In my quest to reduce plastic for #plasticfreejuly, I decided to try the zero waste sachets from Iron and Velvet, available from thekind.co.  I also bought two of the amber glass bottles because I was making my own cleaner at the same time. This is just a quick review of the products and to be clear from the start, this is not a sponsored post, I bought the products at full price.

I feel like most people are aware now that plastic and micro-plastics are contaminating our world and causing untold damage to wildlife and nature in general. Maybe you don't know, though, that July is Plastic Free Month. This is an initiative that was set up by the Plastic Free Foundation in Australia, beginning in 2011 and growing from strength to strength.  If you take a look at the Plastic Free July website, you will find lots of resources and tips and you can also sign up to the challenge, which I did myself.
This is an area I definitely need to improve on so I am definitely not setting myself up as a paragon of virtue here - I have made some changes to my life though, in order to try and reduce the amount of plastic coming into the home so I'm going to share them here. And just to note - bulk buying is a great way of avoiding plastic, especially when you can bring your own containers. Unfortunately it is not an option for my family, due to anaphylactic food allergies and the danger of cross-contamination, so this is why I don't have experience of that - although I do buy the large sizes of washing up liquid and toilet cleaner so that I can refill my smaller bottles, rather than buying new ones.
It's important to say, also, that there is no need to rush out and buy new things. If things you have work well, that's brilliant. The things I'm sharing here are things that I have found to be useful and that aided me in reducing plastic so it was worth it for me.  First up are my beeswax wraps - I actually put off buying these for ages because I had mainly just used tupperware containers to store food.  However I spotted these in Aldi and thought I would give them a go. They are great for wrapping cheese and things like that and then I needed a large one, (second pic) because I got a breadmaker through my local freecycle and realised that I didn't want to wrap my fresh bread loaves in clingfilm. I got this from Other Mammys on Facebook and it's just perfectly the right size for my bread.




As you can see also from the pic above, I prefer to buy wooden or bamboo kitchen utensils where possible and there are lots of places now where these are available. I think I bought these ones pictured in Aldi but I have seen similar in TK Maxx and in Flying Tiger.

Bamboo cotton buds are also great because they can be composted - my daughter uses these a lot and I have gotten these from the Little Green Shop a few times and I just picked up the ones pictured  on my weekly shop!



Shampoo and conditioner bars are a good alternative to plastic bottles - I have had mixed results with shampoo bars but I'm going to commit to these for this month anyway. I think it probably depends on your hair type and which brand you are using but it's certainly something to consider.


Other ways to reduce plastic are:

• Grow your own fruit and veg
• Shop at local markets and bring your own tote bags
• Reuse glass jars and bottles for storage
• Bring a reusable water bottle with you to work/on journeys
• Have your reusable coffee cup with you when you are out and about (this has been curtailed since Covid-19 but hopefully coffee shops will return to accepting them soon)
• Have a 'lunch pack' in your desk at work - mine has a cutlery set, a metal straw and a cloth napkin.
• Bring your own containers where possible when purchasing meat/fish/takeways
• Use loose leaf tea as many brand of teabag contain micro plastics

I've put off writing a post for ages for a few different reasons - the lockdown has definitely affected my motivation and sense of well-being but not only that, there have been major movements and discussions going on in the world in the last while and I've felt overwhelmed by the need to inform myself as much as possible about them. The J K Rowling stance on trans women led me to really think about the issue of trans people and how they are treated in the world. I suppose I had a vaguely supportive stance previous to that, but really hadn't considered in any depth how the world treats a person who has transitioned.  And when I did inform myself more, I was shocked that an author whom I had looked up to, was taking such a limited view on this. Trans women are women, it is literally that simple in terms of human perspective and desire. The social issues and questions of acceptance are, of course, more nuanced and difficult but the fundamental principal that I live by, is that all people are equal and have equal rights.
But I also found myself in the strange position of being unsure - I keep abreast of world topics generally and I'm fairly certain of who I am and where I stand on things.  However, social media lately (twitter in particular) seems to be devolving into a kind of feral battleground with zero room for rational discourse. This has made me profoundly uneasy - especially when it comes to topics like transitioning - as it's not something I grew up with, my perspective is only recently formed, and I'm sure there are lots of people my age who have had to learn about this in the last few years. So creating a space of one dimensional posturing is counterproductive and unlikely to really change behaviour or attitudes.  And I am finding it difficult to marry these extremes on social media with what I know of people - who in real life are generally more balanced and kind hearted than their social media might suggest. 
This, perhaps, is the part that is bothering me.  Social issues can't be solved with a short tweet and Facebook comments (although they have more scope) are not really the place to have engaged discussion. It seems at times, though, that for many people  these avenues have become an easy subsitute for real conversation.
It is not all bad, though, and harnessing the power of social media can effect massive social change.  The #blacklivesmatter movement has come to the forefront once more after the death of George Floyd. He was pinned to the ground by the knee of a white officer for over 8 minutes, despite calling for help. Like most people around the world I was absolutely horrified by his death, by the callous disregard for life shown by the officers involved and all because he was a black man.
What has come out of this has been a massive cry for social justice and for a recognition of the extreme bias and discrimination that black people face all over the world. And despite the twee notion that Ireland isn't racist, you can click into the comments of any post on the topic of #blacklivesmatter and you will see the nasty bigotry that still abounds. I attended a socially distant protest in Newbridge recently and I felt incredibly sad to hear the stories of racism as relayed by the speakers.  We have to recognise and believe these stories and stand up where possible against racism and discrimination.
There is another topic I need to talk about in relation to this - I didn't watch the George Floyd video. I absolutely could not, and I completely refute the claim I have seen online, that everyone has to watch these atrocities in order to understand what is happening. There have been multiple videos showing in grotesque detail the violence of police towards peaceful protesters (including a video of an elderly man being pushed to the ground and then left bleeding). I choose not to watch - it doesn't make me any less aware. The power of words, for me, have a much stronger intellectual impact, so that reading about the content of the videos is just as likely to evoke outrage in me, and empathy for the victims.  I think we need to be very careful about pushing people to witness violence that has been filmed. Although, unfortunately, violence is a large part of many people's lives, it shouldn't be and I don't think that anyone believes that it should be a regular feature of the human condition. People who have witnessed and experienced violence in real life often go on to have lifelong trauma and psychological issues. I am absolutely convinced that becoming desensitised to violence and atrocities via the medium of film is going to do more harm than good.
Which kind of brings me to my concluding thoughts. Human beings aren't just pithy soundbites and one dimensional arguments. Perhaps because I am on social media a lot (despite my reservations, it is an essential tool in raising awareness and bringing people together to work on important actions around climate and other areas), I am seeing a lot of the negativity lately. And last night, someone posted a poem on Facebook and I also saw some beautiful art and I realised how much I have been missing that wonderful wholesomeness of humanity. The incredible creative drive that has given us so much beauty through the ages, in the form of art or dance or literature or music.  And the huge pleasure and connection that real conversation can bring. I had been staying at home like most people and had really missed interaction with others - I think being with others balances us and brings warmth and enjoyment in a way that video calling never can. So I have resolved to try and reinvigorate my creative impulses by writing (as I'm doing now), and by heading out with my camera a bit more to observe and capture some of the beauty around me.  Because at the end of the day, that is what gives real nourishment to the soul.


As always, would love to hear your comments!

There are a whole wealth of topics within this new life we are leading - restriction, death, loss, fear. So many emotions and so much hardship for people around the world. I've had bad days and struggled initially with the change of routine, and with the anxiety I felt all around me. It was a bit of a trigger for the ptsd I had previously gone through due to multiple stressful events. So I had a few panicky moments until I adjusted and worked out a new routine. And this blog post is coming from a very positive place because, as the title suggests, I have rediscovered my love of gardening and have truly appreciated having the time to immerse myself in the whole experience again.


I had neglected my garden for a few years, there was too much going on with my own health and with various family illnesses too and I just didn't have the physical or mental strength to do much at all. And as any gardener knows, it not something you can really pick up and drop again - it does need regular care. So I let it slide and completely forgot how much joy it gives me.
Even working from home, I basically have an extra 3 hours per working day because my commute is gone. And I imagine that must be the same for lots of people - I think a slowing of pace and a renewed quality of life has been the silver lining of this awful virus and I sincerely hope that these little changes will continue long after this is gone.
So this year I have sown seedlings for the first time in ages, both indoor and out. I sowed lettuce, rocket and courgette and calendula and snapdragon from the flower family.



I made a determined effort to get some vegetables growing - I now have beets, onions, potatoes and carrots on the go, as well as strawberries and salad leaves. And thanks to a local friend, I managed to get tomato and pepper plants! There was also a brilliant ChangeX campaign set up by GIY called #growitforward with the intention of encouraging people to grow their own food. I used this to set up a Kilcullen group and a Facebook group out of that and it's brilliant to connect with other growers and to have a space where we can swap seeds or plants, as well as get advice and encouragement.




My garden is very small and, of course, because of restrictions it was difficult to get some things I needed. Luckily I had ordered a good quantity of peat free compost before I started and I had the crates (pictured above) anyway, as well as various pots and grow bags. I have been going out each morning for daily inspection :) Taking out any little weed seedlings (I used some of my own compost from the compost bin but the disadvantage of this is the weeds, unfortunately) and making sure there isn't anything eating the delicate seedlings. And watering also - the weather has been amazing but so dry and even  my water butt became completely empty.
I love it though, it's so amazing to watch things growing - especially, I think, when you have started them from seed. I also stopped mowing the grass in my back garden last year so it has a bit of a wild feel at the moment, with lots of dandelions and cuckoo flowers and the sounds of the insects and the birds is heavenly.




I will leave you with a pic to show just how small my garden is - and also pics of my other little garden companion :)




You might like to check out my other recent post about how to live with Slugs & Snails in the garden - link here.
And here is a post about how to make your own Green Cleaners.
Have you been gardening? Let me know in comments what you have been up to!

In these strange times, I find myself longing to get away and go on a trip. I think this world crisis has led to many different emotional responses and anxieties, as well as a great deal of positive reflection on where we are as a society, and how we can move forward.  I've lots of thoughts on this but I'm going to save them for another day and instead share with you a virtual trip - my recent journey back from Donegal, pre Covid 19.
I've been to Donegal many times and we have been as a family, but this time was just a trip for me and lovely it was! One of the benefits of travelling alone is that I have my camera, of course, but no barrier to stopping whenever and wherever I like. I have to confess my trip back from Mouncharles to Kilcullen took almost 6 hours due to my meandering :)

I had recently bought my Canon EF-S 10-18mm wide angle lens and it is perfect for landscapes and also for architecture. This had always been a frustration for me, that I couldn't get the landscape shots I really wanted, so this lens, which was priced reasonably, has given me a lot more scope and it was a joy to use on my journey.

Firstly I stopped to try and capture Ben Bulben.  There were lots of perfect views of it but a shortage of places to pull in off the road, so this was the first I got with the gorgeous cloud mass behind it.


I headed out through Sligo and towards Boyle in Roscommon and this is where my next stop was. Up on a hill, with an elegant and imposing facade, is this church. It has caught my eye so many times and actually this time I passed it, then decided to turn around and investigate.



According to buildingsofireland.ie, there has been a church here since 500 A.D. - this Church of Ireland building however, dates from 1750 and was repaired in 1859 after a fire the previous year.  I was fascinated to learn (post-visit) that there is actually an Evie Hone window here, one of the first major commissions of her career in 1935.  There is also a stone walled graveyard attached to the church with the earliest grave being from 1866, and also a famine memorial by sculptor Jackie McKenna, which was unveiled in 1997.


I moved on after this towards Carrick-on-Shannon, where the weather started to become cloudy. It was still pretty nice out though and I stopped to take a quick couple of pictures of the Shannon.


Although I'm still pretty new to using the wide angle lens, I find it great where there are sweeps or curves or lines. I suppose like any lens, it needs some focal point and vistas that are too far away can just be a bit dull but where you have something in the foreground and a nice background, it works perfectly.

My next stop is in Meath, between Kinnegad and Edenderry. Both this and my next stop are places I have been curious about for a very long time - because you can see them from the road and we go to Donegal practically every year, I have been meaning for years to check them out more closely.
This beautiful spot is Ballyboggan Abbey - my source of info for this one is Ireland in Ruins which, by the way, is a great blog with loads of fascinating information about places around Ireland.  According to this blog, the real name of the Abbey is the Abbey of De Laude Dei - it is an Augustinian Abbey and was built in the 12th Century. If you want to stop, there is no real parking but there is a little area you can pull in to across the road.  The Abbey was destroyed in 1446 by a fire and then rebuilt. The Abbey and lands were granted to Sir William Bermingham in the time of King Henry VIII's suppression of religious orders.




As you can see, the buildings are very much in ruins but there is a substantial amount left and it's well worth a visit.

Next and last, but definitely not least, is this little gem. It is actually pretty close to Ballyboggan Abbey - not as majestic or large by any means but still a striking structure and this definitely has the most interesting story!





It took me a while to find information on this because I didn't actually know what it was called and only through doing image and location searches, did I figure out that it was Carrick or Carrickoris Castle. It is on a hill north of Edenderry and if coming from the Kinnegad direction it is not too far at all from Ballyboggan. Again, there is no parking but if you are coming from the Edenderry direction, there is a little area just before it, where you can pull in from the road and park.  Just be careful stopping at either spot, though, because it's a busy road and cars fly past. My source of info this time is Megalithic Ireland although there is also a section in Ireland in Ruins about this.
This building which is still standing dates from the 16th century but it is built on the site of an earlier castle.  This earlier castle was where the treacherous Baron, Sir Pearce Bermingham, murdered 32 leaders of the O'Conor Faly.  They were invited to a feast, according to the Annals of the Four Masters, and when they stood up, they were massacred en masse 'Red Wedding' style. All 32 men were said to have been decapitated and a young boy was thrown over the battlements of the castle  No justice was ever obtained.
Adjacent is the small graveyard of the Carrick parochial church.

That brings me to the end of this journey, I hope you have found some inspiration for places to visit and if you would like some more ideas, here are some other blog posts:

Scohaboy Bog County Tipperary
Shankill Castle Paulstown
Derryounce Lakes

Living with slugs and snails? I guess for any gardener it might seem like a strange concept :) I have for years been trying to figure out how to deal with these 'pests'. Although I never considered using traditional slug killer I did at various stages feel the need to reduce the population because of the havoc they wreaked in my garden. My garden is now 17 years old and it has seen many seasons. Whilst my garden was growing, I completed the RHS General Certificate (as it was then) in Horticulture and I also volunteered and spent quite a bit of time in our local Camphill Community garden. I worked with wonderful mentors and learnt so much, both through my 'hands on' work and also through their advice and expertise.  I suppose as an evolving person and an evolving gardener, the condundrum of finding balance in the garden has always been in my mind and now, it no longer seems reasonable or right to want to kill slug populations. This, of course, is with the luxury of just having my own small garden and no financial pressure to protect crops for sale but I will outline some of how I deal with the slug and snail problem.

Large snail in my garden

First of all, I came to the conclusion some years ago that I had to apply the 'survival of the fittest' principal when it came to decorative plants. Each year is different of course, and slugs love damp weather, so in dry years, the problem has been minimal. However in some years, there was a literal army of slugs in my flower bed. They adorned every stem and petal and inch of ground, all shapes and sizes and seemed to be having a veritable party in my space. I had tried growing lupins and marigolds at different stages in the flower bed and both were literally decimated in a matter of days. Now I just don't even consider them for my garden, unless it is as sacrificial plants to distract the slugs from other things I want to protect. So I feel now, that if something is so easily destroyed by slugs, then it should just be left out. But on that topic, there are more resilient plants that slugs seem to enjoy but which can withstand a certain amount of chomping.  And these I am happy to have - I often take the half eaten leaves and put them on the ground around the plant in order to keep the slugs happy at ground level.  This isn't a particularly scientific method, just something that I felt worked to some degree.  The resilience is key, I think. It may not look picture perfect to have raggedy, half eaten leaves but there are plants in my garden (hollyhocks for example) which don't seem to be daunted by a bit of slug activity and so they are perfect in my book.
The next approach I have, is to do with crops I grow in containers - for example lettuce leaves which I try to have each year. Again, this is doable because my garden is small and I would only have a few pots with edibles but I go out and do regular checks at night with a torch. This is weather dependent too and damp weather brings out the snails and slugs in force so you might have to be extra vigilant. It is important to note as well, that small seedlings are particularly vulnerable and will benefit from being covered or protected in some way. Once they are bigger, they have a bit more resilience and can survive a bit of eating.
*A method that works in flower beds is one which I discovered recently. I read about it and decide to give it a go - basically you just save your grapefruit halves and put them open side up near the plants you would like to protect.  According to what I read, they would just fill with slugs/snails and they would be there in the morning ready to transport elsewhere. I gave it a go and came out the first morning to empty grapfruit halves! So although I left them in place, I wasn't that impressed with this method. However I went out last night to do a check on my vulnerable sunflowers which I put in the bed recently, and lo and behold, one grapefruit was teeming with little creatures.


I left them there but in retrospect, I should have probably moved them last night as they were mostly gone this morning. Interestingly enough, I have 4 sunflowers in the bed, one in a sunny spot which has had some damage (Photo 1), next 2 are quite close together near the wall but in an area packed with plants (Photo 2) and the last is in possibly the shadiest spot but a little bit further away from the wall than the others (and with no overhanging plants)(Photo 3).  The third has next to no damage which surprised me, as it is in quite a shady area. The worst affected have been the two which are near the wall and close to other plants as it is both dark and there are lots of little damp areas where slugs and snails can hide under leaves and debris. So we will see if my sunflowers survive but this is certainly a method worth trying.

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

My final methods involve barriers which slugs don't seem to like. I have found copper tape to be very effective around the pots containing my salad leaves and my hostas. This is well worth getting - it can be a bit awkward to get on smoothly around certain pots but it seems to stay on nicely and does offer a good deal of protection from what I observed last year.
I have tried coffee grounds and eggshells to mixed results. Neither seemed particularly great at keeping slugs at bay but perhaps there might have been some small level of protection.  Another type of barrier that I discovered last year was wool pellets. These do seem to work pretty well also and can be very good if you are trying to grow susceptible veg in pots - they won't really work for lettuce containers as they are too large but they are good for bigger plants that are spaced out a bit.

I don't use beer traps for the simple reason that they are basically killing slugs and I feel that they are important for biodiversity and as a food for birds, no matter how annoying they might seem!

Yellow and Brown Snail on leaf

'Snails and slugs might be particularly important as a food source for generalist predators in late autumn and early winter, when more favourable prey sources such as earthworms and insect larvae are unavailable [18]. In fact, snails appear to be such an important food source for some birds that, where snails are absent from areas due to high levels of heavy metal pollution, birds lay deformed eggs that have a terrible chance of survival, which is due to the breeding females obtaining insufficient levels of calcium owing to the absence of snail shells[19]. So, at the very least, snails and slugs add some level of robustness to complex food webs and, by extension, overall ecosystem functioning.'
Source:
http://bioweb.ie/defending-small-slimy/

And for more of an indepth look at the balance of predators and pests, check out this video from Bruce of the Red Gardens on YouTube - his videos are fantastic anyway and well worth watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1kkxCc3q7I


*Added 3rd May 2020 to reflect new method I learnt about since original post.

You might like to also read my Gardening in the Pandemic post.

Honestly, I hadn't intended writing another climate post so soon after the last one but I suppose being immersed in climate action both in work and in my personal life, it's hard for my brain to escape it and my sense of urgency is growing stronger all the time.  When you look at the beauty of the world and all the creatures that live on it, it is hard to imagine that human activity has endangered not just ourselves, but all life on earth.

Protect Life on Earth

One thing I have been thinking about a lot, though, is specifically how do we communicate the urgency and actually mobilise people to create the huge change we need?  My mind has been going down several different tracks on this and I suppose also, having experienced positive forms of communication recently at workshops and having done a facilitation workshop myself, I have a new and deeper understanding of the value of listening and giving everyone a voice.  Also, in other random background, my degree is in language and literature so the nuance and exactitude of language has been a fascination of mine for a very long time.
With all those things in mind, I'm going to try and pull together some thoughts in a coherent fashion.
One thing that I keep coming back to is that we need to change the narrative and the language around how we do things. The cult of individualisation that has come from 'progress' and economic boom times has left us unable to cooperate and has fostered a sense of competetiveness that sets us apart from others. And I mean this in a general societal sense - of course there are people and groups who have always worked together well and individuals who do their utmost for others.  But there has certainly been a subtle messaging going on that it is ok to step on people to gain success, that aquisition of ostentatious wealth and power is the ultimate aim and that those who fail at this are somehow 'losers' in society.  The problem with this is that 'winning' in this sense often involves doing a disservice to other human beings.  And ultimately a disservice to ourselves because the drive to consume, work longer hours, achieve some measure of illusory success has led to a huge societal disconnection and a destruction of the planet.
So, if we are not invested in the world and people around us, it is difficult to make that leap into a real understanding of the existential crisis humanity is now facing.  It is more comfortable and easier to ignore or deny and because for many of us, the consequence will not be immediately felt, it therefore can be filed away as 'not our problem'.
So for me, the first essential step is to rebuild relationships, to rebuild community and to begin to actively communicate in a conscious way.  This isn't as easy as you might think, it can be hard to let go of ego and the alliances that divide us.  For example, politics, sports, geographical location - all can both bring us together, but divide us at the same time. And for tackling the climate emergency we need to cross over the divides and work in a determined way to find common ground and galvanise government action.  Another problem in relation to this is the lumbering political and bureaucratic structures we have in place and this goes from local to government to european level.  Having checks and balances is of course hugely important but when they are placing huge time delays on action, they are no longer fit for purpose.  Which is why I believe that building resilient communities from the ground up is something that needs to be done without delay. When we have exreme weather events (a certainty) leading to food shortages (very likely), we will be very thankful to have local sources of food and a support network so that we can take care of everyone, including the most vulnerable people.

People and Nature

And this brings me to another communication problem - hard choices have to be made at government level but they are likely to be unpopular.  Unfortunately agriculture is a huge issue when it comes to green house gas emissions and it is absolutely essential that we have frank and real discussion around this and come up with solutions which are not detrimental to the livelihoods of farmers. Ignoring and denying reality is not the answer.

The world wide denial campaign has been a long and concerted one and often funded by giant lobby groups - 'every year, the world's five largest publicly owned oil and gas companies spend approximately $200 million on lobbying designed to control, delay or block binding climate-motivated policy.' Source.  Reasons for denial are many - the human desire to just stick our heads in the sand, economic concerns, belief that claims are exaggerated. Some reasons are outlined here - https://www.sciencealert.com/the-five-corrupt-pillars-of-climate-change-denial#.

I personally believe at this point that there is very little point in arguing with the climate deniers - it takes up too much time and energy that I feel can be better spent. However, I do admire those who take it on and question and challenge the fake news and incorrect information.  At the moment I am trying a gentle approach and just commenting or passing on information or sharing knowledge through my Small Sustainable Steps group on Facebook.

So, what can we do to communicate the urgent need to take action? I was at an SEAI energy conference recently and had the pleasure of hearing Mary Robinson's key note address. She is a long time heroine of mine so this was a big thing for me :)

Her points to take away were as follows:

•        Make it personal – do what you can to change something in your own life.
•             Get angry and take action. Use your voice and your vote. 
•              Imagine and work towards a better world. 

I think the last is key - in the face of worry and a very serious issue of eco anxiety amongst our young people and activists, we need to focus on the hope and possibility of change.  We are literally at a crux in human existence where we can turn things around but time is running out.

You might also like:

Climate Action Kildare
Eco Village Cloughjordan