Category: Environment

The recent dry spell has been much appreciated, but the colder weather has turned my thoughts to birds. Bird numbers have been challenged over the last few decades, and they need our help.  Feeding birds with bird feeders has become very popular. It is a great pleasure to see birds congregating outside the window. However […]

This month has been a very exciting one for me personally, because our business, Railholiday, had the great honour of winning the Most Sustainable Small Organisation at the Cornwall Sustainability Awards. As my husband Dave and I headed to the podium, I had to do some quick thinking as to what I would like to […]

I was recently incensed by an article in a mainstream paper. The columnist chose to use his piece to complain about how inconvenient and unpleasant it was to visit his father-in-law’s second home in Cornwall. He went on to say they used to go there for a week every summer with his family, but now […]

I have to confess, I have very mixed feelings about Christmas. I have always struggled with the spend-fest and waste element, which I think for many of us is stressful. The pressure for perfection, and having the best ever Christmas, only adds to the anxiety. It can also be a time when loved ones are most […]

I read an interesting article recently that suggested that we should forget about our own carbon footprint and focus instead on the places we work. I don’t entirely agree with the statement; I think our carbon footprint is something we own and can do something about. By working on our personal footprint we can learn […]

I’ve just come back from a weekend in London, where I, plus my husband and son, took part in a weekend of climate change action organised by Extinction Rebellion, raising the profile of the crisis and talking to people about what we can do. Because Saturday’s action included an Earth Day march, we chose to […]

Cornwall is a wonderful place; not only for the beautiful scenery and access to wildlife, but also for the people. I have often thought that although in Cornwall we tend to have low incomes, we have a better quality of life. Instead of expensive holidays, we have beaches at our doorstep to access at any […]

The journey to becoming more ecologically aware, and acting upon it, is a multi-faceted one. Sometimes it can be empowering; it feels good to do something positive. However sometimes it can feel lonely and frustrating. In these times I’m really glad for the support of friends who are on the same journey. I’m reading an […]

It’s certainly winter storm time, and the beaches are, as might be expected, full of plastic washed in with high tides. This needs to be cleared as quickly as possible, before it finds its way back into the water to play havoc with fish, birds and other sea farers.  Some of the plastics washed up […]