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Zero Waste Summerby Fiona - 18:15 on 12 September 2011
Zero Waste Summer It’s been a busy old summer, so it has, and I don’t think it’s over-egging the pudding to say I’ve been Zero Wasting with gusto. Yes, gusto! I’ve been to Events! I’ve Talked To People! And I’ve been on the radio with the hilarious Olive from Bute FM’s Up The Garden Path. I guess, when it comes to most things in life, what you get out of something is directly proportionate to what you put in. Frankly, I’m a creature of inertia, a lot of the time – but ‘putting in’ for Zero Waste has led me to some interesting places. Some of them I’d rather forget (being up to my armpits in Dunoon Grammar’s food waste, for example), but most leave a happy glow of warm memory. I’ve chewed the fat with fellow volunteers; shaken the hand of a real live MP (at least, I think he was alive); listened to talks on compost worms, and on wartime ration-recipes; and played compost & food-waste related games with children. The last on that list was definitely the most entertaining. It came about when I was helping at a local summer school’s Eco Learning Day, and needed to provide some entertainment for children who were being forced to learn during their summer holidays! Believe me, I would never have tolerated such a thing when I was a child. Anyway, I came up with a Treasure Hunt – a list of tasks and questions the children had to do in order to win a fabulous prize (a Zero Waste pen! I know – kids these days don’t know they’re born). Along with more generic challenges, like “find a white feather” and “bring me a cup of tea and some biscuits while I sit down and read this book”, it allowed the opportunity to ask questions like: “which of these foods are good to freeze: a) lettuce, b) bread, c) Mr Freezy Freezicles?” and “which of these is most wasted: a) broccoli, b) bananas, or c) me, after three single malts?” (The answer, of course, is b. I would need at least four single malts to compete).
I had a fantastic time, and I think the children did, too, even if they were learning against their better judgement. I did have to reprimand one team for not curtseying when they brought me my tea and biccies, but other than that, they were all remarkably well behaved. It seems to me that, in Argyll, it’s compost that strikes the loudest note with people. So many people are gardeners - whether just in their own patch of back garden, or spilling over into allotments because they’ve run out of room in their 3-acre pasture - so compost is a source of endless fascination. For me, though, food is the thing. I love it. I eat it a lot. And I hate to waste it. As Olive from Bute FM keeps telling me: The Environmental Apocalypse Is Nigh! Ding ding, ding ding* Food is getting more and more expensive, and chances are, there just won’t be the kind of availability we’ve come to expect. No more asparagus in September. No more strawberries in December. No more wanton scoffing of whatever we blimmin’ well please whenever we blimmin’ well want it. The end approacheth! Batten the hatches! Start stock-piling! We’re all doomed!
That's all from me, until next time. Until then: Happy Environmental Apolcalypse! Oh - and if anyone wants a copy of the Treasure Hunt, leave a comment and I'll get it to you.
* Olive's Prophet of Doom Bell Add your comment Please note that whenever you submit something which may be publicly shown on a website you should take care not to make any statements which could be considered defamatory to any person or organisation. |    |
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