Thresholds of Change

Happy New Year Everyone! 😃🌼🌿🌳

We have all well and truly stepped into 2024, no matter where on this planet you live. We have stepped over the manmade objective threshold of time, from one year to the next, and yet moved back to the routine of work, study and life.  Perhaps one day is already melding into another, just as it did in 2023… If so, then we really need to wake up because life is in the now! There is a wonder-ful world to be discovered and appreciated. 🌼

We don’t have to wait for a new year event, every minute of our day offers the liminal opportunity for a threshold of change, you just need to do it!  Why not change just one thing in your life (for starters) to show your love and respect for planet Earth. Please, continue reading; it may give you some ideas 😉

The misty, moist morning did not dampen our spirits, or our chalking. Being out, raising awareness of the urban wildplants to highlight their importance makes you feel good: mentally, emotionally and physically.

There are great benefits to being a Rebel Botanist: learning about plants, their Latin names and their value to wildlife and humankind. One of our amazing Rebels makes skin healing salves from the Plantaginaceae plants. Used for many skin ailments, they have been used for centuries as a topical herbal medicine.

Being a Rebel Botanist also keeps you fit. Many of us cycle and we certainly do plenty of walking on our chalking adventures. We also do lots of bending and touching our toes 🤣😂

We also work and support other environmental groups like Pollenize, because they protect and nurture urban bee populations. Wildflower meadows have been destroyed by 98% since the year David Attenborough was born. Can you imagine the effect this has had on pollinators? However, organisations like Pollenize are working hard to help them.

We also link up with Art and Energy, who are currently focussing their efforts on the Mossy Carpet Project. They are encouraging families to learn more about the value of mosses. Mosses are amazing – did you know they date back 450 million years, that we know? As well as being incredible micro eco-habitats for nematodes, rotifers and tardigrades, they soak up excess rainwater like a sponge and retain moisture in the soil.

Don’t you just hate it when someone drops their litter on the floor – too lazy to put it responsibly in a bin? Well, Clean Our Patch do a great job picking up litter all over the city and on beaches. The founder, El, says it also helps with her mental and physical health. The organisation have built up a strong group of volunteers in different areas to keep the streets clean. I hope their amazing work also educates people to stop littering, sometime soon.

One of our loveliest collaborators is Tess from Food Plymouth, who is brilliant at providing regenerative, sustainable and affordable food practices. From permaculture gardening courses to apple-pressing, she demonstrates that we can grow our own food without chemicals and care for the environment. In the photo above, she demonstrates that she doesn’t have to spend any money on tables or gazebos when she attends events; instead, she wears this multi-pocketed apron for all her leaflets – very practical Tess; sew a Vivienne Westwood label inside and I’m sure it will catch on 🤣😂

Pesticide Action Network promotes safe and sustainable alternatives to hazardous pesticides. The website provides up-to-date research and information on how, and why, we must progress our lives without poisonous chemicals. Rachel Carson used the word ‘biocide’ as being more appropriate than insecticide, as ‘all life is caught in its crossfire…Disregarding the whole record of contamination and death, we continue to spray, and to spray indiscriminately.’ (Carson, R. 1962. Silent Spring.

What will you do for nature? Perhaps:

Stop using pesticides Put up a bird feeder
Join a local litter picking group
Shop for need, not greed. Learn to repair, not replace with new
Walk in the woods (not the shops) Learn to grow your own vegetables Learn to cook wholesome meals on a budget Volunteer with a local Friends of the Park group and learn more about plants

There are so many positive things to do and they will: save money, save life and keep you healthy. 🌼🌿💚😃

So, everyone, steer your course this new year in the right direction for a better, happier lifestyle, and world, and give back to nature. 🌎

Follow us for updates and some exciting workshops starting in February 👍