Sustainability - Our Green Health

How Can We Avoid Holiday Consumerism in December?

06/12/202106/12/2021 by Hannie Mommers

Every festivity has turned into a marketing event to drive consumerism. This not only means presents but also creates a larger mountain of waste.

In the US 25% more waste is thrown away between Thanksgiving and January 1st, according to Stanford University. It won’t be much better in the EU. Food waste and Christmas trees add to the Carbon footprint.

How can we avoid Holiday consumerism and still have a fun December month? We move further on the green road when we deal with what we want more mindfully.

What are Great Green Presents for the Holidays to Give? 11 Tips

07/12/202124/11/2021 by Hannie Mommers

The holiday season is on its way. Maybe it’s early to talk about the presents we want to come up with to give to our family and friends.

On the other hand, Black Friday (the last Friday of the month) is coming as well. Lots of companies have nice offers either on that specific day or, to avoid crowds, spread out over a few days or weeks.

So why not be frugal and save ourselves the stress of December by thinking about green presents for the holidays now.

What We Can Do about Climate Change and Why We Should

22/11/2021 by Tom van Oosterhout

What we can do about climate change has become a major challenge for us.

We are so disappointed with the outcome of the climate conference in Glasgow!

This disappointment brought back a phrase I read a couple of weeks ago ‘The climate changes only in Glasgow!’ I read it originally in Spanish: El clima solo cambia en Glasgow!

The person who shared this outcry probably meant that nobody in Spain cares about climate change.

Can we Safely Freeze Food in Glass Jars to Avoid Food Waste?

15/11/2021 by Hannie Mommers

Food is wasted everywhere. That starts with the harvest, then with the distribution, followed by the shops and restaurants. But most of the food is wasted by us, the consumers. According to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, about 57% of total food waste occurs at home.

Any leftovers from the meal can be frozen for later when we don’t have time to cook.

But what should we use if we don’t want plastic in the kitchen? Is it safe to freeze food in glass jars? To answer that question right away: yes, it is possible, provided the glass meets a few conditions.

Can Materials Be Recycled Endlessly? A Plea for Zero Waste

10/11/202110/11/2021 by Hannie Mommers

For years, Tom and I have been separating our waste to the best of our ability. But can materials be recycled endlessly? And do we separate our waste correctly?

It is complicated that countries and even regions have different ways of separating waste.

In addition, there are sometimes urban stories about how eventually all the waste ends up back together and that separation does not work out.

And finally, it also turns out that certain materials cannot be recycled endlessly.

Should We Pre-Germinate Seeds or Sow Directly into the Ground?

06/11/202105/11/2021 by Hannie Mommers

Whether you should pre-germinate seeds or sow them directly into the ground, highly depends on the kind of seed, the season, or your patience.

I had a 4th reason to pre-germinate my beans this year because I wanted to show the process to my grandsons. They live in an apartment building and have a balcony that has some pots. I wanted to stimulate their enthusiasm to get started on their own.

Back in the Netherlands years ago as well as now in Spain I had tried several times to pre-sprout beans using methods I found on the internet. Until this year I rarely succeeded, they molded long before they sprouted.

How to Diminish our Ecological Footprint? Some (Mostly Easy) Tips

03/11/2021 by Hannie Mommers

An individual’s ecological footprint tells how much space he or she needs to live. We are not talking about how big your home is here, but how your lifestyle impacts the environment and how we can diminish our ecological footprint.

Ecological footprints are also referred to as CO2 footprints. Are you an emission-intensive person or do you live frugally?

You cause less environmental damage with a smaller footprint. It has been shown in a number of studies that if everyone had an average footprint of 1.8 hectares, nature could restore itself.

How to Attract Insects to our Garden and Support Biodiversity?

29/10/2021 by Hannie Mommers

Do you like spiders? Flies? Mosquitoes? Most people don’t. Sometimes for good reasons, sometimes because of ancient-old ingrained fears.

Would we want to attract insects to our garden?

It turns out that people hate invertebrates. Bad news for those poor creatures, because they make up 98% of the animal species. And all humans do is try to destroy them.

In the movies, invertebrates come off badly, and in the Bible, too, they are portrayed solely as pests and exterminators. Small children usually have an intuitive fear of anything that has more than 2 legs – spiders, crabs – or less, such as snakes.