Category Archives: Environment

Monday Musings…10th October 2022 is “World Mental Health Day” plus did you know there are “Fire Stopping Goats”

Welcome to Monday Musings…Monday Musings is where normally I share some things that have thrilled me, made me think or smile or even have a mini-rant but generally it is my happy place and I hope yours is…October is upon us…Halloween is coming…It’s National Cookbook Month plus today is World Porridge Day…I have always loved a bowl of porridge since I was a child..proper porridge oats none of this instant stuff…most of you know that I also cooked porridge in my slow cooker when all my kids were at home ..no burnt saucepan bottoms and it doesn’t dry out every bowl is perfect as it should be it just cooks gently overnight and is ready for the first person to get a bowl…and is perfect when the last person comes down for a bowl…

It’s now time to have look at what caught my eye last week…Fire Stopping Goats!

Goat is both a staple and a delicacy in the world’s cuisines. The cuisines best known for their use of goat include African cuisine, Middle Eastern, North African, East African, West African, Indian, Indonesian, Nepali, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Mexican, Caribbean (Jamaica), and Ecuadorian…

Goat’s milk and cheese(Chevre) is favoured by some because of dietary needs goat’s milk has less lactose…The goat’s cheese is also easier to digest…BUT stopping fires!…. Please click on the link below to read about “Fire Stopping Goats”

https://bringbacksoil.com/2022/10/03/fire-stopping-goats

World Mental Health Day…10th October 2022.

Mental Health has always been a taboo subject, people still don’t talk about it unless they have to…Just because someone hasn’t got a plaster cast or a bandage doesn’t mean that they are well…

Please click the highlighted link below which will take you to Clive’s Blog where he is promoting “World Mental Health Day”…No one is immune rich or poor we can all suffer from our mental health at some time in our lives…

https://cliveblogs.wordpress.com/2022/10/07/world-mental-health-day-2022/

Thank you for joining me today…its a new week we are into the second week of October…as always I appreciate your comments and shares in fact I always look forward to your comments…I hope you all have a safe and productive week xx

Monday Musings…22nd August 2022…

We must say no to kitchen waste…as you know I abhor waste, especially food waste 27 million tons per year…This number is even more striking, given the large number of hungry people in the world. Wasted food is not only inefficient, it’s a social justice issue. Global food waste has an enormous environmental impact, too.

Food waste is a huge source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and wasted natural resources. We all need to do our part individually its a drop in the ocean collectively it’s a continent…

I pride myself on cutting waste where I can but I am sure I can do more…I am taking the challenge …Will you?

https://www.acterra.org/food-waste-challenge

As you know I am passionate about food waste and food safety i.e I want my family to eat chemical-free food BUT with the increase in take away(out) food since the arrival of covid there are many ways your food can become contaminated…and this is one of them below…

Many people believe that it is safe to heat food in Styrofoam in the microwave. However, the truth is that it is not safe and can release harmful chemicals into your food. These chemicals can cause cancer. Additionally, these chemicals have been linked to health problems such as cancer, reproductive issues, and endocrine disruption. Plus, it’s not the most effective way to reheat food… To read the original post please click here

 

Thank you for joining me today I hope you have a wonderfully productive week…as always I look forward to your comments…xx

Monday Musings…21st February 2022…Counting Crows, Carrots, Rotisserie chicken and some good news…

As you know I am passionate about sustainability and the right to eat food that doesn’t contain hormones and chemicals…you also know that two of my daughters are currently battling cancer…not only do they have to rely on the medical profession to cure them but they also have to help themselves by eating clean…It annoys and frustrates me that the privilege of being able to buy sustainable /organic food has an exorbitant cost and is outside the food budgets of many … they do not have a choice…I feel governments should do far more and subsidise farmers who wish to produce clean food and that it should be available to all…not just the privileged… This podcast tells us why farmers and restauranteurs cannot always buy sustainable food/organic either because of minimum amounts or cost it makes me so mad…

This is a really enlightening podcast …it kept my interest…and although I have purchased rotisserie chicken in the past I will no longer be doing that…a must-listen if you are concerned about our health and animal welfare plus the hold that big business has on the farmers and small restauranteurs who are trying to use sustainable foods.

The aim wasn’t to make Mondays Musings just about food and the environment but that’s just how it panned out this week…

Carrots are one of our favourite veggies here and we eat them one way or another most days…Here Sally reminds us of the benefits of eating this lovely vegetable so please head over to Smorgasbord by clicking this link…

This last video is really good news...as you know I am passionate about how indigenous peoples have been marginalised (and)still are they as they are the best and most knowledgeable stewards for the land and indeed often that land belonged to them before it was taken away…rant over!

This land has finally at least been signed over to the rightful guardians of these lands…That makes me truly happy and I hope we see much more of this where land is returned to its rightful guardians who will treasure and treat the land with the respect and love it deserves.

That’s all for Monday Musings…I hope you all have an enjoyable and productive week…xx

Emergency Appeal for Climate Action!

 

I have signed to show I care and want change …Will You?

Platform Number 4

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

We are all citizens of this planet, and time is running out to face the climate crisis and make real changes. Please read, sign, and pass this on!

View original post

The Environmental A-Z…the letter R…#Radon and Renewable Resources

Welcome to my Environmental A-Z…today it’s the letter R…I have been unable to find anything beginning with the letter Q…I have also been heartened to hear how many of you feel like I do that we need to take our own steps to avoid pollution wherever we can…

Abraham Lincoln is correct we need to act now to create the future for our families that we want…but at the moment we can only dream of…

The best way to predict your future is to create it...Abraham Lincoln.

 

The A-Z of the environment and Climate Change… letter R( No) Q…

Radon…

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer. Radon gas is inert, colourless and odourless. Radon is naturally in the atmosphere in trace amounts. Outdoors, radon disperses rapidly and, generally, is not a health issue. Most radon exposure occurs inside homes, schools and workplaces. Radon gas becomes trapped indoors after it enters buildings through cracks and other holes in the foundation. Indoor radon can be controlled and managed with proven, cost-effective techniques.

Breathing radon over time increases your risk of lung cancer. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. Nationally, the EPA estimates that about 21,000 people die each year from radon-related lung cancer. Only smoking causes more lung cancer deaths…to read the full report please click this link.

Indoor radon is a preventable risk factor that can be handled through effective national policies and regulations. 

This is the report from the  World Health Organisation(WHO)

Personally, I have never been aware of any national policies surrounding this…Have you?

Renewable Resources…

Renewable resources are an energy source that cannot be depleted and are able to supply a continuous source of clean energy.

Currently, these are the most popular resources…

  1. Solar energy…Sunlight is one of our planet’s most abundant and freely available energy resources. The amount of solar energy that reaches the earth’s surface in one hour is more than the planet’s total energy requirements for a whole year. Although it sounds like a perfect renewable energy source, the amount of solar energy we can use varies according to the time of day and the season of the year as well as geographical location. In the UK, solar energy is an increasingly popular way to supplement your energy usage.
  2. Wind energy…The wind is a plentiful source of clean energy. Wind farms are an increasingly familiar sight around the world with wind power making an ever-increasing contribution to the National Grids. To harness electricity from wind energy, turbines are used to drive generators which then feed electricity into a National Grid. Although domestic or ‘off-grid generation systems are available, not every property is suitable for a domestic wind turbine.
  3. Hydro energy…As a renewable energy resource, hydropower is one of the most commercially developed. By building a dam or barrier, a large reservoir can be used to create a controlled flow of water that will drive a turbine, generating electricity. This energy source can often be more reliable than solar or wind power (especially if it’s tidal rather than river) and also allows electricity to be stored for use when demand reaches a peak.
  4. Tidal energy…This is another form of hydro energy that uses twice-daily tidal currents to drive turbine generators. Although tidal flow unlike some other hydro energy sources isn’t constant, it is highly predictable and can therefore compensate for the periods when the tide current is low.
  5. Geothermal energy…    By harnessing the natural heat below the earth’s surface, geothermal energy can be used to heat homes directly or to generate electricity. Although it harnesses power directly below our feet, geothermal energy is of negligible importance in the UK for example compared to countries such as Iceland, where geothermal heat is much more freely available.
  6. Biomass energy…This is the conversion of solid fuel made from plant materials into electricity. Although fundamentally, biomass involves burning organic materials to produce electricity, and nowadays this is a much cleaner, more energy-efficient process. By converting agricultural, industrial and domestic waste into solid, liquid and gas fuel, biomass generates power at a much lower economic and environmental cost.

With a few available options, I am wondering why we are still burning fossil fuels as they are not renewable and will run out…Plus they release Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere which contributes to Climate Change and Global Warming…Just asking!

Thank you for joining today for my environmental A-Z…See you tomorrow in my kitchen for more potatoes to finish of National Potato Month…xxx

 

 

 

 

 

Not Disney!…The Ants and the Grasshopper…

Imagine living where your village receives an average of 3 Days of rain PER YEAR.

That’s correct ..it’s not a typo…3 Days of rain PER YEAR…

Then you find out that it stems from the burning of Fossil Fuels in countries like the USA…

The country is Malawi…Malawian Farmer and Climate Activist Anita Chitaya started her quest in her own country as when your crops dry up and die through lack of water an alternative has to be found…

Anita’s theory is that if you go to someone’s house and talk then it is possible to reach an amicable solution…

That’s where Zak Piper and Raj Patel stepped in they filmed her trip across America…where Anita found her theory was less successful in the US.

Raj Patel who is a successful author…Inflamed and Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice(Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2021) he co-authored with Rupa Marva…Stuffed and Starved-The Hidden Battle for the World Food System(Melville House 2008)

This film does not shy away from acknowledging the ways in which the issue of Climate Change is about far more than growing food.

To craft a world that can support everybody is always intersectional”(Patel) ” It always involves class, it always involves race, it always involves gender”

This short clip of the film was an eye-opener I can’t wait to be able to watch this award-winning film…

It seems this film will be shown at @COP26 in November 2021 hopefully then it will be available for public viewing…and at The United Nations Food System Summit on the 23rd September in New York…

The themes in Anita’s journey in front of the camera are vast: climate change, hunger, women’s empowerment, colonialism, racial inequality and faith. It is a film with a vision of planetary importance. It speaks to the themes of two major events in 2021 that will shape the planet for generations to come: the UN Food System summit and the UN Climate Change Summit (COP26). Global climate and social change movements are ready to use the film, and a growing group of influencers are ready to offer their support. From 350.org, Greenpeace, and the 200-million member La Via Campesina to the Orthodox, Presbyterian and Catholic Churches, from Boots Riley to Michael Pollan, a diverse and wide coalition has formed around our film, united by the potential to transform perspectives, relationships of power, and our planet.

Sounds like a well-received and pretty important film…

Thank you for reading this post it has reinforced to me how much we should be taking Climate Change seriously before it is too late…xx