Green Round-up: Ready to (up) cycle?

Welcome to the June edition of the Britmum’s Green Roundup.

Are you all Jubileed out? Did you buy loads of food that you never ate? Did you find it impossible to resist the plastic flags, banners and tablecloths that are now languishing in the landfill somewhere? Did you buy some hideous piece of red, white and blue clothing that was made in a sweatshop and you’ll never wear again?

Well I could ask you to face the wall with your hands on your head or write out 100 lines “I must not trash the planet”, but instead I’ll urge you to read through this month’s wonderful green posts. These will be sure to inspire you to take some eco friendly action of your own.

Why not redeem yourself by writing a blog post about something ‘green’ you’ve done recently? Be sure to add it to the linky below!

Random acts of kindness

I have to admit I’m a bit of a sucker when it comes to a heart-warming Random Acts of Kindness story, so what better than a RAOK that’s good for the environment too?

Over on Goodbye Magpie, Carrie experienced a wonderful act of kindness from a neighbour.

Find out what happened with “Guerilla Gardening For Free”.

It’s all about survival!

Have you heard of the “Live below the line” challenge? It’s over for this year but at the beginning of May people across the world rise to the challenge of raising awareness about extreme poverty by having a food budget of £1 a day for 5 days.

The great thing about this is not only does it raise awareness about poverty, but it gets you in a ‘waste not want not’ mindset which is the perfect way to reduce food waste.

Lulastic took the challenge and shared her meal plan for the week along with her feelings about the week in general.

Read “Food, inglorious food – Live Below the Line Week’s Menu” to find out more.

Would you like plastic with that?

Our friend catwalkandcake shared a photo of the ridiculous amount of plastic packaging she bought home on a recent shopping trip.

Even items like aubergines and onions, that come in pretty neat packaging courtesy of Mother Nature, was swathed in plastic.

Go and take a peek at her photo. For those who are on a mission to reduce their waste you’ll be sure to empathise.

Gardening in a drought

Although we made up for it in April and May with rainfall, we were suffering from drought earlier in the year.

Over on Notes on a Garden, Karin shares her tips for maintaining a beautiful and productive garden with little rainfall.

The trick lies in good soil preparation it would seem:

Go and soak up her tips (geddit?!) with “Gardening with a drought in mind”.

Scrap bag challenge

Over on Living a Slow and Simple Life, we’ve been treated to some amazing creative works of art.

The author shared photos of a recent “Scrap bag challenge” which was held in her local library. I gather the idea was to raid the ‘scrap bag’ and get busy with a needle and thread.

Entries for the exhibition included everything from rag rugs and upcycled chairs to tea cosies and sock monkeys. Some of the entries were from children as young as six.

Check out some of the entries at “Scrap bag challenge” and tell me your favourites!

Can’t get enough of the green stuff? There’s plenty more to be enjoyed over at some of theBrit Mum’s greenest groups: Green parents, Allotment bloggers, The Simple Life or the gardening group.

Hands off your heads now and go henceforth to the keyboard to write your fabulous green post that is going to help us all save the world. Add your post to the linky below so we can scribble all over it with our red pens.