Food waste Friday and a story about decluttering

Filed in Blog by on April 9, 2010 2 Comments
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Sunrise the rabbit - this week I 'lost' her & found her in the fireplace...

Hot Cross Bun? Sunrise the rabbit - this week I 'lost' her & found her in the fireplace...

This week we had a couple of chewed pieces of bread and a spoonful of vegetable rice to get rid of. Little Miss Green had a friend to tea and you know what it’s like; there’s nothing quite like your own Mum’s cooking. Mine wasn’t quite the same, evidently, so there was a little food waste.

Fortunately the wormery took care of the food waste. Talking of which I have a question; the wormery tap has started leaking. Is this a common problem and what do I need to do about it? I’m annoyed that I’ve lost some of my valuable fertiliser to the floor, but there you go, you live and learn.

We’ve got through another week with no alarming dustbin demons, but I’m still sending out letters to manufacturers about their packaging. These will be appearing on the site in the future.

Now on to something much more exciting!

There’s nothing like a positive motivator to get you to do something you’re procrastinating about.

As you may be aware I’ve set myself a grand decluttering challenge this year. I’ve got a full toolkit at my disposal – hints and tips I’ve picked up from 4 or 5 years of being on and off the FlyLady wagon, My favourite Regina Leeds book “One Year to an organised life” along with the challenge I set myself and Little miss Green earlier this month – my “5 things” challenge.

The five things challenge is simply where you have to find 5 things every day to get rid of; you can sell them, give them away, donate to charity or recycle them …

However, decluttering, when there are far more exciting things to do in life, like watch paint dry, isn’t always easy. That is, until now.

This week I read an inspiring story in our local newspaper about a seven year old boy called Ned. Ned met a homeless person when he went on a shopping trip to Gloucester, bought the person a hot dog with his pocket money but felt compelled to do more.

Last weekend he walked an astonishing 18 miles to raise money for a homeless shelter. He left his home in the forest of dean at 7:30am and arrived at the Gear Project’s night shelter in Gloucester 12 hours later.

Ned has raised over £1300 for his sponsored walk which he is donating to Gloucester’s Gear Project where an average of 20 homeless people sleep every night.

You’d think that would be enough right? I mean Ned has done more in his short lifetime than most people do in their entire lifetime already but oh no! Ned’s not going to take No for an answer. He is hoping to top up the cash he has raised by holding a jumble sale and serving afternoon teas on 1st may. In our local paper Ned was asking for donations of jumble or cakes.

Decluttering here I come!

I already had 2 large boxes of stuff for the charity shop, so you can guess where these will be off to. Little Miss Green read Ned’s story and is desperate to meet him (she thinks they might have a lot in common!), so I suggested we spend the next two weeks having a mass declutter to see what we can give to Ned for the homeless shelter.

After that, we’ll be rolling up our sleeves and baking some cakes!

I feel invigorated already – there’s nothing like a good cause to get me inspired and motivated to do my bit.

And what about Ned? Isn’t he incredible? I can’t wait to shake that young man’s hand. It’s stories like this which touch my heart that ensure me our future is in safe hands after all….

About the Author ()

I am a long time supporter of the Green and Sustainable lifestyle. After being caught in the Boscastle floods in 2004, our family begun a journey to respect and promote the importance of Earth's fragile ecosystem, that focussed on reducing waste. Inspired by the beauty and resourcefulness of this wonderful planet, I have published numerous magazine articles on green issues and the author of four books.

Comments (2)

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  1. Jane says:

    Inspirational he’s DOING SOMETHING and not just talking about it. What everyone de-cluttering needs is a good home or worthwhile cause for their well-loved items.

  2. Mrs Green says:

    @Jane: Isn’t Ned wonderful Jane – such an inspiration. We’re off to meet him next week and I can’t wait!

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