Green Living

More ideas for the reluctant environmentalist

Food: This Christmas and all year round we can keep to the LOAF principles when we buy our food. LOAF = Locally produced, Organic, Animal friendly and Fairly Traded.

Local: Support local producers and help the environment because the food hasn't had to be transported as far.

Organic: Support food production whose fundamental principle is respect for the land that produces the food.

Animal friendly: We in this country generally push for high standards of animal welfare. Our farmers then respond and we as a nation go and buy meat from the cheapest source regardless of how the meat has been reared. If we want farm animals to be cared for properly we need to be willing to pay the extra for free-range chicken or eggs and local meat.

Fairly Traded: Fairly traded products are those where the producer is paid a fair price for the raw materials and where those who produce the products do so safely for a reasonable wage. It tends to apply to producers from developing countries who far too often are being forced to sell their produce at unfairly low prices and/or have unreasonable working conditions. For instance, 20% of Costa Rican male banana workers have been made sterile through handling toxic agri-chemicals and women workers suffer from twice the national rate of leukaemia and in recent years cocoa bean producers have been paid 50% less for their beans while the cost of chocolate has gone up by 50%. Wherever we do our food shopping let's tell them that we will be applying the LOAF principle and expect them to make that possible.

Batteries: I have found a company that will recycle household batteries (AAA, AA etc.). They will now be collected along with stamps and printer ink cartridges from the collection points in the porches of the following churches: Northwold, Whittington and Wretton with Stoke Ferry (in Wretton).

Revd Nigel Tuffnell