Green Patches

Where God Is

Christians don't take God into the world. They discover God actively working there for good through all sorts of people and situations whether Christian or not. God challenges us all to join in with his mission of love to the world.

- After Sunday

Thanks to Dave Walker of Cartoonchurch for pointing me in the direction of this site.

Here I am Lord 2008

Or to put it another way - Let's Go Round Again. The title seems quite apt, though not the lyrics in this context!

Yes, it's That Time  Again as well as being almost a year since the start of the Greenpatches blog. What on earth was I thinking about when I threw caution (and commonsense) to the winds threw in my lot with the Methodists and signed up for their No New Shoes Lent campaign? Come to think of it, what murky motives lie behind the 2008 Greenpatch foray across denominational lines as the campaign is extended throughout the whole of the Methodist Church UK?  Spend Less, Live More launches any day now.

I can remember wondering what on earth I'd got myself into. Fellow bloggers might well remember me agonising over what constituted the little essentials of life with much reflection on the definition of 'underwear' and whether tights fell into that category or not. I was following a well-established tradition here. (You'll need to go back to the original post to read about Adrian Plass's disciples and the sandals dilemma!).

To an onlookers if might all have seemed somewhat superficial at times, but in retrospect it marked the beginning of a definite learning experience about what constituted my 'foundations,' which extended beyond shopping, eating and consumer habits. The learning, I discovered, was as much in the process as in the actual practicalities of the journey. Running parallel as it did with both a college course on Chrisian response to environmental issues and with the start of my first novice year with The Society of St Francis concentrated the mind wonderfully.

A year later, I can't claim to be as green as Kermit the frog, nor yet possess the simplicity of St Francis. But, there's definitely evidence of small amounts of slimming down  - more mentally and spiritually than physically, (to my horror, I've  started to develop the beginnings of a spare tyre!).  Never mind. You can't win them all!

This week's green blogs

From Carnival of The Green 90.

How did we do?

Wednesday 4 July from my project diary:

And with Tesco due to deliver in half an hour, the end of the project has caught me by surprise. I feel it’s been going on much longer; maybe because, of course, we were beginning to work along the same lines during Lent with the No New Shoes Project. In a way, I felt myself, anyway making more of a change during that period  - mainly because of the real emphasis on  buying only essentials. With the frills and extras off limits, I seemed to be able to focus more on the aims of the project.  Latterly, I feel we’ve drifted a bit. Experimenting with the various online options have been interesting, especially at a time when all the major supermarkets  have been jumping on the green/organic/fair-trade bandwagon.

As I’ve said before, organic, does not necessarily mean local. And with the supermarkets certainly - info online as to the origin of foods was slightly lacking. There’s no substitute to looking at the food ‘in the flesh,’ or on the shelf. Definition of local, also. Are we talking, 10…30…50 miles or more? (Some places' organic produce had been airfreighted in! )Certainly there’s nothing to beat the farmers markets even if the prices do sometimes make your eyes water.

Pre-project the extra cost was offset by the fact that I had cut down on spending on non-essentials. Later this didn’t apply of course, and some costs were definitely far in excess of what you’d pay for non-organic/non-free range or non fairly traded goods. The was certainly the case with Waitrose (Occado), although I must admit to preferring their goods; info about their origins, farming methods etc were far more clear and you got the impression that what you were getting was of good quality. This isn’t too much of a problem for us. (Although I’ll admit to times when I eschewed the ‘green’, recycled toilet paper option for the cheaper, ‘Value’ multi pack!); But for folk on a truly low income, I do wonder , at today’s prices, how , if at all, the LOAF principles could apply.

Re Waitrose,  Mr GP and I like their goods very much, and think in future we’ll maintain a happy medium by using them for one offs or special occasions. Mr GP always does a grand shop there pre-Christmas anyway – a family tradition. (He refuses to let me go with him in case I faint with shock at the bill!).  And I sometimes pop in there if I’m passing by. Not very often as they’re at the opposite end of the town to us.

One option we’ve hardly used has been to buy more meat cheese etc over and above our usual fruit and veg order from Abel and Cole. I’d like to try  this option more in future. Ditto the farmers market and the like. We do need to be more organised, this project has definitely shown us that. 

Dear Diary

From my project diary:

Spent half the morning raking through the study bookshelves to find the elusive, missing diary and accompanying food receipts. As ever, the search was totally unnecessary. Turned out I’d filed it ‘in a safe place’ i.e. Neatly in a document file next to the CPU! Never mind – at least the place looks tidy now

  Raking through I managed to locate most of the online shopping lists from the last few months and can put together a fairly accurate picture of the family’s spending on food since we started ‘experimenting’ back in February. And I did jot down quite a few thoughts in the diary, way back before I lost the wretched thing! However, in the interests of accuracy and to give a fair picture (6 weeks does overlap with the Lent ‘No New Shoes’ project – hence not an entirely authentic pic of our consumer habits then) I think we’d better count today as Day Number one with a capital ‘D.’   Mr GP and I have made a date to go out to Christmas Farm (organic free-range place) on Thursday) – something we’ve kept putting off; he's  been away and I don’t drive. Ditto visits to the Thursday/Sat markets in town. I have a ch  group on Thurs morning, singing in the afternoon, often, like to linger for coffee after ch on Sun when the monthly Farmers Market takes place, Mr GP goes on his club cycle then….the list of excuses is endless! Priorities – that’s the thing!

Although to be perfectly honest, I absolutely loathe shopping on a Sunday. Without entering into long arguments re Sunday trading, it just doesn’t feel right to me.  It’s as if the weekday lists of chores is following me even into the Sabbath.    

The project has also changed since we started out. The initial idea of cutting down on unnecessary packaging has sort of fallen by the wayside – thanks in no great way to the lack of kerbside recycling facilities. Will the newly elected Con council keep their promises re this one?  Unfortunately – their pet project, the moving of the town dump isn’t exactly going to do wonders for the local environment.  All it will do is bring the pong nearer the residential areas of town, incl the local college, increase traffic as we all queue up  (if we queue up!) for their limited recycling bank, and as for landfill…don’t ask!

And from several months experimenting with the various big supermarkets – can safely say that though they might well be jumping on the green/organic/fair-trade bandwagon to a fair extent, it certainly hasn’t diminished the packaging output – and if the local recycling facilities haven’t kept up (as ours haven’t) it sort of defeats the object.

We’ll do what we can – given the limitations. Mr GP resurrected our compost heap at the weekend, (it yielded a rich mixture of doubtful vintage *– i.e. some of it dating back to the previous owners of the house!) and I’ve started to divert some of the more compostable packaging out there.  We’ve always recycled paper, cans, glass and textiles.

However, after due consultation with the other half – it's  decided that the changes we’re proposing to make – and which we’ve in a fair way already started – will be in the area of food shopping – working on the Christian Ecology Link’s    L.O.A.F. principles.  That is, trying as much as possible, to buy only that that is Locally produced, Organic, Animal friendly/cruelty free and Fairly traded. http://www.christian-ecology.org.uk/loaf.htm.

* Given that Pentecost is almost upon us, I shall refrain from making crude jokes about the wind blowing where it wills, and all that...not.  Readers of a sensitive disposition will also be relieved to learn that the Greenpatch compost heap is located well away from our super-duper Lean Green Dog Latrine!

Green Links

Living Lightly 24:1
Because 'The Earth is the Lord's' (Psalm 24:1)

Some handy resources and tips over at La Rocha UK's Living Lightly 24:1 site.  And more here. Many thanks to Ecotheology blog for these links.

Storks and prune puree - 2

Serious musings from the 'No New Shoes' site on modern day slavery, concluding:

no new shoes has been a bit of fun really (although slightly painful at times), but these kinds of stories remind me that we have a responsibility as consumers. We can't pretend that the way we spend our money has no effect on other people - and I am more guilty of this than most people I know. This project has made me more aware of the issue of stewardship - not just giving money to charity etc, but actually being aware of the impact of the way we use the resources God has given us.

On a similar note, guests on BBC Berkshire's faith programme this morning were presented with the question: Have you ever changed your shopping habits for an ethical reason, and have you felt guilty about buying something you don't need? [link to Clare Catford via the 'listen again' feature and fast forward appx 65 mins]. Much on mixed motives (anesthesia again!), and the delicate balance between enjoying what we have yet not being enslaved by it. Above all the need to realise that our giving should  be driven not from guilt, but as a response to a loving relationship with God.

For your perusal - In other words

...interesting info about  The Fair Tracing Project over on 'Ecotheology.' I've yet to read it properly, but from what I've seen, would that it were up and running properly; it would make my current project much easier.

Even more interesting comment and debate on Cartoonblog, in the wake of yesterday evening's documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle .

Take one well brought up chicken

Wednesday is Abel and Cole delivery day. And as I type one, bien eleve  fowl is 'resting' quietly on top of the cooker awaiting stuffing. The mince is stowed away in the freezer and the bacon awaits a verdict from either my son or myself - whichever of us gets to it first.

All the above arrived in a returnable polystyrene box, which is great, although I've almost given up ever managing to buy meat minus the obligatory plastic tray and lid outside of the butchers or delicatessen. I managed to get near the other day at Waitrose,with cheese and ham in just a waft of cellophane and plastic bag, which, if I was really into these things, I could always rinse and use as scoop poop bags for the dog. Though I suspect that the other half might well object to that one!

From that trip, what or rather who came up trumps turned out to be none other than HRH himself with a pack of Duchy Original Sausages, wrapped in thick paper and a small cardboard band, which I'm sure I could get away with sneaking into the recycling bin on Friday next. (The sausage papers, not Charlie, you understand!)

The downside, shopping deprived as I am, was the excitement of buying my groceries in a different supermarket from normal, with all the temptations that entails.  And with Fairtrade Fortnight still on - it took incredible self-control not to slip into the trap of thinking that if something...anything comes under that banner, it's then perfectly OK to include it on the permitted essentials list. You know, I had a real battle with that huge bar of Green and Blacks chocolate. To quote Edward Monkton, You want me! YOU WANT ME!

Another irritation is trying to sort out some sort of routine and planning, food-wise. Before we knew that bacon, sausages, eggs, cheese and other staples etc would arrive with Tesco early in the week. The bulk of the fruit n' veg on Wednesday. I might hop out for items we'd forgotten but generally you knew where you were. Now, though Tesco and  A and C remain, the former is now minus meat and most dairy goods, bread arrived on Saturday via a trip to the market, cheese on Sunday with the monthly farmers' market (and has since been gobbled up) and so on. It was alright years ago when we still had proper High Streets with butcher (actually we do still have one, a plus point), and greengrocer (I mean a proper greengrocer - not half a shelf of wilting shrink-wrapped cabbages). Tesco metro apart, this experiment looks to involve some serious walking on top of the distance I normally cover. Not to mention the time taken up. Although I suppose that's more than made up for at the moment by the time I'm not wasting trawling round clothes and book shops.

Nine days

into the No New Shoes challenge. Time to take stock.  Earlier in the week, Anna D  was reflecting on her experiences trawling the supermarket aisles now that only essentials are allowed on the shopping list. I know the feeling. Here I've a couple of confessions to make though. Firstly, I'm the only member of our family who's taking on the challenge. Secondly, bar the odd 'top-up'  I do my bulk shop online since I don't drive and have a bad   back -  that though much improved nowadays, still threatens to 'pop out' if I'm not careful.  So really, I'm not faced with the same temptations. I generally stick to a list of tried and trusted 'favourites, which is really effective in stopping me wander off the straight and narrow. And even with the images option enabled (the virtual equivalent of the shopping trolley with the wonky wheel) the goods don't look nearly as attractive as they do IRL.  So yes, there are probably a few 'no- nos' that have crept into my basket, but the way we're doing it is that although I buy them for the rest of the family, I don't eat them myself.  And it's working. Son announced his intention to keep an eye on the number of biscuits and crisps eaten. (they're generally scoffed in 48 hours max) and, five days later (embarassment) would you believe it - we still have some left!  I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Needless to say, come Thursday, I was getting distinctly tetchy despite consumption of lovely, healthy fruit. Somehow, there are times when only a chocolate biscuit will do! (Which I ate without thinking when I was out on Monday night. It was a tiny one  - honestly! )

Still, on the odd occasion when I have gone into a shop, it's amazing how little there is left to buy when the list of necessities is pared down to the bare minimum. I came out of Iceland yesterday bearing a grand total of three items: A packet of pork chops, some reduced to clear baking potatoes and...(oops!), a two packets of sultana drop scones. Well, there was a buy one get one free offer on, and I use them for my dawn breakfast so as not to disturb the dog. And you can freeze them. The fact that by the end of the evening, they were nowhere to be found is entirely immaterial! But oh dear oh dear,  the sight of all those Cadbury's Creme eggs...biscuits, Pringles!!!  The agony! With forbidden fruit like that around, all I wanted to do was get out as soon as I could. Eve has my every sympathy; if a serpent had sidled up brandishing a pack of Creme'n Onion flavour, I'd have sold my soul to him  before you could say 'Fish Fingers.'

Never mind. An oasis is in sight. After earnest consultation with Mr Greenpatches, we've decided that buying a cup of fairly traded tea or coffee at the church's Big Brew event  tomorrow just about gets into the 'essential' list. I can hardly wait!