Tuesday 25 September 2018

Modern Life.

Two different happenings today - both touching upon life these days and both disturbing for different reasons.

Yesterday morning when I took Tess on her morning walk I saw a tiny hedgehog.   The very fact that it was out in the sunlight of early morning was a bit disturbing as they are nocturnal, but also it appeared to be searching madly for something to eat.   This morning I saw it again in a different place and again it appeared to be looking for food.
It was nothing like half grown and would obviously not survive the winter in the wild.

I rang the Hedgehog Protection League (I do already know June, the lady around here who deals with such things).   The upshot was that this afternoon Tess and I went for an extra walk and lo and behold the hedgehog was in more or less the same place.   I wrapped it in a towel, put it in a bag and brought it home.   It is now in a box (hopefully secure because they are great escapologists) in the garage with a saucer of dog food awaiting collection in the morning - and will hopefully survive the winter.

A tale of modern life - how many of us have seen at least one squashed hedgehog on the road this year with all the heavy traffic?

Now to the second aspect of modern life and that is food packaging.   Because my friend and I eat out quite often (!) I don't buy an awful lot of food.  But I love fruit and salad vegetables and do buy a lot of those.   Before I put my food away this morning I put it on the kitchen counter and photographed it just to see the packaging.   The only item without any packaging at all was a bottle of milk.   I suppose pears were worst in that they were in a black polystyrene tray (not recycleable), covered with a hard, transparent cover and then wrapped in plastic.   Is all this packaging really necessary.   When I see the sea and the wildlife in some countries I despair.

   

28 comments:

wherethejourneytakesme said...

Apparently Morrisons are providing paper bags for their vegetables to save using plastic bags - my neighbour complained! Seems like not everyone wants to save the planet just save themself from any inconvenience.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

I went out with my brother recently and on a drive of 40 miles we saw 7 dead badgers at the side of the road, probably young ones not used to this big cruel world. I too despair at the amount of packaging that comes with every item though I read recently that most of what's in the oceans is lost or discarded fishing gear and stuff thrown overboard from boats, our plastic trays are unlikely to find their way down to the ocean. Even so I can't believe all the packaging is necessary.

Derek Faulkner said...

Yet some newspapers still send their colour supplements out in polythene covers, why do they need to be wrapped at all?
The one surprise mention in your blog was a bottle of milk, did you mean a real glass bottle, because I imagine most of us buy our milk in plastic cartons now.

anonymous said...

Too often people are unaware that we need to preserve and protect all living things in order to keep the balance and beauty in this world. If only more thought was given to such things instead of profit and pursuit of money, more and better possessions. You're good to take care of that hedgehog, Mary

Penhill said...

A lot of fruit and veg even in supermarkets is available loose to help yourself,I expect it would not be practical to sell soft fruit this way.I suppose after Brexit no fruit or veg will be on sale in this country apart from pick your own,I would love to see those who voted for Brexit picking their own sprouts on Christmas Eve!

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

Asda don't do enough loose fruit and veg - I only need to buy very small amounts being a single liver myself!

SusanM said...

We once found a tiny hedgehog fast asleep in our drive. After a few hours, I contacted the RSPCA who asked me to weigh it. It was well under the minimum weight required to survive the winter so they came and collected it. I was going out so I left it in a shoebox with a neighbour. She had a lively hour trying to stop it from escaping while waiting for the RSPCA to turn up!

justjill said...

Well done on the hedgehog. Our local wild life rescue service the New Arc have sent out their autumnal advice re hedgehogs and you did the right thing. Packaging. Makes me froth at the mouth. On my staggers up the prom I pick up litter. One idea is to purchase your food and then leave all the plastic in the trolley. The supermarkets soon get the message. If enough of us do it.

Heather said...

So glad you were able to rescue that little hedgehog. They seem to need all the help they can get.
As for food packaging - it is the bane of my life. I try hard not to buy packaged food but living alone and shopping just once a week, I need items with a good shelf life. That usually means a plastic pack of some kind. I buy loose carrots and apples, but like you I prefer the pears that are packaged. We can only do our best to avoid the wretched stuff.

Sandi said...

"Hedgehog Protection League"

They have a league??

Lynn Marie said...

Hedgehog Protection League is my new password of choice.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Not sure exactly the title of the Hedgehog thing but they certainly have some kind of organisation. Your nearest vets is a good starting point - that is where I am taking mine in the morning and the lady who will look after it will collect it from there.

Sorry Derek. I did indeed mean a plastic 'bottle' - does a bottle have to be made of glass?

angryparsnip said...

I bought daughter several bags to put fruit and veggie's in. After use just toss in wash.
We need to keep working on this problem. Paper bags is better than plastic.
As for having Pears in double plastic wrap I wonder why that is better for soft fruit ? all our fruit is sold loose. I can not see why wrapping it twice in plastic is better ? Grapes come in a plastic recycling bag.
If I can't buy it loose I don't get it.

Awwwww sweet little hedgehog I hope it makes it. All the dead Badgers makes me so sad.

cheers, parsnip and badger

Joanne Noragon said...

Thirty years ago we composted our newspapers, recycled our glass jars, redeemed our aluminum cans for the deposit we'd paid. Now we've quit Some barely remember and the rest never knew. What happened.

Marjorie said...

They abandoned our recycling programs here and it is difficult to find grocery stores where you can buy fruit and veg loose.

Granny Sue said...

I have been thinking a lot about packaging too. We've begun returning the plastic shopping bags, but next trip I'll be asking for paper. Even those reusable bags are made of nonbiodegradable material. And so much unnecessary wrapping! Sometimes it takes two men and a mule to get into a package, makes me crazy.

The big kerfuffle about plastic straws struck me as weird, given that it's the plastic bags that are so horribly prolific. Still any change like reducing the amount of plastic in this world is a good thing.

jinxxxygirl said...

Pat saved a hedgehog!! How wonderful Ms. Pat... We save turtles... We pull over the side of the road when we see one and get him safely across in the direction he is going...

I must say most of the fruit and veggie i buy at a big box store does not come in so much packaging.. the mushrooms yes but not much else..

I'm still reeling from the mention of the Hedgehog Protection League.. lol it sounds very Harry Potter to me for some reason.. I thinks its wonderful!! It doesn't help that i just finished rewatching a Harry Potter.. Hugs! deb








Cro Magnon said...

We tried to save a baby Hedgehog last winter, but sadly it didn't survive.

In France the plastic situation is much better than it was. For a few years we've had all 'compostable' bags for fruit-n-vegs. People now seem very conscious of the problem.

Derek Faulkner said...

Pat, I guess a bottle can be plastic, it's just that with milk, reference to a bottle tends to make one think of glass bottles. I noticed the local farmer here yesterday beginning his annual autumn spreading of many, many pallets of slug pellets across his rape seedlings. Gawd knows how many hedgehogs that kills as they eat poisoned slugs.

Bonnie said...

How sweet of you to help that little Hedgehog. I'm sure he was happy to get some food!

Our fresh fruits and vegetables are not individually wrapped here except for the small things like strawberries and blueberries. Of course I wash them well at home but I would do that anyway. There are however many other items that have entirely too much waste in packaging.

thelma said...

Glad you saved that little hedgehog, we have a rescue centre in Pickering at a pub, warmth and food and all the ticks picking off and a bit of tlc from the vet and they survive usually.
As for plastic wrapping what is there to say? Except leaving the stuff at the supermarket or indeed writing to the supermarkets.

Librarian said...

Thank you for saving the little hedgehog! I hope it will survive, and make many more little hedgehogs in a year or two.
Whenever I can, I try to buy bread and rolls loose at the bakery, not at the supermarket. The shop I most go for almost all my needs is Aldi, only 5 minutes to walk from my house (I do not drive). They also have loose fruit and veg alongside the packaged ones. I prefer the loose ones, if possible.
I guess with all the hygiene regulations in place, some packaging makes sense, but things have really gone over the top now.
Here in my country, recycling is still going on. We have four seperate waste bins!

Living Alone in Your 60's said...

Packaging is a necessary evil in some cases. But some is totally unecessary!How can a lot of shops sell an organic cucumber without plastic shrink wrap and the non organic with? Why do coconuts needs shrink wrap? They have a perfectly good casing. They can't hide behind hygiene because markets still sell lots of fruit and veg without packaging. Well done on taking in the hedgehog, at least he/She stands a chance if getting through the winter now.

Alphie Soup said...

I can see that there would be people who would not buy fresh unpackaged produce because of those 'disgusting' other people who may have touched it and left germs and other unmentionable nasties on the food.
Came home with 3 items today, bread in a light plastic wrap, yoghurt in a plastic container & coffee latte in a plastic bottle. Two out of the three items are recyclable.
Alphie

diana said...

You are so kind to rescue the hedgehog. We have less packaging here in the US but I do love how you can buy an assortment of berries in on package. I live right at the oceanfront of Virginia Beach and pick up tons of water bottles and straws.

Derek Faulkner said...

Wow, what a fantastic day today, very warm and cloudless here on Sheppey, people out in shorts and T shirts, summer has returned!

Ruth said...

Where I live there's a recycling center nearby, but we pay them $5 to take our stuff! Besides all the unnecessary packaging, my pet peeve is the use of large plastic "bottles" for pills - my glucosamine/chondroitin comes in a big blue bottle with only the bottom third needed for the pills it contains. And as if that weren't enough, it comes in a box. Pretty much the same with things like aspirin.

Bless you for rescuing the hedgehog! I'm worrying about what to do with a little kitten that appeared on the front porch two days ago. It seems healthy, no sore eyes, etc. It's totally black. Someone's idea of wishing us luck for Halloween? It doesn't appear to be a feral cat, and we have no neighbors. I'm sure it was dropped off here. I'd love to keep it, but with my unsteady feet, I'm afraid I'll trip over it. Hoping to find it a good home.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks for all your comments.