I'm thinking about all the things I want to do about making a more sustainable lifestyle. On a personal level this means making a real commitment to living closer to the earth, and the challenges this means in terms of living in a city, as I currently buy my food from supermarkets instead of growing it (yet); and drive a motorcycle and a car.

Obvious points to research are how to limit my own carbon footprint, ways that I can personally offset this in terms of returning energy as well as simply consuming it.

In terms of my work in photography, I want to document this exciting transitional time in so many ways; the way the face of London is changing; what people do with their lives; the hopeful and discouraging things; finding people (and organisations) who are making steps in the right direction, and examples of how we ignore the short time we have left - before we are the ones (rather than people in China or Africa or Burma) who have to deal with the constraints of government, the earthquakes, the floods, the rising water. I suspect that most people will not choose to change their lifestyle until they have no choice left, and I don't want to be one of those people.

The trouble is, like everyone else, I'm excited by the ways I can direct my energy towards making a good living, networking with other people, enjoying my life and making progress in the direction I want my life to go. How this can fit into making more of a commitment towards staying in London and reducing my personal negative effects as a consumer on the environment is the big challenge. It feels daunting, but as yet I haven't made the steps necessary to begin my own change. Herein lies the work. I think lists are in order, to start to look at the priorities of things I can do. So much to do, so little time to do it in...

Exploring recycling in London

I currently recycle plastic, paper and metal in orange bags that are picked up every week in front of my house. I deliver my glass bottles and jars to a glass recycle bin up the road.

For organic waste, fresh food waste is mostly given to my new worm bin (excluding what they don't like); the rest (apart from meat waste) plus all garden cuttings go into my magical compost bin in the garden - which, though I fill it up almost every time I put green waste into it, the pile mysteriously goes down, and so far it is never actually full!

I wonder just how efficient is this current method of collection by the council, where the bags go, how and whether they are sorted, and what happens to the material. I am going to contact the council to find out what is the current state of actual recycling.

An obvious point about recycling. This must be seen as the final method of conserving waste, after more useful points of use: using less packaging, consuming less, sharing and reusing materials including FREECYCLE (see IMPORTANT LINKS - http://www.freecycle.org).

Diary

I am starting this blog as a personal diary, exploring ways that I can lead a more sustainable lifestyle living in London.