Our Living Generously pledges: one week on
A week ago, a few intrepid denizens of Shiny Towers agreed to make green pledges towards a year of Living Generously. Just seven days in, I decided to check in on Stuart, Susi and, of course, myself, and update you on our progress. Here, Stuart tells us of his battle with Barnet council over their confusing recycling schedule, Susi makes friends with the low-battery sign, and I forgo my favourite form of stress relief, all for the sake of the planet. Follow the jump for all our reports, but let's start with Susi...
Susi pledged not to leave any gadgets plugged in or charging for longer than necessary -- a tough call for a tech journalist. She told me: "I’m so pleased with myself! I’ve unplugged all the stuff I don’t use by my bed, and I only charge my phone every other day. I’m trying not to panic when I see the red bars on my mobile, which is a Big Step!"
Stuart's struggle appears to have caused a bit more stress: he vowed to sort out the recycling system at home, and also promised not to accept any unnecessary plastic bags. Here's how he got on:
Recycling:
"A couple of months back I tried to get Barnet council to come and collect my black box. I figured this would be no problem since *technically* using these recycling boxes is compulsory in Barnet. However, when I left the box out on the day specified by their website, I came home from work to find my box of rubbish still sitting outside. I called the council and was told to leave the box out on a different day, which I proceeded to do. Um, but it still wasn’t collected. This led to – and it pains me to admit this – my box of bottles and paper lying in the hall for a good couple of months. No, I’m not proud of it.
Anyway, this article gave me the kick I needed to get back on the case. So I was all set to call the council to get confirmation of what day I should leave my recycling box out – only, I came home from work one day to find the box magically empty. Turns out one of my flatmates must have left the box out one day, and it was collected. He has since gone on holiday, so I’m still no wiser as to what day Barnet council collect their black boxes!"
Plastic Bags
I’ve been pretty good at this over the last few months, having bought my “bags for life” from Tesco, etc. The problem I tend to have – and have continued to have over the past week – is that I often do my shopping on my way home from work, because I’m too busy / lazy to do it over the weekend. But THEN the problem is that I need to remember to bring my bags for life with me when I leave in the morning.
I’m sorry to say I have not remembered to do this once over the last week, perhaps because I rarely remember that I need to go to the supermarket until I’m on my way home from work. However – I do use my rucksack for my shopping as much as possible. But I’m afraid I did need to use some of Tesco’s nasty plastic bags when I had too much stuff to fit into my rucksack.
Verdict: being more environmentally friendly requires not just a willingness to change habits but also more organisation (from individuals as well as councils!).
And what about yours truly? Well, my love of bathtime is something I don't expect will ever leave me, so considering I used to be a 'bathe every evening in a vain attempt to chill out' sort of girl, having one bath in a week was pretty good going. And yes, before you ask I did shower on plenty of the other days, thank you very much. The bath became necessary when I caught a cold on the weekend, and needed some serious warming up, and I'm hoping to get through next week without falling victim to any more viruses, or bathtubs.
