In last weeks Valentines inspired post I wrote about about Loving Local. There will be more on this below. But today I want to start with what surely, through size at least, must be The Greatest Love Of All…Earth. It’s easy to grasp loving our own bit of dirt, we see it every day. But we need to extend that sentiment to every bit of soil, every waterway, every woodland and every bit of coastline in Scotland.
Then stretch our love tendrils a little bit farther.. to reach Europe (certainly our agricultural runoff, sewage and discarded plastics can). And now it’s not so hard to consider Turkey or Malaysia where the UK dumps much of it’s plastic recycling because we just can’t cope with it all here.
We are the 2nd most prolific generator of plastic per person in the world (after the US). It really is time for tough love.
Not really. I’m sure many readers are more avid eco product buyers than I and also guilting folks about the environment just doesn’t work. We all have to fall in love with it ourselves in order to make all the right sustainable moves. If you need some inspiration grab some of Bramkin Foods Popcorn Kernals (less packaging and no added anything) and watch David Attenburgh’s Green Planet. If you don’t fall in love with the sloths we will give you your money back for the popcorn ; )
LOVE PLANET
Ecover say we need to “roll up our freshly laundered sleeves and get this revolution on the road”. And when it comes to clothes wash they really do have it covered. They have Bio and Non-Bio (for sensitive skin and low temperature washes) with or without fragrance. Black & Dark Wash and Wool & Silks Wash. And then there’s conditioner… IF you feel you have to use it. See the many arguments against here.
The laundry range is just the tip of the (melting) iceberg. They have a whole range for cleaning dishes, surfaces and of course the loo. So yes it may cost you a wee bit more than Daz, but it won’t cost us the earth. And you can save money and plastic and by using our refill station. Come on, Save The Sloths!
BODY LOVE
It’s been very hard to sneak my favourite subject of cheese into this post but you may have noticed that all my headings are (or could be) cheesy love songs. Thanks Whitney, cheese wins again.
My last clean ditch pitch is for the stuff we wash ourselves with. Don’t forget that you are nature too and maybe your surface would thrive better with a few less chemicals. The Alter/Native range looks, feels and smells beautiful. They have a full range of Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash and Hand and Soap. My favourite scent is Rose & Geranium but Coffee and Cedarwood sounds like it could assist with a positive wake up call.
GREEN LOVE
When I was a kid I used to dislike the colour green. I remember my Grandma asking, “How can you not like green when that’s the colour of all the vegetables?” Erm… yes Grandma (GRHS) that was the point I was trying to make. Thankfully cooking styles changed since I was last force fed veg and there are so many tasty strategies beyond just adding cheese (ha!). So here’s a little punt for what must be our greenest products in store. Vegetables.
At The Mart Farm Shop we sell our own seasonal veggies from Colstoun Farm (see main pic). These are organically grown but have not yet been certified organic. And of course Winter means there’s not much in store from there at present. But Mr Neep keeps us supplied with carrots, beets and potatoes (bags) which have been ‘picked out of the field the day before’. Mr Neep is only 20 minutes down the road at Tower Farm in Cockburnspath. So on all fronts these veg should become the greatest love of all. Or at least the main root of all our diets.
Big Love,
Stella*
