Lighten Your Footprint

Be kind to Earth

Village belonging to M.O.D. near me. Photo: author

Lately, I have been fearing what will become of Putin’s blood thirsty attack on Ukraine. I have made my protest but I can also lighten my tread on the Earth. It won’t save lives, sadly, but might mitigate the carbon released. Here are my ideas.

• Don’t upgrade your phone just because you can. Mine is second hand, with a sim only contract. Keep the phone you have.
• You don’t need to wash your clothes after wearing them once. (I don’t mean underclothes.)
• Only use the washer when it is full.
• I buy second hand clothes. I look good. No one knows.
• Don’t water your garden every day. In high summer a good water every other day in the cool of evening is enough.
• Use white vinegar to clean your home.
• Stop using paper napkins.
• Mend your clothes.
• Reuse, repurpose and recycle.
• Walk and cycle or use public transport whenever you can.
• Never use plastic grass
• Sow wild flower seeds
• Plant a tree
• Don’t leave electrical goods on ‘standby’. Switch them off.
• Don’t leave lights on unnecessarily.
• Enjoy dusk a little before turning the lights on.
• Don’t use the dryer
• Boil water in the kettle rather than the pan.
• Always use a lid on your pan.
• Don’t let flames lick the sides of your pans.
• Turn the shower off while you shampoo your hair.
• Take a shorter shower.
• If you have children, they will not notice less water in the bath if you use bubble bath.

There are so many ways to be kind to the Earth. You can leave more ideas in comments.

Sounds…

• Sounds affect our lives whether we realise it or not. We may not notice or attribute the effect of sound, until we have a problem.
• We notice sounds that give us a flight or fright reaction, for example, the breaking of a plate or glass, the screaming of a child, a siren. These all cause a flooding of adrenalin which enables us to respond.

Other sounds may pollute our environment or space with less noticeable effects but they all affect us on some way.

We all tend to agree that the sound of waves at the shore is peaceful and soothing. Even if classical music is not our taste, there few pieces that make our heart rates increase, or give us headaches. We tend to like birdsong, flowing streams, the wind among trees, lullabies, and, generally, human voices.

When my daughter was born, I made a low, hum sort of sound whenever I picked her up, fed her, bathed her etc. It was a sound that she associated with love and safety. When she began to cry, I would make this sound and her crying would stop almost immediately. I used this sound whenever she was upset all through her life. A few years ago, I asked her what it made her feel. She said a warm sensation, a feeling of comfort. That had been my intention when she was born.

There are sounds we hear everyday that damage our bodies. We are matter. That means that our bodies vibrate, as all matter vibrates. Sound is caused by the vibration of matter too. Drills, tractors, sirens, traffic, alarms, smoke alarms all affect us on a regular basis. If we work in a noisy environment, those sounds may be destroying cells in our body without us realising it. Some work places provide ear mufflers, but those don’t protect passers-by.

So, for me, high pitched sounds, like my neighbour’s wind chimes, dentist drills, and anything whiney is destructive. Partly because I have PTSD from having open brain surgeries. (PTSD and sound is a whole other subject.) I also know that pneumatic drills, and some synthesised music is detrimental to me.

If you get headaches, unaccountable irritability, run down, or any other symptoms that affect your life, make a note of sounds you hear regularly or around that time, and then see how you can avoid them by changing the route you walk, or changing a place you regularly drink coffee, or changing your job.

You can find an app. for your phone named Healing Sounds, or Ocean Waves. These repair damage to our bodies. Better still is plenty of walks in woods, by the sea, or a river or streams.

Life is good…

• 

A weekend has gone by since my last blog post. I spent Saturday wandering the High St which had a festive feel with music playing and some stalls looking for volunteers. I chatted with a young woman who represented a local environmental movement and discovered I already do what they do. I guess they just need more people doing it. If only more people took care of the environment.

Yesterday I spent time resting and eating. The weather was grey and windy which kind of affected me, but then I realised I was tired after I slept for 3 hours.

My breathing has been really good. I feel well, I feel good. My doctor prescribed a medicine which they mostly use with children with Asthma, and has had good results with adults too. It seems to be working for me. I’m thankful for my doctor because he has been proactive. Our children were at school together so I’ve known him a while. I thought it might be awkward having him as my GP but it hasn’t been at all.

I’ve been helping my friend plant her garden and we have laughed a lot. I like to feel useful.