Filtered Water: Refreshingly Different

Just tried my new water filter for the first time. There were an array of filters to choose from in the shop, but in all honesty I went for the cheapest one. After all, as long as it filters water then it should be OK. I made sure I got one with a universal filter, though. The last thing I need is to run out of filters and find that the shop has stopped stocking the one that I need.
The blurb on the box promises to reduce chlorine and organics from tap water by up to 90%, reduce limescale (my kettle will thank me for that) and reduce metal contamination, sediment and pesticides.
I must admit, that water does taste different. I'm just finding it hard to get out of the habit of going straight to the tap rather than the water filter, especially when I'm filling up the kettle. Maybe I need to put a big STOP sign above my tap or something.

Anti-Allergy Regime

I've decided to go all-out with my anti-allergy diet. The nutritional therapist recommended that I avoid everything I'm allergic to for 5 weeks and also follow a course of vitamins and supplements that she has suggested, so that's what I'm going to do. As of today, I'm taking all my B vitamins as well as two teaspoonfuls of flaxseed oil everyday. I've also bought some spirulina powder, which I have to say is one of the wierdest things I've ever consumed. It's a blue-green algae, which I always thought was just something that grows on canals and kills all the wildlife. It comes in powder form and you dissolve it in water. It's a bit messy to prepare if you don't concentrate, it looks a bit like a deep green smoothie, but it doesn't taste that bad. I think I can handle one glass a day at any rate.
I've bought some plant-based shampoo and laundry detergent to help with my contact allergies, and I took my list of things that I can't eat shopping with me today. Surprisingly, there was actually still a lot at the market that I can eat.
My consultation with the therapist also gave me lots of tips that are useful for everyone. Like drinking 2 litres of filtered water daily (I must remember to go and buy a water filter tomorrow), and not drinking and eating at the same time. It's important to allow 30 minutes between eating and drinking, otherwise the water dilutes your stomach acid whilst it's trying to do it's job, which causes heartburn. The hardest part for me is going to be remembering to drink water at work, and specifically remembering to drink it 30 minutes before my lunch break. My lunch box and water bottle usually get buried underneath all the paper on my desk, so I'll have to set myself some kind of reminder to dig them out at the right time.

Together For Trees

Tesco have a really good campaign running at the moment that helps to educate people about the importance of the rainforests and their influence on all our lives. As with my ‘one small step’ philosophy, Tesco want to encourage people to make small changes in their lives that together will have a huge impact on halting the destruction of the rainforests. If you’re looking for some inspiration to motivate yourself to start taking those small steps, I think it’s best to let the facts speak for themselves. Full information can be found at www.tesco.com/trees.

• Rainforests regulate the climate, store carbon, clean water and provide a home to animals and birds. They are often referred to as the ‘green lungs’ of the planet because much of the oxygen in our air comes from rainforests. The trees and soil also store a huge amount of man-made carbon dioxide emissions. When the trees are cut down those gases are released back into the atmosphere, heating it up and contributing to global warming. The destruction of the rainforests creates more carbon dioxide each year than the emissions from all our planes, ships and cars put together.

• An area the size of a football pitch is destroyed every four seconds. That’s almost eight million football pitches a year. 50 years ago, it is estimated that the rainforests covered 14% of the Earth. Now they cover just 6%.

• The rainforests support more than one billion of the poorest people on the planet.

• An estimated 140 animal and plant species are lost every day through the destruction of the rainforest.

• More than 70% of all land-based species exist only in the rainforest.

• There are a huge number of items that we use everyday that originate from the rainforests, including grapefruit, coffee, tomatoes, chocolate, plant ingredients for modern medicine, oils to make cosmetics and detergents, coconuts, avocados, figs, lemons, limes, bananas, squash, pepper, tumeric, cayenne, vanilla, cloves, cinnamon and ginger. There are still many more to be discovered.