the green gal

Foreign holidays – guilty or pleasure?

I am the green gal and I have flown on an airplane.

Sounds wrong, I know, so let me explain myself. Although, first of all, does being green mean never flying? Ever? How about offsetting flights? What about only flying short-haul? Or only long-haul?

My husband and I decided after our honeymoon in Italy that we would only fly every other year. It was actually four years until we flew again, last week, to Italy as it happens. After holidaying in a tipi, a fancy tent on a farm and in various cottages in the UK, mostly in disappointing weather, we decided it was time we took ourselves off to sunnier climes and felt a bit of warmth on our skins.

Our Italian week saw us give money to The Man (BA flights, Europcar rental, Esselunga supermarket) but also support independent and local businesses. BTW, yes we did rent a car to compound our CO2 evil – we were in rural Tuscany, wheels are essential!

We rented our apartment from a couple who renovate ruined old villas, we ate in restaurants owned and run by the same family for who knows how many generations, and (after the initial panic stock-up in a supermarket) bought local produce in independent stores. Much hilarious bad Italian pronunciation on my behalf and confused gesticulation on the locals’ behalf ensued.

Originally we thought we’d spend several days visiting different towns seeing the historical sights but then decided to only take two day trips. I would say this was to save on emissions but actually it was because we were just too darned tired and wanted to lie around absorbing Vitamin D! But pumping fewer pollutants into the atmosphere was a happy bonus.

I read three books, all borrowed so no trees were freshly hurt for my reading pleasure. And I knitted. A lot. A scarf I’m hoping the recipient in a few weeks will like.

So, as foreign holidays go, I’d say that’s low impact-ish. Si or non? I’ve thought about offsetting our emissions but that’s such a fuzzy area I find it quite confusing. One school of thought is that it’s better than doing nothing, you plant trees or support eco projects in developing countries. Others disagree saying it’s a sticking plaster for people to feel better about their indulgences, that the planted trees could be chopped down long before they’ve had time to offset your emissions.

Having got the need for a foreign holiday out of systems for the time being, I don’t think either of us have a huge urge to sit on a plane again any time soon. Yes the weather is unreliable but the UK has so many beautiful and interesting places to visit that we’ll be happy staying in the Isles for the next few years.

And if we do get twitchy tongues for foreign lingo, there’s always the Eurostar!

The finishing line

So, the store cupboard challenge is over!

We ate well, most of the time, not too weirdly and a bit more thoughtfully. I've discovered that we keep quite a substantial amount of non-perishable food and my trips to the food shops needn't be as frequent as they have been. With a bit of thought we've made use of what we already had in the cupboard and the freezer and have actually had a more varied diet for it. It's easy to get stuck in your ways and rely on a handful of familiar ideas and forget what lovely dishes you could have if you took the time to think about it. 

The hubbie, who is head chef in our household, says he's quite enjoyed the Ready Steady Cook Challenge, as he named it. I think he might have blanked out the memory of the choice words he came out with on Friday night when he discovered that sour cream is no replacement for double cream. Separated cream doesn't look the best but the potato boulangere still tasted delicious!

Yesterday was a bit of a cheat as we were out all day with friends so only had popcorn with a movie when we got home. (Don't bother watching Iron Man but do pop your own corn, kids and adults alike love the exploding sounds coming from the pan.)

And tonight could be considered a bit sneaky as we ate last week's leftover veggie bean chilli from the freezer. However, we freed up space in the freezer and the accompanying brown rice came from the cupboard!

All in all the week was a success and I think we'll make it a regular every few months. We saved money, we made some space in the kitchen and used our brains a bit more. I hope that everyone taking part at myzerowaste.com and frugal-life.spaces.live.com enjoyed it too!

Message in a bottle

When I started writing about Belu bottled water I was heading in one direction but on further research I've done a u-turn. I was going to write that bottled water can never be good – why ship water cross-country or in from overseas when you can turn on the tap, the manufacture of plastic bottles uses barrels of oil plus they can't biodegrade so stay on the planet forever. But the odd thing about Belu is that they tell you to drink tap water, that tap water should be everyone's first choice. True, but curious coming from a company selling water (the Dragons would be horrified if confronted with that pitch).

Their view is that sometimes you're not near a tap, or you don't like the taste, and so you are going to buy a bottle of water. And if you're going to buy a bottle of water, make it theirs. (That's sounding more like a commercial business.) But, there's another but, Belu water does, as far as I can find out, appear to be a more eco-friendly choice than other bottled waters. 

The facts:

• the water come from within the UK, Shropshire to be exact
• the bottles are made either from glass or corn and the caps are recyclable
• the corn, or bio, bottle is compostable although commercial composters will break it down more easily than home composters. The bottle can also be thrown in with the rest of your recycling and recycled into other products.
• Belu gives their profits (the amount will be disclosed in a few months, says their website) to Water Aid to fund clean water projects in the UK and abroad
• the company is carbon neutral, sourcing clean energy where possible and offsetting any remaining carbon emissions
• they're working on a tap water filtration system to use in hotels and restaurants – yes they're making money but they're still encouraging tap rather than bottle use

Belu water is sold in some Tesco and Waitrose stores across the country so widely available if you're near one of two supermarkets. A pack of six bottles costs £2.69. Although I will still be trying to refill bottles I already have from the tap, if I am in desperate need of hydration away from home, I will endeavour to choose Belu over a less green brand.