Thursday, August 30, 2012

Don't bin it, eat it!

My gran would have been astonished by the amount of perfectly good food that the average British family throws away these days (it amounts to 7.2 million tonnes of food and drink a year). Some of it's because shoppers don't make lists and buy too much, some is because consumers don't understand what is or isn't safe to eat, and some of it is because people don't know what to make with it. All of this food waste isn't just a waste of your housekeeping money; it costs a lot of money to dispose of it - £12bn a year - that we pay for through our council taxes.

In this video, two Birmingham chefs show what they can do with some vegetables that fussy shoppers would reject. For more ideas, go to the Love Food, Hate Waste website. If you want to be really thrifty, look for the battered-looking produce that's going cheap at the end of any market day, and buy yourself some bargains to make cheap and easy meals.


Monday, August 27, 2012

Old Knobbley, a tree with a mission.

 My daughter, has just published her first children's book about Old Knobbley, an 800 year old Oak tree,  which is still growing slowly, in a field on the outskirts of Mistley, Essex 
The book tells us about the important events in Old Knobbley's life and Morag has illustrated each stage with detailed, beautifull  drawings. At the end, children are encouraged to collect acorns and grow their own oak trees and help to create an Old Knobley Forest that will live for another 800 years.
So buy the book from Lulu.com and have a go!    Just search for Old Knobbley
                                                 
    











She is an ex-pupil of Elmsett and Hadleigh High School and has always been interested in the environment and knows that planting trees is one of the best ways to slow down the progress of climate change.






Sunday, August 19, 2012

Company rescues Can Crushing efforts!

I bought this super, sturdy can crusher from Home Recycling about 8 years ago. Last weekend the black crushing mechanism  on the lid broke. Home Recycling came to the rescue and  the new part was attached  to a cleaned lid, ready for action! 
Our thanks to Chris Hasling and his team. This is a small, successful company, provides an excellent, friendly service. Great!

Sunday, August 05, 2012

Green congratulations

Well done everyone at Elmsett School.They have worked really hard on developing their school allotment in an eco-friendly way and have recently been awarded their fourth Green Flag in the Eco-Schools program.  Mrs Shackleton  talked about the school's involvement with the Eco schools scheme during  the final assembly last term and mentioned that the first flag was awarded for setting up and developing the recycling centre


Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, so I was surprised and delighted when my daughter delivered this lovely bouquet and thank you cards from all the pupils.