Posts from — February 2008

How do we choose the actions we take? How do we arrive at any conclusion about what is right and what wrong?

Life ought to be a continual process of learning but, sadly, for some people any challenge to their world view is just too threatening. Instead of being open to debate they prefer to simply ignore any alternatives or to mock and belittle the people who hold them. Personally I’d much rather spend time with someone whose sincerely held and thought through views were totally contrary to mine then with someone whose mind is totally closed.

Today’s small step to change the world is to consider how you’re learning takes place. The process of learning, that is, not the content. Content is just so easy to come by the issue is what content do you look for and what do you do with it.

It can be all too easy to keep reading articles that support your point of view but, for me, the key to a deeper understanding is to read the ‘oppositions’ work and then to answer their challenges. Debating issues is a great way forward and with all the groups available on the internet there is no shortage of people to debate with.

If I can hold my own in a debate and if I feel comfortable doing so in public than I know I’ve reached a position that I can live with. Until I find some new information that once again nudges me out of my complacency.

20 days into Lent and its time to start preparing for Easter. So today’s task in our series of 40 small steps to make the planet a better place is to support the Fairtrade and organic chocolate industry. Now hard hard is that?

Most of the big supermarkets have jumped on the bandwagon and are now stocking a small supply of Fairtrade/Organic chocolate but we all know their hearts aren’t really in it and their true motivation is the bottom line. So this Easter let’s support the good guys.

	Dr Hadwen Trust. The Trust is dedicated to finding alternatives to experimenting on animals. Its closing its shop and so all the vegan, organic and Fairtrade chocs are on sale. The shop will be open between March 2nd and March 20th.
	Chocaid: Gourmet Chocolates Gifts with a Conscience. A small, family run concern dedicated to Fairtrade/Organic chocolates. They have a small but totally yummy range. Available via the internet or from John Lewis, Waitrose or Debenhams.
	The Ethical Superstore stocks a far wider range of Fairtrade chocolates with some certified as organic and some as vegan.
	The Fairtrade Foundation supplies a list of all certified Fairtrade suppliers. The link was down when I wrote this blog but do have a look to see if there a shop near you.

After yesterday’s day-of-rest its time to ease ourselves back into our mission to find 40 small steps to change the world and I thought we’d could with something a bit off-beat.

Games!

It wasn’t till I started look for a Christmas present for my vegan niece and found Steer Madness by Veggie Games. That I realised there was an alternative games market. In Steer Madness you play Bryce, a steer with a mission. He’s just escaped from the slaughterhouse and is out to save other animals. It all involves tofu trucks and soya milk deliveries, changing ads and freeing animals. Great fun. Available from Viva.

War on Terror, the Boardgame, allows you to liberate the world while bickering over oil, funding and fighting terrorism,
forcing regime changes and discovering those elusive WMDs. All the time alliances waver: old enemies become friends, while previous allies turn bad guys with one casual flick of the Axis of Evil spinner. Described by The Guardian as “Stunning satire” War on Terror: the Boardgame is available from the New Internionalist for £29.95

Also available through the New Internationalist is Cocoa a GoGo! The object of this is to become the premier chocolate bean producer in the world! Players travel around the board, answering questions about chocolate, and building their cocoa plantation. They can then export their crop to the world. Watch out, though, there are unexpected fines and penalties!

A really fun family game which also helps explain the unfair economic systems working against small cocoa producers. £14.95

Food Force, produced by the World Food Program is free. The game consists of 6 separate missions which teach children about global hunger and famine relief. The missions include assessing how much food is needed and where, creating a balanced but nutritional diet with the food available, buying the food, learning to air drop it and making longer term development plans.

If you know of any other alternative games you’d like me to add to this list then post a reply here and I’ll be happy to do so. In the meantime have fun!

Day 21 already! So we’re over half way through our commitment to take 40 small steps to make the world a better place and so it must be time for a rest!

Taking regular breaks gives your mind and body time to recover from its exertions and, importantly, to consolidate any learning or changes that have occurred. Aim for 7-8 hours a night’s sleep and, if you can, a 10-20 minute nap during the day.

Napping in the day (call it Power Napping if you prefer) can really help get you get re-started. People who aren’t used to taking naps get concerned that they’ll just fall flat-out asleep. The trick is to find a place that you body will come to associate with naps. I use the sofa. I know for sure if I tried to nap in bed I’d not wake up for hours : ) . Of course if you’re really concerned then just set your phone alarm.

If you don’t take enough rest things start to go wrong. You start to make mistakes which makes you feel bad and you try to compensate by working even harder. You also start to get irritable and bad-tempered and you’re family, friends and colleagues soon start to back off. The result – you not only feeling overworked but also totally unsupported and unappreciated and the last thing you think will help is the very thing that will – a rest.

If napping doesn’t appeal to you then try simply lying down and stilling your thoughts. This gives both your mind and body an essential break.

If you’re mind insists on racing (and it certainly will to begin with) then I’d suggest some simple meditation techniques.
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What are you flushing down the loo? Apart from the obvious that is.

According to a report published by Encams over 50% of us are flushing things down the toilet that shouldn’t go there.

These include glass, fat/oil, cloth, razor blades, rope, wood, cigarette stubs, feminine hygiene products, cleansing wipes, nappies and medicines.

The general perception of a loo is that its black hole that anything can be flushed down. This is wrong in two ways: blockages and pollution.

Flushing the wrong stuff will lead to a blockage somewhere along the route. If it happens in your home its going to cost you hard cash. If it happens in the piping it starts overflowing into the street. Ever passed one of those manhole covers with ‘water’ seeping out? If it happens at the sewage treatment plant, and there’s heavy rain, the chances are it will be washed into overflow pipes and from there into the rivers and sea. That’s not just totally disgusting but is actively polluting the aquatic environment. The picture shows a sewage pipe blocked by fat – yuk!

Flushing medicines is a total no no too. The sewerage system has absolutely no mechanism for removing medication. It goes straight out to pollute the rivers, oceans and fields. What’s more a survey carried out in the USA found traces of medicines including narcotic painkillers, estrogen from birth control pills and flushed vaginal rings, antidepressants and blood pressure medicines in water samples from thirty states.

So today’s small action in our series of 40 small steps to change the world is to re-think you view of the loo. Think of the sewerage system as a pretty fragile place that can only deal with a limited range of stuff – toilet paper and human waste.

Its Fairtrade Fortnight! A chance for all of us to support this life changing trading iniative. The organisers have put together a great resource pack with 14 ideas to promote and support the Fairtrade industry. There are ideas for individual and group action and great ideas on how to stage a fun event as well as suggestions for reading and a film (see below).

The event kicks off in style at London’s South Bank with the Fairtrade Fairground including:

• A traditional helter skelter, tea cup rides and the Fairtrade coconut shy.
• A chance to sample delicious Fairtrade products or have a go at decorating a Fairtrade certified cotton T-shirt.
• A fortune reader (Fairtrade tea leaves of course!)
• A chance to speak to a Fairtrade farmer in the marquee and find out more about how Fairtrade has benefitted their community
• An opportunity to take part in games and activities by campaign groups.
• And a place to learn how you can set up your own event.

Created in the Netherlands in 1980 the Fairtrade Foundation opened in the UK in 1992. Fairtrade is a tool for development that ensures disadvantaged farmers and workers in developing countries get a better deal through the use of the international FAIRTRADE Mark.

To carry the Fairtrade mark a buyer must pay a minimum price. A price which ensures that the producer can earn a sustainable income. The list of products is growing and now includes cotton, wines and flowers as well as the more traditional fruits, chocolates and coffee.

Now when I started this series of 40 small steps to change the world I told you I’d make it easy – and today is the easiest of all. Go out and support a Fairtrade producer – buy a yummy bar of chocolate! Me? I’m adding in a couple of bottles of wine and some new T shirts.

	Ethical Threads – has a small but interesting selection of T shirts
	The Ethical Superstore has over 800 Fair Trade products including furniture, food, wine, clothes, cards, jewelry and bath stuff.
	The Natural Collection has a good range of Fairtrade clothes and items for the home.
	Without a doubt Adili has the best range of ethical clothing available.

Day 18 in our series of 40 small steps to make the planet a better place is to de-clutter.

Now your first reaction might be something along the lines of “Its my clutter. Its not hurting anyone, leave it be”. But hold on a second and consider the causes and consequences of cluttering. Not only do you end up living in a disorganised environment which takes longer to maintain, is less healthy and makes you wonder whether its you or the clutter who’s in charge but you also need to consider where all that stuff could be better used.

If you’re not using it and someone out there really needs it wouldn’t it be better to let them have it?

So is there really another welcoming home for your clutter? For sure. Sometimes I just leave things outside my home and in about 2 hours they’ll be gone. A passer-by gets a windfall and I get a bit more space in my home. Sometimes I take stuff to the local charity shop and sometimes, though rarely, I sell them on ebay. Gumtree has also been recommended to me though I haven’t used it yet myself.

So disposing of clutter isn’t the problem – its selecting what to dispose of that is. Now I’m human too and I find this equally difficult. Over the years I’ve tried out different mantras that I read about on-line such as “If you haven’t worn it or used it for two years than chuck it” but they never worked for me. So I made up my own.

Here are my golden rules for decluttering.

1. If I was moving home would I bother to take this with me?
2. When did I last use this? And, crucially, when do I realistically expect to use it again?
3. Do I need one of these for myself or could I borrow one on the rare occasion that I need one? (for me think electric drill, wallpaper stripper)
4. And the hardest one – I know I really want to be an x (mosacist, carpenter, whatever) but given I’ve not done anything about it for x years shouldn’t I admit its just not one of my priorities?
5. Finally, is there anybody out there that can’t afford one of these who would make real use of it rather than it cluttering up my home collecting dust.

Now these worked for me. I’ve not only emptied cupboards, I’ve recycled the cupboards themselves. There is now sufficient space to store all my stuff, my home feels more spacious and I feel great about it. The only thing I can’t understand is why I never get round to putting things away!

Perhaps I need to work on some more mantras : )

It is so hard to accept that this sort of thing goes on. Not only that one company could do this but that company had the backing of their government. The USA.

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With Mothers’ Day fast approaching I surveyed a completely non-random sample of 11 mothers to find out what they really wanted on Mothers’ Day.

The group split neatly into three divisions. Mums with under 5s, Mums with 5+ but still at home and Mums whose children had left home. Nevertheless, despite the wide difference in the age-range they all started off with “I don’t really want anything.” Followed by a pause and “A card would be nice though”. After a glass of wine and a few hints from me (see how scientific this was) I managed to get them to open up and admit to their deepest desires. Well okay, possibly not that deep, but enough to get us all through Mothers’ Day in one piece (peace?).

Some mothers expressed concern about funding but felt assured that the younger children would have the sense to apply to their father.

Each mother was given 3 votes – making a total of 33 votes cast.

Here is the final list

1st Place scoring 11/11 went to chocolate but definitely not the ordinary day-to-day stuff – something special.

2nd Place with a score of 8/11 went to smelly stuff for the bath and 3 added “and enough time to relax and enjoy it” coincidentally these were all mothers of under 5s.

3rd Place scoring 6/11 went to a book or a DVD. Something they would want to keep rather than chic lit, thrashy novel or the latest blockbuster.

4th Place went to a good bottle of wine 5/11 and

5th Place with 3/11 went to a brain training games

And here are my suggestions for online shopping.

	Ethical Superstore have a great range of greeting cards produced by organisations supporting Fairtrade
	Ethically sourced chocolates from the Ethical Superstore
	Try the Natural Collection for some fantastic organic and Fairtrade bath smellies.
	Smitfield wines sell a great range of vegetarian and vegan wines.
Books, DVDs and Brain Training all from Amazon

If you’re like me, you’ll have made a lot of resolutions over the last 15 days and probably only done about half of them. No matter! Today’s small step, in our series of 40 small steps to change the world is about getting yourself organised. Moving from planning to doing.

Step 1. Make a list of the top things you want to do and against each of them add in what stops you doing them. You know you want to do these things – so what’s getting in your way?

Here’s mine.

A. Change bank to Co-operative. Although I really want to do this I do feel daunted. Changing banks has become a real hassle since the introduction of money laundering regulations and I also have a fear that although my salary will get transfered to the Co-op all my standing orders will still be with my old bank. Ending up with massive overdraft charges and tears at bedtime.

B. Get that plug that switches off all my computer gizmos in one go. I’m not sure if it can be screwed to the wall like my current one is and, if not, its going to be a hassle.

C. Plants. I want two for my home and one for my office. I’ve set out to do this a couple of times but somehow it didn’t happen. I need to get myself to a bigger shop and work out how I’ll get them home given I don’t have a car.

D. Clicking to give. I put this in my bookmarks but still tend to forget it. I know I don’t want it as my homepage as I like the igoogle one I’ve got.

Step 2. The next step is to break the tasks down into bite-sized actions. This is crucial. If the task looks too big you won’t do it.

For the bank I will get the application form and ask them about the actual process of transferring my account.

For the computer plug – I’ll send an email asking about options.

For the plant – I will buy one on my way home this evening.

For the Click-to-Give – I’ll see if I can add the link to my igoogle home page

Step 3. Stop messing about and JUST DO IT!

And that is really enough for one day : )