I grew up with a golden rule for what to do with Christmas cards at the end of the festive season. Â Turn them into tags for next year’s presents. Â Ideally, cut with pinking shears to make zigzag edges for greater interest. I can visualise my mother doing this. Â The pinking shears were a particular source …
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In my teens, I reached a stage where I was fairly independent for travel. Â I was at a point where I wanted to buy presents for friends for Christmas. Â Where did I go? I got on a train, and went to Oxford. I lived in a smallish town, with a larger town about half an …
At the time when my environmentalism was starting to develop, flying was not an Issue. Â It was mostly out of reach – back to factors of cost. Â (I dare say we might have found package deals to Spain, as a family, but we didn’t.) So by my mid-teens, I had been abroad about four times. …
Back in the holidays of my childhood, if you were travelling – you brought your own food. Â Yes, there were service stations, and you might occasionally be allowed to buy a cup of tea. But you had your packed meal with you, and that was that. I recognise now that cost was probably the main …
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You get through a lot of paper when you’re studying. Â Working in an office. Â Teaching. Â Whatever I seem to do, there is paper in my wake. The paperless office is still a far distant concept, for most workplaces. So how did my teenage environmentalist respond? Buy recycled paper. Â Reuse paper where possible. Â And when you’ve …