Recent Comments

1. Slow Down, Calm Down (Stick to the speed limit) - 08 Sep 2005

   I’ve been really trying to keep my speed down to 60mph rather than 70mph. For some reason it’s a more relaxed drive. Don’t manage to do this all the time mind.

2. Give Something Away - and declutter your life - 08 Sep 2005

   Recently got married, so when two become one, we have stuff overfloweth! A quick sort out, a boot fair and several visits to charity shops later, we have a home! Suspect we’ll do this kind of thing on a yearly basis.

3. Stop Taking Plastic Bags From Shops - 08 Sep 2005

   The thing I hate is the strange look people give you when you say ‘no’ to a carrier bag. Had a cracking row with a shop assistant in Primark once who insisted I had to have a carrier bag. ‘No I don’t’ I told her. Several ‘oh no it isn’t’s later, I threatned to walk off sans sale and promptly won. Customer is always right and all that…

4. Put Your Money Where Your Heart is (Bank Ethically) - 08 Sep 2005

   I have to confess that I left the Co-Op last year. It’s a long story, but for an ethical bank they’re not very good when it comes to customer service. They lost a large sum of my money, and then blamed me for it. A long wrangle followed, my MP even wrote to their chief executive and well, I’m out of pocket and no longer bank with them.

   Also have to add that they made a mistake on my wife’s account, and when she asked for their £15 apology refund thing, they said, ‘It doesn’t cover that kind of mistake’. Marvellous.

   And… I’ve had so many calls, requests and junk mails from them asking if I want a loan (and when I did they offered me an APR of 25%!) you can begin to see why I don’t recommend banking with the Co-Op.

5. Go Local - Join A Food Cooperative - 08 Sep 2005

   Reading is fantastic with its local food co-op. It used to meet twice a month in a small community centre, but since January started expanding rapidly. It now meets in our church hall, so we can get locally produced and dried organic foodstuffs once a fortnight without taking the car anywhere. It’s bliss, and our food bills have gone right down as a result.

6. Make A Special Effort To Look Out For Strangers - 03 Nov 2005

   Using local shops means you start to see people regularly. The same happens on my commute to work – so it’s easy just to give them a quick ‘hello’ a beaming smile and see what happens from there. Usually, people are willing to engage in small talk after a while, and then – well, who knows? But at least I know that by giving someone a smile, just for a split second they know that someone cares about them.

7. Use your LOAF at the shops (Local, Organic, Animal-Friendly and Fair Trade) - 03 Jan 2006

   I’ve slipped a little over the past few months in buying fair trade: time to resolve to do better! Especially with meat – pay more, eat less, eat less rubbish in the process. Happier belly!

8. Know your local political leaders - 03 Jan 2006

   I email my MP every so often just to ask him if he wants prayer for anything. So far he hasn’t, but even so, he needs prayerful support even though I’d never vote for his party. He sent me a nice Christmas card which was .. erm nice.

9. DIY vegetables! - 03 Jan 2006

   We got given a book explaining how to grow vegetables in a small garden, so I have no excuses this year. Well, not yet anyway!

10. Shop Small (Buy local, Switch from the Supermarket) - 04 Jan 2006

    Yay for our fortnightly food club! Yay for the market! Yay for the butchers! Shame on me for still using supermarkets. At least we only tend to use them once a month. Is that good enough?!

11. Make A Special Effort To Look Out For Strangers - 04 Jan 2006

    If I see someone cleaning the street on my behalf, I say thank you to them: just as one should thank the Postie at Christmas for their sterling work rain or shine. These guys work hard with precious little in the way of acknowledgement from people like us: they’re stars and deserve to be treated like such.