Tag Archives: Environment

CarolCooks2…weekly roundup 28th June June-4th July 2020…Climate Change, Recipes, Whimsy, and Chocolate…

Welcome to this week’s edition of my weekly roundup of posts…I hope you are all staying safe and well…and social distancing…Let’s take a pew and have a read… I hope you enjoy it!

Relax and Enjoy! (1) Weekly Roundup

Monday always starts with Climate change as there is always something new to discover…This week was no different…Recycling and Climate Change… 29th June 2020…

In this post, I looked at factory farming and how it could if unchecked be the source of future pandemics and how by changing our meat-eating habits we could prevent this…I and my family eat meat as well as lots of fruit and vegetables both cooked and raw…I also believe we should eat a varied diet and apply moderation for certain food groups

 

 

I have made a promise with some prompting from my readers to give my opinion on them and I will when I come across one of the products…There have also been some readers comments which I will share tomorrow…Others topics discussed was the Circular Economy, solar and dirty seas…

https://carolcooks2.com/2020/06/29/recycling-and-climate-change-29th-june-2020/

Tuesday was the day for some recipes…Eggplant, Garlic, Horseradish and a Mai Tai…

You may think that is a strange combination however there are lots of National Days and months relating to food…There really are…Today is the last day of the National Eat your Fruit and Vegetables Month as well as the last day for the National Eggplant, Garlic and Horseradish Month…It is also National Mai Tai Day today…and why not?

Pea eggplants
Small purpleThai eggplants

Therefore I am going to share my favourite recipes using the above vegetables and fruit and after that, I will surely need a Mai Tai…Just saying…

https://carolcooks2.com/2020/06/30/eggplant-garlichorseradish-and-a-mai-tai/

Whimsical Wednesday with CarolCooks2…

A day where I indulge my whimsy…this week not so much I don’t know why but most roads led back to Covid-19 and I just didn’t want to go there…but I found some delightful teddy bears and some music…

https://carolcooks2.com/2020/07/01/whimsical-wednesday-with-carolcooks2-9/

Wednesday was also the day where I shared Sally’s new Project 101..Today she discussed Vitamin D…

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2020/06/29/smorgasbord-health-column-project-101-resistance-vitamin-d-deficiency-part-one-by-sally-cronin/

Thursday…Time for some Food Therapy from Sally@Smorgasbord Health.

This week it is on the benefits of watercress…I love egg and watercress sandwiches and the childhood memories it invokes…High tea on Sunday with shellfish and crumpets and of course cake or Salmon, watercress and egg sandwiches and of course cake or scones with jam..homemade of course…It appears my mother knew the benefits of feeding us watercress.

Chicken with ginger

In this post-Sally will tell you all about the health benefits of watercress coupled with a lovely watercress soup recipe and she has kindly linked to my recipes using watercress….

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2020/07/02/smorgasbord-health-column-food-therapy-watercress-more-iron-than-spinach/

 Friday in my kitchen..how to reduce kitchen waste…

I was taught by my nana and my mother how to cook and to never waste food and it has stayed with me all my life I, in turn, taught my children and hope they are teaching theirs…It has many benefits as there is the knock-on effect of saving money, having tastier, healthier meals with no preservatives or fillers…Reducing food waste not only helps the environment, but it’s also an excellent way to save some extra money and time.

Coriander roots

A win, win situation…and you will always have delicious, healthy food ton your table…

https://carolcooks2.com/2020/07/03/friday-in-my-kitchen-how-to-reduce-kitchen-waste/

Saturday Snippets…

This week there was some delightful wildlife ..the saga of dead man’s fingers continued but a tad more enticing as in a tipple of rum…

chilli- crab curry 563175_640

I also shared a recipe for a delicious, finger-licking crab curry ..you will definitely require a bib and finger bowls but enjoy the most delicious food ever…

https://carolcooks2.com/2020/07/04/saturday-snippets-6/

If anyone has a weekly roundup they love or they write then please send me the link and I will share here…Happy to help spread the good news and views..x

Here is Smorgasbord Blog Magazine weekly Roundup…

Packed with music, recipes, poetry, health advice, books reviews too much to mention just a delightful jam-packed week something for everyone to enjoy…

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/smorgasbord-blog-magazine-weekly-round-up-june-28th-july-4th-2020-music-festival-book-covers-fairy-stories-poetry-book-reviews-and-author-promotions/

God bless you all in these turbulent times…be safe and stay well…

My hopes…for the future…

When this is all over my hope for the future is a cleaner world… I do want to see communities, and caring for your neighbour becoming the new norm…WORKING TOGETHER INSTEAD OF WORKING AGAINST EACH OTHER…Being kind to each other…Loving someone whatever their religion or skin colour…Can we make this happen? We have to but in the right way…Are we willing to make a stand? Personally, I would love to see lessons learnt ..realistically I have my doubts…

Thank you for reading be well and stay safe xxx

About Carol Taylor: Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and well being.

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…Then, I will be happy!

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all stay safe and healthy xx

Recycling and Climate Change…27th January 2020…Banana Leaf Technology and Roof Top Gardens…

Hello and welcome to this weeks news and views on Climate Change and recycling…Thank you for all your comments last week they were all valid concerns and I hope I went some way to answering those concerns it was lovely to have that two-way discussion going…Thank also to all of you who shared the post and spread the news and views.

Blog Header fruit skins

The banana tree…here in Thailand and in my garden Bananas grow in abundance.

Its scientific name is Musa Sapientum which roughly translated  means  Fruit of wise  men

Here it is called Kluay pronounced glue oy.

Seasons vary slightly around the regions and it is a tree-like perennial and officially classed as a herb, the world’s largest herb as it can reach 25 feet in height. The fruit is also classed as a berry. Did you know that?

Here in Thailand leaves are used to serve food on,  wrap food for steaming and cooking or used as containers…like these pictured here …They nestle nicely inside my shopping bag without the need for a plastic bag.

tomatoes banana leaves

It also only bears fruit one time and then little ones for the next crop grow out from the bottom of the plant a perpetual cycle…Which means rather than just letting the tree go to compost the leaves are utilised…before they are turned into compost…Circular recycling at its best.

A young scientist when he was only 15 years old got to thinking about how he could utilise this natural product…This is the result…

All the things I see locally here using banana leaves are great this is taking it one step further and making it longer lasting …

This gladdens my heart and gives me hope when I see young people experimenting at home in mums or nan’s kitchen and producing a natural recyclable product out of potential waste…Like Orange peel, coffee grounds, watermelon skin or banana peel to name just a few…I am going to source some moulds and get Aston working on some egg cups as they also won’t break when bounced like all my others…

 

This young student has taken it a step further using industrial juice waste to create this  Bio-Peel,  unveiled by design student Denny Handley who studies at Brunel University, London his idea blends waste orange peels with a mixture of other biodegradable products to create a new packaging material that’s strong, malleable and environmentally friendly.

https://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/articles/Unpeeled-Orange-peel-based-food-packaging-unveiled

My roving reporter Tori Zigler... sends me the latest news from the UK…It is much appreciated, Tori…Thank you, xx

Snow I know many of you are experiencing quite a lot of the white stuff…These e-sledges don’t disturb nature or pollute the environment…

Travellers to Finnish Lapland wanting to make their adventure as sustainable as possible can now experience the snowy landscape the zero-emission way via electronic snowmobile thanks to Aurora eMotion.

Aurora eMotion, the first and only electric snowmobile safari provider in the world, operates safaris in Finnish Lapland on emission-free and silent eSleds without disturbing the silent peace of wintry nature and with no harm to the surrounding environment and wildlife.

Thank you, Tori, for sending me this…Tori has written some beautiful children’s books which if you are looking for that special little gift then pop over and have a look…

So much great news…Now, who have I put in my naughty corner this week?

Not really any surprise that it’s a drinks manufacturer…Coca Cola...

coca-cola-867248_640

Image by WikimediaImages from Pixabay

Their spokesperson is blaming you…Yep…Blaming the consumer…They say you like bottles and that they should be listening to YOU!

They say they are going to concentrate on recycling…However, we all know that many of the plastics used for bottles are made from the type of plastic which cannot be recycled in many local recycle plants as they need specialist recycling due to the plastic they are made of…

Greenpeace USA…had something to say about that…

In a statement emailed to EcoWatch, Greenpeace USA Plastics Campaigner Kate Melgesexplained exactly what she thought was wrong with Perez’s reasoning:

It is mighty convenient for the world’s worst plastic polluter to insist that people want their single-use plastic around. Coca-Cola continues to show how out of touch it is with the environmental crises communities around the world are facing. The solution is not to simply swap one throwaway material for another or continue to fall back on recycling. The solution is for Coca-Cola and other consumer goods giants to fundamentally rethink how they’re bringing products to people, centering systems of reuse and package-free options. We cannot afford the levels of inaction that Coke has shown thus far. Soon, the company will realize just how sick and tired people are of its plastic addiction.

What can we do? That’s easy isn’t it? We are the consumer ….We have a choice what we buy….We could quite easily just stop purchasing Coca Cola…Will you?

https://www.ecowatch.com/coca-cola-plastic-pollution-2644896488.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

On a happier note…John Rieber told me about how Kelly Clarson on her show was promoting Grow your own With Jennifer Garner..there is now a rooftop garden on top of the television studio building…The show was the Sept 11th ( one) I had missed…Well worth watch and good to see celebrities getting behind this Grow Your own….Thank you, John.

How cool is that? John always wows me with some of his gastronomic finds pop over and enjoy x

Thank you if you are still here and reading to the end…I look forward to your comments xx

About Carol Taylor: Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a great week xx

Recycling and environmental news 21st Oct 2019…

Welcome to this weeks recycling and environmental news where I post about the good, the bad and the ugly…

This is so cool…some may say it might be a new whimsical destination for skiing, thanks to Copenhagen’s new power plant.

After 8 years of planning and building what maybe the first greenest power plant in the world opened its gates to the first paying skiers..

This is so cool and inspiring for the future …I love it!

I hope you watch and listen to this as it shows that something can be done without demonstrations and the upheaval of peoples everyday travel and life …For me if the people backing organisations like extinction rebellion backed projects like this…The sky is the limit…we can have clean power plants….

I can’t top that this week but as individuals we can make our own mark…We can make changes in our own homes and gardens…If we all made just one change just think what an impact that would have …. 

Christmas Crackers…

christmas-cracker-3012548_640

On the face of it they are pretty and some are absolutely fabulous …

But what are we left with?

After we have pulled the cracker, read the silly joke and put on the paper hat while wearing a silly grin…

Did you know?  

154,000,000 pieces of plastic crap will end up in landfill or our oceans from the UK alone…

What can you do…You just know I will have found a solution …Don’t you?

Have you any ideas for the Christmas table that can be made at home?

Sewer Gas Destructor Lamps… A reminder that gas build up has always been a problem…

London has one lamp left and the city of Sheffield has a few lamps still functioning…

If you want to know a little more about these sewer destructor lamps then click here

The iCat-90 is a 300-foot catamaran. Oceans United plans to begin trial runs in March 2020, and the first iCat-90 Skimmer is scheduled to leave port on April 22, 2020.

Oceans United plans to grow the fleet to five ships by 2024.

Their aim?…Plastic to fuel…

It is encouraging to see and read just how much is being done…

To give you a start here are 5 easy ways to start making your home plastic free…

  • Avoid plastic water bottles. There are 4,000 plastic bottles used every second. …
  • Bring a reusable grocery bag. …
  • Skip the plastic straws. …
  • Pack a litter-free lunch. …
  • Host an Eco-friendly birthday party.

How easy is that

That is all from me for this week I look forward to your comments…How are you helping the environment in your house and garden?

 

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there are now regular columns on my blog this year. It is important that we are mindful of the world we live in…We all need to be aware of our homes carbon footprints…where does our food come from? How far does it travel…Simple to do but if we all did it…Not only would we support local businesses but reduce our carbon footprint…

green foot prints eco system

 

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a creative week ahead xx

 

Latest recycling and environmental news…30th September 2019…

Good morning…I hope you all had a glorious weekend…Mine has been a mixture…New ceilings without looking for the source of the leaks…Another story…any laughter is hysterical…haha…The vegetarian Festiva has started so lots of yummy vegetarian food the decorations are beautiful lots of red and gold…

red lanterns Chinese New Year

But…Let’s look at what has been going on in this everchanging world of Climate Change??? There is always news every day now but I do wonder how much is really true and how much is scaremongering…Am I the only one?

It seems not…I have listened to a two-hour conference where scientists have made their feelings known…After all, we should be listening to the science and not the untrained…

I also watched another video about young Greta and have seen many comments…It does seem after her last speech and her obvious distress that many are concerned for her health and well-being both physical and mental…There are also many questions about who are the ones behind her and the funding etc…That did make interesting listening…I haven’t added that to this post as I thought too much controversy in one post might be too much…It is on my FB page if anyone feels like reading it…

I do admire her tenacity and passion but am worried as I said about her health.

Something else came up regarding the lack of wildlife and honey bees due to the increased temperature and water shortages in the South of France…After I shared a post from The Earthwatch Institute which concluded in the last debate of the Royal Geographical Society of London, that bees are the most important living being on the planet, however, scientists have also made an announcement: Bees have already entered into extinction risk.

Bees are all important to the planet and my suggestion to this drought situation was maybe to look at plants which grow in drought conditions which bees are known to like…

honey bee

https://www.buzzaboutbees.net/drought-plants.html

Healthy Soil…If not healthy soil then it impacts every aspect of our lives…It doesn’t matter which way we look whether it is, plastic, waste, climate change they all interlink and either affect the life of our planet or our health…

Some good news on recycling...An enterprising Berkshire lady Jana Little recycles all her neighbours rubbish which the council can’t collect and sends it to Terracycle …The money she makes is converted to vouchers which are sent to her favourite dog charity…To date that is 1,600 pounds…The price of rubbish…

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-berkshire-49758310/recycling-rubbish-enables-jana-little-to-help-dog-charity

Look at the Uk’s first plastic-free supermarket this supermarket should be completely plastic-free by 2020…

Waste plastic News.

Because of the ban which India and other Asian countries are enforcing countries like the USA, UK and Europe can no longer send their waste to these countries for disposal…

The announcement sent shockwaves through the recycling industry because India was a major destination for U.S. material. The country was the second-largest importer of U.S. scrap plastic during the first six months of 2019, bringing in 156 million pounds.

It means companies are going to have to improve their own waste recycling facilities …It does though that on front improvements are being made.

Global plastics recycling company MBA Polymers will open a facility in Germany to recover e-plastics from electronics and appliances.

MBA Polymers acquired a site in the German city of Mauna, which is near Dresden, and it plans to start processing scrap devices in 2020. It will handle over 38 million pounds per year of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), producing recycled ABS, HIPS, PP and PC/ABS plastics.

Also, in the  U.K. plastics recycling has boosted its ability to produce recycled PP and ABS from WEEE and shredded automobiles.

Good News for fish lovers…Safe mercury levels in Kotzebue Sound fish.

fisherman-449280_640

More good news is that households in the Uk are using less and less electricity year on year according to a new BBC report…

light switch sticker-1049728_640

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-49728391/the-surprising-truth-about-uk-energy-use

That is all from me for this week I look forward to your comments…How are you reducing your families carbon footprints?

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there are now regular columns on my blog this year. It is important that we are mindful of the world we live in…These honeybees dining on forget me knots say it all to me…

forget-me-not-257176_640

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

More and more of my blogging friends have joined me on MeWe…A social media site which is fairly new and which promises much without the restrictions some other social media sites are choosing to impose on many of us…Join me if you will on  MeWe

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: 

Connect to Carol

Blog: 
Twitter: 

Facebook: 

Pinterest: 

Email:

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a creative week ahead xx