Living differently, living radically - part 2

... So how can I live differently but not back in the 16th century?

Here are some things I'm either doing , hoping to do or pondering on.

• Re-using plastic boxes instead of cellophane - but I do love cellophane! It's hard work to use a box... actually, is it hard work?! Nope. Caught me out there...
• Growing my own food. I have an allotment - and I know i'm lucky in that. This year I've been growing my own seedlings at home which to be honest is a bit of a faff, but I'm hoping for a better harvest this autumn to actually feed us - last year I had just a few sticks of rhubarb and some blackcurrants!
• Knitting more. This is something I really enjoy but I don't have a lot of time for it. And are second hand clothes just as good as making your own?
• Buying second hand. There is such a massive market out there, now we have Ebay. I don't think there's much that you need to buy new these days. And it seems that whenever I do splurge and buy something new, I inevitably see the same or similar model, somewhere, at about a quarter of the price the following week. I'm learning though...
• Buying less. Less food, less material things, and in particular, for us - buying less books!
• Use the library. Especially handy when I get bored with the kiddies books I read over and over to the bean...
• Eating less meat. Since my experience of living below the line, I'm convinced that we need to eat less meat. So we're having at least one lentil meal each week - last weeks was a delicious lentil curry. Mmm!
• Using less fuel. My hubby is really keen to try to get rid of our second car. These are his thoughts really - get a folding bike, cycle to the bus stop for work, then get the bus there and back. He already car shares twice a week, saving on fuel and cash. My challenge is to use the bus with my little bean to get into town....
• Buy a yoghurt maker (second hand, of course!). We eat loads of yoghurt, so this is a no brainer. Less plastic, less waste, more yum. 
• Not buy anything or spend much on the bean. (By the way, the bean is my little boy, if you were wondering.) He doesn't need stuff, he needs people, he needs me and his family. However. Blush. I did buy him a pair of smart soft shoes yesterday for his dedication.  [Question - does he really need them? Or is it just me?!]
• Recycle. In all sorts of ways - freecycle, using the recycling bin, taking stuff to the recycling centre at the tip... so many different ways of not chucking stuff into the bin. My good friend JD was telling me that our food rubbish is now shipped to INDONESIA (!!) to landfill, as we have filled up all our sites here.... 

Most of these things, I have noticed do take more time. But like I've said before, I do have  a bit more time on my hands. Time to stop blogging and start doing!

I guess it's just what I used to teach to my kids in school - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. And there's always more I can do . I'd be really interested for anymore ideas on the subject. Looking forward to hearing from you!