People ARE carrying bags!

Credit where its due, I went to Morrison's supermarket yesterday and was pleased to see huge banner outside the store saying "TODAY don't forget your reusable shopping bag" or words very much to that effect. They're having a bit of a green push and thought provoking notices have appeared all round the store asking the customers to carry bags and reduce their carbon footprint. I particularly liked the way they had resisted adding major branding to the banner - okay it was stuck to their store so no mistaking who had put it there but it looked like a genuine attempt to pass on the simple message.
A quick scan of people at the checkout revealed that 50% had brought along their own bags and that is an astoundingly good turn-out.
love & peace
Sally

AN ADVERTISING ATROCITY

Sometimes when an apparently good thing is being promoted I wonder whether I am the only one yelling abuse at the television set.
I currently have a big problem with Ariel. Their latest campaign Advert opens with a scene in Africa where impoverished children are seen scooping water from a muddy puddle...This is their only choice we are told...but wait...we then see that with the addition of some marvelous magic potion the same water becomes clean clear and perfectly safe to drink. So the children will now have a better chance of survival. The good people at Ariel then tell us that if we buy their product with the special tokens or whatever they will make this happen.
I say IF YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN THEN DO IT ! It is morally indefensible not to and are we seriously being asked to buy washing powder to save lives?
It made me think of Annie Lennox 's recent question which went along these lines - "If Cocoa Cola can be delivered to every corner shop in the world - why is it so difficult to deliver life-saving retro-viral drugs to the patients who need them?"
So here's the thing, you people marketing Ariel - if I had heard you provided children with clean drinking water simply because it was right and possible.... then I might buy your washing powder to show my appreciation. But using these children's hardship to persuade me to do so is just plain wrong.

SUMMER

Having just returned from a week's holiday in Ibiza I have been thinking about recycling in other countries - I have only really had to deal with the separation of rubbish into plastic, glass and cardboard in Italy, France and Spain and am pleased to discover that there is no great mystery. The language and terrain might be different but we are all using recognizable recycling areas with easily identifiable graphic symbols to assist us in putting the right bits in the right bin. I read somewhere that holidays are a time for relaxing rather than stressing about green issues and that perhaps it is enough to simply turn off your hot water and save energy while you're away from home. I agree that everything should be switched off and unplugged at home but strongly believe that separating and recycling the rubbish must be done wherever we go. If you usually use your own shopping bags at home then you will want them with you on holiday too. Wherever you go this summer try not to leave a trace.
Love& Peace
Sally