You’ll know your seedlings are ready to plant out once they’ve developed a few ‘true leaves’, i.e. recognisable leaves of the plant, and a firm stem, but it’s important to wait until the soil is warm enough too, which according to Monty Don of Gardeners’ World is when it doesn’t feel cold to the touch. Most people look at day temps when deciding on when to plant out but actually night time temps are more crucial to seedling success. Read on for more tips.
This article started out as a rant, by me, in the Zero Waste Ireland Facebook group, but I feel so vexed about the confusion surrounding this issue that I felt it warranted an article too. Humans are such illogical creatures, that something that seems eminently sensible can backfire badly, as could happen with reverse vending machines if not designed correctly.
Continue reading “Why Deposit Return Schemes are a Missed Opportunity”
I have a confession to make; my guilty pleasure is the TV programme ‘Say Yes to the Dress’. I don’t know why, buying a really expensive dress to wear for one day is the height of single-use consumerism. Maybe it’s just the silliness of it all. It’s pure escapism, and for someone who’s uber pragmatic and sensible it’s lovely to park that side of me for 30 minutes. Anyhow watching this programme got me thinking about how to have a more sustainable wedding, and given the fact that a typical wedding will produced one third of a metric tonne of solid waste and 14.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide, it’s well needed.
If you want to start your marriage off on the right low-carbon footing, here’s how to do it.
Continue reading “Sustainable Ethical Weddings 2026”
I often hear the argument that living ethically and sustainably is really only achievable if you’ve lots of free time and even more disposable income. I think this is often true, particularly if you’re measuring yourself against the picture-perfect lifestyles depicted on social media, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are some simple tips on how to lower your carbon footprint the easy and inexpensive way.
Continue reading “Free & Easy Steps to Sustainable Living”
This post was initially written when almost all of Ireland was holed up indoors thanks to an East Siberian wind called the ‘Beast from the East’. During those 4 days of confinement I spent hours travelling the internet highways, clearing digital to-do’s and lining up future article. Going by the amount of Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram content generated I wasn’t the only one. Here is one such article born out of my days of respite thanks to the ‘Beast from the East’.
Continue reading “Sustainable Accommodation – Ireland & the UK 2026*”
living lightly in ireland