Campaigners are not suggesting that fishing should be stopped altogether or that fish shouldn’t be eaten.  They’re just asking forresponsible restraint and that’s fair enough.  Fishing has got to be sustainable and friendly towards marine eco-systems because the extinction of any species impacts us all.  What we can do as  consumers is ask before we buy – ask where the fish was sourced.  The Marine Conservation Society has a very helpful Good fish Guide which will help you buy with a good conscience.

And now it appears that our government is “taking up tuna’s cause”. Our leaders are joining up with France to lobby the rest of the world into a ban on the sale of bluefin tuna.  Japan is predicted to fight the ban at every turn because sushi is a beloved national dish over there and of course Japan has no conscience whatsoever when it comes to exploiting the oceans.   Anyway, the support of our government is a very good thing and to repeat the rather grim forewarning of President Sarkozy . . . Ours is the last generation with the ability to take action before it’s too late.

Is that an ultimatum?  You bet it is.

So enter Team Green Britain.  I’m cynical of course but also feel dutifully obligated to cheerlead their efforts.  So here goes . . .

Give me an M

Give me an A

Gimme an S – S – I

Gimme a V

Gimme an E

Give me an I – M – P

– ACT

Pah, it doesn’t ryhme.  That’s me not making the cheerleading team again. Ho hum.

The honeybee is the key to our existence. If there is no honeybee, there is no pollination; if there’s no pollination, there are no plants; if there are no plants, there is no food; if there’s no food, there’s no life. Satish Kumar

I see the bees buzzing, collecting a little nectar here and a little nectar there. Never too much. Never a flower has complained that a bee has taken too much nectar away. Nature in balance. But this balance is tipping. Human beings go to nature and take, take, take, until all natural resources are depleted. Honey bees never do that. If I can learn that lesson of frugality and simplicity, I will be learning the art of living. Satish Kumar

I have a designer handbag.  My son made it me for Mothers Day.  It’s made from organic cotton and scraps of unwanted fabric and it’s lovely. It’s worth a million times more than one of those ludicrously overpriced $50K ego-bags.

It’s the eco stupid, not the ego.  Shame on them.  And on any fashion-victim who buys one.

The NHS Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) was set up in April last year to promote sustainability and mitigate climate change and I’m eagerly waiting to see the plans implemented at the hospital where I work in the North West.  It’s a huge hospital.  Built recently, it possesses state of the art technology and equipment with many specialised departments to serve the needs of the county.  But in spite of it being a new build with the modernity that comes with new builds, it isn’t fitted with energy saving devices such as solar panels and it doesn’t even appear to have an environmental policy.

On a national level, procurement is a major contributor to the NHS waste/carbon footprint so I was mightily relieved to learn there is an action plan in place that is working towards sustainable procurement  . . .

. . .the health and social care sector in England will use sustainable procurement, not only of equipment and supplies, but also buildings, facilities and services, to achieve improved health and well-being for the people, the environment and the economy.

It’s not just procurement that needs an eco-overhaul.  On the ground, lights are left switched on day and night. Computer terminals are often kept on 24/7.  Office equipment is kept on standby overnight, every night.  Indiscriminate requesting of blood tests occurs daily.  And the food.  Goodness!  The food wastage is phenomenal.  Full and completely untouched meals regularly go back to the kitchens simply to be thrown away.  Probably largely unavoidable due to sudden changes in patient circumstances but staff are forbidden to eat them.  This is a silly rule.  There are no infection implications.  They haven’t even left the catering trolley for goodness sake.  Reduced waste.  Reduced transport costs.  Reduced-rate meals for staff.

Another area of waste is on the ward and in the clinic rooms.  Yellow bags and black or clear bags in bins stand together side by side on most wards.  Yellow bags are for clinical waste only and are very expensive to dispose of because the whole bag gets incinerated.  Clear bags, for ordinary waste can be disposed of for a fraction of the costs.  The problem is, sometimes there are only yellow bags available to hand so the health care workers use those bins for all their waste.  I heard that it costs around £30 to dispose of a yellow bin yet health care workers routinely throw paper towels and other non-clinical waste in them.  There are compulsory courses that instruct hcw’s about these issues but they don’t seem to be effective in practise.  The discipline seems to be slack.

I can hear you arguing that over-stretched nurses are too busy saving lives etc to be worrying about climate change but it’s simply a matter of reconditioning – habit-forming changes in behaviour.  Nurses can play a crucial role in greening the NHS at ward levels and I’m not alone in thinking that.  It’s crucial to form a deep and lasting culture of waste-awareness in the NHS.  Of course patient and staff health and safety comes first.  Of course infection control has to be prioritised but green efficiency awareness does not need to compromise health care.  It can actually improve it.  In fact, there are far greater health implications if we don’t start to seriously mitigate climate change.

Some other links of interest:

The Campaign for Greener Healthcare

Nursing Times

Nurses can play a key role in creating a greener health service

When I was a little girl, there was a place called Bluebell Woods.  I would spend many enchantingly happy hours in Bluebell Woods.   I was a very wistful little girl and the carpet of Bluebells in the shade of the trees was my favourite place to be.  I would read up on the folklore that is said to surround Bluebells and I would create my very own fantasies involving fairies and witches.  Many of my dreams were thought up within those trees and the flowers knew all my deepest desires and wishes.

And in Springtime, our house was abundant with the pretty flowers.  I would pick handfuls, carry them home by the bundles and proudly present them to my mum who would always gasp with delight and promptly retrieve her assortment of vases and jars to display them in.

Of course, the Bluebell is now a protected wildflower and it is, quite rightly, illegal to uproot a bulb or damage the flower.  Bluebells grow in ancient woodland and are a vital part of the eco-system.  It’s also vital therefore to prevent our woodlands from disappearing because they are the perfect habitat for Bluebells.

So, if you come across these vibrant and colourful flowers when you’re out walking, absorb and enjoy their simple beauty.  But leave them be.  T’would not do to damage them.  And, if ye are to believe the folklore, it certainly wouldn’t do to happen upon a chiming Bluebell.

Hopefully my thoughts and opinions here will be diverse and varied but I will probably bang on mostly about green issues and global ethics, the spirituality of nature and the wretchedness of humanity.

In addition, t’will be my take on topical news issues, politics, my personal ethics,  poetry, love, frustration, joy, my children, being sad, being happy and interacting with other like-minded people.

All friendly readers, discussion and feedback are welcome.

Merriest wishes.