On Sunday I went with the crew from Los Pantanos de Villa wildlife reserve into central Lima, where they had a stall at the FestiFeria. The FestiFeria is a moving fair...
Category: Economics, Environmental economics, Ethics, Institutions & infrastructure, Natural history, Politics & society, Volunteering & activism Tags: a year in Peru, behavioural ecology, creating change, expat life, history, human ecology, living in Lima, Peruvian history, pollution, poverty, resource shortages, social equality, social services, society, sustainability, traditional societies, urban slums, war
Last week I passed the half-way point of my project here in Lima, so it seems a good time to reflect on the six months that have been and to consider...
Category: Economics, Education, Ethics, Institutions & infrastructure, Politics & society, Popular culture, Rants & raves, Volunteering & activism Tags: a year in Peru, activism, aid, building community, change, corruption, creating a better future, dependency, development, education, enabling change, environmental management, government, Lima, living abroad, peru, policy, pollution, social inequality, sustainability, volunteering
So here I sit in a specialist coffee chop, tucked away underground, at Larcomar, the boutique brand outdoor mall on the edge of the sea cliffs of Miraflores. Larcomar is a...
Category: Anecdotes, Ethics, Health & wellbeing, Rants & raves Tags: a year in Peru, anti-consumerism, being a hypocrite, coffee, consumerism, economics, ethics, expat life, expat living, graffiti, Lima, Miraflores, peru, poverty, privilege, social inequality, street art, trading authenticity for security, wankers
I just brought home shopping in plastic bags. I feel… ethically compromised. I haven’t used a plastic bag in years. I even made sure I brought enough fabric bags with me...
Category: Ethics, Industry & agriculture, Volunteering & activism, Waste disposal & recycling Tags: a year in Peru, beach, changing my own behaviour, environmental impacts, ethics, garbage, marine ecosystems, marine pollution, microplastics, oceans, plastic bags, plastic pollution, politics and government, recycling, rubbish, waste management
Today is International Volunteers Day, apparently. There’s a day or a week or a month for everything, it seems, but volunteering is a good thing to stop and think about now...
Category: Adventures, Community, Ethics, Lifestyle, Politics & society, Rants & raves Tags: building a kinder society, building community, community, contributing, donating time, happiness, helping, International volunteers day, neighbours, opportunities, skills, the benefits of volunteering, volunteer, volunteering, what you can do, working overseas
Way back in the dimly-recalled shadows of the 1990’s an inescapable pop song called “Waterfalls” burrowed its way into my brain. Don’t go chasing waterfalls – implored the lyrics – please stick...
I’ve been working on a serious post on seed legislation, GM crops and sustainability, but it’s going to take me a little longer to finish. I’m struggling to find time to...
When is a holiday not a holiday? When it involves working and studying and throwing yourself head-first into a foreign culture and totally different economic reality. People keep asking me how...
Category: Adventures, Anecdotes, Education, Ethics, Institutions & infrastructure, Politics & society, Travel Tags: agriculture, developing world, entitlement culture, environmental awareness, environmentalism, food and nutrition, learning, personal growth, peru, political systems, pollution, poverty, social justice, south america, sustainability, sustainable development, trying to change the world, volunteering, working in other cultures
This is going to be a far shorter post than I want it to be. I want to do my research and give you the numbers but I don’t have the...
Category: Adventures, Environmental economics, Ethics, Farming & food systems, Food & cooking, Industry & agriculture, Travel Tags: awesome people, dairy shorthorn cattle, eating meat, ethical consumerism, ethical omnivore, farmer's markets, farmers, farming, free-range farming, free-range meat, heritage breeds, livestock diversity, Mount Gnomon Farm, pigs, rare breeds, sustainable agriculture, Wessex saddleback pigs
The shape of things to come