One task a month
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My mum’s house (and thus the house I grew up in) just outside of London.
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The Tiergarten in Berlin, specifically deep enough into the park that you cannot hear any traffic anymore!
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Horses, Basil Plants, Oak Trees
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To be conscious of and proactive towards reducing my impact on the environment.
Autumn 2024
Task taken on:
My fiance and I are buying a flat, so I’ve done quite a bit of research into how you can make a home more energy efficient.
Completed?
April 2024
Task taken on:
I’m going to do my March task (learn two new vegetarian recipes) again because I still feel like I need to learn some new ones!
Completed?
I’ve been trying as much as possible to eat a vegetarian diet - so I’m trying different recipes and being pretty strict about it at home.
March 2024
Task taken on:
My task for this month is to learn two new vegetarian recipes. I almost always cook penne alla norma for myself (even tonight) but I want to learn some new dishes!
Completed?
My task was to learn 2 new recipes. Well, whilst Imogen and I did eat less meat, I mostly regurgitated old meals I know. We have, however, started making couscous salads for lunch which are a revelation! I’m going to continue with the same task for this month because I need to branch out…
February 2024
Task taken on:
My task for this month is to get two people signed up to One task a Month.
Completed?
Yes! Two friends / colleagues have signed up to join the campaign :)
January 2024
Task taken on:
I’m a sucker for long showers, so this month I’m going to try to avoid showering for more than 6 minutes per day.
Completed?
My task went well for January! I was much more conscious about the amount of time I spent in the shower; I used to be quite luxurious in that department.
December 2023
Task taken on:
For December, my task is to avoid Amazon for Christmas presents!
Completed?
November 2023
Task taken on:
I’ll also use Ecosia (the search engine that plants trees) for this month as my task for November :)
Completed?
So my November task went relatively well, I used Ecosia but not all the time (as for example, I still need to transfer passwords etc which made it much slower).
October 2023
Task taken on:
My task for October is to cancel my relationship with the Halifax bank (I was quite shocked to see how much they contributed to the fossil fuel industry - you can check your bank here: https://bank.green/) and put my money into a Monzo account, which is one of the greenest options.
Completed?
Yes! I switched bank - here’s a screenshot of my transfer!
August - September 2023
I didn’t manage to take on a task - but I’ll keep trying next month :)
July 2023
Task taken on:
My task for this month is to sign up to Cnaught (https://www.cnaught.com/) and be diligent about Carbon offsetting against the travel I am doing. The intention being to continue this beyond the month of July!
Completed?
I have completed the task but not by using cnaught. I explored this website: https://www.goldstandard.org/ and, aside from learning a fair bit, found a bunch of offsetting initiatives which I plan to continue to use on a monthly basis. A screenshot is attached !
May-June 2023
I didn’t manage to take on a task - but I’ll keep trying next month :)
April 2023
Task taken on:
For my task this month, I’m going to try and swap out my toiletries (that have been, up to now, bog-standard and off the shelf) to organic, plastic free products.
Completed?
I completed this by going to the local market where we live in Chiswick and I bought natural soaps made by locals (shampoo and normal soap) in the form of bars.
January 2023
Task taken on:
My task for January is actually going to be to educate myself more on the climate crisis. I plan to watch documentaries instead of series, for example, as well as read more articles on the issue.
Completed?
December 2022
Task taken on:
I am repeating my November task as I unfortunately didn’t find the time to do it hen… I’m going to try and do some early Christmas shopping and, in advance, try to buy products from individual merchants or buy tickets to support the arts industry.
Completed?
To buy ALL my Christmas presents for family from independent retailers was a difficult challenge. If nothing else, it opened my eyes rather drastically to just how much we depend on the convenience of services such as Amazon to get items on demand. I managed to support quite a few independent retailers at the Christmas markets in Berlin, as well as buying (and giving my own) second hand books as gifts. I’d definitely hope to be less dependent on big stores this time next year.
November 2022
Task taken on:
I am going to try and do some early Christmas shopping and, in advance, try to buy products from individual merchants or buy tickets to support the arts industry.
Completed?
Unfortunately, I didn’t do very well with my task this month. Despite wanting to get ahead of myself and support independent retailers/artists with my Christmas shopping, life got in the way. With some time remaining before Christmas, I will extend my task to December and hope that, at the beginning of January, I can report better success!
October 2022
Task taken on:
This month, I happen to be home more than usual and so, whilst I’m more in control of my diet, I’m going to buy locally from the independent shops and cook only vegetarian food for the whole month.
Completed?
Yes! When I was at home, I was able to buy locally from the market we have at the bottom of the road and cooked a variety of vegetarian dishes, not buying meat for an entire month.
September 2022
Task taken on:
To try and prepare in advance or consume food (vegetarian) with the least amount of packaging waste possible whilst in transit.
Completed?
My task for February was to try and reduce, significantly, the amount of food packaging I used and subsequently threw away whilst on tour. I was lucky to have a few performances in London (home) which makes taking your own food much easier and not only did I end up saving a lot of money, I ate much healthier and had zero plastic waste! I started to be more savvy about taking fruit and making sandwiches at breakfast when staying in hotels; small actions which meant I saved a lot of money and, crucially for me, didn’t have to think about where the next meal was coming from!