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HOME PAGE POT POURRI FEATURE ISSUES HEALTH & BEAUTY INSPIRATION MEN'S PAGE LIFESTYLE We do have some weather sayings for this time of year – ‘March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb’; ‘April showers bring forth May flowers’. What we are finding is that our weather is being very unpredictable. Really all the weather forecaster needs to say, to be one hundred percent correct, is “Today’s weather will be changeable!” Our Letsconnect is reflecting the mixed bag of weather as it covers a number of interesting and thought provoking ideas. Our thanks goes especially to Karen Holford whose outlook on life, counselling skills and sense of humour are in the articles; I do not like Mondays, Saving the Sofa, Life Files and Quilted Life. With March including the annual anti-smoking day, our health page is by Richard Willis, a health professional who works for the Adventist Discovery Centre. The centre offers free correspondence courses including a health one. www.discoveronline.org.uk. Remember you can scroll through the articles without clicking onto each subject. The only problem with doing this is that you get so engrossed in enjoying the articles that time has flown by. Likewise, before we know it, Winter will have gone and Spring will be here.
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HOME PAGE POT POURRI FEATURE ISSUES HEALTH & BEAUTY INSPIRATION MEN'S PAGE LIFESTYLE v In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have 'the rule of thumb'. v Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled 'Gentlemen Only... Ladies Forbidden'... and thus, the world GOLF entered into the English language. v The first couple to be shown in bed together on primetime TV was Fred and Wilma Flintstone. v Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury. v Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better. v Coca-Cola was originally green. v It is impossible to lick your elbow. v The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska. v The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this...) v The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%. v The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $16,400. v The average number of people airborne over the US in any given hour: 61,000. v Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. v The first novel ever written on a typewriter, Tom Sawyer. v The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments. v Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: - Spades – King David - Hearts – Charlemagne - Clubs – Alexander the Great - Diamonds – Julius Caesar v 111, 111, 111 x 111, 111, 111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321. v If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died because of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. v Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on 4 July, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on 2 August, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later. v Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what? A. Their birthplace. v Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested? A. Obsession. v Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter 'A'? A. One thousand. v Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers have in common? A. All were invented by women. v Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil? 1. Honey. v Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year? A Father's Day. v In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes, the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase... 'Goodnight, sleep tight'. v It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon. v En English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them 'Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.' It's where we get the phrase 'mind your P's and Q's'. v Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. 'Wet your whistle' is the phrase inspired by this practice. v At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow! v Don't delete this just because it looks weird. Believe it or not, you can read it. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the human mind. Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht order the ltteers in a word are, the only iprmoatnt thing is taht the first and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm. This is bcuseae the human mind deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?
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HOME PAGE POT POURRI FEATURE ISSUES HEALTH & BEAUTY INSPIRATION MEN'S PAGE LIFESTYLE · I Don’t Like Mondays! (or Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursday and Fridays) The alarm goes off, and you roll over and stick your head under the pillow. Everything in your body is stopping you getting out of bed, but finally you drag yourself into the shower, pull on some clothes, grab a snack to eat in the car, and drive to work. As you sit in the traffic jams, waiting for lights to change, perhaps you feel more and more anxious as you think about the day ahead. You arrive a few minutes late, make yourself a cup of coffee and spend half an hour opening your mail. But you only had three letters. One of these needs to be photocopied, so you go to the copier and wait for twenty minutes whilst someone does a long run. Then you copy your letter and take it to your boss. By this time it’s almost coffee break, so you make coffee for everyone in your office, which takes quite a while, then you volunteer to wash up. You start up your computer and open up your emails. By the time you’ve read all the jokes, it’s lunchtime. You’ve been at work, but you have somehow managed not to work! Or maybe, when the alarm goes off, you cough loudly, practice a gruff voice, and call the office answering machine to say you’re not well. Then you roll over and go back to sleep for a couple of hours and take the day off. A Confederation of British Industry (CBI) report, estimated that 187 million working days were being lost due to sickness absence. 98% of the time off work was for illness, and the second biggest reason was for family responsibilities. However, the report also highlighted that where employees were highly motivated, absenteeism could be as low as 1-2%. Stress at work, job insecurity, low morale and longer hours seemed to contribute significantly to the amount of time employees took off sick. So what about you? · Do you ever envy your mate, who’s off sick for two months with a broken leg, and wonder if you should take up skiing as well? · Do you know all the places to hide at work so that you never have to see your boss? · Do you sometimes have the urge, as you drive to work, to turn off down a side street and explore the world instead? · Do you scour the job offers in the local paper, looking for something else to do, and apply for the most unstressful job you can find? · Do you sign up for every training course on offer in the hope that you’ll be able to fill all your work days in nice hotels with buffet lunches? · Do you spend every Saturday trying to wind down from work and every Sunday trying to wind up again? · Do you wish you had the courage to play truant from work? Or are you already doing that from time to time?
Perhaps you could think about some of these things, and see if they could make a difference: · What is the thing you have to do that you most want to avoid at work? Is there a person that you find really difficult to work with? Or is there something else that puts you off wanting to go to work? Identify the problem and think, would training help? Is there someone you could talk to? · If someone could perform a miracle and make work the best place to be, how would things be different from what you are working with now? How could you begin to make that happen? What steps might you need to take? · What things might make your workplace a happier place for people to work in? · What could you do to help your colleagues enjoy coming to work? · What would be your dream job, and what could you do to work towards your dream? · Would it be helpful to talk to a careers adviser? A counsellor? Your human resources manager? A colleague or your boss? · If you decide to talk to your boss, sell your plans by thinking about the aspects of your ideas that might motivate them the most. Adding a sparkle to your work place Make your work space as comfortable and attractive as you can, so you feel good to be there. Bring in a big bag of fresh donuts, or cookies, enough for everyone in your department. Secretly place a single flower in a glass of water, or a colourful plant, on each desk. Have lunch out as a group once a week. Copy an appropriate cartoon and put one on everyone’s desk. Have theme days, where everyone has to wear certain colour, or wear odd socks, etc. Run a competition for the best ideas for brightening up the office atmosphere. Keep a good joke book, a jar of sweets, or a bowl of fruit in your office that people can help themselves to whenever they want. Karen Holford June 22 2003
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HOME PAGE POT POURRI FEATURE ISSUES HEALTH & BEAUTY INSPIRATION MEN'S PAGE LIFESTYLE The life meaning files
So what’s the meaning of life? And what’s the meaning of your life? Browse the following life.meaning files and then create your own life.meaning file. entry.
Name: Andy Age: 27 Life slogan: Life’s a party! Life meaning: Life’s just for having fun. You only get one life and you might as well pack as many laughs and highs into it as you can. The best thing for me is going out with my mates and getting drunk. When you die you die so there’s no point in working hard or doing anything amazing, because it all goes down the drain in the end. Life goal: To have a pint in every pub in Portsmouth. Current project: Perfecting my pool tactics.
Name: Molly Age: 32 Life slogan: Nurture the next generation Life meaning: I’ve got four children and I’m a stay at home mum. My life is about helping my children grow up to discover what they’re good at, to care about others and to live responsible lives. One of the best gifts I could give to the world would be four well-balanced and educated adults – my small contribution to a new generation of peace-loving citizens. Life goal: Nurturing my children into adults who are physically, relationally, emotionally and spiritually healthy. Current project: Teaching my four-year-old twins conflict management skills before they destroy their teddy bears.
Name: Steve Age: 25 Life slogan: Small things make a big difference. Life meaning: I want to change the world. When I was eighteen I dreamed of doing something spectacular, like finding a cure for AIDS, developing a strategy for peace in the Middle East, or eliminating poverty. I’m more realistic now. I may never make a difference in the world, but I can make small differences in the worlds of those around me. I’m a teacher and when I help a child discover he’s good at drawing, or she can do long division, I know I’ve made a difference in their lives. When I put my chewing gum in the bin, turn out a light I don’t need, recycle my waste paper, sponsor a child in Africa and fetch the newspapers for my elderly neighbour, I’m making a significant difference in my local world, or in someone else’s world. Life goal: Encourage every child I teach to discover their unique giftedness. Current project: Working with an educational charity that teaches African women to read so they can help their children with their schoolwork.
Name: Dana Age: 41 Life slogan: Together is better Life meaning: I think we’re born into families and communities to help each other make it through life. We need to celebrate together when life goes well, and comfort each other when life hurts. The most significant moments in our lives are the times we share an incredibly intense moment of joy at the birth of a baby, or when we’re just being there, crying together and sharing memories, around the grave of a loved one. We’re here to help each other get through life, to share each others’ burdens, and to build each other up with encouragement, acceptance, appreciation and respect. Life goal: Creating a community support network where people can find the help and friendship they need when they’re new to our town. Current project: Helping to plan a wedding for a young couple from Romania.
Name: Charles Age: 55 Life slogan: Protect the Planet Life story: I’m an organic farmer. I believe we need to take care of our planet, its ecology and its creatures, as well as our own health. When I thought about what really needed protecting, under all the concrete, technology, and buildings, etc, I realised that it’s the soil, water and animals that need looking after. We need to be responsible for what we’re doing to this world, because it’s the only home we have for the time being. So I take care of my hectares as well as I can, and give my chickens and cows the happiest and healthiest lives possible. I support charities that protect endangered wildlife species abroad because I think that every life form on earth is precious and we may not realise the potential risk to the world if just one creature becomes extinct. Life dream: Building a completely carbon neutral home and farm. Current project: Building a windmill to power the house and the milking parlour.
Name: Vienna Age: 47 Life slogan: Look for beauty Life meaning: I’m an artist. I look for slivers of beauty in the most unlikely places to inspire my paintings, photographs and sculptures. The purpose of my life is to draw your attention to the aesthetics of the world around you, the hidden corners, secret moments and tiny facets of beautiful things. Many people never stop to wonder at the exquisite fragments of life around them and I want them to discover the beauty for themselves. Life dream: to hold an exhibition of my pictures that will change people’s perspectives on their world forever. Current project: photographing the tiny but beautiful elements within a troubled housing project in Manchester.
Name: Richard Age: 33 Life slogan: Provide for my family’s future Life meaning: I have two children and I want them to have the best life possible. I grew up in a family where we didn’t have much money and life was a struggle so the best thing I can do is to make sure my children are well-provided for and have all the advantages I can give the. I work abroad, in Dubai, so I can afford to pay for them to go to the best boarding schools, and in their holidays they can go on school ski trips, or safaris in Africa. They can have anything they need, and any thing they want, so I feel I have done a great job, even though I don’t see my family that often. But they know I love them because I’m working so hard to provide for them. Life dream: to build each of my children their own home, wherever they want to live. Current project: Starting my PhD so I can get an even better job.
All these people, Andy, Molly, Steve, Dana, Charles, Vienna and Richard are roughly based on people I know. Roughly, so that they will still be friends with me if they ever read this article, and because these are the life files that I can only guess they have from the way they talk to me and live their lives. But the following file is my own true-to-life.
Name: Karen Age: 40 (ish!) Life slogan: Love God and love others Life meaning: The most important thing for me is to love God. I’ve found that my life runs more smoothly when I make God the number one priority in my life because I’ve learned that he loves me, and he truly wants the best for me. I have tried living without God, but only for a short time, because the experiment was not a great success. I am still living with the emotional scars from that era of my life, though they have almost faded. But I am not sure about the scars I inflicted on other people while my life was so out of balance. I still do some dumb and selfish things that hurt others and I suppose, being human, I always will, but I know that God loves me anyway and that he still has a lot of work to do in my life. In spite of my mistakes I want to try and live God’s love by loving others, sharing in their struggles, laughing and crying with them, helping them to discover their gifts and to strive for their dreams. My family is very important to me because I believe that my highest priority is to learn how to put love into action in the close and safe space of my own family and make sure they are loved and happy first. The tiniest loving thing I can do for someone else is a gift of love back to God. I also want to take care of the world God has created by living responsibly and ecologically, where I can. I believe God created the world flawlessly, and, even though evil has blurred the perfection, beautiful things can be seen everywhere when we look for them. God has given us amazing wisdom to help us live in our complex and confusing world: his ten best rules for life, a universal perspective on good and evil, a plan for the future that has been unfolding across the world time, and the life story of his son, Jesus, who died to show me how much he loved me. I’ve also discovered the pure high there is in contributing to someone else’s happiness, rather than just thinking about myself. Every moment of my life is an adventure with God, and that includes quite a few ups and quite a few downs, but somehow it’s all worth it, and I can’t wait to see what he’s going to do next. Life goal: To discover God’s plan for my life…and then have the courage to live it. Current project: Writing a book for couples about growing a healthy marriage and hoping that my husband and I will learn a few things to help our own marriage, too!
Name: Age: Life slogan: Life story: (What is the meaning of your life? Is it like one of the other files, or a combination of a few? What meanings would be most significant to your life?) Life dream: What would you love to achieve in your life? What do you want to be remembered for? Current project: What practical step would you like to take this week to help you live out the meaning of your life? Possible side bar God’s Little bits of Wisdom for Life Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. Love other as much as you love yourself. Matthew 23:37, 39, CEV. God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. John 3:16, CEV. When others are happy, be happy with them, and when they are sad, be sad. Romans 12:15, CEV. See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God. Micah 6:8. CEV. Karen Holford
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HOME PAGE POT POURRI FEATURE ISSUES HEALTH & BEAUTY INSPIRATION MEN'S PAGE LIFESTYLE A SMUDGE OF SMOKE - Richard J B Willis MA MSc FRSPH AITV FIHPE
1st & 2nd
Hand News These problems are now well known even by school children. We have all grown used to hearing about and seeing the problems associated with the direct habit of smoking, and most people are also familiar with the concept of Passive or Second-hand smoking – being in the same smoking environment as the smoker – and being exposed to similar risks.
3rd
Scientists are now investigating Third-hand smoking. United States researchers have been collecting the chemical residues found on the furniture and effects of smokers and have isolated a carcinogen (or cancer causing agent) called NNK. It is thought that NNK is formed by the interaction of airborne nicotine reacting in the air with nitrous acid. The resulting residue can persist for weeks or months on indoor surfaces. Children spending a lot of time on the residue-laden surfaces are likely to absorb the NNK through skin contact.
Giving-up Smoking The harmful results of smoking are now generally accepted even by those people who persist in smoking. Parties other than the smoker concerned with the effects of smoking on their loved ones are desperate to know what they can do to get the person to quit. In a word, nothing! Well, very little directly. Preaching, forcing information on to smokers, and generally making obnoxious reactions to smoking will not help. The individual who is smoking must want to quit for their own reasons.
Vanity, Vanity … … all is vanity may be the one enduring pathway to quitting, especially if it was image that got them started originally. Smelling like an ashtray is not exactly a romantic turn-on. Neither is having the kind of sallow complexion that almost immediately singles out a smoker. The hair of smokers also takes on an off-putting colour and quality of its own. Much has also been made in stop smoking propaganda of the slogan, ‘Kiss a non-smoker and taste the difference!’ Seeing just how uncool smoking is, is a powerful disincentive to smoke. These aversions to smoking may have a powerful subconscious effect as well as a conscious one.
A Reasonable Balance Many would-be quitters are put off stopping because of a fear of weight gain, a reasonable but not inevitable fear. Smoking does often act as a substitute for food, so quitting smoking and an increase in eating may lean toward weight gain. However, by paying attention to food type, quality and quantity health may be restored without expanding the waistline. Vegetarian-type meals have the means to provide all the necessary nutrients and inherently lessen cravings. The particular acid/alkali balance of red meats in particular increase cravings. The caffeine found in a variety of drinks also contribute to the physical craving issues. Caffeine is about third cousin to nicotine and the link between smoking and drinking is strong both physically and psychologically. Another drink, alcohol weakens the decision-making frontal lobes of the brain just when the ability to persist with a positive decision is at its greatest need, hence should be avoided.
Water, Water Everywhere Nicotine’s one redeeming feature is that it is soluble in water. So, when quitting, water can be used copiously to flush nicotine from the body. Soaking in a comfortable temperature bath will also help to open and cleanse the pores of the skin and speed the exit of nicotine.
A Grand Design There are many psychological reasons for smoking. Smokers should be encouraged to think about the timing and the circumstances of each cigarette – other than merely reaching out for one because it is there – and devise a strategy for dealing with each of these triggers to the smoking habit, because the situations in which the smoker smoked is not going to change a great deal when they quit. The grand design must also include a liveable, workable exercise regime. This will not only help to limit weight gain but provide that sense of wellbeing that will make the ex-smoker glad to have quit. Whatever the grand design, the smoker has to have his or her own reasons for quitting. The reasons for quitting must, by far, outweigh the reasons for continuing. Remember also, you can draw on a Power outside of yourself for strength and perseverance. Use that unlimited Power and you will succeed, and do it now!
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HOME PAGE POT POURRI FEATURE ISSUES HEALTH & BEAUTY INSPIRATION MEN'S PAGE LIFESTYLE THE QUILTED LIFE He who has started the good work in you will see it to completion. Five years ago I fell in love with a beautiful quilt kit. Not having the patience to applique lots of pieces by hand, and being a 'beginner' quilter, I found a kit containing ready-printed fabric. The design was beautiful: soft pinks, blues and greens against a creamy background, in traditional applique patterns. Wreaths of roses, little hearts and houses combined in various ways across the quilt squares. Two babies and a couple of house moves later, I actually found time to stitch the quilt top pieces together, stack them with batting and backing fabric, and baste the whole lot together, stitches fanning out across the quilt, then up and down, and side to side. The basting stitches looked big and clumsy. When my husband saw the quilt all basted together, he thought I'd ruined the whole thing! I explained the need to spend a lot of time preparing carefully before beginning to do the fine hand quilting. Then I set up my quilting frame, and began the fun bit! I like to hand quilt, it's soothing, faster than I imagined it to be, and more accurate than my machine quilting, on such intricate designs. But it is still time consuming. The frame is stashed away behind the sofa, for odd moments of relaxation, but those come scarce with three children, and a pastor husband! Every time I glimpse the quilt, I long for it to be finished, and I long to have a few minutes to sit with it (or even just a few minutes to sit down would be nice!) But it is slowly being completed. One month may pass without any stitching, then I may have a burst of creativity and stitch a bit each day. I long to see it completed, and bind its edges in the gently faded blue hues. I know it will be beautiful. I want to hang it on the stairwell wall, which looks empty without it. Maybe God looks at me in a similar way. I may look messy at the moment - scrawled over with inelegant basting stitches - and the work is certainly slow and uncertain, and may come in fits and bursts. Sometimes I am just sitting behind the sofa, not doing a lot. Sometimes the work goes quickly and it is easy to see the progress being made. Mostly the work is slow and laborious. Sometimes the quilting frame feels cumbersome, or the pain of a needle prick brings back memories of broken hands. But He knows just how I will look when I'm finished - and that makes all the painstaking effort worthwhile. And He can hardly wait till I'm finished, either, and He can hang me in His home, on one of the many empty walls, forever! Karen Holford Karen Holford is the mother of three young children, a part-time occupational therapist working in a head injury rehabilitation clinic, the wife of an English pastor, and the author of 'The Loneliest Grief,' and 'Danger at Deerwood Grove.'
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HOME PAGE POT POURRI FEATURE ISSUES HEALTH & BEAUTY INSPIRATION MEN'S PAGE LIFESTYLE ONE SUCH CHILD By Noeline Cutts – award winning New Zealand poet
At the Otago Hospital in City of Dunedin, A drama was unfolding as a Mother lay ableedin', It was the 27th October 1973 A tiny baby boy was struggling to be free. He was delivered by Caesarean section and things looked very grim, He died for several minutes as the Doctors attended him. They gave him lots of oxygen to try to bring him round, Then put him on glucose when low blood sugar was found. He weighed only 4lb.6oz., such a tiny helpless baby, Then he started to breath, and the "NO" became a "MAYBE", He was put in an incubator and received very special attention, Once he got his breath, TO LIVE was his intention. When his Mum left the Hospital she gave him a teddybear, She made him a Ward of State – Didn't anybody care? But Jesus loved that tiny man and knew what he would do, He watched over him in Karitane as he slowly grew. The Doctors feared that because his breathing had been stopped, That his brain was damaged and he'd be handicapped. When he was 5 months old he had his first plane ride, A welfare worker brought him to Wanganui to reside. He'd been there 6 weeks and was awaiting an adoption. That was when our family was considered for the option. The Mother wanted a "Protestant home with a practising faith" And a prospective Mother was praying for what the Lord saith, Matthew 18:5 was where the Bible fell open on the bed, "Whoever takes such a little one in My Name takes Me," it said, She jumped up in jubilation and went running down the stairs, I can't believe it Look at this, The Lord has heard our prayers, We held a family meeting to decide upon his name, We put papers in a hat and played a guessing game. Timothy was the name we pulled from out of the hat, And we changed the Frank to Francis and that settled that. We took him home and loved him and he really was quite cute, He fitted in so perfectly and we all thought he was beautiful, He took longer to talk and toddle and learn his 1,2,3 But when it came to potty training the QUICKEST ONE WAS HE! At school they found that he was dyslexic and struggled hard to read But he was most determined and tried very hard to succeed. He passed his written driving licence at his third attempt, And the score he got was a full one hundred percent. He makes model boats, and he was skate board champ, He shows no fear as he rocks up and down the ramp. He works each day at plumbing with his big brother Lance, And he knows what he is doing, you can see that at a glance. Tim is 22 now and the kids all love their brother, And he makes us all so proud, I'm glad to be his Mother.
From Going Places, Autumn, 99
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Saving sofas and short bits of string I watched as my friend meticulously sorted her recycling. Every scrap of paper, vegetable peeling, glass jar, and plastic bottle had its special place. She even had a container for broken elastic bands. ‘How do you recycle those?’ I asked. ‘I don’t’, she said, ‘it’s just in case.’ ‘Just in case what?’ I struggled to stretch my own mind around an emergency where a short, skinny, broken, red elastic band would be useful. The best idea I could come up with was tying it around my finger so I would remember to buy a new packet of elastic bands. ‘Just in case there are ever recycling bins for elastic bands. I wouldn’t want to feel guilty for throwing away hundreds of broken elastic bands when they might be a way to recycle them back into new bands, or erasers, or even car tyres.’ I think my friend may have a severe case of ERPS, otherwise known as ecological recycling paranoia syndrome. Sufferers of this syndrome have been found sifting the contents of their wheelie bin at six in the morning, still in their night-clothes, because they suddenly remembered that they threw a two inch long magazine receipt into the kitchen bin and didn’t (oh, horrible thought) put it in the paper recycling bin. This is obviously not a new syndrome. I heard that someone found a jar labelled ‘Bits of string too short to use’ in the attic of their aged aunt, completely filled with bits of string too short to use. People with ERPS have also been known to lurk around their workplace after closing time, hunting for apple cores in their colleagues’ bins, so they can take them home and lovingly recycle them in their own compost heap. So it came as rather a surprise to me when she said she was getting a new sofa. ‘What’s wrong with this one?’ I asked, a bit guardedly, because I was sitting on it at the time, and she did own a rather undisciplined puppy. ‘Well, it’s just so last year.’ she said. So last year, I thought, what’s wrong with that. Ours is so last millennium. She went on, ‘Well, it’s like the wrong shade of brown.’ ‘So you’re going to sell it?’ ‘No, too much bother. I’ll just take it to the dump.’ ‘Polly, you just tried to recycle an elastic band because you’re worried about saving the world and you’ll put a one year old sofa into landfill!’ I suddenly wished I had a brown living room so I had an excuse to give the rejected sofa a good home. There are refuges for stray cats and unwanted dogs, what about rejected sofas? Surely someone would love to have her designer sofa in last year’s shade of brown. ‘So what colour will your new sofa be?’ ‘Oh, you know, a this year kind of brown shade.’ She clearly didn’t want to talk about it. Her floor length raw silk curtains were probably also last year’s shade of brown, if there was such a thing. They matched the rejected sofa. ‘But you’ll keep the curtains, surely?’ She choked on her cappuccino, ‘Oh, no, not those old things. They’ll have to go too. They’ll clash with the new brown sofa.’ I looked around. She had vases, a rug, a couple of pictures and some cushions that were probably going to end up in the tip too. So much for recycling the elastic bands. I think I read a proverb once – something about straining a gnat out of the water but swallowing a camel. Funny, isn’t it, how we carefully recycle all the waste in our homes, and then buy into a fashion culture that demands regular wardrobe and home makeovers? People of past generations bought furniture and clothes to last a lifetime, not a season. My parents still have the dining set they bought when they were first married and it is now desirably retro-chic. If we want to save the world we need to do more than just recycle our yoghurt pots. We need a radical approach that resists the pressure for a disposable lifestyle of transient trends and fleeting fads, and creates homes where we can celebrate our own unique style. There is a kind of satisfaction in finding ways to ‘make do and mend’ what we already have, bringing it up to date, or ringing the changes with simple things. For economic reasons rather than ecological ideals, we have had the same sofas for eighteen years, and they will probably last another eighteen. We even took the risk of dyeing the old linen/cotton (‘dry clean only!’) covers in our own washing machine to give them a whole new look. One old wardrobe, which the previous owners left behind, has been painted twice to match two completely different bedrooms. Old fabrics have been made into cushion covers and patchwork throws, and a couple of table cloths were a pair of curtains in a former life. It does help that we have a chaotically eclectic kind of style, where most things can find a happy place in the decidedly ‘loved and lived in look’. If you want really want to make a difference to the world, here are a few ideas to get you started, right in your own house. Choose an easy style for your home, that mixes and matches things you really like, and create your own look, rather than following the rapid changes in interior design. Some styles always look attractive, and a fresh coat of paint, and a few simple accessories, like flowers, candles and cushions, can help change the mood or update the look. Country style can combine all kinds of fabrics and old furniture with lots of things you already have around the home, such as flower pots and baskets, and things that don’t fit in can be repainted or covered in scraps of fabric tied with raffia. A traditional, antique style of interior can make use of different items found in antique or junk shops, which were ecological before we even knew the word existed. If you choose an ethnic style, such as Oriental, Indian, African, or Mexican, the furniture and accessories are often made of natural, recyclable materials, and you may be able to buy fairly traded goods that benefit local communities, helping them to sustain their natural way of life, which can be another way of being eco-friendly. If you have a choice, choose materials that can easily be recycled, such as cotton, linen, wood and glass. If you need a new style, try stripping back the wood, staining, painting, or covering the furniture with different fabrics. A generous table cloth can transform a plain table, and you can even drape the chairs in cheap fabrics and tie them with ropes, ribbons or raffia. Transform plain lampshades with interesting objects such as buttons, beads, old parchments, used stamps, foreign paper money, pages from old comics or books, pressed flowers or beaded garlands. Choose good quality household linens, like towels and sheets, in white or neutral colours, so that you don’t have to buy new ones every time you change your colour scheme. Invest in plain white crockery and white tablecloths, and add splashes of colour with candles, ribbons, and flowers, or a quirky selection of themed objects, such as stones, shells or feathers. Or make a feature of mismatched crockery and have every place setting a different pattern, or choose different shapes in the same colours. Invest in a comfortable, simple/traditional sofa with loose covers that can be washed. Recover the sofa when it is worn out, or you need a new colour scheme, rather than scrap a bulky piece of furniture that would last another decade or so. Search the internet for fairly-traded, eco-friendly and recycled items for your home, as well as second hand items that are being auctioned. There is a list of eco-friendly websites where you can buy all kinds of items for your home at the end of the article. Change the kitchen cupboard doors, rather than the whole unit. Avoid buying gimmicky fashion items for your home, or things in bright colours or with large, obvious patterns. These things quickly look dated and out of place. Choose simple, classic shapes and styles that have worked well for decades or centuries. One interior designer told me that if she has to furnish a home in a hurry she buys everything in blues and whites, because they co-ordinate easily, and they always look classic and fresh. Before you throw something away, think creatively about how it could be re-used. Or have a game in your home where you try to come up with ten uses for an old object, and then choose one to try. Give good quality clothes to a charity shop or jumble sale. Take old, worn out clothes and other fabric scraps to a fabric recycling bin. Recycle what you have by re-using items for different purposes. Use odd drinking glasses as vases or pencil holders. Keep attractive bottles and jars as storage containers. Cover sturdy shoe-boxes with scraps of wallpaper or fabric and use them to store accessories, CDs, bills, etc. If you don’t know how to make or do something, find a book in the library, search the net, or ask at your local DIY store. Have a go anyway, if your efforts are a complete disaster it doesn’t matter. You were going to put in the dump anyway! Oh, and by the way, if you do need to get rid of a sofa that is ‘so last year’, or a table that isn’t quite the right shape for today, then why not offer it to a charity such as Oxfam, or a local furniture recycling scheme, so that someone can have it who would otherwise be sitting on a box. www.traidcraftshop.co.uk
Karen Holford
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