Mini Film Review: Racing Extinction

I want to start a little series (a little like the 'App of the moment') that talks briefly about the films that I've watched which have helped galvanise the decisions I've made about my lifestyle.  They are not necessarily films that got me first thinking about the subject or that gave me any additional information, but they are more visual aids which remind me of why I'm taking steps to leading a more sustainable lifestyle.

The first one I want to write about is the one that means the most to me and that's Racing Extinction.  If people I've met know nothing else about me they know that I love all wildlife and my main focus in living sustainably is to protect that wildlife.  The way I see it, as they evolved on the planet along with us all species have just as much right to be here as we do and we have no right to cause their extinction.  But there is also the fact the health of this planet, and therefore our ability to live on it, relies on these species being here.  Even if you think that it's ok to loose some species, we just don't know which species are important to the health of the ecosystems and therefore can't justify losing any.

In Racing Extinction they document some of the species that are already extinction, are functionally extinct, or are now facing extinction and the activities we are doing that are causing this.  While they only look at a few species, this is true for most species on the planet.  The photography goes between stunning, beautiful footage of the species in their natural habitat to footage of the species now as a product being processed for selling on the market.  The thing that is really highlighted is the sheer unsustainable number of species being removed from the ecosystems that you really can't get your head round until you see the picture.  The footage that had the most impact on me was when they showed the sheer number of shark fins spread out across a few roof tops.

During the documentary they use the latest technology to not only show the amount of carbon dioxide being produced in our day to day activities, but to project the information onto buildings which allows member of the public to see and hear information about a number of species and the issues they are facing today.

It also shows the individuals who are working hard to help highlight the issues and to make a positive difference, showing that it is possible for an individual to make a difference. 

The thing I really love most about this documentary is, while it does honestly portrays the bad situation we are racing towards, it also highlights that we can still make a difference, we can still fix this.  It is possible for us to change our behaviour and save this amazing planet.  They start the campaign 'Start With 1 Thing' (#startwith1thing) in this movie which encourages us to just do one thing to begin with to lower our impact on the planet.  If I was to recommend something it would be to start by looking at what you eat.  It also contains one of my favourite quotes (great for when people say 'Well what's the point?'), which is 'Better to light a candle than rage against the dark'.

You can find Racing Extinction on their website, Twitter @racingextinction, and Instagram @racingextinction.  In the UK you buy the movie on Amazon or through YouTube.  I would definitely recommend it, especially if you're needing a little push.

April The Vegan Kind subscription box

I've been wanting to get a vegan subscription box for a while as a way of helping me get a better picture of what products are actually available.  Here in the UK there doesn't seem to be a lot of options, but then I found The Vegan Kind, saw that they already had some great reviews, and decided to give them a try.  They have two types of subscription boxes, the Lifestyle Box, which is a monthly subscription at £10 per month and £3.15 postage, (this is also available worldwide) or the Beauty Box, which is a 3 monthly subscription at £15 per box and £3.15 postage (not available worldwide).  I did think about the Beauty Box - just for a second - but seeing as I'm trying to downsize the number of products I have it seemed a little bit silly to start having more items coming in.  Of course, once I've downsized completely.......

My first box arrived last Saturday morning (I was actually still in bed so my lovely partner collected it from the door for me) and, of course, I opened it straight away.

The first thing on top was the information sheet which details information about the recipe sheet and the campaign of the month.  This time it's Teen VGN, of which 10p of every April box goes towards.  On the back is a description of each item, their cost, and the companies' websites.

Next is the recipe card for Cashew Cream Cheese by Natalie Tamara from Tofu Diaries.  It looks delicious and I'll definitely be giving this a go to put in the wraps I like to make. I would also recommend Natalie's blog - very inspiring.

The first bit of food in the box was the Eat Real Hummus Chips (£0.79).  As you can see they didn't even make it to having a photo taken until they were opened and devoured.  I've had the Eat Real Quinoa Chips and I absolutely love those so I was definitely curious to see if I would also like these.  I wasn't 100% certain about the flavour and don't think I'll buy these specific ones again, but that didn't seem to stop my partner and me finishing them off.  There is definitely something very morish about them.

The next item that caught my eye were the Vego Vegolino Pralines (£5.29), which again didn't even manage to get photographed before I broke into them (I just saw the word pralines and couldn't help myself).  These are lovely, soft and just delicious.  I'm trying to reduce the amount of sugar there is in my diet and I think these will be just perfect to keep as a little but yummy fix at times when I just can't help myself.  Better one little bit of praline rather than an entire chocolate bar.  I love that they're Fair Trade as well.

The Clearsping Tamari Roasted Soybeans with Tomato and Herb (£0.99) for some reason reminded me of the roasted nuts I used to get as a child on planes, except those were disgusting and these are tasty and very easy to eat.  When it comes to snacks I definitely prefer food that have a bit of a crunch to them and these definitely fit the bill.  Certified organic, high in fibre and protein, and a source of magnesium, think I will be looking out for these in the future.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to try the Greedie Goddess Mango, Passion, and Carrot Smoothie Bites (£1.00) as they contain bananas in them (I'm guessing from the ingredients list about 69% banana) and I am allergic to bananas.  I know that sounds so weird, but unfortunately eating bananas gives me stomach problems and makes my skin itch.  So I gave them to my partner to try.  He thought they tasted nice, but really wasn't a fan of the texture.  He is very particular about his food though, so if you like a soft chewy texture you'll probably like these.

The last food product was the BakedIn Belgian Chocolate Mug Brownie Mix (£1.49).  The last time I tried a cook in a mug cake mixture the result wasn't particularly pleasant and tasted very artificial so I was interested to see what this would be like.  This product was so much better than the previous mug cake I tried that they're not even in the same league.  This tasted just like a brownie and was lovely and soft.  The only problem I had was that there was a little too much for me and I'm one of those people who can only eat a tiny piece of brownie.  But, if you can happily eat a muffin size amount of brownie I would get some of these, take them to work on a Wednesday (apparently the actual most depressing day of the week), and make yourself a little mug of Vegan happiness.

The last product was perhaps the item I was most excited about and it was the Humblestuff Lemon Myrtle Multi Surface Cleaning Spray (£5.00).  I'm not really a fan of cleaning so anything that makes it more enjoyable to a bonus.  This item has definitely helped and I love this product.  There really isn't anything not to like - it's made in Scotland, is made up of only three products, all the packaging is recyclable, it smells great, and works really well.  I normally make my own cleaning products, but have been eyeing up their Etsy store after using this.  Specifically their toilet freshener, which I don't make myself.

Reaching the end of a box of goodies is never good, but what I liked about this is that it shows just how little packaging The Vegan Kind use.  The box itself is made of recycled cardboard, but was sturdy enough to protect the products on its own, and there were only a few bits of spaghetti packaging used predominantly to protect the head of spray bottle.  With other companies I've ordered from there's always been a lot of packaging and lots of plastic, so I really appreciate that TVK have used so little.

If you were to buy all these products on their own it would cost you £14.56 (not including P&P if you ordered them online) so this box is also cost effective.  I'll definitely be keeping my subscription up and using the products to be my snacks for the month.......now where are those pralines.

Natural Remedies for a Cold, Cough or, in my case, tonsillitis

So I got ill at the end of last week and it turned out to be tonsillitis.  It's taken me a few days to get better, but I thought that this would be a good time to write about the natural remedies I use to help me get over a virus, whether it's a cold, flu or even the dreaded (for me) tonsillitis.  I know this is usually something that would get written about at the beginning of winter, but, if you're anything like me, these viruses have a habit of developing throughout the year and these can be used at anytime.  The main focus here is to work on the parts that make you sore and uncomfortable, such as a blocked nose and sore throat.  

Let yourself sleep.

The best thing you can do is just let yourself sleep. I know it's difficult, especially when you have work to do and bills to pay, but it is one of the most effective ways of getting better quickly and reduces the chances of you passing on the virus to others.  Your body knows what it's doing and, in this case, if it's telling you to sleep just sleep (at any other point you might want to see your doctor though as it could be highlighting some underlying issues).  The other upside is if you're asleep you're not feeling absolutely awful.  I find I get most of my sleep when I'm ill.

Drink lots of water

It's important to remain hydrated at all times, but even more so when you have a cold.  Runny noses, increased saliva, and sweating with a temperature means that we are still losing a lot of fluid despite not doing much activity.  It will also help sooth your throat as dry tends to equal painful, and keep you feeling a little more human.

Non-alcoholic, gingery, Hot Toddy

I hate to say this, but there is no evidence that whisky has any beneficial effect on a cold other than making you 'feel' like there's nothing wrong.  The rest of the drink is effective though and one that I use regularly.  I'm going to warn you now, this is not the most delicious tasting rand I have found myself making weird, sour faced movements, but it works. This is also not vegan as it contains honey.  So this is the recipe I use:

• half a squeezed lemon
• half teaspoon of ginger puree (you can just chop up fresh ginger as well)
• 1 teaspoon of raw, cold-pressed, organic honey
• warm/ hot water
• Mix together in a mug and sip slowly

The lemon contains citrus acid which helps to break up the mucus that causes sore throats and also help with the inflammation.  It also contains antioxidants that help support the immune system and as it is a natural antiseptic is may also help towards killing the viruses.  Ginger helps to open up your sinuses, helping to clear your nose and throat, and also helps with reducing the inflammation around your throat.  Honey is very helpful ingredients when it comes to dealing with a sore throat.  If you like the taste of it you can actually just take a teaspoon of it on it's own.  It works by coating your throat and the antimicrobial properties it contains (designed to help look after the colony) work as an anti-inflammatory and there is some evidence that it may also work on the virus directly.  This will only be the case if you get the raw variety though, as any processing can denature the honey.  It is also known to act as a cough suppressant (more on that later).  Warm water will help all the ingredients dissolve easily and will also act as another level on of soothing your throat and breaking up that mucus.

Salt gargle

This is one of the oldest remedies there is, but I find it works really well.  It works by drawing water from the mucous membranes, reducing the swelling and making it feel more comfortable.  For this you need:

• half teaspoon of salt
• a mug of warm water
• Mixed together and gargle the solution for 30 seconds.  You can do this around 3 times a day, though not more as this could dry your throat out too much.

Lemon and Honey cough medicine

I seem to have this slightly odd way of doing being ill.  When I'm actually ill, and very contagious, it's not very obvious apart from the darkening of my undereye circles.  However, when I'm getting better and feeling relatively normal again, I have to blow my nose regularly, wheeze a little when I breathe, and develop of cough that sounds like I've been smoking 40 a day since I was 5 (really don't do that) despite never having smoked in my life.  I've tried every cough medicine available and none of them have had any real effect.  I usually end up having to chug the drink and that really isn't good for you.  I've found that cough pastilles are a little more effective, but I think that has more to do with the fact that you are constantly moving fluid past your throat.  Then I watched a programme on TV led by doctors which showed that cough medicines aren't actually that effective but that honey and lemon are.  So I tried it and it really does work, not only in stopping me from coughing but in reducing the length of time I cough for.  This is the recipe I use:

• two lemons
• 1 teaspoon of raw, cold pressed, organic honey
• Mix together in a pan over a low heat.  Once fully mixed pour into a mug and sip.

I'm not going to lie, this remedy doesn't taste nice either.  However, it really does work and instead of spending a week not really sleeping due to coughing I only had one restless night this time.

Taking a hot shower

I tend to prefer my showers to be slightly on the cool side, but when I'm will I happily make them hot.  The heat on your chest and back is very soothing and I find helps me breath a little easier, but the main benefit is the steam which helps relieve congestion and also works towards soothing a sore throat.  I tend to stand there taking deep breathes through my nose (if possible) and mouth, and definitely notice a reduction in the pressure along my sinuses. This could also be done in a hot bath, but I'm really not a bath person.  

If the idea of taking your toasty clothes off and getting wet really doesn't seem appealing then you can also do a facial steam.  Fill a bowl with boiling water, drape a towel over your head and put your face over the pot.  Then just breath as normally as possible for as long as you can handle.  You can also add a few drops of peppermint or eucalyptus essential oil to the bowl which will help sooth your throat and chest in the same way a vapour rub does.  I've also heard of this being recommended to people who aren't actually ill but are looking after those who are as a way of reducing the chance of falling foul of the virus yourself.

The only non-natural product I add to this is paracetamol, which I use mainly to help control my temperature and deal with the headaches I also get when I'm ill.  Any old paracetamol will do though and I really don't spend money on the fancy, pricey ones with the added ingredient of caffeine.  However, I mainly rely on these recipes and my bodies own natural abilities to deal with germs to help me get through being unwell and to speed up the process of getting better.  The best part is that I tend to already have these items in my kitchen cupboards and don't need to venture out to find them.  

I feel that I should put a little side note here as I often have people complain to me that their doctor didn't give them antibiotics when they had a cold.  Antibiotics only work on bacteria, not viruses, and are therefore completely ineffective when it comes to having a cold, flu, or tonsillitis.  You would, however, still get the unpleasant side effects.  The only time doctors usually give out antibiotics in these cases is if they feel you have something called strep throat or if you've developed a chest infection.

I hope that these recipes might also help you feel a little better and let me know if you have any natural remedies of your own. 

Project Pan Update #3 and other products

There was a real worry that I would have almost nothing to show this month, despite wearing make-up practically everyday.  Thankfully, though, there are two items that are being moved out and some not so obvious signs in the eyeshadows I've been working on.

Let's start with the one item I have used up, the Natural Collection Fig Leaf lipstick.  I had decided to work on this lipstick this time as it was the oldest one I owned and, as it's a moisturising formula, I was worried it would go off the soonest.  But, as far as I'm aware, Boots Natural Collection is cruelty free (though please let me know if I'm wrong here.  The colour is a little bit off for my skin tone, but I had bought it for a fancy dress party many years ago and just put different coloured lip-liners to make it wearable.  It is a lovely formula though and, despite being so moisturising I didn't need to put on lip balm, it didn't seem to spread into the lines around my lips.  It also had a relatively good staying power for a very budget friendly lipstick and mattified to a very nice texture and colour.  I may have a look at more suitable colours in this line once this project is over, but I still have a few lipsticks to go right now.

Next is the Rimmel Mind the Gap nail varnish.  I didn't actually get to finish this product, but it just became too gloppy to keep using so I'm counting this as being done.  I love the colour of this nail varnish (I've left it on so you can see it in the photos, but you'll have to excuse the chipping), but I don't like the formula or the brush that comes with it.  It's meant to be good in one coat and dry within 60 seconds - it's not and it doesn't.  Rimmel is also not cruelty free and I am wanting to buy free from nail varnish in the future, so I'm definitely not buying this again.

I've been using the ELF Teal eyeliner to line my upper eye lashes before putting on eyeshadow liner and also to line my waterline.  I really like this eyeliner as the colour is great and quite pigmented, but the formula is a little dry and doesn't stay too long in the water line.  It is taking a while to use, but I'm still getting through it and will definitely be able to use the 2 eyeliners in this project before the end of the year.  I would recommend this eyeliner to those who are wanting a pop of colour, but if you're wanting it for your eyeliner maybe go for a different eyeliner or take this liner with you to reapply. I'm not sure you can get this exact colour anymore in the Essentials Brightening Eyeliner, but they do have other nice colours.

Still working on the Lily Lolo eye primer.  I haven't reached pan yet, but I feel like I'm getting close on the yellow one which I've been using on the areas of my face that are a little red.  Now that I've been using this for a few months I can say that it does a pretty good job.  My eyelids are pretty oily and normally will be free of most eyeshadow by the end of the day, but there is still some shadow left when I come back from work (which is usually 11 hours after first putting it on).  The yellow tone also does a good job of helping to cover the redness, but I'm not sure if it helps keep my foundation on as I haven't tried the foundation without.

Now for the eyeshadows.  I'm still working on the same seven shadows from last month.  The dark grey has not really moved at all, mainly because I keep forgetting to use it, so I really need to make a point of putting it on from now on.  For the rest of the eyeshadows, the pans on the Sephora liner eyeshadow, the Sephora brown eyeshadow, Maybelline white eyeshadow, and The Body Shop Coconut About You have all gotten larger.  The Maybelline silver is still taking a long time to hit pan, despite using it basically everyday (the hole is from me wanting to see how far I have to go).  However, because of the size of the brush I use with this I think that when I do hit pan it'll go pretty quickly.  As for the pink eyeshadow from the H&M palette, the dome is no longer as domie as it was before but this isn't a shadow I have been using regularly as it didn't really go with the Fig Leaf lipstick.  Now that that is all gone I'm hoping to use this shadow a lot more.

Now for the other products (sorry this blog is so long).  As you know from my other posts I'm trying to reduce what I have in all areas of my life and, while I've picked specific items I want to concentrate on for the project pan, I have still been working on other products.  I haven't used all these products in March, but over the last three months, and it doesn't include everything I've used up as I wanted to keep some aside to do a product review on them in a separate post.

Firstly, the Boots Botanics Microdermabrasion Polish Radiat Youth.  I've loved Botanics for many years as they are a little more 'natural' in the products they use and the company apparently tries to reduce their impact on the planet.  According to the back this face scrub is also 'Formulated without parabens' and is 'People tested'.  I found this to be a great scrub, which removed dead skin without drying out my skin.  I found it more effective than other natural face scrubs which have nut shells in them, and this was probably because it has pumice stone in it.  It was as effective as the newer micro beads, but less damaging to the environment.  The only reason I won't be buying this again is because I don't want to use a mechanical scrub anymore and will be using peals instead.

The other items here are testers, most of which I get from Naturisimo when I buy other products.

Firstly, the body moisturising testers.  I did really like the Caudalie Divine Oil and it smelt nice, but Claudia is not recommended on Logical Harmony and so I won't be buying it.  The Pai Rosehip BioRegenerate Oil was also lovely, but it pricy so maybe I'll wait until I have a bit extra cash before looking into getting it, and I also liked the Joik Lemon and Vanilla Body Lotion, but there wasn't enough in the tester to get an actual idea as to what it was like. The Lavera Hand Cream was good, but nothing more than a normal hand cream.  The New Charity Pot is something you can get from Lush for £1 and is general quite a good moisturiser and I've put the Balance Me Moisture Rich Face Cream in this category as I used it with the Charity Pot for moisturising my underarms.  I shave with my evening shower and moisturise instead of putting on deodorant, which I then put on the next morning.  I've had the Balance Me face cream before and wasn't too keen as it felt too thick on my face, but didn't moisturise as much as I was expecting for that.

Secondly, the face products.  The Pai Perfect Balance Blemish Serum Zinc & Copaiba was lovely, as all Pai products seem to be, and did help with some hormonal blemishes I had at the time, but as it isn't something I generally have an issue with I won't be getting this.  The two Lavera face creams were nice, but again not products I would necessarily pick over any other.  The Madara Time Miracle Night Cream was lovely, but also comes with a price tag a little out of my league.  The Egyptian Magic all purpose skin cream was nice, and a cult favourite, and a little goes a very long, but for all the hype I wasn't taken enough by it to want to actually buy it.  It also contains honey products that I'm trying to reduce in my stash.  I have no real opinion on the Caudalie products (S.O.S morning eye rescue and Deep cleansing exfoliator) as there wasn't enough in these testers to really be able to form an opinion on them.  Also, as they are not cruelty free I won't be looking at testing them further.  My favourite product out of these was the Green People Fruitful Nights Night Cream.  It worked really well, made my skin feel really soft, and smelt amazing.  I've actually brought the full product.

The last is the miscellaneous group.  I'm not sure about the Madara Micellar Water and couldn't form enough on an opinion on it with the amount that was there.  I'm thinking about buying the full sized product to see if I can get more of an idea about it, but that will be after all my Bioderma has been used up.  The Caudalie Radiance Tinted Moisturizer in 01 Light was a nice product and had good coverage, but not cruelty free.  I'm not sure about the Lavera Repair and Care Shampoo and, again, there wasn't enough in this tester for me to be able to form an actual opinion on it.

So that's it for this month.  I hope everyone's Project Pans are going well.

UK Budget 2016 - what does it mean for the environment

[Apologies, this blog should have been up on Sunday, but had some difficulties.  All is now well and will be posting again on Sunday as usual]

You would be forgiven for thinking that this year would be the year of the 'green' budget.  After all, the Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom did say that the UK would put in law a long term goal to reduce carbon emissions to zero, in keeping with the Paris climate deal, and George Osborne himself states that this would be the Budget that 'puts the next generation first'.  So it was a bit of a disappointment when the full budget was released.  There was some good points, but these were unfortunately few and far between.

Let's start with the good:

• the National infrastructure Commission's report into the UK's future low-carbon energy system has lead the the Budget allocating at least £50m to innovations in energy storage, demand-side response and other smart technologies for the next 5 years.
• £730m will be dedicated the the new Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction for offshore wind and 'other less-established technologies', which is double that put aside in the first CfD auction.
• additional spending of over £700m will be made on flood defences and resilience by 2010-2021.  This will hopefully increase the chances of us coping with one of the greatest risks to the UK from Climate Change.
• there is a small mention of measures to support the transition to a cleaner, zero and ultra-low emission vehicles.

And now for the bad:

• there is a reduction in the plastic packaging recycling targets, which have gone from 57% by 2017 to 49% by 2017 and only a 2% increase each year until 2020 only reaching 57%.
• the landfill tax has also been changed so that the cost will increase in accordance to the retail price index.  This means that landfill costs will not be expensive enough to discourage the use of them.
• the Government will launch the first stage of a competition to identify a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) to be built in the UK, with a SMR delivery roadmap to be published later this year.  The Budget also allocated at least £30m for the R&D in advanced nuclear manufacturing.
• the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) will be abolished from the end of 2018-2019, mainly, it would seem, because the retailers don't like it.  This will be replaced with a 'revenue-neutral' increase in the Climate Change Levy (CCL) from 2019.  This will lead to the renewable energy sector now having to pay a higher tax, as Osborne removed the CCL exemption for clean energy generation last year, which will make them more expensive.
• the Budget announced tax breaks for the oil and gas industry for the second year in a row.  The reason given is that the industry is struggling with the low oil prices, but it seems to have completely ignored the also hard-hit renewable sector and shows no support for the thousands of people who have lost their jobs in the onshore wind and solar sector.

This year's Budget has shown a Government that has failed to rise to the challenges set by the ambitious Paris Agreement.  But perhaps the strangest thing about this Budget is the lack of reference to Climate Change, arguably the greatest threat facing the next generation.  Afterall, didn't George Osborne say 'I am not prepared to look back at my time here in this parliament, doing this job and say to my children’s generation: I’m sorry. We knew there was a problem.....but we ducked the difficult decisions and we did nothing.'