3 January 2022|Health, Research papers, Sustainability, Testimonials
Mr Sheeran has a plan: ‘To offset his carbon emissions by buying “as much land as possible” and planting “as many trees as possible” he said during a BBC Radio London interview this week. “I love my county and I love wildlife and the environment,” said Sheeran, who is thought to have planted 14,000 trees on his £3.7 million estate in Suffolk.’
He’s inadvertently provoked a debate over re-wilding after revealing his ambition to buy plots of land and plant trees across “as much of the UK as I can”.
Re-wilding projects aim to increase biodiversity by not intervening in natural processes, and by reintroducing species that have become extinct. It is seen as a way to protect carbon sinks, such as forests and peat bogs, and therefore reduce overall emissions.
However, his plan appears to have divided opinion among environmentalists, winning praise from some while others branded him a “green laird”.
Jan Stannard, a founder and trustee of the UK re-wilding charity Heal, said: “Good for Ed Sheeran, actually getting on with doing something positive and practical. And this news should be great for local communities, as re-wilding projects usually mean more jobs in an area.
“He’s understood what many don’t, that buying land and re-wilding it not only helps fight climate change but also gives wildlife a chance to thrive. All we’d say is that planting trees is not always the best thing to do. Giving trees the right conditions so that their own seeds take root can be better for biodiversity in the long run. It will depend on what land he buys and where.”
Miriam Brett, a director of the London-based Common Wealth think tank, which designs strategies to make the economy more sustainable, said: “Ed Sheeran’s net worth is estimated to be £200 million. Shoring up land he likely has no connection to feels like a personal project to offset his inevitably unjustifiably carbon intensive lifestyle.
“The nature crisis is linked to inequality, and alleviating it doesn’t require UK Rich List members becoming ‘green lairds’. Why not help communities buy land so they have a stake and say in how it’s decarbonised?”
Sheeran’s wife, Cherry Seaborn, 29, has taken leave from her job at the City firm Deloitte to spend more time on the plans. She has enrolled at Cambridge University to study for a postgraduate degree in sustainable business.
Sheeran told the BBC: “The thing with sustainability and being a public figure is when people support it, suddenly people try and find things to call them out on.”
You can’t win Ed…
Matt Redman sings ‘The sun comes up it’s a new day dawning..’ in his beautiful worship song 10000 Reasons. Not only a new day, but a new month, of a new year. New beginnings.
This is the first sunrise of a whole new year. One in which we plan to be ‘Better Every Day’.
Our January pledge to YOU.
Better Every Day. Not best, but better. Every. Single. Day.
James Clear talks of the 1% in his bestseller Atomic Habits. Those 1%’s soon add up and small, gradual change is often way more sustainable than grand gestures.
Thank you The Guardian newspaper (UK) for writing and my friend Raquel for sharing the following: (They’re clearly onboard with the 1% idea too)
100 Ways To Slightly Improve Your Life Without Really Trying
1 Exercise on a Monday night (nothing fun happens on a Monday night).
2 On the fence about a purchase? Wait 72 hours before you buy it.
3 Tip: the quickest supermarket queue is always behind the fullest trolley (greeting, paying and packing take longer than you think).
4 Bring fruit to work. Bring fruit to bed!
5 Consider going down to four days a week. It’s likely a disproportionate amount of your fifth day’s work is taxed anyway, so you’ll lose way less than a fifth of your take-home pay.
6 Everyone has an emotional blind spot when they fight. Work out what yours is, and remember it.
7 Plant spring bulbs, even if they’re just in a pot.
8 Send a voice note instead of a text; they sound like personal mini podcasts.
9 Keep a bird feeder by a window, ideally the kitchen. It’ll pass the time when you’re washing up.
10 Always bring ice to house parties (there’s never enough).
11 Get the lighting right: turn off the overhead one, turn on lots of lamps (but turn off when you leave the room).
12 Sharpen your knives.
13 Feeling sluggish at work? Try the Pomodoro technique: 25 minutes on, five-minute break, and repeat.
14 Buy a cheap blender and use it to finely chop onions (it saves on time and tears).
15 Keep your children’s drawings and paintings. Put the best ones in frames.
16 Set aside 10 minutes a day to do something you really enjoy – be it reading a book or sitting in the sunshine.
17 Don’t be weird about how to stack the dishwasher.
18 Reuse all plastic bags – even bread bags. Much of the packaging you can’t reuse can be taken to larger branches of supermarkets for recycling.
19 Take a photo of the tag you are given when leaving your coat in a cloakroom.
20 Can’t sleep? Try a relaxing soak with lavender bath oil before bed. (Epsom salts would be DZ’s tip).
21 Add the milk at least one minute after the tea has brewed.
22 Laugh shamelessly at your own jokes.
23 It might sound obvious, but a pint of water before bed after a big night avoids a clanger of a hanger.
24 Start a Saturday morning with some classical music – it sets the tone for a calm weekend.
25 Look closely.
26 Set time limits for your apps. Just go to the settings on your smartphone and add a limit – for example, if you have an iPhone turn on Screen Time (This shocked us into making a change here at DZ).
27 If possible, take the stairs.
28 Always be willing to miss the next train.
29 Eat meat once a week, max. Ideally less.
30 Be polite to rude strangers – it’s oddly thrilling.
31 Ask questions, and listen to the answers.
32 Connect with nature: stand outside barefoot for a few minutes – even when it’s cold.
33 Join your local library – and use it. Find your English or Welsh one here.
34 Go for a walk without your phone.
35 Eat salted butter (life’s too short for unsalted).
36 Stretch in the morning. And maybe in the evening.
37 If you’re going less than a mile, walk or cycle. About half of car journeys are under two miles, yet these create more pollution than longer journeys as the engine isn’t warmed up yet.
38 Sleep with your phone in a different room (and buy an alarm clock).
39 Send postcards from your holidays. Send them even if you’re not on holiday.
40 Instead of buying new shoes, get old ones resoled and buy new laces.
41 Buy a plant. Think you’ll kill it? Buy a fake one.
42 Don’t have Twitter on your phone.
43 If you find an item of clothing you love and are certain you will wear for ever, buy three.
44 Try taking a cold shower (30 seconds to two minutes) before your hot one. It’s good for your health – both physical and mental.
45 Text to say thank you.
46 Read a poem every day. Keep a compendium, such as A Poem for Every Day of the Year, by your bed.
47 Take out your headphones when walking – listen to the world.
48 Buy secondhand.
49 Buy in person!
50 Learn how to floss properly.
51 If something in the world is making you angry, write (politely) to your MP – they will read it.
52 Say hello to your neighbours.
53 Learn the basics of repairing your clothes.
54 Always bring something – wine, flowers – to a dinner/birthday party, even if they say not to.
55 Learn the names of 10 trees.
56 Call an old friend out of the blue.
57 Every so often, search your email for the word “unsubscribe” and then use it on as many as you can.
58 Buy a newspaper/magazine.
59 Always have dessert.
60 Drop your shoulders.
61 Make something from scratch. Works best if it’s something you’d normally buy, such as a dress or a bag.
62 Go to bed earlier – but don’t take your phone with you.
63 Volunteer.
64 Dry your cutlery with a cloth (it keeps it shiny).
65 Instead of buying a morning coffee, set up a daily transfer from a current into a savings account and forget about it. Use it to treat yourself to something different later.
66 Don’t save things for “best”. Wear them – enjoy them.
67 Sing!
68 Think about your posture: don’t slouch, and don’t cross your legs.
69 Hang your clothes up. Ideally on non-wire hangers (it’s better for them).
70 Skinny-dip with friends.
71 Switch your phone off on holiday (or at least delete your work email app).
72 Always use freshly ground pepper.
73 Thank a teacher who changed your life.
74 Respect your ‘youngers’.
75 Keep your keys in the same place.
76 Ditch the plastic cartons and use a re-usable bottle.
77 Rent rather than buy a suit/dress for that forthcoming wedding (even if it’s your own).
78 Always book an extra day off after a holiday.
79 Ignore the algorithm – listen to music outside your usual taste.
80 Mute or leave a WhatsApp group chat.
81 Learn a TikTok dance (but don’t post it on TikTok).
82 Cook something you’ve never attempted before.
83 Join a local litter-picking group.
84 Handwash that thing you’ve never cleaned.
85 Don’t get a pet/do get a pet.
86 Nap.
87 Learn how to breathe deeply: in through the nose, out through the mouth, making the exhale longer than the inhale.
88 Buy a bike and use it. Learn how to fix it, too.
89 Politely decline invitations if you don’t want to go.
90 If you do go, have an exit strategy (can we recommend a French exit, where you slip out unseen).
91 If in doubt, add cheese.
92 Don’t look at your phone at dinner.
93 Do that one thing you’ve been putting off.
94 Give compliments widely and freely.
95 Set up an affordable standing order to a charity.
96 Keep a book in your bag to avoid the temptation to doomscroll.
97 Listen to the albums you loved as a teenager.
98 Make a friend from a different generation.
99 Staying over at a friend’s place? Strip the bed in the morning.
100 For instant cheer, wear yellow.
‘Being cured from severe migraines was completely unexpected’. You can find Nicole’s encouraging story on our site. She says she’s ‘never going back’, her diet and lifestyle are permanent changes and yes, came 1% at a time…
Sometimes I wonder….
Having shared a price promotion deal for Chris Wark’s bestselling ‘Chris Beat Cancer’ book, this was one of the replies we got.
No, is the answer!
Then there’s Instagram:
Love how social media can connect us to those featured on our site. This week it was Mel Robbin’s turn. Building relationships by nurturing trust.
Yes, 1% at a time…
A friend sent me a link to a local aloe vera grower after reading last week’s blog. The group feature a research paper showing the benefits of aloe vera use on our skin:
‘Conclusion: Aloe gel significantly improves wrinkles and elasticity in photo-aged human skin, with an increase in collagen production in the photo-protected skin and a decrease in the collagen-degrading MMP-1 gene expression.’
I’m buying local next time and continuing with aloe vera as part of my skincare regime.
Thanks Jerome for the recommendation!
