living lightly in ireland

Sustainable Schools

My kids are in a great school in terms of academics and teaching quality, but boy is it wasteful. My heart aches every time I see laminated certificates, or requests for plastic folders and single-use pens coming home. I’ve offered to go in and help the school reduce its use of plastic with the Plastic Free Schools initiative but no teacher was interested in leading it, which was very disappointing. I am amazed that despite all the talking schools do about sustainability, particularly to the children, they generally engage in very wasteful practices.

If you work or lead a school and you want to make your school more sustainable, well done you! Here are a few ideas on how to make that happen.

Natural Deodorant 2026

This week on the website we’re looking at ‘natural deodorants’. You may not be familiar with that term but as we go through the ingredients in the products featured here you’ll soon get a feel for what is meant by it.

I’m lucky. I don’t have to wear deodorant or antiperspirants. Apparently 90% of people with the gene variation ABCC11 don’t generate body odour!

Tools to make Sustainable Living Easier

Living sustainably can be hard at times but it’s much easier when you can share those trials with others having the same experience. If you’re starting on your sustainable living journey, well done. If you find your enthusiasm waning please consider deepening your connection with like-minded people if you can. Offline with friends and family is great but if that’s not an option for you online groups like those listed below will give you sucker to stay the course.

Natural Insect Repellents

It’s summer! And as the temperatures creep up we’re all living outdoors more, which means we’re all spending more time with lots of mini-beasties. I have a live and let live approach to most insects in my life. I’m happy to share my living space with them, after all I’m the one invading their world not the other way around. This doesn’t mean that I’m not above using some harmless tactics to help us all live together harmoniously.

As always I favour food-grade ingredients over synthetic chemicals, most of which you may already have around the house. I’ll admit to not having tried all of the suggestions listed here but I have tried quite a few and found them to work very well. If you have tried any of these I’d love to hear how it worked out for you.

Low-waste Summer Activities for Kids

Keeping kids occupied without buying stuff or generating lots of waste is the holy grail for a lot of parents. I’m always quick to bookmark ideas for low-waste activities that don’t cost the earth. Here are some I came across on my internet travels.