Today is Blue Monday. Hashtag, etc. Not just a Monday, which Twitter and Garfield tell us is bad anyway, but a Blue one. Which is the most depressing colour, as everyone knows. Blue Monday is meant to be the day in the year when people are their saddest. Christmas and New Year’s Eve are distant … More Do it badly
Veganuary is in full swing and people have opinions. I’ve read more than one Facebook rant about how vegans are actually destroying the planet with their almond milk and lust for avocados, and have been tempted more than once to have a club sandwich after being exposed to a pious diatribe on the evils of … More Individual basis
Veganuary has grown so much since its launch in 2014, with a quarter of a million people signing up online last year. Choosing to address some concerns about the earth is worthy of some esteem, and though there are arguments for and against going vegan as a way to reduce carbon emissions, my own view … More Stop shopping
For many years, my favourite place on the internet was the Guardian Experience column. Each week I looked forward to reading about whichever unlikely scenario had taken place. The column’s subjects were mostly affably bonkers, on just this side of comfortable. It stands to reason that the well of weird would eventually run dry. Recent … More Other people’s problems
The Guardian’s article on the Stirling constituency is a great example of how bias works in media. The piece was a good read, with some points well made, but on the whole the experience left a bad taste in my mouth. Perhaps it’s the characterisation of Stirling residents as rubes who don’t understand or care … More Stirling: Brexit or bust?
Christmas is coming, and I’m one of the enthusiastic ones. I love the holidays: the cosy nights, too much food and wine, spending time with loved ones. Cheesy films, mince pies, Bailey’s. I’ve had my tacky jumpers out for a fortnight already. The history of Christmas goes back millennia, to pagan celebrations of mid-winter. Drinking, … More Fewer gifts, more heart
A couple of months ago I went to dinner with a friend and her friend, both of whom work for worthy, climate-based initiatives, both of whom are working in their professional and personal lives to halt climate change. The conversation was illuminating, especially as I thought I had a handle on all the main issues … More Private jets and climate change
This time last year my baby could not yet crawl. She lay like an adorable lump, squeaking, laughing, rolling from side to side. As a brand new parent, I still worried constantly about SIDS and about her temperature. Was she too cold, too hot? Was she randomly going to stop breathing? That winter was a … More Swing through winter
There is a website you can use to work out your carbon footprint and ‘earth overshoot day’, the date by which, if everyone lived like you, the earth would run out of renewable resources. Or something. It’s complicated. It’s also not helpful. I live very happily in a cottage on the edge of the Trossachs. … More Rural living and the carbon footprint
Over the last couple of months I’ve really enjoyed writing up a wee ebook about the time I took my cat travelling through Europe. Publishing with Amazon is super easy and, unlike traditional publishing, it gives me the ability to decide the length and style myself, as well as the pricing. The whole process of … More Travels with Basil
Jemma Beedie 