Posts by Helen

My husband is not a typical man. Although, like many of us, he is inexplicably drawn to watch Top Gear on a regular basis, his choice of car has never had anything to do with status, speed, fashion statement or comfort (or to do with the consequences of my lack of spatial awareness, as far as I know). In fact, our recent car history has been pretty bizarre by normal people’s standards.

Let’s start with our most ’normal’ choice. Family needs family car; let’s buy a

Read the rest of Our Green Motoring Dilema »

Like all couples, we have our differences. We argue about the kids, money, whose turn it is to load the dishwasher, all the usual stuff. But sometimes the argument focuses on something a little less ordinary and today, we invite you to eavesdrop on our issue of the moment and join our great debate.

Is it better to buy supermarket own label fair trade goods or to support fairtrade pioneer brands like Cafedirect and Divine.

My argument for supermarket own label fair trade goods:-

Since my husband rarely visits a supermarket (daggers drawn early on!) and I frequent the same supermarket at the same time on the same day every week, I feel I am in more of a position to comment on what actually appears on and disappears off the supermarket shelves from a consumer perspective.

In our early days as fair trade supporters, we could never have envisaged being able to buy fair trade products in a local supermarket, let alone the advent of own label fair trade goods. I therefore feel the need to support any steps in the right direction taken by the supermarket chains. I take pride in buying own label fairly traded coffee, chocolate spread, honey, fresh fruit and veg, and the latest new addition to their range, banana cake and chocolate cake.

As I have discovered with the own label organic products, these items are launched with a great deal of hype but removed very quietly and without comment. If the consumers do not buy them, then the lines will be withdrawn. Simple as that. Surely the ethical consumer needs to buy these products to ensure their place on the shelves.

Read the rest of Supermarket own label fair trade V Fairtrade pioneers »

optical brighteners, no thanks

Read a book this morning with my little girl about a boy who put a red coat in the washing machine and turned all his Dad’s washing red. The coat had shrunk, which was a good thing, as it had been bought from a charity shop and was initially far too big. What astounded me was the reaction of Mum and Dad. No shouting. No reprimands. No tantrum from Dad about having to wear a pink shirt, pink boxers and pink socks to work. Just smiles all round that the coat was now the right size. Bizarre.

It set me thinking about the lengths people go to to keep whites white, colours bright and now even blacks black. New and improved laundry products promise us much. But at what cost?

Most conventional detergents contain an optical brightener, a chemical which reflects light, making your clothes look brighter than they really are. Magic. But let’s be clear, they do not increase the cleanness or the hygiene of your wash.

However, optical brighteners are only effective if they remain on the fabric after washing.
They make an irreversible chemical bond with the skin and skin rashes blamed on perfumes and dyes can actually be caused by this ingredient of illusion. Who knows what affect they are having on the rest of us? Time will possibly tell.

Moreover, optical brighteners contain chemicals that can be toxic to fish and other animal and plant life. Both Bio-d and Ecover’s laundry products contain no optical brighteners. They cause on average ten times less damage to the natural world than conventional products. They are readily biodegradable, with minimum impact on aquatic life.

As if that wasn’t enough, we can experience the positive benefits of unperfumed plant based ingredients with no harmful chemical residues. Maybe it’s time to rethink what we mean by clean. Do we want clothes that appear cleaner? It’s all an illusion. Or do we want our clothes cleaned with the minimum harmful impact to our own skin and the natural world around us? Your choice.

One clear word of advice though: when your child brings that particular reading book home from school, use it as an opportunity to explain the need for sorting washing before you too end up with a new pink wardrobe.

Image via Flickr

The first thing I did this morning when the kids went out of the door after two weeks off school was to go down the garden and sit by the pond for ten minutes. The sun was shining and the pond was teeming with life….snails, tadpoles and a million other unidentified wriggly things. This observation of nature at work so close to home brought a smile to my face, calmed my anxieties, and restored my soul.

It led me to reflect that the highlight of my youngest children’s Easter holidays was going up to the lake with my son and his girlfriend and her three dogs. Not because they hadn’t done anything more conventionally exciting, but because they too respond positively to fresh air and interaction with animals.

I’m not telling you anything new. We all know that animals do us good. Even the toughest among us will go soft over a baby kitten. Jonathan Ross seems to have a particular soft spot for photos of baby animals on his late night Friday show – his pride over his namesake, the rescued baby badger, was obvious.

“You should stroke the cat more”.
This was my husband’s answer to my irritability over the weekend.
Probably true. Stroking the cat does calm me.
Unfortunately, I was way past calming at that point!

Many of us would consider ourselves to be animal lovers and would agonise over an injured bird, swerve for a pheasant and stop the cat massacring a mouse.

But what about the things that we do that are directly harmful to the animals in the world around us?

If we could see the damaging effects of phosphates, which are used to soften hard water, would we change our dishwasher tablets? Phosphates contribute to eutrophication in rivers, the excessive growth and subsequent decay of primary plant life due to overcrowding. The resulting lack of oxygen affects all that lives in the rivers and consequently, all the birds and mammals that feed on what lives in the rivers. Would you rather stick to your preferred dishwasher tablets or enjoy spotting wildlife on riverside walks for years to come?

If we could see the effect of surfactants on a frog’s skin, would we change our washing up liquid? Surfactants lower the surface tension of a liquid and are found in most cleaning products. Once they arrive in the rivers, they destroy the protective coating on a frog’s skin. Would you rather keep buying the same washing up liquid or feel that you are contributing to the protection of frogs in their natural environment?

If we really understood the effect of the petrochemicals in our cleaning agents on aquatic life, would we change our multi-surface cleaner? Petrochemicals are undeniably harmful to the life in our oceans. Moreover, they do not biodegrade and are sourced from unsustainable resources. Would you rather continue using your usual multi-surface cleaner or enjoy scuba diving amongst shoals of fish for many years to come?

If we knew that pleasant artificial fragrances remained potent even when washed back into the rivers and that this fragrance can confuse butterflies and other insects, would we change our bathroom cleaner? This confusion has been shown to interfere with the life cycle of these creatures and has been linked to the increased scarcity of butterflies. Would you like to remain loyal to your bathroom cleaner or be able to count how many different butterflies you can see in the garden on a summer’s day?

Ecover does not use phosphates in any of its products.
Ecover ensures its surfactants biodegrade before reaching the natural environment.
Ecover uses plant-based ingredients which biodegrade completely and leave minimal traces in the natural environment, as well as being wholly sustainable.
Ecover uses only natural plant-based fragrances in their products.

Visit the Ecover website and prepare to have your eyes opened.

We consider ourselves to be a nation of animal lovers and yet we turn a blind eye to the effects of the products we choose to use. What we don’t know won’t harm us. But it will harm wildlife. It will harm aquatic life. It will harm the environment. And ultimately, it will harm our quality of life, as the natural living environment is changed by what we pour down our drains.

I rest my case.

Time to stroke the cat.

Cat image via Flickr

Two years ago, I yearned for a pond in my back garden. I really believed it would make my life complete. My ever hopeful husband dutifully obliged, dug a hole as a labour of love and created a natural looking pond. Natural enough to nurture our first batch of frog spawn to adulthood no less. Although I also did my share – my maternal instinct kicked in and there I was, freezing an ice cube tray full of lettuce to nourish my new babies.

I even had aspirations for a solar powered water feature. Having been runner-up in a local short story competition with prize money to spend, a fountain seemed a suitable momento. It never happened. Then, since the sun did not shine at all last summer, the pond did not get visited and a solar powered fountain seemed pointless. However, hope springs eternal. Another short story has been entered into the competition; the sun has been shining and the fountain has been bought and installed.

But I can’t help wondering if it is tempting fate. Can I really expect any sun to shine in my garden this year?

Read the rest of Life with a Solar Powered Fountain »

I was thinking of enrolling my two youngest children on a Drama course in the Easter holidays until I checked the dates on the calendar – the course took place on Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday. There must be some mistake. I checked again. No, definitely those days. Would people really send their kids on a course on those days? Don’t they have better things to do as a family on Easter Sunday? Has it really become just like any other day?
It reminded me of last football season when I wrongly assumed there would be no game for my son’s team on Easter Sunday morning. I was made to feel a fool, but was I really the fool? Do we really believe that just buying all that is on offer will make for a proper celebration?

Easter, like all our annual festivals, has become a great marketing opportunity – Easter bonnets, bunnies, gifts and of course, chocolate eggs. Not that any of this is in itself  wrong, but it focuses our attention on what we buy and away from the actual significance of the event.

Whether as individuals we share in the Christian celebration of the Easter weekend or not, we can all participate in celebrating new life –

Read the rest of Celebrating Life At Easter »

Twenty years ago, my husband and I got married at Castle Methodist Church, Colchester. I wore gypsophila in my hair a la Charlene from Neighbours; he should have gone to Specsavers. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were happy smiley people.

Twenty years ago, we were local Traidcraft reps in a fair trade wilderness. We held stalls in church halls and did talks at women’s groups in church halls. We tried to persuade people to give the coffee a go. Muesli and honey were seen as the safe options to try (although I did once find a small lump of coal in my muesli which was reduced to dust by the time I sent it to Customer Complaints). You could not buy a single fair trade item in a supermarket; you could not even envisage a day when that would become a reality.

Sixteen years ago,

Read the rest of Twenty Years On…. »

Comparing ourselves to other parents is a risky business. I waver between criticism of them eg. “Other parents let their kids stay up too late” – or inferred criticism of myself eg. “Other parents spend more time reading with their kids than we do.” Either way, it sucks.

Still, with Mother’s Day on the horizon, I will be affirmed in my role as Mum for one day, at least. The one day where having five children really pays off! Although to share the day with my daughter’s eleventh birthday is rather unfortunate, in my opinion.

Anyway, what is possibly even worse than comparing myself to other parents (and being compared to them by my kids is up there, too), is assuming that all parents think as we do. When I was called into school last Friday with a group of parents to discuss an incident of fighting, I was amazed when one man assertively informed the teacher that he was sure that all parents would join him in saying that they teach their children to

Read the rest of Other Parents »

Having messed around with my family’s food and drink options during Fairtrade Fortnight, I’ve decided to sneakily introduce Meat Free Mondays at a time when their defences are low.

Before I move on to that, my fair trade education went down a storm. As expected, there was outrage when one member of the family got a bar of chocolate and the rest got none. Not sure how much the message got through their own seething sense of injustice at that stage. Then the emotional pressure exerted on the most fortunate one worked and we experienced a family bonding moment as he broke the chocolate into pieces into the fondue pot and let us all dip fair trade fruit into it. Touching. Memorable. An insight into fair trade? Time will tell…

Back to Meat Free Mondays. This idea has been brewing for a while, having read about it in a magazine. My husband is back to being a full-time vegetarian; my ten year old daughter is toying with the idea; and we are definitely eating more vegetables since joining the organic veg box scheme. Even my oldest son is being pressured by his girlfriend to eat

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What am I?

The Spring People Tree catalogue has just plopped onto my door mat and my Fairtrade Fortnight pledge has come up trumps – what better way to stick to buying only organic and fair trade products than to revamp my wardrobe? The sun is shining, spring is in the air and ethical retail therapy is about to work its magic!

Living off organic and fair trade produce for the past week has proved surprisingly easy. Homemade lemon drizzle cake and banana bread have lifted spirits and won over some hearts. Trips to Asda, Sainsburys and Marks and Spencers have kept hunger from the door. Looking forward to rich pickings in the Co-op tomorrow – apparently the price of all fair trade products is currently reduced by 20%. Of course, my husband’s Lenten pledge puts mine in the shade (not that there’s any sense of competitiveness there, of course!), and all of this is certainly raising awareness in our household and provoking much discussion.

Example of discussion:
Young daughter: That’s garbage, that is.(pointing to organic fruit and veg box)
Ethical Mum: Don’t be silly, sweetie. (secretly sympathising with this view when observing the amount of

Read the rest of Let ethical retail therapy work its magic.. »