Recent Comments

1. Give Thanks Before A Meal - 31 Oct 2005

   Went on holiday recently with someone who encouraged us to get back into the habit. It’s good to express gratitude, since it reminds us of all we have been given.

2. Compost Your Leftovers - 31 Oct 2005

   We’ve just acquired our second composter, to enable us to keep it up through the winter. Great fun for all the family and very rewarding too!

3. Encourage Others To Go Generous - 05 Nov 2005

   Following this year’s Greenbelt, a group of us in Milton Keynes decided to ask our churches to join the Generous project. Our joint council felt this was a good idea and we have therefore made this our big project for 2006. We are looking into ways of helping non-internet people to do this through posters and magazine articles, and we are keen to help the project as a whole to grow and expand.

4. Know your local political leaders - 05 Nov 2005

   In our churches we had a Yellow Brick Road Sunday (following the Greenbelt example) and asked all of our member to put a paper brick on a big Yellow Brick Road. Isla, Mike, Liz, Bethany, Wendy and others took this to our MP Phyllis Starkey at the Mass Loby of Parliament for MAKEPOVERTHISTORY. They had a great time and enjoyed the experience. Meeting the MP and talking about important issues was so easy and felt worthwhile. Should do it again!

5. Switch To Energy Saving Lightbulbs - 05 Nov 2005

   We keep trying to do this and roughly half of our lightbulbs are now energy saving. The difficult thing is to remember to do it when bulbs go. We should probably try to keep a stock of low energy light bulbs in the house, so it doesn’t seem too expensive when they need replacing.

6. Recycle Your Inkjet Cartridges - 01 Dec 2005

   I’ve been saving them up with the good intention of recycling them, but need to get round to it. Will try… Need to try some of the links and look for an easy way to do it. Is this one where working together might help?

7. Send a Child a Christmas Box - 01 Dec 2005

   Our children did this through school, which inspired them.

8. Shower More, Bath Less - 01 Dec 2005

   Isla likes showers, I like baths. In fact I hate showers – but with a busy life it tends to be the easiest way of not smelling. I am trying to think positively that this is good for the planet – perhaps thinking like this will turn a trial into a triumph!

9. Wear Your 'Make Poverty History' Band - 01 Dec 2005

   We got involved in MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY as a Partnership of churches at the beginning of 2005. It was exciting to see how much energy could be generated by working together and focussing our communal energy on a campaign like this – which is one reason why we are now trying to get our congregations interested in Generous. I’m still wearing my band, but I’ve noticed that other people have stopped – since it is no longer such a high profile cause(?). There will come a point at which it will be counter productive to wear the band (I think) but I’m not sure when this will come… My hope is that there will be another opportunity (perhaps with a different name) to make progress on the ongoing issues related to extreme poverty. These pushes seem to work best (and gain most support) if they come in waves. TN

10. DIY vegetables! - 01 Dec 2005

    We built two raised beds in our garden this year – making use of last years compost. We grew beans, carrots, parsnips, courgettes, spring onions, spinache and a pepper (transplanted by my mum). Good fun for the whole family and very tasty too. Must do it again next year. TN

11. Make Your Own Greetings Cards - 01 Dec 2005

    Isla has made some for friends and family, I will try to make some for work colleagues. TN

12. Make Your Own Greetings Cards - 03 Jan 2006

    Managed to do cards for colleagues. The girls did their own thank you cards using old photocopier paper and prints. TN

13. Start A Generous blog or journal - 03 Jan 2006

    It seems to me that one of the greatest potential benefits of Generous is that it provides an oportunity to be ‘intentional’ and ‘conscious’ about the decisions and actions that we take. Keeping a ‘journal’ should help this. As a partnership of churches (in the Watling Valley) we are trying to see if sharing this as a community will make an impact. I think it will help the experiment if we record this as we go along, so I’m goint to try to do this. At the start of this new year (2006) Isla and I did the survey in Focus which helps you calculate how many planets we would need if everyone lived as we do. We come out with 1.2! Very embarressing, but worth knowing. I wonder if we can finish the year with a more sensible figure? I’m not good with regular journals but I will try to record more thoughts, experiences and actions on the web site. (TN)

14. Stop Taking Plastic Bags From Shops - 03 Jan 2006

    We’re trying – but need to remember to bring enough reusable bags!

15. Encourage Others To Go Generous - 20 May 2006

    Have been raising profile of Living Generously in local area. When I’ve visitted schools to talk about what churches do, I’ve talked about how we as a church community have committed to the Generous campaign. The cildren and teachers enjoyed logging onto the site and finding out what they could do at their school or at home. They were encouraged to see things they had already done, and how easy some of the other actions would be. TN

16. Get someone to join the Generous Community - 20 May 2006

    We’ve had this as a priority for our community and it’s been exciting to share the generous journey with other local friends, but I’m also amazed at how few of us have actually signed up with the site. There is a tendency to say “I’m recycling already, what’s in this for me?”. This makes me sad, because the best thing about generous is the fact that you’re doing it with other people – this makes you think, encourages you to try new things, and stops you forgetting the commitment you’ve made… TN

17. Switch off and unplug appliances and chargers - 20 May 2006

    I’ve rearanged my plugs so that I can turn my chargers on and off when I’m not using them (I have several!) I need to remember to do so… TN

18. Compost Your Leftovers - 20 May 2006

    Last year’s compost has now been harvested! It was great. We dug it into the raised vegetable beds we built last year which has produced a lovely rich soil for growing. We planted carrots, brocolli, letuce and beans. The shoots are now pocking through and looking great! The winter compost bin is brewing up nicely and the second bin is filing up… The future is great, the future’s brown!

19. Get Rid Of Some Of Your Books - 20 May 2006

    Recently did some “cleaning up” at one of our churches – lots of books no-one was using. It would be good to make this a positive thing. TN

20. Put Eco Balls in your Washing Machine - 20 May 2006

    Rozi and I bought these together as they were cheaper that way. So far they have been great and I’m looking forward to spending the money I’ve saved on washing powder. The washing feels a bit strange but sure we’ll get used to it.

21. Become a Fair Trader - in your community or workplace - 20 May 2006

    I started work at an FE college recently and I noticed that the tea and coffee was not fairtrade. At my induction day I suggested to a higher authority that we should be promoting fairtrade to the 16-19 year olds. Since then they have introduced fairtrade tea and coffee at staff meetings. Still no fair trade in the canteen though as it is contracted out.

22. Use your computer to solve global problems - 15 Jan 2009

    Thanks for all the comments. I’ve managed to get the climate change programme running. It was a bit complicated but that adds to the feeling of achievement – requiring a bit more generosity as it were…