A-Z activities

A-Z countries

What's this blog all about?

Hi, I'm Nicola - welcome to a blog begun in 2012 about family travel around the world, without leaving the UK.

I love travel adventures, but to save cash and keep my family's carbon footprint lower, I dreamt up a unique stay-at-home travel experience. So far I've visited 110 countries... without leaving the UK. Join me exploring the next 86! Or have a look at the "countries" you can discover within the UK by scrolling the labels (below right). Here's to happy travel from our doorsteps.

Around 2018 I tried a new way of writing my family's and my own UK travel adventures. Britain is a brilliant place for a staycation, mini-break and day trips. It's also a fantastic place to explore so I've begun to write up reports of places that are easy to reach by public transport. And when they are not that easy to reach I'll offer some tips on how to get there.

See www.nicolabaird.com for info about the seven books I've written, a link to my other blog on thrifty, creative childcare (homemadekids.wordpress.com) or to contact me.

Friday 28 March 2008

In the bathroom

Nicola & Pete plus daughters Lola, now 9 and Nell, now 7, spent last year exploring Britain in a carbon-light manner. Our spring 2008 challenge is to give up waste from 24 March to 24 April. Most posts are by Nicola (as it was her silly idea). This is how it’s going:

Crisis: there is only one roll of loo paper left at home. After some heated discussion with Pete I’ve agreed that we do not have to abandon the modern world of soft, perforated toilet tissue. In fact this was a simple decision as Pete said we’d have to divorce if Family Baird May switches to torn up newspaper.

We are now faced with the dilemma of what to buy: A) unbranded and loose? B) non FSC-certified but paper wrapped? C) recycled but tightly packed in plastic?

Pete favours A but doesn’t know where to find it. As a result he’s decided we’ll be getting B.

In contrast having a period doesn’t seem such a problem as I’ve been using a Mooncup for a while. This means there isn’t any waste to block pipes or clog up the oceans. Admittedly it took a little while getting used to it, and the potential for embarrassment if dropped is huge. That said the Mooncup is the best thing I’ve used which is why I’ve forced myself to write about it on this blog.

Verdict: ladies go try the Mooncup, it has to be the best reusable item ever. But here’s a note for employer, school and public toilet designers - please think about putting sinks into cubicles, rather than in rows. Privacy is all.

1 comment:

Karin said...

There was a bit of a riot in this house when I switched to recycled loo roll. I have since relented and buy something softer that claims to come from sustainable sources.

With 2 teenagers in the house, one of whom buys most of his own food, I'm not going overboard on slimming my bin, although I do try and avoid chunky plastic packaging as much as possible.