I’m delighted to see my articles on sources for second-life goods doing so well on the website. This is a new development. For years now it’s been my listings of eco brands that have performed the best, so for me it’s a great sign.
There’s also been an explosion in resale outlets, for all manner of goods, and so I’m having to split a previously published list of second-life retailers into separate articles. I’ve recently published Where to buy second life clothing in Ireland and now you have one for furniture, listed by style and county, where that information is available
I’d guess that 80% of my home is furnished with second-life furniture. I really think citizens are missing a trick by decorating with exclusively new furniture. In a previous life I was an interior architect, and I can tell you that an interior without some pre-loved or inherited furniture or homeware can look completely soulless.
If you want a space to feel inspirational and authentic then shun the high-street every so often and peruse the listing below.
Wildflowers are becoming a regular feature in Irish gardens, and for good reason, they are an easy, attractive, inexpensive way for gardeners to support threatened pollinators like bees and butterflies. Creating one is not rocket science but if you follow the tips below you’ll have the best chance of delivering a beautiful bounty of nectar rich flowers.
Over the past 6 years of trying to live more sustainably I’ve discovered just how little I need to be happy – materially, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually, Unfortunately knowing this hasn’t made finding it any easier. Listening to nature is hard to do in power-tool obsessed neighbourhoods, human connection is difficult to cultivate when everyone is too busy to pause for breath and a sense of purpose is easily lost in the noise of ‘buy, buy, buy’
Choosing to live differently to how societal norms means I’ve had to consciously cultivate a life that serves me better. In a world that labels us ‘consumers’ we have to actively work to untangle ourselves from limitations of this ‘buy a solution’ mindset, but it’s not always clear how best to do that.
Nothing mentioned in this article has been sponsored. It’s all just my own personal opinion. If you like your sources to remain independent then please;
Which is why I fell in love with a brilliant idea developed by a friend and her compadres. They put together a list of ‘comfort-zone stretching’ activities to be done from the Winter Solstice to the Epiphany.
I’m too busy over the festive period to partake but I do love starting a new project every January. So this month I’m taking time out to reconnect with what brings me joy in life, using Kalpana’s, Robyn’s and Xanthe’s list as inspiration! I’m calling it The 2022 Renew and I’m starting it on January 10th (next Monday), and every day thereafter until Feb 13th.
I pick those dates because I generally find January and February very depressing and having something positive to focus on will help me get over the greyness that is an Irish winter.
The idea is simple. Everyday you carry out one life-enhancing task. One task to remind you that you’re spinning on a rock in space along with billions of others. You won’t need to buy anything special to carry out the tasks, except maybe seeds and a card or postcard, but you could forage the first and repurpose something as the second.
I’ve listed out the tasks that I’ll be doing and the days I intend to do them on, but some are weather (and mood) dependent, so if you’re joining me feel free to mix them up a little or substitute your own tasks.
They don’t require a lot of time, between 10-30 minutes at most, but don’t let that fool you into rushing them. It’s important to be fully present when doing them. Slow down before you start, pay attention to all of your senses and thoughts during them, and if you have time, reflect on them before getting on with the rest of your day.
Week 1
Jan 10: Set an intention or goal for the year and write it down somewhere. Think broadly, like being more joyful, more carefree, or more focused.
Jan 11: Like a cat, find yourself a sun spot and appreciate the sunshine. Enjoy in silence, or read, or listen to music or daydream.
Jan 12: Taste something new.
Jan 13: Read a poem out loud.
Jan 14: Take a walk, find a large tree and look up into its canopy.
Jan 15: Burn something – candles, campfire, barbecue, incense.
Jan 16: Spend some time reading a book you already own. Let go of any obligation to finish it. Just read for the pure pleasure and stop whenever that pleasure ceases.
Week 2
Jan 17: Wear something you haven’t worn in a long time; a garment, an accessory or some jewellery. Reminisce about where you bought it, who you were with and why you purchased it, or who gifted it to, when and where.
Jan 18: Stretch something – your mind, your body, your comfort zone
Jan 19: Dance with abandon to your favourite song – alone or with people
Jan 20: Finish something – a project, a drawing, a piece of writing, a pie.
Jan 21: Compliment someone – in person if you can.
Jan 22: Go the whole day (or however long you can) without checking social media and use some of the time to do something real like – sew, knit, bake, write a letter or phone a friend.
Jan 23: Create something in nature or from nature like footsteps in the snow, a stack of stones or a twig star
Week 3
Jan 24: Create an empty space somewhere, it could be part of a shelf or an entire storage unit. Admire the emptiness for a while before carefully choosing items to fill it back up.
Jan 25th: Listen to bird song.
Jan 26th: Learn a new fact or word, and share it with someone.
Jan 27: Fill your home with fragrance – a bunch of herbs, baked bread or ginger cookies, or a pot of freshly brewed coffee.
Jan 28: Listen to your favourite relaxing song with your eyes closed
Jan 29: Cook an old favourite – sweet or savoury. Dig out a cookbook you haven’t used in a while, or call a relative and ask how to make a childhood favourite.
Jan 30: Interact with an animal – play a game with your pet, greet a neighbours dog or cat, feed a robin from your hand
Week 4
Jan 31: Visit Window Swap and look out of a window somewhere else in the world
Feb 1: Suspend eating norms and eat whatever you like, whenever. Cake for breakfast! Breakfast for tea!
Feb 2: Write an encouraging postcard or note to your future self and put it somewhere where you won’t find it for a while: top of a shelf, in your deep stash, wherever.
Feb 3: Reminisce – take the time to look at an old photo or old video, or something you wrote a long time ago.
Feb 4: Find something you’ve lost, or reconnect with a friend you’ve lost touch with.
Feb 5: Do something nice for someone else.
Feb 6: Watch the clouds pass overhead
Week 4
Feb 7: Take 10 minutes to eat something small slowly. Examine it closely, smell it and then give yourself time to savour it.
Feb 8: Write an actual letter or card to someone and put it in the post.
Feb 9: Daydream day – describe your most perfect day.
Feb 10: Donate something – blood, clothes, money or a coffee for a homeless person
Feb 11: Take a walk near a body of water – sea, lake, river, pond, puddle! Watch ripples on it’s surface
Feb 12: Plant something – pea shoots from marrowfat peas, micro greens from broccoli or lettuce seeds, or sweetpeas to plant out in the spring.
Feb 13: Today is Randomly Special Day. You can have or use something (a particuar food, makeup, crockery, a pen, etc) you put away for a special occasion.
If you’ve any other suggestions for activities to do over I’d love to hear them in the comments below.
Also I’ll be posting photos from my own renewal on Facebook or Instagram so join me there and let me know how you’re getting on.
You’ve successfully celebrated the wee little saviour’s birth and now it’s time to sweep clean in preperation for the return to work or school. For us that mean undecorating the house and giving it a clean. Decorations will be safely packed away for reused next year (very sustainable) and our Christmas Tree will be disposed of as sustainably as possible. If you don’t know how to do that, read on, because in this article I’m going to run through the most sustainable ways to deal with Christmas trees, real and plastic, so you can start 2022 with a clear concience.
Nothing mentioned in this article has been sponsored. It’s all just my own personal opinion. If you like your sources to remain independent then please;
Plastic If your tree is plastic then the most sustainable option is to reuse it next year, and the year after and the year after that. If for some reason that’s not possible then rehome it to someone who will.
It goes without saying that if you’re thinking of buying a Christmas tree for next year then buy second-hand, and aim to get one that is the least likely to break.
Real For cut trees you want to ensure that they get reused, eated or composted, in that order.
Reused – You could put the tree out in your garden for local birds to perch on. It’s particularly useful near bird feeders as small birds need shelter when waiting their turn to access the feeders.
Similarly people with aviaries have been know to take Christmas trees for their birds to perch on, and in the past some Zoo’s took Christmas trees for their big cats to play with. You
You can also chip them in a shredder and use the chippings on natural pathways in a garden.
We convert the trunk of our Christmas trees into insect hotels by drilling holes down the length of it, and placing it vertically in a sunny, but sheltered spot.
I’ve also been told that the truck can be converted into beautiful coasters / trivets.
Some people like to use some of the pine needles to scent vinegar or other cleaning liquids to use in their home. Just steep the needles in your liquid of choice for a few weeks, strain and use as normal.
If you bought a potted tree then check to see if is a variety that will suit staying in a pot or one that needs to be planted out into the ground. If it’s the latter but you don’t have space in your own gardent then find a local landowner that might like it or try and donate it to a Christmas Tree farmer for them to resell next year.
If your potted tree will like living in a pot then locate it somewhere in your garden where it won’t dry out in the summer. It is a good idea to check if it needs to be potted on in the spring and if not at least give it a top dressing of ericacous compost to help feed it.
Before you bring any living plant back outside it’s important to ‘harden it off’, which involves bring it outside for a few hours a day over a week, slowly building up the amount of time it stays outside
Compost – Christmas trees are a valuable source of nutrients and minerals particularly for ericacous plants.
We cut the branches off our tree and put them in a designated compost bin (which I got free from a freecycle page), water them and leave them until next January. Then we need to add this year’s tree we spread the (slightly) decomposted mulch under our acid-loving plants to give them the minerals and PH level they love.
If you’ve the space you can leave the needles to compost over a few more years and make your own ericacous compost. Or if you don’t even have space for a compost bin you could just put the freshly cut branches directly under your acid-loving plants, making sure to keep them back from any stems in order to avoid causing rot.
Council Composting – Most local authorities offer a Christmas Tree drop off service the week after Christmas. Trees dropped off at designated points will be sent for composting in industrial facilities designed to compost organic material over a shorter time period. The resulting compost is sold back to the council and individual gardeners by the composting companies.
Whatever you do don’t leave on the side of the road to decompose. Outside of a compost heap this will take years and could be a traffic hazard on windy days.
Also don’t put real Christmas trees into your black bin. Any organic matter that goes to landfill is food for bacteria, which produces a potent green house gas called methane as they break it down. This gas is approximately 30 times more damaging than carbon dioxide when it comes to climate change so we need to avoid making it whenever we can.
In case you’re tempted to burn your Christmas tree, just remembers that burning something releases all of the carbon that was locked up in it, which contributes to the climate crisis. Also the sap in timber that isn’t dried out can coat your flue or chimney leading to chimeny fires. Of course if you’re allowing your Christmas tree to dry out fully before burning it, and in doing so you avoid using fossil fuels like oil, coal or gas it would be a sustainable option.
Every New Year I do a review of the previous 12 months. Just to get a sense of how far I’ve come and were I need to go. It also makes me feel better when my A type personality feels as if I’m not achieving enough.
Before we delve into that I want to give you a heads up on a little project I’m going to kickstart on Jan 10th, running until Valentines Day. I often find January and February challenging months mentally. Think it might be the grey Irish winter days. So this year, inspired by my friend Kalpana, I’m engaging in a series of simple daily actions to highlight the joy in life. I’m calling it The 2022 Renew and will post an article on it in the coming week.
Nothing mentioned in this article has been sponsored. It’s all just my own personal opinion. If you like your sources to remain independent then please;
Output This year I published 23 articles, 19 newsletters and 10 Product / Service reviews. Alongside this I continually update existing articles with new information or additonal brands.
I also contributed content for about 10 newspaper and online articles on sustainable living, was featured in 2 news articles, had 3 of my own articles published online and spoke on the radio 7 times.
I gave 22 sustainable living talks (can’t believe it was that many!), participated in 2 panel discussions on sustainability, delivered a module on sustainable cleaning for an educational start-up and facilitated an employee workshop.
Circular Design I was also delighted to be conferred with a First Class Masters in Product Design for the Circular Economy in November of 2021, a course I’d started in 2019.
As a result of my studies I launched a circular design consultanty, called the Circular Design Institute and now advise manufacturers on how best to prepare for the circular economy.
I was also thrilled to be made an honary member of the Irish Wood and Furniture Manufacturers Network, and asked to represent them on the Circular Economy Working Group of the European Furniture Industries Co-Federation. At our montly meetings we discuss upcoming low-carbon and circular legislation and developments in the industry.
My work involves constantly reading journals, reports and articles and attending webinars, talks and conferences. As a data geek, I adore being able to do this.
Podcast As well as being interviewed for an American podcast, Green Living Pod, I started a podcast with a former RTE producer and sustainable living advocate, Sarah Sheeran.
In each episode of our Green Gambit podcast, we challenge someone to live a little greener. From buying nothing new for a month to tackling food waste to making a business more climate friendly.
We follow our participants throughout their journey and get some experts on board to help along the way. We’re all about finding ways to live in a more sustainable way that are doable, practical and can fit in with a regular lifestyle.
Sarah’s working away on editing our second episode, which we hope to release in January.
Other less spectacular achievements but important to me none the less include
Avoiding all but one single-use coffee cup over the past 365 days, by either sitting in or using my own reusable cup
Avoiding all but one single-use water bottles over the year, by bringing my own reusable one.
Trying more vegan products, despite my issues with histamine intolerance
Having a vegan afternoon tea for my birthday
Switching to vegan butter for baking and vegan mayo
Highlighting eco stores I visit on my social media channels
Holidaying in two eco campsites this summer
Hiring cars from Yuko and Gocar in order to avoid buying a second car
Donating plastic bottle tops to the Precious Plastic campaign
Donating clean but flat duvets to a local toy maker
Donating designer clothes to a resale startup
Donating old make-up to a UK based start-up converting it into watercolour paints
Donating fabric to local seamstresses
Finishing a rug crocheted from worn out clothes
Switching to recycled cotton socks
Switching to reusable period pants
Finding a natural deodorant that works!
Buying organic cotton hand towels to replace our threadbare ones
Buying a second-hand soda stream, whose cannisters we refill locally
Buying a plant bell jar made locally from large upcycled food jars by a social enterprise
Growing pea shoots indoors over winter
Planting a new tree for my garden, bringing the grand total to 11
Installing a second water butt at the front of the house
Hosting two blue tits in our nest box, which was made locally by a young man
Buying compost bins made locally from Irish grown chemical-free timber
Avoiding the compulsion to ‘tidy up’ the garden this winter
Successfully encouraging native wild flowers to grow in our weedy lawn
Sharing seeds and plants with fellow gardeners
Volunteering with the local Grow It Yourself group
Switching to locally grown hay for our rescue guineas
Being interviewed by a student for a college documentary on sustainability, and another 2 for their theses
Sponsoring a seal with Seal Rescue Ireland
Planting trees for people instead of giving corporate gifts
Donating to charity instead of giving gifts to family
Contributing to government-funded food waste research
And then of course there are the things that we’ve been doing every year like
Rehoming lots, and lots and lots of stuff via Adverts.ie, Facebook Marketplace and local Freecycle groups
Rescuing multiple items from local skips, which this year included a bean bag chair, a huge lamp, plant pots and gardening tools
Repairing countless items to avoid replacing them, most notably the wall and fence between us and our neighbours
Prioritising package-free, locally grown and or organic food where possible
Continuing to choose borrowing or renting over purchase where possible
Continuing to search for things second-hand as a matter of routine, although more so online that in charity shops this year.
Prioritising long-lasting, infinitely recyclable or compostable, repairable products locally when we do have to buy new
A few of my eco efforts this year won’t be repeated including;
Making pesto from wild 3-corner leek grown in my own garden – Yuck!
Making meringue from Aquafaba. So hard to do and wasteful unless your family eat a lot of chickpeas!
Making date paste. I should have know better than to trust a recipe from Instagram! It was sweet and grainy and completely unpleasant
Plan for Next Year So thanks to my generous supporters this year I’m going to invest in some professional search engine optimisation (SEO) services, i.e. tweaks to get you higher up internet browser results. I’ve done a lot of work myself on this but it’s always great to see how far a professional can take it.
I also want to jazz up the format of the newsletter. Currently I’m stuck with what WordPress gives me but I’m looking into switching to something a little sexier for 2022!
On that note, I’ll sign off and wish you a wonderful start to the new year.
living lightly in ireland 