this also has a money saving effect - well at least until I find the next pre-loved item to buy. :-)

All in all I think it is going well even if retailers (diving or otherwise) might not support my little project!

Okay I bought something new but . . .

It is an eco-friendly stapler so I guess that's not too bad.

Everytime I have stapled just a few sheets together at work for the last couple of months I have thought about the amount of metal that gets used and had an attack of eco-guilt. I happened across the stapleless stapler on a couple of occasions. After doing the usual e-bay search for a used one and not finding one I gave in and bought a new one. I'm hoping the bad of buying a new (and no doubt plastic) product will be outweighed by the good of not using metal staples for fastening a few sheets together. It won't work for bigger documents but should for small ones. This, however, remains to be seen when it actually arrives!

For all those who like to read . . .

I was about to go on a buying spree at amazon for some more books. They were actually on environmental issues and climate change. As I was filling my e-basket I was putting in some used books because they worked out cheaper than amazon's new ones. It struck me as I was doing this that buying used ones helps to reduce overall consumption as well - a bonus.

Better than this, however, I remembered that I have an account at www.readitswapit.co.uk. This is a site that does what it says on the tin. You list the books that you are willing to swap on there, then you can search for books that you want to read and request a swap. All this cost is the price of poting the book to the other swapper. I used this quite a bit at the start of last year and then forgot about it, but it works really well and there is a huge selection. For me it has the double bonus that I can read something new while sending someone else a book that I won't read again but would hang around cluttering up the house!

All that glitters . . .

After attending a party and yet again realising that the bag I carry around really isn't fit to be seen in public I decided it was time for a new one (or two). Well not new exactly. A trip to ebay later and I am now the proud owner of two preloved bags - one black and one brown. And I might be watching a couple more.

As I was browsing for said items it got me thinking that there really were lots of nice secondhand things on offer and that if I bought those instead of something new then this would have the double benefit of using something that might otherwise be discarded plus I am not responsible for the use of any resources that would go into manufacturing a new item. In addition I decided to narrow my search to exclude any overseas items, thus saving on flying it to me via airmail.

I have begun to question whether it might be possible for me to not buy anything new for a year. I'm not sure about this but I have already discovered that I need an incredible amount of things that I didn't before - shoes, jeans, coats, shoes, boots, bags, did I mention shoes?

Can our good eco-intentions sometimes be just another shopping excuse in disguise?

Mocha or not to mocha?

Inspired by No Impact Man who uses an 'ultra cool reusable cup' for his coffee (that is a glass jar), I decided that I too should acquire a reusable beverage recepticle and stop buying coffee in disposable cups. I decided to continue with my attempt to not buy any new stuff and went onto ebay. I spotted a few options and added to my watching list. One of the travel mugs I was watching was a Starbucks one in a fabulous shiny red. This did, unfortunately, pose a bit of a dilemma: if I bought it I would feel the nice warm glow of buying a used rather than new item with the added benefit of not needing a dispoable cup when I buy my mocha, however, would I then be endorsing Starbucks by sporting their logo? Near the end of bidding I was on the phone to a friend and asked her opinion. Her response? "Don't buy any takeaway coffees." I see the logic, really I do, it would save money and calories as well as disposable cups. In the end I didn't buy the nice shiny red mug, my friend says she is sure she has a travel mug I can have. Though there is a rather nice shiny green one . . . 

All the things we already do . . .

Well this this blog was set up months ago and I firmly intended to start actually posting blogs on it early in the new year. Since it is now March you can take a guess at how the other semi-resolutions are going! Anyway instead of berating myself for not starting earlier I'm going to just get on and post.

In the same vein for this first post instead of focusing on all the things that I don't do that I feel I ought to for the environment I thought I would start with a list of things that I do. I think it is important to recognise these things rather than just feeling the eco-guilt (which I do regularly and often). So . . .

1. We re-cycle in our house - platics, glass, paper, and cardboard - although I'm not sure of the impact of this anymore since the bottom fell out of the global recycling marlet for a while
2. I use eco-friendly cleaning products - okay I don't but my cleaner does and on the rare occasion that I do clean the house myself I do
3. I use eco-friendly washing powder for the clothes
4. And likewise for shower gel, etc. (even if my other half tries to ruin my best efforts by bringing home whatever he finds on 2-4-1)
5. I buy organic food and fair trade stuff at the supermarket
6. I order that food online and get it delivered which is better than taking my car to get it since the delivery van delivers to several people at once
7. My other half cycles to work (okay that's not me i still take the car but only because I'm waiting for the bike to arrive!)

Okay so perhaps there is room for improvement but at least its a start!

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog!  I would like to share a little about myself and my interest in ecological living.

EcoBerry is about trying to live a greener life. I believe that ecological living is logical living. However, you won't find me engaged in eco-preaching because I live in the real world. I am, alas, less than perfect (but only marginally so) and find it difficult to live sustainably even on a good day. It's about trial and error; usually more error.

Some of my favorite sites to visit are:

• http://myecoself.blogspot.com/

• http://noimpactman.typepad.com/

• http://eco-chick.com/

Happy Reading!