Three ‘Upcycle Arcade appropriate ‘ things happened last week, each of which warrants it’s own blog entry. However,  I shall merge and blend them into one and just touch upon what each meant to me.

Earth Day

This was on 22^nd April. The earth is 4.3 billion years old (old) and Earth Day is almost as old as me (not quite but it’s all relative). Earth Day’s motive is to build the world’s largest environmental movement by engaging people to do their bit. Reaching people everywhere to take individual actions that reduce waste. Although very much based in the US, there are obviously no country boundaries regarding the issues they tackle.

Plastic waste is a hot topic which is unlikely to go away anytime soon. Global rubbish clean-up is a great idea but litter-louts will still drop it (although I do see less McDs waste hurled from car windows nowadays). My youngest daughter’s school recently donned high-viz jackets and armed with litter pickers, they cleaned up our village. A lovely lady here in our village is on a mission to eradicate plastic from her family’s lives. She has set up a new company called Fillable where you take your empty containers and pay for the refills only: dry foodstuffs such as rice, pasta and muesli but also washing liquids and soap. www.fillable.co.uk. Track her on Instagram @fillable_. Steph is certainly doing her bit!

Upcycle Arcade champion sustainability by rescuing pieces of furniture from the brink of landfill and sending them to new homes to live for many more years using Annie Sloan’s chalk paints. Annie Sloan’s company not only supports local businesses to stock her paint, but the paint is low VOCs with recycled or recycleable packaging. Perfect fit for us.

BBC’s Forest 404

During my weekly stay-at-home painting day, I listened to the BBC’s podcast Forest 404 which has been advertised for some while now on the radio. Admittedly it took a while for me to get the hang of what the story was about but I did really enjoy it. Not being a sci-fi fan myself, this was not my usual cuppa but the message is as clear as it is obvious; look after your planet and don’t get ahead of yourselves re: technological advances.

Yet it was the short topics covered between the story’s chapters which grabbed my attention.

• The beneficial effects on mental health when being in nature;
• How humans are changing the way the earth sounds. For example, selective logging doesn’t always change how an area looks but the loss and change in habitat alters the sounds you will hear from the residual animal population;
• What happens to our digital selves when we die; and
• The human race being intelligent enough to orchestrate it’s own extinction.

Powerful stuff and worth a listen if you have about 6 hours going spare (I listened back to back but it comprises 9 chapters).

We love the Earth, it is our planet

Finally, my middle daughter played me a new tune and accompanying video of US rapper’s Lil Dicky’s Earth.  We love our earth, it is our planet. We love the earth, it is our home. Dicky roped in Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber as well as Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes and others to produce this fun uplifting song. Even the A-list environmental campaigner,  Leonardo DiCaprio, puts in a cameo appearance. The video is a combo of Croods meets Madagascar and is a joy to watch but make sure you watch the clean version. Please…just no need for expletives!!!! Click here to watch and listen.