Tag Archives: environment

Sustainable Living ideas

Explaining Climate Change to Children

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As a parent, I want my child to have a care-free childhood but also teach her about the dangers that can be found in the world without scaring her.

She’s 7 and she learnt about Stranger Danger quite early on in her school life; she knows what to look out for and we talked out it quite a bit. Thankfully, it didn’t appear to scare her and she seemed to be happy being armed with this information.

But there are other dangers, one of which is climate change.

Let’s be honest, having children doesn’t come with a manual. I, for one, try to learn from other parents and think about what I say and how I act because they are sponges when they are young. We’re all just trying our best and hope we don’t screw them up!

As an eco-blogger (and an imperfect environmentalist), I’m well aware of how the planet is changing and studying towards a degree in Environmental Science has given me an insight into the science of climate change and it’s contributing factors; looking at articles, questioning sources and the ability to determine whether the author of the article has an agenda. Some of it is a little scary, even for me.

So how do I explain climate change to my child? After all, her generation are going to inherit the planet from us.

Climate change refers to the changes in temperatures and weather patterns around our planet and one of the main causes of this is human activity and this what we talk about; human activity.

I talk to her about the smaller stuff like litter-picking and reducing plastic. We go litter-picking and she knows about turning the lights off when they aren’t needed. She enjoys watching Blue Peter who talk about climate activism in a really thoughtful and sensitive way. She’s even got a green Blue Peter badge (something I told everyone who would listen!).

A while back, she heard someone said that they hated the rain – it wasn’t even heavy rain. She later said to me “the rain helps the environment, it’s just nature doing its thing”. I have to say, that really made me smile because that’s exactly what it’s doing.

The rain helps the environment, it’s just nature doing it’s thing

When I talk to her about what’s happening to the environment, I tell her bits of what’s going on but I offer solutions too.

We’ve taught her about recycling and she knows which bin to use for an item and why recycling is important, turning off the tap when she’s not using the water and the issues of wasting it, she has no problem wearing second-hand clothing, and we go litter-picking too.

Recently, the final episode of Frozen Planet II aired on the BBC and I noticed quite a few posts on Twitter where people thought it was terrifying and questioned whether it’s something young children should be watching. Some said kids should know about it and others thought it’s best to shield them from it. I haven’t let my daughter watch it, as a parent, we should do what we think is best for our own children.

I recently wrote a post about coping with eco-anxiety and I do adopt some of these practices when talking to her about the environment.

I think the key is helping them to find solutions and being able to action them. Even as adults we can sometimes feel quite powerless but, in my opinion, doing something is always better than not doing anything at all.

Ultimately, I want to be able to look her in the eye and tell her that I tried my best with what I had.

These are some ideas that work for me but may not work for everyone. Here are my terms & conditions for further reading

Sustainable Living ideas

Ways to be eco-friendly if you’re short on cash

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One of the reasons I keep coming across that prevents people from living greener is the myth that it’s expensive to do. As the cost of living is really biting some of us, being green (and staying green) can be challenging.

When you make price comparisons with your usual purchase vs ethical purchase, usually, the ethical one has a higher price tag. The main reason for the cheaper price tag is probably because corners have been cut during the manufacturing process. There are some unscrupulous companies who put a higher price tag on eco-friendly products just because they can – but that’s a whole different post.

There are still some ways to go green if you’re short on cash.

Unplug, unplug, unplug – The amount of electronics we have to charge is incredible; mobile phones, ear buds, tablets, laptops. All of which, I’m guessing, we still leave plugged even when the device is no longer attached (I’ve been guilty of this in the past too). Switching these plugs off at the wall may not make a massive difference but something is always better than nothing.

Use Ecosia – Ecosia is a search engine similar to Google. Ecosia will plant trees based on the number of searches you have made. At the time of writing this blog, I am up to 1,263 trees. Not too shabby when all I’ve done is swap my search engine from Google to Ecosia. Give it a whirl.

Unsubscribe to unwanted newsletters – emails carry a digital carbon footprint. By unsubscribing to unwanted newsletters, you will be reducing your digital carbon footprint.

Refill your drinks for free – Water UK launched a campaign called Refill. All you have to do is download the app and it shows you where you can refill you water bottle when you’re out and about. Don’t forget to take your water bottle with you!

Join a library – authors still get royalty when you borrow their books from the library and as someone who used to work in publishing, I’m all for supporting authors. I appreciate recently quite a few libraries have shut so if you have one in your area, grab yourself a library card. This is a great tip if you have little ones who are starting to read.

Charge your device on the train – this is a really cheeky one. If you are travelling on the train and you’re allowed to charge your device during your journey, go for it. I used to be a commuter on HS1 and I saw regular commuters to this all the time.

Charge on airplane mode – when charging your phone, put it on airplane mode. It will charge faster because your phone won’t be using any battery power updating any background apps like Facebook or emails. Plus, the faster it charges, the less electricity you will need to use. Make sure you turn your Wifi/Bluetooth off too, I’ve noticed I can still use the wifi/bluetooth when it’s still in airplane mode so I actively turn these off too.

I created a Household Waste Analysis to help identify what we throw away and what we could change. Feel free to check it out – it’s FREE!

These are some ideas that work for me but may not work for everyone. Here are my terms & conditions for further reading

Self-care

How to cope with eco-anxiety?

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If you worry about climate change and the impact humans are having on the environment to the point where you may not be able to stop thinking about it, there’s probably a chance you suffer from a level of eco-anxiety.

This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission. Thanks.

Eco-anxiety affects people in different ways; some people can be a little anxious whereas others may feel more anxious. There is no right or wrong. Given the environmental challenges we are facing putting our long-term security at risk, it’s no surprise that eco-anxiety is on the rise and I’m glad people are more open to talking about it.

Even as an environmentalist, I have to keep my eco-anxiety in check – I’m not ashamed to say I find it overwhelming at times too. However, I have found some ways that helps me keep my eco-anxiety in check.

My tips to cope with eco-anxiety

1. Actions matter

It’s easy to sometimes feel powerless, there’s only so much an individual can control. Something I always say is ‘start small, do what you can, build from there‘. Our actions do matter and make a difference, regardless of how big or small. Never forget that!

2. Find like-minded individuals

It’s important to find other people who share the same passion for the environment and who want to do better. One thing I realised quite early on is that you can learn so much from each other and sharing this knowledge can only be a good thing. Plus, you will be part of a team that may want to set up litter-picks or a local eco group.

3. Happy Eco News

This is something that I started early on. There is so much negative news about climate change so any positive news is largely ignored. There are good things happening in the world when it comes to the environment which is why I send out a fortnightly newsletter filled with happy eco news. I also sent it on Mondays – start the week on a good note! If you would like to receive happy eco news – sign up here and grab a freebie download too.

4. Don’t argue with deniers

This took me a while to get to grips with but I’m much better at it than I was previously. You will always come across deniers. It’s inevitable. But I’m not referring to people who are aware of climate change and would prefer not to talk about it (out of sight, out of mind), I’m referring to people who will argue with you about how climate change is a hoax and want to argue their ‘reasons’ as to why it’s a hoax or not as bad as it’s being reported. DO NOT ENGAGE. After having a number of heated discussions with climate change deniers, I found that I was left frustrated and exhausted from the encounter and the only person affected from this is me. Nothing you can say will make a difference, so don’t bother.

For the little ones

If you have little ones, I’ve come across this gratitude journal for children. It’s so important for children to notice the good about their day rather than just the bad. My little one has a gratitude journal and now I don’t have to even remind her to fill it in, she enjoys doing it on her own.

Above all, it’s about protecting your mental health and only you can do that. It’s OK to protect your mental health.

These are some ideas that work for me but may not work for everyone. Here are my terms & conditions for further reading

Sustainable Living ideas

What I’ve Learned So Far – Block 3 – The Nile basin

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When I tell people that I’m studying for a degree, they are interested in what I’ve been learning. I’ve done two years so far (another four to go) and my favourite was the first year. I absolutely loved it.

Here’s what I learned in my first year studying toward BSc (Hons) Environmental Science.

This block was about the Nile and was also the first block where majority of the reading material was online. I had just gotten used to textbooks and then we went online. I’m not going to lie, that was a bit of a adjustment, but luckily, it was only this block.

This block discussed The Nile basin. The Nile runs through many countries and one of the questions the text asked us was to explore ‘Whose water is it?’ I had never thought about who the water belonged to or if it can ever belong to anyone. I just assumed it was in nature so it belonged to everyone…nope! I found out many countries rely on this water source but it opened up the issue of who it belonged to; those at the start of the river would be able to use as much water as the needed and along the way, if each country built infrastructure that affects the water flow or pollutes the water, these actions will affect countries further downstream who rely on it just as much and, as you can imagine, this is exactly how conflicts start. In 1999, the Nile Bain Initiative was born where nine out of ten countries were members in order to ensure its resources are enjoyed by all nations but as Egypt were one of the last nations to have access to the Nile, they objected to any projects which reduced water downstream.

The block also looked at water in general; how we access it, how we use it and how much of it we use. The block discussed how families who live in rural parts of Africa access water for drinking, cooking, washing. They don’t have taps in their water and have to travel, in some cases, miles to access water and it’s not always clean. This also raised the issue regarding sanitation and waterborne diseases. We have taps into our homes and are able to access clean water anytime we need. One of the activities required in this block was to record our water usage for a period of seven consecutive days. I have to say, I was mortified how much water I used; washing machine, dishwasher, watering plants, cooking. Compared to a family in Africa, it was shocking.  

The final section was about dams. Building dams bring many benefits but they can also be a highly contentious issue in areas where countries that rely on waterways that passes through multiple countries i.e. The Nile.

The main TMA question was to write a report on my water usage. Earlier in the block we had to record our water usage for a period of seven days and the report was based on our findings.

I really enjoyed this section, it gave me such a great understanding of how many people rely on water and how vulnerable it can be when a nation (or two) tries to control it.

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Is Plastic Recycling Greenwashing?

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We all have household bins in our homes and local councils encourage us to recycle to a point where we are shamed for not recycling, especially when it comes to plastic.

As consumers, we are told and expect our plastics to be taken away and recycled into new packaging and this is a big reason many of us recycle where we can. We all want to do our best for the environment and we trust what we are being told.

But I do wonder whether plastic recycling is a form of greenwashing.

According to Greenpeace, “Thousands of tonnes of our household plastic packaging put out for recycling, as well as other kinds of plastic waste ends up in waste incinerators in the UK” and there is a lot that is sent overseas which ends up being someone else’s problem.

Something that has bothered me for a while is the marketing from big corporations, businesses and supermarkets on recycling…the responsibility has been placed solely on the consumer.

And they’ve been very clever with it.

If we, as consumers, don’t recycle, how can the big company actually recycle the single-use plastic? The responsibility has fallen on us but bears no mention of fixing the issue at the source.

Companies such as TerraCycle are trying to do what they can but even they have admitted in the past that it’s not really a solution to our plastic issue.

Over the last few years, more and more zero waste shops have been popping up in town centres and following a refill station trial at a store in Leeds, Asda have decided to roll it out to another four stores.

Source: Asda

I genuinely don’t know why it’s taking so long for supermarkets to catch up. It seems like they’re really reluctant to move with the times. It’s so obvious that giving consumers options like this will dramatically reduce single-use packaging.

I do think householders still should recycle but the key is legislation. The UK government introduced a 5p charge on plastic carrier bags, before the charge was introduced in October 2015, the number of plastic bags used was 7.6 billion bags, in 2019-2020 it was reduced to 564 million.

This is proof that government intervention really does make a difference but the UK government seem really slow to make a meaningful change to push the responsibility back to manufacturers and corporations.

There are certain foods like rice and pasta which are packaged in plastic. I really don’t know why and I can’t seem to find an answer. It shouldn’t be cheaper to buy a plastic bag of fruit or vegetables than buying loose fruit or veg – that’s insane but I still see it. Maybe teaching school children the basics on growing some of their own food would be a good idea, but I guess that’s not how businesses make money.

If you would like to get started with sustainable living, check out my 30-day eco challenge.

These are some ideas that work for me but may not work for everyone. Here are my terms & conditions for further reading

Sustainable Living ideas

The Big Plastic Count

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Last week, I took part in The Big Plastic Count.

The founders of this fabulous initiative is Greenpeace and Everyday Plastic asking households to take part investigating how much plastic is used for a period of one week – 16-22 May 2022.

By collating all this data, they can provide the government evidence that more needs to be done with tackling single-use plastic.

At the time of writing this blog, over 188k people had signed up and it wasn’t just households, schools, community groups and businesses we also included to participate.

The layout of the form is clear and it’s easy to identify where the information needs to be logged.

After a week, I was surprised.

I’ve noticed that the number of fruit and veg trays I buy is a lot more than I usually used to. I have recently kept an eye out and started buying more yellow sticker foods (reduced), especially fruit.

When the weather is really nice, I do prefer to eat more fruit but despite attempting to buy fruit loose, there are some fruits that you can’t buy loose; Strawberries, blackberries, green and red grapes.

I have a bit of a crisps problem! I love crisps but the empty packet…not so much! I have attempted to make my own crisps but I can’t seem to get the knack of it. They come out as if they’ve been sitting around for a week. yuk. I haven’t given up, though. I will keep trying to find something that works for me.

Bread bags is another one. I do have bread bags but I’m glad I buy most of my fruit without packaging so this figure was quite low.

All in all, it is a really good exercise to determine how much plastic we are using in our households and thinking about how it can be reduced.

I know it can be hard seeing the results and thinking that you expected it to be better. Remember, you are doing your best, which is a million times better than not doing anything at all.

I’m just about to submit my results, it would be great to see the results from this.

I realised this was similar to the household waste analysis I created quite a while ago, If you’re looking to start reducing your household waste, check out the free download

These are some ideas that work for me but may not work for everyone. Here are my terms & conditions for further reading

Sustainable Living ideas

Green Blue Peter Badge

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I recently had a major proud parent moment.

As a child, I absolutely loved watching Blue Peter. I will never forget the best make of all by Anthea Turner, Thunderbirds’ Tracey Island. I must admit, I wasn’t a fan of Thunderbirds but even I found it awesome watching this creation unfold on TV. We talked about it in school, watched other people fall over themselves trying to get hold of the instructions. It was HUGE! 

As a parent, watching my 6-year-old daughter watch Blue Peter is a real joy and reminds me of my childhood. After all, it is the longest-running children’s tv show on TV and inspires young viewers to go the extra effort to make things better. 

She mentioned a while back about wanting to do something to get a Blue Peter Green Badge so I looked online to see what she would need to do for a Green Blue Peter badge.

As an environmentalist, I make an effort to adapt my habits with the environment in mind and it turns out she’s been watching me and picked up a few habits. This badge centres around an environmental theme

She asked again if she could apply for one so I looked online to see the requirements.

The Pledges

Named Climate Heroes, there were three pledges she needed to do for at least a month; Power, Plastic and Plants.

Power – this one was to encourage children to save power; my daughter would always turn her nightlight off at the wall in the morning.

Plastic – reducing one piece of plastic from your lunch box. She has school dinners and takes a piece of fruit for a snack everyday.

Plant – planting something in the garden. As we are moving, I purposely haven’t planted anything this year as it could get damaged during the move so we sent in pictures of us litter picking (she asks to go litter picking!)

I filled in the online application, attached pictures and waited.

It was about four weeks later and this turned up in the post.

I can’t tell you who was more excited; me or my daughter. A major proud parent moment that I told anyone who would listen!

I think deep down inside, I had always wanted a Blue Peter badge but I was never encouraged to apply for one and watching her earn one for herself, I felt like she had achieved a dream of mine, as well as her own.

I strongly believe the key to slowing down climate change is education and one of the best places to start is with young people. After all, they are inheriting the planet from us.

What other badges are there?

Apart from celebrating your little one’s outstanding achievements, the other benefit of having a Blue Peter badge is that they get free entry to various venues around the country. 

There are other badges our little ones can apply for: the Blue badge, the Book badge, The Silver badge, Purple Fan Club badge, Music badge, Sports badge, Orange Badge, and the Gold Badge. What do you need to do to become one of many blue badge holders? Keep reading

Blue Badge – The Blue badge is the most iconic badge in the UK! We can’t be entirely sure how many have been awarded since launching in 1963, but we reckon the number is in the millions. All you need to do is send in an interesting letter or artwork, a poem, story, suggestion for the show. Just use your imagination. These will sometimes appear on the big badge wall on the show.

The new Book Badge – To apply for a Book Badge encourage your little to write in about a book they read; what they thought about it, their favourite characters, and maybe include a picture too. You can grab an application form from their website. 

The Silver badge – This very special badge is all about showing kindness to someone else, it could be a sick family member or someone in the community. 

The Purple Fan Club badges – This is for anyone who is a fan of the show, you can grab your purple badge form and apply for a badge

The Music badge – To get this badge, you need to tell Blue Peter about your love of music; if you play a musical instrument, how long you’ve played it for, and why you love it. Or even if you’ve just started to play a new instrument. 

The Sports Badge – Try a new sport for the first time, tell us about your experience and answer our sporty questions. Then send a photo, video or some artwork showing us how you got involved with your new sport and apply for your awesome new sport badge.

The Orange Badge – The orange badge is given to competition winners. if you’d like a change to get an Orange badge, check out the competition page. 

The Gold badge – this is a very special badge indeed. Gold Blue Peter badges is Blue Peter’s highest award and are awarded in exceptional circumstances; for unique bravery, courage or saving someone’s life. 

In October 2023, Prince William, Prince of Wales, was awarded a Green Badge in recognition of his work on The Earthshot Prize. This was to celebrate Blue Peter’s 65th Birthday 

Unlike when I was a child, we can now catch any missed episodes on BBC iPlayer and keep an eye out for a Blue Peter Competition and watch their favourite Blue Peter presenters. A few of their recent and former presenters have been Matt Baker, Abby Cook, Lindsey Russell, Henry, Radzi Chinyanganya and Joel Mawhinney

If you’re looking to start reducing your household waste, check out my free download

Updated November 2023

Sustainable Living ideas

What I’ve Learned So Far – Block 2 – The Arctic

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When I tell people that I’m studying for a degree, they are interested in what I’ve been learning. I’ve done two years so far (another four to go) and my favourite was the first year. I absolutely loved it.

Here’s what I learned in my first year studying toward BSc (Hons) Environmental Science.

In one of the first questions I was asked at the start of the textbook was write down what images came to mind when I thought about the word ‘Arctic’. For me it was; polar bear, igloo, and a person shivering from the cold. It turns out the Arctic is much more than that.

The Arctic has always fascinated me. I find it incredible that an extracted cylinder of ice can tell us so much about the past. When I first saw a picture of an ice cylinder, the line markers for each year were clearly visible indicating the snowfall for that particular year, similar to the rings on a tree trunk. In one of the pictures, I recall seeing a line marker that was easy to pick out, the others were various shades of white, but not this one, it was black, this indicated a volcanic eruption, and by counting the lines allowed scientists to know which year this event occurred. The information that can be gathered isn’t only about volcanic eruptions, from the air bubbles trapped in the ice, we can determine what the CO2 level was the year that snow fell, these bubbles are ‘fossils’ frozen in time giving us clues about what the atmosphere was like thousands of years ago.

We learned about the people and animals who live in the Arctic circle. The indigenous people have so much knowledge that has been passed down the generations, what would happen if this information isn’t recorded somewhere? This crucial information could be lost forever. The block looked as the many voyages to the area and people’s idea of the region and looked at two maps; The Mercator projection and The Peters projection. For those who are fans of The West Wing, you will be familiar with the scene that discusses this in season 1. The map you’re familiar with, isn’t quite correct.

As the Arctic is melting, access to the region is becoming a real possibility for companies who would like to drill and/or use it as passage during the summer months benefitting in shorter journeys by sea.

Whenever I thought about the Arctic melting, I immediately became concerned about the animals and people who live in the region; how will they manage as the ice continues to melt. Although the region refreezes during winter, the area refrozen is reduces every year. How can they adapt to a quickly changing environment? It never even occurred to me there would be companies interested in the Arctic for opportunities to drill for fossil fuels and the damage they will almost certainly cause to the environment.

The thought of drilling in the Arctic makes me sad and one of the reasons companies haven’t actually followed through with their plan is because the weather is incredibly harsh during the winter months. I think that’s the Arctic’s saving grace at the moment. Sadly, I don’t know how long the Arctic will be able to keep these companies away?

The TMA question was for us to pretend to be a curator of a museum, selecting five items with the theme ‘Exploitation of resources in the Arctic’. Once we had selected our five items, we had to write an audio guide for it.

Reducing our household waste is a really great way to start helping to protect our environment. If you’re looking to start reducing your household waste, check out my free download

Self-care, Sustainable Living ideas

Eco-Friendly Menstrual Products – Review

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About eighteen months ago, I ditched my pads and tampons for eco-friendly alternatives and I’ve wanted to write a review about them but I’ve always been hesitant. I wasn’t sure why? Until now…

I recently started reading Brown Girl Like Me by Jaspreet Kaur. In the book, there is a section about periods and I quickly realised the reason I was hesitant to talk about periods is because growing up in a South Asian household, periods are a taboo subject. We rarely spoke about it. I never spoke to my cousins about it and I learned what I know from talking to my white friends and reading magazines like Just Seventeen (I’m showing my age!)

I’ve decided to take this taboo and kick it to the curb!

Here goes!

Women’s Environmental Network state on their website that menstrual pads can contain up to 90% plastic and 2 billion menstrual items are flushed down Britain’s toilets each year. This is absolutely shocking.

I had been using tampons since my late teens (pads before then) and I had been flushing tampons down the toilet, because that’s what I was told to do. 

According to Friends of the Earth, menstrual products flushed down the toilet causes sewers to block (just like wet wipes). Many enter the sea and on beaches and the rest end up being incinerated or sits on landfill. Not to mention the plastic tampon applicators – you can follow Ella Daish about ending period plastic.

Menstrual Cup

I opted for this first because I have been using tampons for years. I did some research and read reviews on the main brands and chose the Moon Cup. 

It takes quite a bit of getting used to it as it acts like a suction cup and found it a bit of a pain to use. When I’m tired, I could easily change my tampon without even thinking about it but with this, I needed to pay attention all the time. I work from home so emptying the cup wasn’t an issue, not sure how I would get on if I worked in an office. There are cleaning instructions you need to follow after you finished your period to ensure the cup is hygienic. Personally, I found it a bit of a faff but I know other’s who absolutely love it. 

Period Pants

As someone who hasn’t worn pads since my teens (and after I had my child), I was a bit reluctant to try these but I didn’t want to go back to tampons. 

Again, I did my research and read reviews. I ended up opting for five pairs I found in Sainsburys. I have to say, I was really surprised at them. I expected the pad to be uncomfortable, like I had a nappy on, but it wasn’t like that at all. The brand I bought also included odour control and, as someone who is prone to heavy periods, I was really conscious about leaking through my jeans. This wasn’t an issue at all.

In the morning, I rinsed my the pants I had been wearing last night while I’m in the shower which rinsed off most of the blood (there isn’t actually that much) and then pop it in the washing machine for a proper wash.

It was easy and I prefer period pants, if I go swimming and I’m on my period, I will use my menstrual cup. 

The best advice I can give is to do your research, ask your friends and/or family for recommendations.

For both products, always read and follow the instructions. 

I appreciate the initial cost my be a bit pricey but in the long run, you will save money and you will be helping the environment. 

If you’re looking to start reducing your household waste, check out my free download and do follow me on Instagram

These are some ideas that work for me but may not work for everyone. Here are my terms & conditions for further reading

Self-care

Planting Trees for the Future

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Those of you who are familiar with my blog and follow me on Instagram will know I am a massive advocate for teaching children about the environment so when my daughter’s school sent a message out on the school app asking for volunteers to dig holes for sixty trees that needed to be planted, I replied almost instantly.

Ashford St Mary’s Church of England Primary school had been offered sixty Coppice Hedgerow trees to plant in the school field and were expected to be delivery by 18th March.

To ensure the trees could be planted straight into the ground on arrival, the volunteers’ mission was to dig sixty holes at the edge of the school field along the fence.

Led my Jenny Thorpe, we all assembled by the school field and started digging holes in the ground. All of the children who participated were being supervised by their grown-up and everyone else were digging, every so often, pausing to move wriggly worms to safety before carrying on.

Although it was a sunny afternoon, there was a cold wind but that didn’t deter the volunteers. It wasn’t long before our mission was complete, and the area was taped off.

The trees were donated by the Woodland Trust who have a fabulous scheme offering free trees for schools and communities “We want to make sure everybody in the UK has the chance to plant a tree. So, we’re giving away hundreds of thousands of trees to schools and communities. Together, we’ll get millions more trees in the ground.”

The school previously received five trees from The Tree Council, which had already been planted on the school grounds – two apple trees, two pear trees and a plum tree.

The Tree Council have a National Schools Programme: Orchards for Schools and Young Tree Champions with a map on their website showing all the schools who have taken part so far – “Thanks to over 800 incredible schools, this planting season we have planted over 30,000 fruit trees and fruiting hedgerow whips. We are working together to create a healthier future for young people and the planet by unlocking the power of trees. Thank you to each and every school – you are a Force For Nature.”

Projects like this is a fabulous way to encourage young people to reconnect with nature and each other. It’s also great way for them to learn about why trees are important and why we need to do what we can to protect our environment – after all, they are inheriting the planet from us.

If you’re looking to start reducing your household waste, check out my free download