Overview

One family's revolt against everyday pollution When a ripped beanbag sent thousands of tiny polystyrene balls flying through her garden, Kate Hughes made a decisive break with the throwaway society. The English journalist greened every aspect of her family's life. She and her husband ditched plastic and shunned supermarkets. They cooked all meals from scratch and made their own cleaning agents. They bought second-hand clothes and washed them naturally. Reaching deeper, they switched to renewable power, pulled their savings out of dirty banks, and ran an electric car. They and their two children are now going beyond the 'zero waste' goal of avoiding sending anything to landfill. Told with refreshing humility and humour, this is the inspiring story of an ordinary family who rebelled against the waste of a lifestyle wrapped in plastic. Packed with handy tips, it reveals much about what makes a fulfilling modern family - and how readers can empower themselves to preserve the climate, forests and seas. And, revealingly, how that can lead to a more relaxing life.

Full Product Details

Author:   Kate Hughes
Publisher:   Canbury Press
Imprint:   Canbury Press
Edition:   Paperback original
Dimensions:   Width: 12.90cm , Height: 1.30cm , Length: 19.80cm
Weight:   0.246kg
ISBN:  

9781912454693

ISBN 10:   1912454696
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   31 March 2022
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  General ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable  
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Table of Contents

1. The Eye Opener. English journalist Kate Hughes starts a zero waste lifestyle. Mentioning plastic pollution, going zero waste, polystyrene, EPS, takeaway containers, marine pollution, Sea Empress tanker disaster, impact of cattle grazing, BPA, bisphenol A, BBC Blue Planet series 2. Unravelling a Lifetime’s Training. The challenges of starting a zero waste lifestyle. Mentioning landfill, shopping habits, farmer's market, throwaway society, plastic pollution, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, supermarket shopping, microplastics, plastic carrier bags 3. Assume Nothing. Adopting a flexi diet and eating seasonally. With breakout boxes on palm oil and slow cookers and flexi diets Mentioning processed food,home-churned butter, slow cooker yoghurt, nanoplastic particles, polypropylene, palm oil ingredients, eating seasonally, flexi diet 4. Down the Drain. Learning to reduce plastic and micro plastic pollution by using homemade cleaning agents and homemade cosmetics. Mentioning green washing machines, volatile organic compounds, parabens, Environmental Protection Agency, water pollution, homemade cosmetics, homemade cleaning agents 5. Wardrobe Malfunction. Finding a way to avoid environmental damage when buying and looking after clothes, including vintage clothes and hiring costumes and party outfits. Breakout boxes on synthetic fibres and the trust cost of fast fashion 6. Loving the Preloved. Reducing household waste by repairing, repurposing and buying products second-hand, including sourcing on auction sites such as eBay. Breakout box on E-Waste. Mentioning preloved, pre-loved, eBay, e-waste, Commons Environmental Audit Committee, Fairphone, Ida Auken 7. Generation Fear. Creating happy family and looking after environmental concerns about, and for, children. Breakout box on eco-anxious children. Mentioning Christmas toys, plastic toys, laminator, sequins, McDonald's Happy Meals, PVA glue 8. Throw Away Tradition. Celebrating festivals such as Christmas, Easter and Halloween in a zero-waste household. Breakout box on the environmental cost of Christmas. Green Christmas, Beltane, recycled wrapping paper, Christmas dinner, Christmas carbon footprint, All Hallows’ Eve pick 'n' mix 9. Seeing It All. Using sustainable transport by reducing air travel, taking the train, and buying and using an electric car. Breakout box on production of electric (EV) cars including environmental cost of lithium battery. Mentioning diesel and petrol costs, Jaguar iPace, second-hand EV 10. Widening the Net. Broadening out the family's attempts to reduce carbon by eating out sustainably and having ethical holidays. Breakout boxes on a zero waste restaurant: La Petite Bouchée in Witheridge in Devon, and the UK's international environmental performance. Mentioning Earth Overshoot Day 11. Green Energy. Switching the family to green energy and avoiding electricity and gas greenwashing; assessing UK energy mix, including the proportion of renewable power; and improving household energy efficiency. National Grid, renewable energy supplier, renewable energy tariff, Renewable Energy Guarantee 12. A Bit More Zero. The role and uses of household recycling including greenwashing by supermarkets, assessing different types of recycling by material such as glass and plastic and aluminium drinks cans. How to use a garden to provide food. Breakout box on shipping UK waste abroad. 13. Ghost in the Machine. Reducing waste from miscellaneous sources such as junk mail, printed catalogues; going paper-free; reducing junk emails, using a green browser Ecosia, and reducing purchases of new tech such as phones and PCs, and reducing energy waste from streaming services such as Netflix 14. Follow the Money. The family decide to green their finances, by assessing the sustainability of their pensions, investments and savings. As a financial journalist, Kate knows where to look and assesses ESG Funds (Environment, Social and Governance) 15. Meeting Ourselves Coming Back. Taking stock of the family's journey, including drawbacks such as one parent's employment in motorsport and plans to launch organic farming. Breakout box on carbon offsetting. Motorsport environmental responsibility, Formula e, Carbon offsetting, organic farming 16. House on Fire. A problem emerges as the family make further progress towards their zero waste goal. Going zero waste has cut their food bill by 40% and improved many other areas of life. Mentioning the warning of an eco-catastrophe given by António Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations Top 10 Ways to Lower Your Impact. No 1: Ask yourself the three questions: Are you comfortable about how this item or service has reached you? Are you comfortable with its environmental impact while you use it? Are you comfortable about what happens to it afterwards? Acknowledgements. Author Kate Hughes thanks everyone who has made her journey to a green lifestyle and later the writing of this sustainability guide, including contacts at the UK Environment Agency Source of Information. Such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, United Nations Environment Programme, UK Environmental Audit Committee, Green Alliance, ShareAction, Make My Money Matter, Rainforest Alliance Network, Greenpeace, Monga Bay, Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures More Reading. Such as: Zero Waste Home; Seasonal Food: A Guide to What’s in Season When and Why; Doughnut Economics; There Is No Planet B; How to Live a Low-Carbon Life; The Uninhabitable Earth; How Bad are Bananas?; Feral; Wilding: The Return to Nature of a British Farm; This Changes Everything References. A full list of source material for important facts on the cost of modern lifestyles, the switch to sustainable living and the benefits of modern families putting less strain on the Earth

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Author Information

Kate Hughes is a national newspaper journalist and columnist. She is Money Editor for Independent.co.uk, for whom she also writes about sustainability. She is a commentator on BBC radio. She lives with her husband David and their two children in Somerset, England.

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