Oh the cheek of it

I was reading 'LondonLite' the free evening paper, on my way home today on the bus, and discovered that the Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea has had a humdinger of a car bought for him - a Bentley - at a cost of £115k, and moreover, this is one of the most polluting cars currently on the market.

It really is very silly. I feel annoyed about it. I mean, how selfish and stupid, particularly as they are trying to encourage folk in that borough to buy more economical and ecological cars by raising the price of parking permits for the worst emission offenders. The Bentley does 10 MILES TO THE GALLON! aaaaggghhh. It also has a top speed of 195mph and the max speed you can drive anywhere in Kensington and Chelsea is 40mph. GGrrrrrr!!!! ;)

The council try to justify it by saying that they haven't bought a new car for the Mayor in 30-40 years and this car will last much longer than the likes of a more ecological car such as the Toyota Prius. Hmmmppphh...I wonder how long they really will keep it. It's all a load of baloney and smokescreens. The paper stated they could even buy something fairly classy such as a Lexus and still pay only £35k and be more environmentally sensitive.

They really should be setting an example. If everyone used that kind of justification for a new humdinger of an inefficient excuse for a car, then where would we be? I find it very hard to excuse and understand this kind of expense (the expense of taxpayers no less).

It just doesn't add up. I do declare the world has gone mad.

Bibbedeebobbedeeboo

I have no idea really why I have put that title on my blog. I just like to say it every now and again.

I changed my picture on the right hand side. I am wearing a new top which I wore to work today and I got a few compliments which was really nice and sweet of people. It is nice to get a compliment.

At the moment, in the midst of doing my day-to-day training job at work, I am also the chair of my organisation's Sports & Social Committee. This takes up more time than I would like, especially of late. We have a summer party in a couple of weeks, so we're selling tickets and promoting it as much as possible to encourage people to go along.

I have also set up a Drama Group recently, with the idea to perform a couple of short plays to the staff, and the patients (I work in a hospital!) towards Christmas time most likely. It should be good fun and there's lots of enthusiasm from the small group of wannabe thesps I have managed to gather together so far. We've yet to decide what we'll perform, but most likely something lighthearted and fun and not too taxing....

I watched a foodie programme with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall the other night, where he encouraged a few people who eat lots of processed food, to get back to eating 'real' food, naturally produced.

He took them to a sheep abattoir so they could see how the animals are killed for our consumption. It was a sober awakening to observe, and be reminded about....I have had first hand experience of seeing my meat freshly killed when I lived in India. It was given to me in a plastic bag, and as I sat in the tuk-tuk I placed the bag on my feet and felt the warmth of their freshly killed flesh against my bare sandalled feet (the chicken had only been dead about 2 minutes),which was eye-opening to say the least - I have always bought meat nicely refrigerated!

I don't go out of my way to eat meat, but when I do it tends to be lamb, and lots of fish. I sometimes buy pork but I am very aware of the conditions factory farm animals endure. So generally I avoid buying chicken and pork. I will buy organic but this is rare as it is so expensive.

But on balance it is probably worth it and I would prefer to buy meat where the animals have had a decent life, and then make something really good with the meat. In a way this is in honour and out of respect for the animal. Meat is so widely available and at our disposal that we often forget the journey it's been on, and that it was once a living breathing being. I am very careful to ensure that meat I do buy is produced in the UK....e.g. I don't buy New Zealand lamb, but go for the Welsh variety - boyo!

Ok, I have bibbeddeebobbedeeboobed (ie rambled) enough now so I shall sign off.

GreenAbby Tip #03

It's absolutely pissing it down here in England. Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire is effectively an island - surrounded by the burst banks of the River Severn and the River Avon.

So you might think that the UK has no worries in respect of water shortages. But the flooding has affected water supplies, so that as I type there are 350,000 people without a fresh water supply. I hope things sort themselves out soon, and flood barriers and humanitarian aid (yes, in a 1st world country) can get to the people who need it quickly and safely.

For everyone else, there's small things we can all do to protect the clean water supply which we often take for granted in the Western world.

There's a rhyme which was told to me some years ago, and I have never forgotten it. It applies to the lavatory, the toilet, the bog, the dunny etc whatever you may wish to refer to it as....it goes like this:

If it's yellow keep it mellow
If it's brown flush it down

I say no more! :)

Madonna at LiveEarth

OK, so she's far from perfect. I mean, she must have a huge entourage following her around, an army of nannies and PA's etc. She also has made some questionable decisions with her purchases e.g. spending £40k on a coat made out of chinchilla fur.

This link below takes you to Youtube, and it makes various claims which put into serious question Madonna's green credentials.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ynxmz3aN-2Q

If these claims are true, then that is sad and unfortunate. For her, her fans, and the Earth. Let's hope she sees the light and truly does start living what LiveEarth was all about.

None of us are perfect. We need to celebrate our strengths, and work on our weaknesses. Madonna's true strength is, in my opinion, as a fabulous and captivating performing artist who creates some cracking music.

I hope she can transfer those strengths to build and improve her green living.

Go figure

I bought the Independent on Saturday, last Saturday strangely enough. Its focus was on the environment, as is often the case - the Independent does a lot green and environmental coverage. So I buy it every now and again, but not everyday as quite frankly that would be a waste - I simply don't have enough time to read a daily paper religiously.

The most I do read is the one of the free London papers which get shoved in ones hands at virtually every street corner at work 'hometime'! And they're rather tabloidy and gossipy. Not much serious news. Although one of them does a 'greenlondon' page every day which is good I guess.

Anyway, the Independent had a supplement on 'EcoLife'...and they presented some interesting figures to ponder. Such as:

• 80% of the world's forests have already been destroyed by human actions
• 0.7c is the approximate increase in global temperature since the industrial revolution
• The arctic ice sheet has shrunk 20-30% since 1980
• 3.5 billion people (more than half of the world's population) depend on the ocean for their food. That's a lot! They reckon that in the next 18 years, this number could double to 7 billion. (I assume the world's population will grow relative to this as well!)
• 21 million barrels of oil are released into the oceans each year - from street run-off, industrial effluent, and maritime economy. That's also a lot. :(

So lots of challenges for us, and things to think about.

I have decided just now (me being spontaneous) that I am going to have a go at creating a resource of GreenAbby Tips e.g. a piece of advice, a place (real or virtual) we can visit, a thing we can do - to help the environment, or live a bit more consciously/compassionately towards each other and the environment in some way. Some of these won't be new to you or particularly innovative, and they're not 'mine' as such. But hey this is my blog and I am just spreading the word, reminding myself and any other souls who are inclined to read this! Hence they're 'my' tips - GreenAbby Tips......! :)

GREENABBY TIP #01

If you're doing a clothes wash at 40 degrees. Turn down the temperature of the water/cycle to 30 degrees. Your clothes should still be clean, and smell nice.

GREENABBY TIP #02

(I'm on a roll now)....whilst we're on the subject, use environmentally friendly washing powder, such as Ecover. Contains biodegradable, plant-based materials.

Getting on top of things

Yesterday, I went for a proper run. First one for about two months.

It felt really good. Must keep it up!

It's been a while since I have posted anything on my blog. Life has sort of taken over, plus I have also been getting into 'Facebook' which is quite weird and incredible....you find old friends, pupils who you studied with, former work colleagues etc. It's fascinating and mildly addictive.

Live Earth is coming this weekend I believe. So is Tour de France in London.

It's also 2 years to the day on Saturday since the 7/7 bombings in London - to which I sadly lost two colleagues from work, both of whom I trained (as part of my role), and one of whom I had a working relationship with.

Feelings of sadness and reflection come upon me around this time. And the recent terrorist attempts of violence in London and Glasgow only serve to act as another sober reminder.

A reminder of how sad and futile these vain attempts to be violent and destructive really are. I don't understand why people are so motivated by hate to want to destroy life so mindlessly and in the name of God. There is no justification, in my opinion. It truly is a waste, and breeds negativity, fear and selfishness. These are the kinds of attributes which I don't like in myself and others.

Looking back, I wonder if Martin McGuinness et al really think the IRA bombings of the 1970's and 1980's were really worth it and served much in the end.

Why don't the bombers create a laughter bomb, or something like that? A spontaneous explosion of innocent laughter, joy and happiness. Much more imaginative, creative, productive, positive and beneficial. Well, we can dream....:)