Green or GreenWash?

I picked this loaf of organic bread up at our local supermarket recently.  I don't normally buy what my boys call "Plastic bread" but this was in the reduced to sell basket and with an excess of eggs and milk I knew I could make it into a bread and butter pudding. But I also wanted to pose the question to you as to whether this was a good green choice or a fine example of greenwashing?

Skills we must not lose

This image turned up on my Facebook timeline this morning.  I am sure it brought a smile to a good few people, especially if they had managed to rush to the shops before the bad weather hit and stocked up of loads of bread.  However when a friend posted on Facebook that they were baking bread, he wondered how many people were also doing this and how many do not know how to bake bread.

Image from Leamington Spa Courier

A-Z of Going Green, one step at a time.

I am going to make any specific New Year Resolutions this year.  Instead I am going to try and follow the A-Z Going Green, one step at a time.  Are you with me?  Will you make 2018 the year of Going Green?

My kitchen table - my life

This was my kitchen table yesterday and I realised that it summed up my life so well and what I hope to achieve on a daily basis.  Let me take you on a journey round my kitchen table/life ...

Starting top left and going clockwise:

Bowl of bread dough rising - this one is pumpkin bread and it turned out really tasty.  The sharp eyed among you may notice the dough is covered with plastic and you would be right.  It is a bag that had tortilla wraps in it and after being used several times to freeze things it split so got downgraded to a bread cover.

My 13 year old Nokia phone - yup, I really do have an original Nokia and it is at least 13 years old.  Dare I ask how many phone upgrades you have had in 13 years?

2 tea towels - these came from my Mum's house after we cleared it out.  We tried to salvage as much as possible of things that could not be given to charity or sold on/recycled.

Why I will not buy organic food that contains palm oil

My last blog post questioned whether choosing organic food over non organic was always the best choice for the environment.  Many people are happy to pay extra for organic food thinking they are doing the very best for the environment.  However, in my view, there are many instances when organic food does not offer the best environmental choice, including when it contains palm oil:

Quote from my blog post:

When organic foods are contain palm oil  

We all know the devastating effects palm oil plantations are having on the rain forests of Asia and South America and the animals and plants that used to live there.  Manufacturers may say their palm oil is sustainable (what exactly does that mean anyway?) but the production of all palm oil goes far beyond just destroying habitats.  The working conditions of those harvesting and processing the crops is often extremely poor with no health care in place and workers are paid very low wages.  For the consumer, palm oil is far from a healthy product being high in saturated fats.  So why do organic producers even use it in their products?  Simply because it is the cheapest fat currently available.

I then received this comment from Jana315:

"Organic palm oil, all of the world's producers, grow in sustainably. Organic palm oil is the BEST choice among oils. Please do your research so that you are educated properly on this subject. Organic Palm oil is zero chemical input, pays farmers well and is ALL non-gmo. All palm oil is non-gmo. Responsible palm cultivation is a solution to feed the world."

In hindsight I had greatly simplified the organic palm oil issue, as I had done with each point in the blog, and so I wish to expand it here, both answering Jana315 and further clarifying why I stand by my claim that choosing organic foods containing palm oil may not be the best environmental choice.