Wherever you are in the world you cannot have failed to hear about COP26 (Conference of the Parties) that took place in Glasgow over the last two weeks. It would seem that the participants are again walking away having failed to secure an agreement that secures the planet’s future. In some respects it would seem an altogether depressing affair. However amongst this there have been glimmers of hope and those suggesting innovative and creative ways forward. There is undoubtedly a long way to go; if though, we can begin to ask people to think a little differently then may be we have some chance.
Over the weekend there was one point at which my husband was watching television in the lounge whilst I was crocheting in the kitchen. I could hear some of the programme that he was watching. A woman started to talk about one of the ways in which to reduce or eliminate waste was by removing the word from the language. I felt that this was a really interesting concept. She discussed the way in which it encourages us to think differently about what we do and how we use the resources that we have. In an example that she was discussing the waste products from one factory became the raw materials for another. At home peelings from vegetables may no longer be considered as waste, they are the starting ingredients in our compost. Likewise off-cuts of yarn can be saved to stuff small items. I make chutneys and jams from items that are starting to be past their best. Re-cycling is normal. I am sure that there are other things that I do that I don’t even think about. A friend writes about frugality and this was initially started due to necessity. She looked at how she could reduce her overheads and outgoings. Living frugally means that you are likely to be more frugal with the earth’s resources. I believe that we should consider how we are using them and the ways in which we can make them go further.
I live in rural Brittany where power cuts occur regularly through the winter. I don’t have sufficient monies to set up my own solar panels or other green energy sources. So we do have a wood burner however when it is alight we use it for a range of purposes; it heats us, we cook on it and we use it to dry washing. So it is used in a variety of different ways. We are quite rural and there is little or no public transport so we do still have cars. I am interested in electric bikes and wonder whether in the future it may be possible to use one instead of a car some of the time. Our life here can be challenging. We do not have the mod-cons that we were previously used to. However I do enjoy our slower pace of life, watching the changing of the seasons and being aware of the environment around us.
Do you think a change in the use of language can help us to think differently? Can it also encourage us to behave differently?
Tales from the Sheshed France 