Dear Diary
Dear Diary. What have I let myself in for?
How long does it usually take for people to fall off the wagon and recant on their new year resolutions? A week? A day? An hour?
Twenty-seven days in and I am still on track, though I have realised there are going to be “minor technical difficulties”. Perhaps not with the usual suspects, but with things that I had not even considered.
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism, tick. Actually I have found that I don’t usually don’t eat that much meat, so changing to vegetarianism is not much of a big deal. It is the variety of texture in food that I miss, and the lack of inspiration. I will have to make sure I don’t end up guzzling soup day-in-day out. Obviously interspersed with choccie biscuits. But on a side note though: my digestion is definitely not in agreement with the dietary changes. Perhaps it is the nuts, or all that fibre? LOL…
Rien de neuf
Simple. Everything was bought a few weeks ago so no problems there. Stationery and underwear has been taken out of the equation as I just can’t get my head around wearing someone else’s underwear. Maybe I could make my own, but I get the feeling velvet-lined undies might tickle, and lace undies may present a sewing challenge I have not reached yet.
Carbon footprint
This is something we have really tackled in the past few months. We now both work from home, we reduced ourselves to one car, the children take the bus to school, we downsized the house and even hubbie went ONLY on public transport all the way to Oxford and back to see family. There is still a large part of our journey left to tackle, however this is definitely one area of the new year’s resolutions we seem to be on top of.
Save water
At the moment, saving water is at the stage of screaming at our children to not stay in the bathroom for an eternity, and wondering whether missing one shower is going to save the world or ruin my marriage. More time for reflection needed.
The eight “R”s
Compost, compost, compost! We have a postage stamp of a garden which the dog would agree with. It is effectively a mudbath in a concrete jungle. Composting here will only cause mayhem to a who will find pleasure in either running around the garden with a bana Samoyed na skin or trying to scoff all the leftovers (destined for the compost bin) in one sitting. I think Samoyeds have two monsters in their head, the one that can cause chaos in a second and the other one that is continually hungry. I mean, forever hungry. But no, of course not for dog food. Everything but. Our dog’s favourite “food” at the moment are tissues. God forbid if you have any in your pocket! They will soon be ferreted out and then hey presto… they’d disappear!
So a compost bin will have to be sealed and for ease of use, placed in our kitchen. Amazingly there is a scheme in our village where you can take your compost to the community compost pile and it is then used within the community garden. An amazing scheme.
Habitats for wildlife
In our current temporary house we have no real incentive to provide habitats for wildlife at the moment. However I am willing to start to forage for baby plants or cuttings in the local neighbourhood that would be good for wildlife ,and also are not toxic for dogs. I have also been collecting garden design ideas doing dog walks. More information on those later!
Zero Waste
This is our biggest issue. Shampoo, conditioner, soap… All of these come in plastic bottles. Washing liquid for clothes and dishes, dog food, pre-packaged food, parcels… The list is endless. How did we reach this stage in society where everything has to be packaged? I mean, everything. Not only that but one, two or three sets of wrapping. Just take buying yogurts for examples. You have the cardboard wrapped around the lot of 4, 6, 8 or 12. Then there is the pot. There is also the foil, paper or plastic lid. Some pots are cardboard, some plastic, some even glass. Which ones are the most sustainable option? Or is it best to simply make your own yoghurt? (As well as other things.)
The past
I remember the most delicious puddings made by family and friends all those years ago. But now we seem to rely on these manufactured puddings that are thrown away without a second thought. And what do you throw out? All of it? Some of it? Parts of it being plastic, metal or glass. Life is so complicated.
I have 3 bins now in the household. Some of you are probably experts at this. (I apologise to those of you now and you need not read any further.) However, when patience is wearing thin and you are struggling to flatten a bottle or wash out a tin you must have been tempted to think, “Oh sod it. Just this one time. No one will ever know.”
Avert your eyes now
And the item disappears into the waste-bin. Yes I’ve said it. Holidays are the worst for that. Children, animals, visiting friends and family seem to think magic happens in the kitchen.
But no, it doesn’t.
There is just a tired run-down middle-aged woman on her third glass of sangria trying to shove with her foot the oversized pizza boxes into the tiny recycling bin in the kitchen. And then obviously the damned beach flip-flops decide they are not made for this type of activity, and you are left hobbling down flights of stairs to the beach with a makeshift repair, for the rest of the holiday. And don’t even ask how you get the pizza boxes out afterwards if all your weight has pushed them in. I really have been there, this is not just a “fun” aside.
That guilty feeling, yes, I do have it. But sometimes, sadly just for a few seconds, and then… well the rest is history. So, back to household waste. This is going to be my biggest bug-bear, my biggest annoyance and the thing that I think is going to try my patience the most. I understand why society has evolved to make things less time-consuming, but surely now the next step has to be taken. Less packaging please, and give us more options that don’t include fast food!
MidLife Crisis In France
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