Most communities in this day and age have at least some initiatives to aid green living, and your community is most likely no different. If you are interested in making a difference beyond your household, then this is usually the best place to start. Looking in the local newspaper and online you can find ways of helping that you never knew existed – and it is a way of meeting like-minded people and perhaps increasing the amount you do from there. Helping create a greener town or […]

The importance of being good to the environment is one that is often balanced against the expense. Many families, especially in the current financial climate, will find that they can afford either food or principles, and in such a situation the latter is always going to lose out. However, the truth is that you can be green and live affordably if you know how, although you may not be able to do everything that someone with more disposable income might. Having little money often means you cannot […]

In life, we must compromise from time to time. Even the principles that we hold so dear sometimes come under pressure when the situation becomes grave. And for an environmentalist the concern about compromising arises on a regular basis. If you get in the car to drive somewhere are you junking your principles? If you buy food that is not locally sourced, are you a traitor to the planet? If you let a glass jar fall into the wrong garbage bin, are you sticking your tongue out […]

Any big plan to make a difference in the world, in this day and age, is likely to be met by at least one person, and probably several more with the question “And who’s paying for all this?”. It is typically a rhetorical question, although they’re usually prepared to offer the answer themselves anyway. The implication, or the bald statement is that they fully expect the cost of the project to come out of their taxes and they don’t much appreciate this frittering away of their hard-earned […]

The idea of environmental concern has been twisted by many people into something that is practised by people who are prepared to blow away everything that is considered normal and reasonable. Let recycling take hold, say some, and it will be no time at all before the environmental lobby are forcing us to place wind turbines on our roofs and make our own electricity by jumping on a treadmill to save the planet’s resources. Therefore, people who have considered making a difference to the state of our […]

Some years ago the idea of cycling to work, or to anywhere that was more than a matter of minutes away, became about as fashionable as flared corduroy trousers. Arrive at the office with leaves stuck to your face and hair like a bowl of stiff spaghetti? You might as well have suggested that someone travel to work on a pogo stick. However, cycling now seems to be back in vogue, and not just because it helps the planet. We all know that cycling is a good […]

One of the most difficult tightropes to walk in life is the one between owning and driving a car and being an environmentalist. On the one hand, you have worked and saved to own the vehicle and are justifiably proud of it, but on the other you know that by driving it you are not being kind to the environment. And then there are other people who seem to feel, and will even state, that for every tree planted by an environmentalist group, they will produce all […]

The world has plenty of problems, and often you will find that friends or neighbors are skeptical that you choose the environment as one of your issues. When we stand at threat from terrorism, from crime in our towns and cities, and when there are potential new threats to our health from this thing or that thing, someone will always ask “Why are you bothering with recycling?”. The simple reason to give in response is that just because there are other problems, it doesn’t mean you cannot […]