Hatchimals are some seriously f*cked up stuff! Now I'm not going to dwell on this except to ask: Why do we need to create fake nature and fake nurturing opportunities for kids to feel connected and loving? OK so we've been doing it for some time... there has been all kinds of weird stuff designed to entertain kids and sure, I'd rather kids used their brief attention spans on nurturing a toy than a puppy that would end up on the street, but still, are there really no opportuni

UPDATED April 2019 New Recipes: Toothpaste, Deodorant, Soap, Shampoo & Conditioner, Laundry Powder & more... Note: I have added links to a few trusted local (to Turkey) makers and suppliers of good quality ecological products. I am not affiliated with them and I'm not getting a commission or such from them. To combat the horrendous problem of plastic waste we have to approach it from three points. The 1st point is at the production and design stage, but sadly the corporations

Your Invitation to our Clean Up Event - Şile. 5 May 2018 So far Turkey has been slow to pick up on the international improvement regarding single use plastic and how litter is recycled or disposed. Some municipalities have local success and some, like Şile are struggling. The efforts of the municipality itself need some scrutiny to see where improvement can be made in areas such as the location and visibility of bins, availability of recycling bins and the design and use of p

The story of nature and nurture continues like an undercurrent....the irrevocable connection that makes us a part of the evolving story of this planet. Spring feels like the start of something. It tricks us with intermittent flurries of snow and days of grey, but gives rise to the yearning for summer’s nonchalant arrival. Spring is taut anticipation of the emergence of new from the old and warmth from the cold. Many of us identify the seasonal changes with transition in our l

Make Valentine's day special without the trash and the crass! OMG, it's Valentine's day tomorrow, I almost missed it! In our house we do 'romantic' everyday so Valentine's is redundant ... well... ok.. so maybe it's not exactly romance that we do, but it works for us, having said that there are never too many days of the year that we can show off our hearts to our beloved. So here are a few odd ideas that might mean you are less of a pollutant and hazard to the future of huma

Some of our most fundamental daily habits need changing is we want the world to be able to sustain us.. Those who know me can testify that there's not much that can get between me and my tea. It's a 5 mugs a day addiction, I won't leave the house before having one and NO! I won't give up on having milk in it! Having lived almost 30 years here in Turkey (1) and still managing to maintain this quintessential British idiosyncrasy I feel I have proven my stance on this one. Howev

Milk is important to me, I drink it in my tea. That's about it, but then, that's a good enough reason to make a whole post about it! I also use milk in cakes, corn bread, bechemal sauce for lasagna and to make yogurt and labne. My youngest drinks it straight and we are also keen on cheese. I'm on the hunt now for a happy cow that eats the local vegetation and is not exploited, when I find her my milk supply will be one that makes me happy rather than one that I can't stand to

A year has passed since I wrote this and though my party plans for the season are less ambitious in terms of number of guests, my enthusiasm and dedication for living in a zero waste world are unremitting. So for those of you who missed this the first time around, here is my take on a festive season and party preparation that is in alignment to Conscious Living and that doesn't leave a flood of trash in its wake. Transitioning towards a zero waste home is an up hill, but sati

Hardly an inspiring topic is it? That is how I feel every time I enter one, whether it be open air or enclosed or one of those that the commercial space designers so extol where we are forced to zigzag between every kind of store before we can reach our destination, both aware of the ruse yet unable to resist our inclination to lavish our hard earned cash upon the praying merchants in return for yet more stuff. That's how it looks to me. Stuff upon stuff right through the lot

MAPIC had quite a pervasive advertising campaign going on this year, they popped up on my feed despite the fact I have no recollection of even doing a search regarding them. The main aim (for the uninitiated) of MAPIC is to bring together the retail and commercial property people from all over the world at the rather lovely location of Cannes, France. Whether you are a developer or a retailer or selling any product (like technology and infrastructure) you can attend and

If all of us just did something, or a few things, we'd be a part of a solution, there isn't just one, no one thing and no one person that can dig us out of our rut and cure the ills of our beautiful world, but each one of us can take a tiny bit of responsibility, and in this we can initiate change. This is our job; one of existing, one of perpetual change and of ongoing evolution. If you join me we will become together a Multitude of Ones. See Action page My Example 'Manifest

Nut and chocolate nut spreads. (Nut Stuff) Some days you have to drop the heavy stuff and pick up something utterly doable! Though it is possible to find palm oil* free nut spreads it is virtually impossible here in Istanbul, besides, making your own nut butter is easy and fun. (Just don't blame me if you end up spooning the lot!) Important point for all Nut Stuff: 1. The nuts should be blended for a long time (about 5 minutes?) until the natural oil is released and the te

There is real initiative here so I'm hoping we can all jump on board: If I can stand with my 4 year old in the supermarket and tell her clearly why we can't buy the stuff with lots of packaging (and palm oil), and if she understands that buying those little milks with straws is not OK anymore even if the milk is organic!, if we can try our best to refuse straws in restaurants (tricky when they are purple) and if we can refuse plastic bags whenever possible, then surely so can

If you have a daughter of around 4 years old, one day, one way or another you will find yourself being manipulated into buying a mermaid. Our first encounter was with another kid's full blown, original merchandise type. My daughter M forgot her fear of water while she played in the pool with it so I figured it was a worth while investment and found myself agreeing to making sure she had her own mermaid too. Later as sanity prevailed I remembered that we avoid buying plastic n