What can we do?

At a time when we're all badly in need of good news, I apologise for drawing your attention to a powerful video that's far from encouraging.
It lasts for little more than one minute, but it packs some hard punches.

And the subject it covers?
Yes, you've guessed . . . it's plastic.

As we learned last week, micro-plastic particles have somehow managed to spread to the remote, snowy wastes of the Arctic.  Plastic, it seems, has permeated every corner of our planet.

How did it achieve such a feat?  To give you one alarming example, whenever plastics are dumped in landfills, the hazardous chemicals seep underground when it rains, infiltrating into the aquifers and water table and indirectly affecting groundwater quality.  It's a sobering thought.

And that isn't all.   Did you know, at this moment, you and I are inhaling particles of plastic?
Recent comprehensive tests, undertaken in both urban and rural areas, have shown conclusively that plastic particles are to be found in the atmosphere.  What's more, they're now known to have infiltrated the food we eat.

And things get worse.  Plastic, which was originally made from cellulose found in plants and trees, is now almost entirely made from oil, natural gas, coal and minerals.
It could well be said that, in excavating for the source of plastic, we are making a major contribution to climate change.


However, it's a complex situation because there are other important factors.
Did you know that here, in the UK, we produce over one and a half million tonnes of plastic raw materials annually?
Not only that, with the UK's plastic processors consuming over three million tonnes, the UK is one of the five top processors of plastic in the EU.

I'm typing this letter to you on a plastic keyboard,  I've just been speaking on my plastic telephone . . . plastic is big business.

Yet, whilst accepting that plastic is now an inevitable component of modern life, with a factor to play in our economy, surely we should be attempting to remove the large percentage of unwanted plastic that our thoughtlessness has allowed to escape into the environment?

If, as it would appear, we are all of us breathing, eating and drinking invisible particles of plastic on a daily basis, isn't it time to take action?
Surely we should be doing everything we can to extract it from the air, the water and the soil?

With which thought in mind, let's return to the video I mentioned at the start of this letter.
I'm sure you'll agree that it needs to be seen, it needs to trigger our anxieties and activate our future actions . . . so, please click here.

LATER
Thank you so much, Marion, for your immediate response, and for telling me of the tiny nation which is waging war on plastic - there's still room for hope.
Let me share this encouraging development . . .  click here.

For want of a lead!

Hello, it's Chloe here . . . may I share some thoughts that have been niggling me . . . thoughts about the ups and downs of having a boyfriend?


As I've discovered with Blue, having a boyfriend in your life is a very good thing.  I'd be the last cat to argue about that.
It makes your ears prick and your whiskers quiver with excitement . . . oh no,  I certainly wouldn't want to go back to being on my own.

But, for all that, I must admit that boyfriends also present problems.


Now, unlike Blue, I'm very lucky to have a harness and lead . . . and a co-operative Mum on the other end.
Thanks to my lead, I have a very full life outside the garden.

I travel in my Mum's car . . .  we go visiting . . . my Mum takes me for walks in the country . . . I get out and about and thoroughly enjoy myself.

When I'm with Blue in the garden we play.  We have great games together . . . and can sometimes end up feeling quite exhausted.

But Blue is convinced that it's my lead that enables me to go through the garden gate and do exciting things in the world outside.

And, as you'll see in this picture, he wants the lead for himself.
He does his very best to grab it so that he, too, can go outside the garden gate.

But, just between you and me, I'm not at all certain that this would be a good idea.

Wouldn't you agree that there's something rather special about being the only cat in the company of a lot of highly respectful and helpful humans?

Would it be the same if Blue was there as well?
No, I'm not at all sure that it would.

True, I love to sniff noses and play with Blue in the garden. 

But, when it comes to being appreciated by a crowd of humans at a pub lunch . . . being admired on a country walk . . . or bringing pleasure to the patients at the nursing home  . . . well, and don't tell Blue I said this, there's a lot to be said for being a celebrity cat on your own!

Thank you so much for sharing these thoughts.  You've helped me make up my mind that, although it's great to have a boyfriend, they're best kept for games in the garden . . . and without leads!