Two Years Of Pig Keeping...like house keeping... but more important, for more souls!

Aisling Hurley's photo of Becky and I - first visit!

I've had the pigs, Becky and Legend, for two years now and I can confidently recommend caring for animals above eating them. I have been vegan for about 16 years now, vegetarian before that and it is the only way to go for animal lovers who want to be consistent. Legend (the boar) says to me, every day, 'Do Something, Please' and that is what I intend to do.

I have an idea to create and take on a role of Minister for Animals in Europe. I have friends that might be better prepared, better speakers but they don't want the job. All I know is that it should not be the same people who govern the animal industries (food, pharmaceutical testing, animal agriculture, fashion, transport, bloodsports) that represent the animals in those industries. It is a massive CONFLICT OF INTERESTS. It is obvious to me, the animals need someone there at policy level that isn't benefiting from the sale of their flesh, fluids and hides. We can all do something; I probably don't need to spell out what that is!!

This is Becky, taken yesterday, after a few weeks of important work, preparing a whole area for 2018 crops

Romantic Lighting for them and plenty of straw at night

Photo by Selina Gittins, Eclectic Interiors

Photo Credit: Cody Buckalew Photography

If we don't clear the karma, we inevitably recreate the events

Karma = Owning the choices you make

I have remembered something else important about Karma and learnt something new about it too, since my last post. I learnt that it was the Buddha who came to a new understanding of karma. This conclusion was that every man and woman, rich or poor, had the daily opportunity to make moral choices and therefore could take responsibility for creating their own karma. Prior to this, karma was considered a ritual practice carried out by scholarly men with incredible knowledge (they could chant from the scriptures word for word for 3 or 4 hours!) who would be summoned to deal with all matters and transitions of spiritual importance - such as births, deaths and marriages!

Who Will Oversee The Profound Transitions We All Must Make?

I was at a funeral the other day and heard that the priest had visited the man and his family daily for a week before he died. I suddenly thought, who is going to do this for our generation? People signing up for the church and are very few and far between. Who will 'do the honours' next, I asked myself. Or will people just get a perfunctory send off, with no word about the meaning of life and the soul and where it goes? I know myself and one or two others who can hold a space for the soul journey, when incarnated and after death but I don't think there are many of us.

And we don't get paid like the church do, which means that not many people will take it up as a job. I have come to think that pomp work has very little going for it. In fact, in a film last night, the heroine said "the more you care, the more the world throws at you to make you suffer for it". I am hoping beyond hope that people will, like the buddhists, take up the reins on their own soul journey so that they are living on purpose, accruing good karma and dying with dignity and without fear when the time comes.

Energy Clearing, Like I do, To Clear the Karmic Burden

One reason why I have been so interested in everyone else's life and health is that I really believe we are all inextricably connected. Therefore, with so many subdued, mentally and unwell, physically, I decided fifteen years ago to help as many as possible and lighten the wider karmic load!

That is why this card starts with: What you heal for yourself, you heal for the whole world. There is a web of life (Yes, just as it says in the Lion King!) and I feel we need to keep the intentional actions, cultivated, creative thoughts and good vibrations going (Yes, just like the Beach Boys sing about). Compassionate behaviour, where you are sparing a thought for the impact of your actions, resonates out far and wide and benefits the whole planet and its atmosphere.

Has The World Got As Destructive As It Is Now, Before?

 At this point in history it looks like a very dark time. As Freya Lawton, of The Peace Intention pointed out; in the past it was incidents like 9/11 that seemed to happen like abhorrations in an otherwise benevolent society. Download a Free Copy of The Peace Intention Handbook that guides to healing through intention and compassion Now the attacks are the norm, the daily news and you have to look harder for the good. Some people believe we are reaching a crisis, similar to that when we lost ancient civilizations, like the Egyptians who built the pyramids and the Incas who built Macchu Pichu in Peru.

 Destruction Leaves A Residue of Karma

Although we do not know much about Atlantis, it is understood to have been lost under the ocean, following a time of great destructive violence. That far, there is a parallel in that we are facing another chaotic time where the sea levels are rising. This crisis too has been preceded by dark times of war and greed. Every part of history has repercussions and that time of the peaceful society of Atlantis being wiped out, left massive amounts of karma. There are however crystals that can help in clearing it. Why clear it? If we don't clear the karma, we inevitably recreate the events. And we don't want that, do we? Sometimes though, I wonder whether people think forwards to what sort of polluted, inhospitable land we might be leaving for children to manage later.

Can We Think Beyond Our Own Lives and Issues To Those Of Others?

People like to defend their own grievances. I noticed, growing up, that chat shows like Oprah, Gerry Springer and Kilroy were going on. I was always amazed that they never asked any guests, or audiences, to consider a subject other than their own. Parents debated heatedly about parenting, sick people about the health service and so on. They were never asked to apply themselves to anyone else's difficulty, display even basic empathy or brain storm for solutions.

Angel Cards by Healing by Franc - Hard to believe but this whole post is about just one card!

The message of this card is about searching around for guides and tools to help humanity in it's current predicament. Even if you don't know where to start, just reflecting on how others are doing - far and near - will lead to different choices, less anxiety and more generosity and empathy. And yes, you know that I mean not just other people but other animals and living things in total, like plants and fish and water and air particles. We have got to look after this place!

At the end of the card message,  it reads:

"As you laugh, as you cry, you are transmuting karma. It is like the sun and the rain, do not take it personally."

I believe that if you allow yourself to care you become a channel for energy and love...Yes a little anger and grief can trip you up sometimes but even then you are becoming an opening, a softening of the karmic chains, through which blips and other more significant shifts and changes can happen. Sure, we might even save the planet or expose those who would have us in those chains...or both!

If you would like to buy a pack of the Limited Edition Angel Cards, please see www.healingbyfranc.com

How Water Relates to World Conflict - Talk by Ellen Teague

What are the Causes of Water Stress

1. Reduced amount of water available

Of all the Earth's water, only 3% is fresh water. The other 97% is salt water and although there are some desalination plants, we do not have very effective methods of taking the salt out and making it suitable for drinking.
783 million people do not have access to fresh water.
750,000 new people entered Bangledesh in the last month, fleeing war. Bangledesh is a country that already has a great shortage.
10,000 people in Chad, in Africa, relied on Lake Chad for drinking water but now the lake has gone. There are parellel stories on every continent.  

2. Dirty Water - pollution

Fukashima nuclear power plant, in Japan, is still leaking radiation into the sea and has travelled as far as California and all around the world, contaminating and endangering life.
Water carrying bacteria. Over 60 million people are currently refugees in places with no infrastructure. This means there are water borne problems, like 500,000 with cholera in the Yemen.
Much of this human insecurity is caused by drought where people have had to move away from their homes for environmental reasons.

3. Disasters - flooding

Sometimes there is masses of water but it all arrives at once and is destructive in its force. Flooding in Fiji is one example of this.There was a heavy South West monsoon season in South Asia, causing flooding in Sri Lanka and 1200 killed in Mumbai flooding. There were floods and hailstorms in America and closer to home too.

4. Rights to Water

Peter Brabeck, Nestle's Chairman infamously stated that human beings don't have a right to water. They should buy it like everything else. Suggesting that water should be privatized would be the right approach to the water crisis!
In a tense region in Mexico, Coca Cola bought the water supply ... and made Coke with it. For their advertizing campaign, they made the Mexican people pose, in traditional dress, for the new Coca Cola billboards, looking happy and drinking Coke. Eventually the people won back their right to fresh water. It is thought that the 'water footprint' of a 2 litre bottle of Coke is 132 gallons of water needed. However, their factories have been known to pollute and reduce whole water sources. Ethical Consumer: 70% of fresh water is used in food production and this is how the food industry is managing the risks

5. Military Contamination

Wars and even the testing of weapons has caused land degredation. There are contaminated, toxic remnants.
In Iraq, our weapons have left depleted uranium that has poisoned everything.
We saw photos of a rally outside Downing Street. The posters said, It's A Mess, Clean It Up. In Iraq, birth defects are now commonplace as a result.
What can we do? We can be less tolerant of conflicts and weapons.  

6. Money

 A crisis of priorities - NHS versus TridentAs many have said: Climate not Trident.
The replacement nuclear submarine, Trident, has cost 100 billion pounds. It has been questioned as to whether it was good use of money. This is especially in contrast to the NHS or homes or the countless other social areas that need funding.It was questioned if it is a deterrent when the main threats are smaller less visible units.

Water Use In Mining
Mining and other extractive Industries
To extract gold, mercury (2nd most poisonous substance in the world) is used and it runs off into the ground water.
To extract gas, millions of litres of fresh water and chemical solution are pumped down holes to flush the gas up. All nearby aquifers/ground water and coastal areas are contaminated.

The Greed of Corporations, Industries and Economies.
Virtual Water: This is the water that is used in the manufacture of other things; comparing
25l litres of water used to grow 300g potatoes
versus
1440 litres for 300g of pork  

2,400 litres of water to make one beefburger.
Several hundred litres of water to make one litre of milk.
Several hundred litres of water to make one pint of beer.

7. Lack of Awareness or Mindful Use of Water by Individuals

We can notice how the media rarely links environmental problems with conflict and how rarely it links our consumption of animal products with water contamination and shortage.
We can get less ignorant of the water cycle. This detachment has happened as 50% of the world's population are urbanized.
Also priority is given to addressing short term issues/emergencies rather than taking a longer view or coming up with a strategy to protect access to and the quality of our water.

Integral Ecology - Connection between poverty, water etc.

8. Governments

UK: We need to be less complacent about the immorality of the Excel Arms Fair. Arms sales are immoral surely to Saudi Arabia, who are using them to bomb the helpless people of the Yemen. On the one hand the government announces cuts to social services, it mentions a further quarter of a billion to nuclear weapons.

Bolivia: Public water was taken over by a private company who improved access to water in shanti towns by increasing taps but they immediately put the price up, ten fold. There were demonstrations and unrest and the new contractors were forced out again.

Israel: The 20ft city walls that Israel has built cut off the water supply to the Palestinian areas of the city and divert water to Israel's irrigation.

In Korea, Pax Christi and others have maintained a presence at a site for a planned military base, in Korea, which held pristine water. The military base was built nonetheless but the demonstration is ongoing. They were concerned about the building but they are still concerned  as the base makes it a target for other countries to attack.
 
Syrian Conflict: The war in Syria was preceded by 10 years of drought. This led to youth unrest and then on to civil war.

From Ethiopa to Egypt They Rely on The Nile For Water
The president of Egypt made a statement "The Only matter that could ake Egypt to war again in water." What he referred to was Ethiopia threatening to make a dam and divert water to other areas rather than continue down towards Egypt.

Worldwide: Governments are offering military protection to environmentally damaging corporations. Conflict of the laying of the Dakota Access Pipe Line (DAPL) where the indigenous people of Standing Rock tried to block the pipeline, as it crosses waterways in more than 200 places and several areas sacred to their culture.  They argued both that the lands belonged to them and were preserved and that the risk of leaks and pollution to watercourses was too high. The policing of the site was heavy handed and there was much violence and injury to protestors, including loss of limbs. The US, Ireland (Shell) and Nigeria (Shell), England (Gas), the Congo and many other countries are totally militarized to give access to mineral wealth.

9. Desertification

There is a pattern of desertification: Land going from forested to desert. There is then the pattern of drought leading to conflict. We saw pictures of even as long ago as 1986 in Sudan, where there were  hundreds of people sitting in queues continually, for water and food. There were no shrubs or trees for shade, as far as the eyes could see.

11. Overpumping of Aquifers

Aquifers are so depleted in Bejing that the city has started to sink. It can be understood as
5% of the world's population live in East Asia but they have only 1% of the world's water.
In England, each person uses an average of 55 gallons.

 Ways to Confront the link between conflict and water

Support anti-nuclear Initiatives and support Non-Violence Initiatives, like Pax Christi's.

Although there were many differences for the Interfaith Conference to work through, including blasphemy, the problems of water that faced people of all faiths united them, by concerning them jointly.

Further Problems

Local Communities do not have control of their own resources
Environmental Activism is a very dangerous activity to be involved in.
There have been some heroines.
An activist, Berta Gicarris, defending Honduras from a dam that would have cut off water to thousands of people downstream was murdered in the last couple of years. There is a woman who has succeeded in starting the Greenbelt movement in Kenya and has instigated the planting of 10 million trees. This is a powerful way to correct the balance and bring back water to streams and aquifers. Trees attract rain. This shows another problem of the deforestation for crops and grazing. They all lead to desertification.
The failure to value water has been central to the problem as has the neglect of justice for Future Generations. 
Women, 2 million Palestinian and Israeli women, have been marching for peace and shared resources in the most unlikely and war-torn place - their border.

Other Signs of Hope

Two million people signed a petition to President Hollande supporting the need to reach an agreement at the Paris Climate Summit.
People are starting to be aware of their own use of water:
Saving Rainwater
Turning off water and not wasting it
Turning to a plant-based diet.
There are 'conserving water' awards
Churches and Schools are turning 'eco'
with some even calling for an 'Ecological Conversion'; for people to see the destruction of water and forests as 'evil'.
The Vatican is trying to work on an interfaith level and his most recent report was dedicated to the preservation of the environment and stopping climate change.
Universities and others are being asked to divest from fossil fuels.
There's a UN World Water Day, The Campain Against Arms Trade and Flobal Justic now, there's supportive educative media, appreciating the natural world. The new David Attenborough series Blue Planet 2 is coming out soon and he is likely to concentrate on 'looking thy last on all things lovely' rather than flag up too starkly that we are facing the largest amount of extinctions ever and the fact that there is already more plastic in the sea than there are fish. However, Attenborough was faced with a question in St paul's Cathedral that spoke volumes. He was asked 'Why do we need all these different species?' He was so irritated he shut it down but it just goes to show the ignorance of people in regard to biodiversity and the connection of all life on the planet. 

We are all invited to One World Week

What is Karma? Alternative Health Cards by Frances Micklem

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When you get the card with the painting of Abundancia the Goddess on it, it is time to explore karma. I could only fit a sentence or two on the back of the cards and I realized, later, that each one is a call to action that probably involves whole concepts that it took me years to get my head around. This one refers to concepts such as the multi-dimensional reality, the transmutation of karma, the development of your intuition and mental freedom from old patterns. 

The wisdom on this card offers a massive step in the direction of self mastery. If you put the work in and apply the following understandings your life will transform from a helpless unfolding of events to a conscious creation of a life of meaning, value and purpose. 

What is Karma?

Karma is experienced as recurring tests and problems in life. It exists and operates in your unconscious and keeps a person on a loop of inevitable repetition. 

What Causes Karma?

Karma is caused by ealier choices and actions, sometimes as far back as previous lifetimes. Some people see karma as a punishment but some will also have experienced 'good karma', where a good deed is quickly followed by some luck. 

Identification is When You Think That Something That Happens To You Is Who You Are

Karma is very powerful not least because it is an unconscious dynamic, driving you to walk into the same dangers over and over again. The first thing to do is to recognize and accept that you have these dynamics. Then you will become less identified with them. Identification with your karma can be seen in the statements. ‘I am just very unlucky’ ‘I have a weakness in my legs’  Any negative statement beginning with ‘I am’ ‘I have’ or ‘I always’ are indicators both of karma and that you have become identified with your karma.

Way To Deal With Karma

It is absolutely crucial to clear your karma and be systematic in recognizing its appearance. As karma is unconscious, consciousness is the means to clear it. Paying one’s karmic debt could take lifetimes. In some cultures, when they see someone suffering, they will not intervene as it is seen as the person’s opportunity to pay their debt. To transcend one’s karma requires a person to lead a completely spiritually–directed life. You have to rise above the mundane world, where the karma plays out, and achieve a relative safety by staying removed from the messy reality of relationships and other worldly participation. It can be done though, through meditation, ritual and chanting. For me, that has felt like a blocking out of information, as I was taught to always turn towards difficult information and face it directly, rather than get away from it. My method transmutes karma. 

Examples of Karmic Patterns

For one client, they had broken the same ankle/lower leg 3 times, nearly on a yearly basis. For me, I noticed karma around cars. I would think I was making a new choice but continually buy an old car that was slightly off-the-road and that no one else would touch with a barge pole! Furthermore, I would routinely have punctures and accidents involving the road-edge, rear wheel. This went as far as running over a beloved dog in very slow motion. Another time, the whole axel and wheel broke off in that quadrant. 

Using A Pendulum To Transmute Karma

When you have noticed a recurring pattern, you can hold a pendulum aloft and start it spinning gently in a clockwise direction. Out loud, or in your head, set the intention: Please clear the karmic relationship I have with...

When the pendulum slows, other aspects might have occurred to you and you can set the pendulum off again to clear those. You might also have a phsyical response like a yawn or partial yawn or a twinge in the part of your body where problems have often shown themselves.

If you have had one of those only partial yawns where you begin but don't get a full inhalation, or even if you get no sensations or thoughts as the pendulum swings and then slows to a standstill, still there is more work to do. Maybe frame the next question as: Please transmute any further karma. The intention to hold, when you set the pendulum off this time, is one of self forgiveness. You may find that you have a heavier conscience that you thought and this is a chance to acknowledge mistakes and let them go.  

It is when you are clearing using the pendulum that you are developing your intuition. You can see the karma as an intractable, painful entrapment but you are starting to see ways through it. These are little glimmers of light, thoughts like: Today I have acknowledged the past and realize that it does not need to define my future. It comes later that our intuition and awareness are actually at work: You find yourself facing a decision and you get a flash of perspective and you realize you have several choices not just the one you have made before.

I described karma as being 4th dimension. There is a fifth dimension and sixth and seventh. These are lighter and lighter than the density of the elements and our familiar 3D experience. 

The deal is that you can only make real change, fully heal, actually grow and come to love freely and welcome abundance comfortably, once you are cleared your karma. Before that, you are pinned under an invisible ceiling of habitual, defeated routine both mentally and physically.

That's okay if you always fall on your feet. But either way, it's always worth doing a focused clearing of your karma. It may well be why you came. By this I mean, why you incarnated. I slightly feel that we are here to make amends. 

Another way of looking at karma is the expression ‘What goes around comes around’ so it is also a way of looking at your participation in each scenario. Once you have moved from completely unconscious to completely conscious, it is empowering as you see what massive an impact you have. From helpless victim of circumstance to a life of conscious creator of reality.

The message came to me, for this card, in a certain tense though. It suggests that you are already on to this important mission. You have been breaking free of those unconscious patterns for some time and so I'm hoping this bit of elaboration and clarity will just enhance the process.

All in all, thanks! You are doing a good job!    

Full set of Angel Cards available on www.alternativehealthconsultancy.com

"We are eating our Plastic Waste and It is Toxic"

Talk on Reducing our Use of Plastic 

This information was taken from Becs Gill's talk for the Women's Institute, who made Reducing Plastic their Cause for 2017.
She undertook the Marine Conservation Society Plastic Challenge
Her original degree was in Marine Biology and is also well known from the Gardening Club - Growing our own vegetables and fruit being a very good way to avoid the packaging of supermarkets!

Questions

She asked at the outset:
What does your MP or TD think about conservation? Is it on their priorities list?
She asked at the end:
What changes will we make, to reduce our use of plastic and support projects globally?

The Marine Conservation Society run 'The Plastic Challenge' which asks that you give up 'single use' plastic for a month. What does 'single use plastic' include? All packaging that can't be reused, for starters!

Litter Picking Abroad

A trip had turned into a litter picking holiday for all the famly, there was witnessed and photographed extensive littering on the beaches and in the lay-bys of Sardinia, Sicily, Jakata, Norway and also closer to home, at Didcot train station. It was pointed out that no one place is better than another. As we looked at a devastating picture of Norway, it was asked; Do you really think it was the Norwegians who left all that litter on their shores? Absolutely not. It is washed up after storms and completely covers the coast, not just occasional items. The UK and Ireland are not visibly a total disaster yet but that is only because we are lucky with the ocean's currents, around the islands.

The wide river and estuary, in Jakata, provides the drinking water for 14 million people. Water was not visible anywhere, in the picture, under the thick pile of rubbish (and remember that plastic is oil-based and once will have contained food, so the bacteria must be even more rife.

Ocean Plastic Pollution

The problem, then the challenge were looked at, in order to balance the horror of the extent of the problem and the challenge that we are presented with to reverse it. Litter has increased 135% since 1984. Plastic use has increased 180% since 1984.

 A photo was shown of the Great pacific 'Garbage Patch'. It is 6 times the size of the UK, possibly even the size of North America. It is so thick that a person can walk on it.

Drinking Water Plastic Pollution

83% of all tap water is polluted with plastic. 'We are eating our plastic waste and it is toxic'. 90% of us have plastic in our stomachs.

Biodegradable? Recyclable?

Worldwide, only about 7% of plastic is recycled.
Exposed to air, water, light and heat, plastic does break down but it never biodegrades. The very small particles are still plastic. Micro plastics are known as 'mermaid's tears'. It takes 450-1000 years for plastic to degrade. 8 million tons are dumped in the ocean each year.

The Affect On Marine Life

At least one in three marine species are affected. They mistake the plastic bags for jelly fish and eat them. Fish mistake plastics for food as they still smell like the food that was packaged in it.

The Plastic Challenge - Buy nothing wrapped in plastic for one month!

Do we just need to make better choices? No, it is more than that. Having explored alternatives to plastic-packaged items, it was found that you might have to abstain from some foods as it is impossible to find them without packaging; like berries for example.

Easy Wins - Easy changes To Make

There are certain things you can do, without too much hassle.
1. Use soap and not liquid soap
2. Grate the soap to make soap flakes for washing clothes
3. Buy glass bottles not plastic
4. Make your own bread
5. Use reusable bags, containers, mugs and bottles
And, brilliantly, toilet paper.
6. Wrapped in paper, like Andrex used to be, the company is called 'Who Gives A Crap'
and they will send you a box. Who Gives A Crap Website

7. Self Scan in supermarkets, rather than going to a scanned check out.
This provides times to
a) bring your own veg bags and weigh the veg - without feeling like a loon
b) choose not to have something- without feeling like an indecisive loon
c) leave your packaging behind after you've paid - to feel like an activist and push for the shop to sort out the plastic excess themselves, short term and...if we all did it...probably long term, they would deal with it.
The things you might choose not to have, on further consideration, might include convenience foods, magazines with lots of plastic tat on the cover. You might choose apples over berries and you might buy a longer-term razor rather than endless disposable ones.

Not so easy changes

Plastic-free Feminine Hygiene

(It's always uncomfortable to talk about femine hygiene products but I have been determined to, since I discovered that all the Always and Tampax (only two brands available in Ireland and UK supermarkets) use non organic cotton and therefore riddled with glyphosate. And... they are tested on animals. I mean really, where will it end...apart from in tears.
So Cheeky Wipes are the way to go, I gather. Sanitory towels are made from bamboo. I think the answer is to order some versions and try them. No big commitment to start with but a lifetime of savings, better health and much reduced waste.

Grow Your Own Food

If you grow your own food, you'll avoid plastic that way. (I would add to also really avoid bagged salad. They say that over a third of it is wasted every time, probably because it sweats. Bring back paper bags).

Make your own sweets and treats

So much nicer and actually nearly all sweets are now wrapped in plastic. Even kitkats that never were in the past!

Change some habits altogether

 For example, look around for new foods. A product called Ebly wheat had been found that comes in a cardboard box, like a cereal. Pasta was nearly impossible to find except sealed in plastic bags, so a change can be made to lasagne. Lasagne sheets are still sold in cardboard packets.

Make your own tofu, vegan cheese, yoghurts and icecream (I just veganized that suggestion as the last thing I want to do is promote dairy or any animal use).

Successes of The Undertaken Challenge

£300 was raised
Changed habits
Got people thinking
Replaced all chemical cleaning products
Litter Picking became a mild and beneficial obsession within the family!!

Current Situation

275,000 tonnes are used in the UK per year
45kg are thrown away per person, into the landfill.
Only one third is sent for recycling

8% of the world's oil is used to make plastic
That includes 4% in the plastic materials and 4% in the energy to manufacture the plastic.

The familiar recommendations are therefore reversed:

REDUCE, then reuse and only then recycle.

(This is even more pertinent now that China is trying to clean up it's air and has stopped the UK exporting 50% of its plastic)

Trying to round up the talk on a positive note, which was another challenge again:

Positive Actions Taken World-Wide To Stop The Plastic Pollution

1. Kenya has introduced the toughest laws to stop companies from producing and using plastic, including 4 years in jail or a 40,000 dollar fine. Ethiopa too.

2. France has banned plastic cups, cutlery  and plates. Some free trade groups have argued that this was against the law as presumably they want to sell whatever they want, however destructive.

3. Morocco banned plastic a year ago and 450 tons have been seized already.

4. Scotland has proposed a scheme for returning cans and bottles. It would be brilliant to see that in Ireland, England and Wales too.

Resources To Support A Reduction in Our Individual Use of Plastic

There are resources for making changes www.mcsuk.com - The Joy Of Living Without Plastic - A practical guide - This is a blog spanning a heroic year done, plastic-free.

 Life Without Plastic is another site. Life Without Plastic - Blog and Store

Instead of toothpaste you can get an equivalent from Lush. Lush have loads of natural ingredient, unwrapped soaps and an ingenious range called Naked that exist without packaging at all.
Airmid are based in Ireland. Although both are ethically sourced and no animal testing, hardly any of each are vegan so serious research was necessary! I bought Airmid's shampoo bar and Lush's; 9 to 5 cleanser, their Charity Pot lotion (all profits go to charities), the lip tint, the solid perfume, a block of roll-on glitter of different shades (don't ask me why but I just liked the look of it), Aromaco Deodorant and Magical Moringa ... so all those are vegan (so no animal ingredients like even honey or beeswax, for definite!)

Airmid Shampoo Cardboard Packagin and Glitter Block

Request a Plastic Free Aisle and LEAVE YOUR PACKAGING AT THE SHOP!

We can also mention every time we go into a supermarket, that we would like to have a 'plastic-free aisle'. That sounds like a great plan!

Awareness, is it rising or isolated?

It was considered, at the end, whether we are on the edge of something? Like a real sea-change (pardon the pun).

Yes, there is greater awareness but it is down to where you put your attention; exploring plastic-free options, on line, was immediately met with countless ads and articles about plastic pollution. (My mother, on the other hand was sent ads and articles on embroidery. I, as another, am sent a multitude of information about the plight of animals. So, there is a risk that the information is not being presented in a general way. 

Artificial intelligence organizes it so that there is a 'preaching to the converted' and a complete disillusionment for some as they are sent the extent of the problem they have taken an interest in, while all their neighbours remain none the wiser...

We are each being sold and sent completely different information.

Plastic and Micro Plastic is Carcinogenic

And is plastic carcinogenic? Yes, most plastics are cancer-causing. We've all heard of BPAs. But they are in every level of the food chain. Now digested in plankton and...brace yourselves...tea bags are coated in plastic. Plastic-coated tea bags made with plastic-polluted drinking water. No wonder one in twenty people have cancer. Which plastics are most dangerous - Ty Bollinger

My own thoughts on the matter:

Start Your Challenge With A Proper Cup Of Tea

What to do first then? Get a serious water filter and get organic tea bags or loose leaved tea. Wait not a moment longer. One recommended to me was Nikken. The filter is £215 and shipping charge to Ireland is £16.50. This link might take you to their website!

I went to this talk as my first Women's Institute meeting and ON MY BIRTHDAY! Obviously, I had loads of invites to other parties and celebrations but I choose this! It was great and life-changing!! 

Dodging the surveillance and poisons of Irish Society

Irish Data Law amounts to Mass Surveillance says Irish Times 

As we are subjected to mass surveillance and mass poisoning by the food, technological and pharmaceutical industries, it may be time to take matters into our own hands.

For me that means leaving all electrical items outside the room I sleep in, getting up early before the madness kicks in and doing a half hour of meditation, half an hour of stretching and an hour of writing - setting your own agenda for what to write about.

The book The Artist's Way says to follow a stream of consciousness or vent your unconscious anxieties. Stephen King got 2000 words done every morning and I think he has had 50 of his books made into films!I Sometimes I'm creative and sometimes I write a letter to an editor somewhere about compassion, peace or justice and see if they'll print it. I gather that they want pieces approximately 38 words long!! Sound bites I suppose. I am not a woman of few words though, so I may struggle to fit their criteria any time soon!!

Then there's surveillance, cover the camera on your laptop as I gather even Facebook is reading your mood and matching it. If you think how dead pan one is, in front of a screen, they're literally bound to send you more depressing stuff!

And don't get me started on food. Eat at least 50% raw - fruit, nuts, salads, julienned vegetables. Put a dressing on. Wash the chemicals and coatings off everything, using something astringent (ike vinegar) or peel it. Only eat the peel of organic produce as that has some of the nutrients in it, none of the toxins and must have been left to ripen naturally, not gassed in some warehouse.

Keep everything plant-based. Where L'oreal says Because You're Worth It!! I would say none of us are worth it, even put together. I feel you have to contribute consciously and with consideration to be worth it. Until then, we cannot justify 'farming' other anialmals.It is not a given that a human life is worth more than a cow's, calf, pig, sheep, lamb or chicken's. I'm glad I brought upt L'oreal. They test their products on thousands of animals, including toxicity test which involves increasing amounts of a substance until it causes blindness, death etc.

Learn how to clear your energy, so you don't get bogged down by external matters, you will always have a point of reference. It might be tricky to achieve but don't spend too much time in built up areas. Going from Harmony Hall, to Dublin, to Valentia, to Dubin, to London, to a Cul de Sac in Suffolk and then Oxford and out into the sticks...my senses have woken up to differences in water and air quality. Take none of it for granted, particularly your own health and your mental health! Also be happy. As the Desiderata says, 'even with the aridity and disenchantment, it is still a beautiful world' oh yes and 'go placidly amidst the noise and the haste and remember what peace there may be in silence' infact, I know the whole thing so I had better stop there!!