One of the best things I decided to do last year (after becoming a Mother for the first time) was to join Divest London (divestlondon.org). Global Divestment Day on 14th February was so energetic, powerful and inspiring that I’m still feeling a positive glow from this special Valentine’s Day. Continue reading
Happy New Year to all readers!
It may be unusual, but January is one of my favourite months. My birthday falls at the end, I met my husband on a cold winter night and one year later, we got engaged. Personal milestones aside, I enjoy welcoming in the New Year and making plans.
My resolution this year is to stop using disposable items, in particular plastic bags, take away cups and bottles. The terrifying scale of the plastic material gathering in our oceans was unveiled for the first time last year. (www.theguardian.com/…/full-scale-plastic-worlds-oceans-revealed-first-time- pollution) Continue reading
The quiet days between Christmas and the New Year are a special time. If we’re fortunate enough to have a holiday, they give us space to relax with our loved ones, enjoy long winter walks followed by hot chocolate or mulled wine and curl up by the fireside with a brilliant novel or a classic film. These sleepy moments also allow us to focus on the past year and what we are most grateful for.
This week I have been reading Active Hope by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone. In this inspiring book, the authors discuss ‘coming from gratitude’ as a profound motivation for environmental activism. By focusing on what we love about the Earth, we develop a positive outlook which in turn, helps us to build the strength we need to protect our planet. Continue reading
“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” Hans Hofmann
I love these words and find them endlessly inspiring. They seem particularly relevant when thinking about the festive season.
I am really looking forward to our first family Christmas with Aidan and I recently signed up to the One million women no waste festive challenge (http://www.1millionwomen.com.au/2014/11/04/no-waste-festive-season/). This inspiring challenge requires us to reduce food waste, enjoy moments not things, avoid over packaging, shop locally and create DIY gifts. Although these steps may seem small, collectively they have a huge impact on preserving resources and tackling climate change.
My favourite item on the list is to enjoy moments not things. I can’t remember what I received as a gift five years ago, but I remember it was the first special Christmas with my husband Nick. Last Christmas I have happy memories of being nearly four months pregnant. I spent several relaxing days reading by the fire, walking on the beach, feeling Aidan’s first kicks and indulging a few pregnant cravings!
It feels natural to reduce food waste, avoid packaging and shop locally for food during the the year and I want to commit to these values at Christmas. Some of the measures I’m taking for the challenge include: reusing old wrapping paper; avoiding over packaged items such as Christmas crackers, planning each meal in advance to eliminate food waste, and not buying excess items, such as Christmas cake, that we don’t particularly like but feel compelled to have for the festive season.
The only task from the list which I find difficult is making DIY gifts as I’m not naturally drawn to crafting. With looking after Aidan, writing and campaigning, choosing to make Christmas gifts could defeat my purpose of creating a relaxing family Christmas! As an alternative, I have chosen ethically sourced gifts and charity gift cards.
Reflecting on the project, I question if it is really a ‘challenge’ or actually a positive release from some of the superficial pressures of consumerism. The commercial build up to the festive season loudly promotes a time of shopping, frenzied gift buying and hectic plans. Yet for most of us, our ideal Christmas involves time (ideally peaceful!) with loved ones, space to relax, good music and delicious food. Whether we choose to celebrate the original meaning of Christmas or not, we can all benefit from time and space for our own spiritual reflection.
By eliminating the unnecessary, we can enjoy a joyful Christmas, mindful of what is really important: our family, friends and the health of our beautiful planet.
A couple of nights ago, listening to Aidan snore lightly in his cot, my mind began to race with fears about the future. I was tired, hoping for an early night before a busy weekend, yet sleep eluded me.
Dramatic images of extreme weather, food shortages and chaos flooded my mind. My stomach churned with anxiety. Worst of all, I knew my worries wouldn’t be gone in the morning or be eased by nighttime tricks such as camomile tea.
I was so restless, I woke up my poor husband! Luckily he was sympathetic. As an environmental lawyer, he has had to confront similar concerns himself whilst battling with climate change legislation. Sleepily he admitted that he had hidden his own fears from me as he didn’t want to scare me!
He gave me a useful piece of advice which I have been thinking about over the weekend; the trick of owning our fear. This practice involves fully confronting our fears in order to learn from them and move towards positive action, as taught by the influential environmental activist and author, Joanna Macy. Naomi Klein also urges us to face our fears in her persuasive book about climate change, politics and parenthood – This Changes Everything.
Sleep finally won and when I was allowed to sleep until almost 7.30 (a great result!) I did feel a bit better. I’m sure I will have many more restless nights but facing my worries has made me even more determined to become actively involved. I want to help avoid those dramatic images from being realised.
I have been researching campaigns during Aidan’s naps this week and I keep uncovering exciting ideas. To pick one example from many, I discovered a Australian group called 1million women (onemillionwomen.com.au) which encourages women to campaign for action on climate change. I was really impressed by this model for inspiring action.
Please let me know if you have ideas or campaigns which we could discuss here. Let’s truly own our climate fears and move towards positive action!
babyproofplanet 