Plastic Fast Final Update: (Almost) a year without buying plastic (almost!)

At the beginning of this year, I decided that I would try to give up plastic, so now as we come to the end of the year, I´m sure you´re all wondering how I´ve got on. 

(if you missed out on the reasoning behind this, you can read it in the Jan blog -- and updates in Feb and April). 

Well - it´s been an interesting year  -- a year in which it seems that the evils of plastic have become much more widely recognised. I´ve seen other towns in Guatemala ban certain types of plastic bags / straws etc. There´s been online campaigns aimed at the big bottled drinks companies - encouraging them to find alternatives to plastic. In the UK, there have also been campaigns to introduce plastic bottle return schemes in the hope of encouraging a higher rate of recycling. Several African countries have made plans to completely phrase out plastic bags. I have also found a company here in Guatemala that is importing plant-based disposable plates and cuttlery -- they are still 'single-use' items -- but they will decompose naturally in your compost bin.  It seems that plastic polution has become a much more urgent issue than it was a year ago.  (Not that I´m saying that I´m a trend -setter or anything!)

But what about on a personal level?? Well the changes I made at the beginning of the year in terms of personal hygiene products  -- shampoo bars instead of liquids, deodorant stone, homemade toothpaste, bamboo toothbrushes  -- have all been very easy to keep up, so those changes will continue.  

(Just for Girls....... years ago I had also made the switch from tampons and sanitary towels - which are full of plastic -- to a menstual cup, which is reusable for about 20 years - and creates no waste what so ever. If you want more information, check out https://www.mooncup.co.uk/  -- they´re now available in Boots in the UK). 

I have also made permanent changes to what and how I buy food -- choosing raw ingredients and making things from scratch rather than processed options which tend to come overpackaged in plastic. 

On the home-cleaning front, I´ve switched to an environmentally friendly supplier  -- although some of their products do come in plastic bottles, they are in concentrated form, so last much longer, and the products themselves are kinder to the environment.

One thing which has surprised me...... At the beginning of the year,  I remember thinking that at some point I would need to start making bin liners / rubbish bags out of old newspapers, once I´d run out of plastic.... but after a year of not buying or accepting plastic bags or bin liners, that point has not yet arrived .... I STILL HAVE NOT RUN OUT OF PLASTIC BAGS!!!!! This seems ridiculous to me!! -- and says something about how enmeshed we are with the plastics industry. Other factors may also include...me never throwing out anything which could be reused, so I had a good stash of plastic bags to begin with...... this year having drastically decreased the amount of rubbish I produce so therefore decreasing the number of bin liners needed..... and often having visitors at home, who aren´t on the same plastic fast as me, who seem to leave their plastic rubbish with me.

So what does this mean for 2018.... Well for me, giving up plastics was never meant to be a temporary thing, so I will continue on my plastics fast, with all the changes I´ve mentioned, but I´m not complacent. I know that there are still aspects of my lifestyle that have a negative impact on  the environment - and I want to further reduce that in the coming year. If you want a good read or need to be convinced about this, I can highly recommend Ruth Valerio´s book 'Just Living: Faith and Community in an age of Consumerism'  

And here´s a few specific challenges I´m going to focus on in 2018...

*Vegetarian cooking. I haven´t quite got around to buying meat from the supermarket and taking my own containers to recieve it in. But eating less meat is better for the environment anyway (and probably for my body too) - so in 2018, I want to get serious about learning proper vegetarian recipes - rather than just my old student versions of vegetable pasta! 

*Find some solutions to the bin liner dilemma. 

*Travel by cargo boat. In my normal life, I only use public transport, but then I also fly more than the average person. In 2018, I will be returning to the UK, via cargo boat -- I´m very excited about this, as it will also be a great time of processing and chilling out inbetween busy times at either end of the journey. But could this be a better way of travelling generally??? It might take a few years for me to work this out, but let´s start in 2018. 

So that´s my personal challenges for living lighter on the earth in 2018. How about you??

Christmas Celebrations!

Merry Christmas  Everyone!!! 

At church on the 24th I enjoyed a traditional Guatemalan Tamal and punch -- but I´ve also enjoyed my best approximation of a traditional British Christmas dinner, with other Brits and Anglophiles!!

Here´s pictures of two out of the three Christmas dinners that I´ve cooked this week!

Study Week 2 - San Pedro La Laguna

 A second week of studying... getting inspired about ecovillages .... starting every day with a swim... reading serious books in a hammock.... dreaming for the future..... here´s a few pics

Study Week 1 - Tapachula

Last week I went to Tapachula for a holiday/ visa renewal / study week.

 I´ve been working on the first chapter of my MA dissertation, but needed to be away from work, and near a pool (!) in order to concentrate!! Here´s a few pictures..

 This was the last bit of readings and bringing it together to start writing the first chapter about intentional Christian communities.

Support-raising training -- and learning

Yesterday I taught a days workshop about raising personal support for missions. It was great to help others with what I´ve learnt  - as well as to be reminded of the support raising process as I´m in the stage of seeking a few new supporters (due to Brexit devaluation!)

Welcome back (briefly!!)

This weekend it was wonderful to welcome back Sadoc and Vivi -- who are Guatemalan /Mexican missionaries based in Scotland. They are here for a flying visit, including a family wedding - and it was lovely to catch up with them and begin to talk about their next steps. It´s always great to hear of what God is doing in their lives and through their service in Scotland. 

Restore prayer team visit

Last week, a group from Restore Community Church came to visit, to understand a bit more about my life and what I get up to here in Guatemala, and to pray for me. It was a great week. I felt very blessed by their prayers and their presence. I showed them a bit of Guatemala as well..... here´s some photos ....in no particular order!
And if you want to see what it was think from their perspective.... check out Anne´s blog....
https://londonguatemala.wordpress.com/2017/11/04/london-to-gautemala/

Thanks Anne, Mark, Ali, Jayne, Lavoga, Steve and Val!!

October comings and goings

October has been a full month of activities. I´ve had some visitors -- some planned, some last minute - but all fun!!

We have welcomed a couple of new Striders to Latin Link Guatemala -- and held our monthly prayer meeting in San Pedro La Laguna - where one of them is studying spanish...

I also welcomed Mayra to Guatemala for a few days as we met with Stefan, as the leadership team of Latin Link Guatemala Mexico, which was great to male progress on our plans here.

Core team in Spain

Last week, I was in Spain meeting with the Latin Link Core team. We meet about every 9 months or a year, and it´s always a good time together to focus on the development of Latin Link internationally.

We spend a lot of time praying for the teams, and talking, and planning, and eating swiss chocolates to keep us going! It´s a great privilege to work with these friends and colleagues!

A few weeks in politics (Guatemalan style)

Whilst I´ve been away, there has been lots of things happening in Guatemala.

In fact it´s been a tense time politically.

At the end of August the President Jimmy Morales attempted to throw Iván Velásquez out of the country.

A bit of back story… Iván Velásquez is the Colombian head of the UN backed CICIG (International Anti Impunity Commission in Guatemala), which has been investigating, uncovering and helping to prosecute corruption in Guatemala. They have successfully uncovered and presented evidence for a number of high profile corruption cases involving import taxes (for which the previous President and Vice President are now in prison), human trafficking, drug trafficking, misuse of public funds, amongst much more. They are now looking into illicit funding of political parties and election campaigns. A week before the Presidents attempt to kick out Iván, CICIG had presented papers applying to strip the President of his immunity, in order to investigate him and his party.

Another bit of back story….. Jimmy Morales´ presidential campaign was under the slogan ‘not corrupt, not a thief’.

On that occasion, the Constitutional Court rejected the President´s action, at first temporarily, and then permanently.

Last week, in the midst of preparations for the annual Independence Day celebrations, Congress rushed through a reform to the justice system, which would effectively legalize illicit campaign funding. As many NGO´s and human rights organizations promptly pointed out, the reform also downgraded a number of other crimes (including sexual abuse of children). Guatemalans responded with huge protests. (In turn, some Congressmen then went public to apologise for their vote, ask for forgiveness or simply say that they didn´t know what they were voting for, because they hadn´t had time to read it! Social media have called all the Congressmen who voted for the reform either corrupt or incompetent).

Again the Constitutional Court intervened to suspend the reform.

In the midst of all this, a National Strike was called on Wednesday, when hundreds of thousands of people congregated in front of the national palace in Guatemala City (and in many central squares in different towns and cities throughout the country) to call for the resignation of the President and all the Congressmen who voted for corruption.

The CICIG have made a new application to strip the President of his immunity, and the Congress have voted again to protect him (although with less support than last time!)

This is a difficult time in Guatemala. There are powerful groups with a lot to lose, but the people have seen the impact that their actions and their protests can have (public protests were a key component of the resignation and arrest of the previous President and Vice-President two years ago). But it also leaves significant questions about what would happen next if those resignations occurred.

All congressmen have well –known skeletons in their closets, and some are well proven and are being prosecuted, so the question of who could or should replace all those who are shown to be corrupt is very difficult to answer. And in a country where politics has until recently been seen by the church as a career to be avoided, there is a lack of political leaders of integrity. (I deliberately avoid using the term ‘Christian politicians’ – there are actually some of them – including the President – but that´s not what I mean. Leaders of integrity would life their lives and do their job, based on values of respect and justice, regardless of the personal gain or sacrifice involved.)

In the Latin Link team there, we continue to pray for Guatemala; for an end of corruption, so that the country and ALL it´s citizens are able to live and build a society of integrity.

A flying visit to the UK

The last few weeks I´ve been in the UK (on my way to Spain!), and have really enjoyed catching up with various friends in various places... here´s just a few pics ..

 Exploring Scarborough with friends who have just moved there...and after a quick swim in the sea there.

Catching up with crazy sisters - and after a slightly longer swim, and much colder waters of the River Dart in Devon! 

I also made a visit to Wales, and the Lammas Eco-village. This is the beginning of my research for the MA thesis, around environmental sustainability. The tour of the village was really interesting. Hydroelectric power, rainwater collection for domestic use, construction materials that use locally available resources, and methods that work with the landscape and the climate, conserving the energy that is already flowing... Here´s a few picture to give you an idea....