Mallorca Living: Restoring the Balance

One week back in Mallorca and I'm starting to feel myself again. I might even take back what I said about not wanting to travel. I'd consider flying to Ibiza. Maybe. If you twisted my arm.

To assuage my fury about Carrefour's despicable packaging (four sausages, four styrofoam trays), I went on my first coastal cleanup of the year. It has to be one of my favourite forms of volunteering because I love being outside and walking with a purpose.  

The views along the coast south of Palma are breathtaking. Rugged grey rock contrasted against this mesmerising turquoise sea, with dozens of white yachts dazzling in the sunshine. 

Picking up rubbish doesn't feel much of a hardship with such a backdrop. Added to that, we had a musical duo playing a bagpipe, drum and flute accompanying us. It was very uplifting. 

Less uplifting was finding heavy bottles of cava tucked into bushes so early on in the walk. Celebrate people, by all means, but take your rubbish home with you! Same goes for all those leaving balls of aluminium foil everywhere. You've eaten the weight of your sandwich guys, it's not much to take the wrapper! I wrote a short report for SeeMallorca. 

I also feel more myself because I've been writing every day. I've completed the 2nd draft of my novel about a hen party that goes missing in Mallorca. At 77,000 words it's still too short, but there will plenty more editing to come. 

I've nicknamed it The Last Straw, after my first three failed attempts to write it. The moment of truth has come. I now have to read it and see if it makes any sense. Fingers crossed!

My Twitter feeds is so busy with tips, quotes and blog posts that sometimes it's hard to see what's good and what's fluff. But the other day this article by writer Jeff Goins popped out at me with its clever title: Why Quitting Your Job and Chasing Your Dreams is a Terrible Idea. It's all about creating good habits and working steadily towards what you want rather than hoping for this miraculous, over-night success. I found it reaffirming so I thought I'd share it in case you do too! 

Common Folk Against Death by Plastic

Packaged Croissant spotted in a Supermarket

It was an ordinary winter's day in London.  Rain swept the streets and good British folk took comfort in mugs of tea and talked, justifiably, about the weather.

 

I was in the vegetable shop looking forward to getting home. Behind me, another customer was in a hurry and pressing into my personal space. The cashier turned to her, 'Do you need a bag?'

 

In her hand was a single red pepper. She didn't think twice. 'Yes,' she said.

           

A few months ago I might not have registered this interaction let alone reacted to it. But on that windy winter's day her request flicked a switch inside me, and in my head, a voice cried 'murderers!'            

 

It took me by surprise. I even worried I might have said it out loud but her expression reassured me I hadn't. I watched her putting her red pepper in the little transparent plastic bag the cashier had given her while I waited for my change. The bag hadn't solved her problem. Next she asked for a bigger plastic bag to put the little plastic bag in since the little plastic bag had no handle. Two plastic bags for one single vegetable.     

 

'Murderers!' the voice cried again. It was the voice of millions of ghosts; the ghosts of countless marine species poisoned and suffocated by plastic. It was the Sperm Whale washed up in Spain defeated by 17kg of the stuff in its stomach. It was also proof that the message of Common Folk had hit me.            

 

If you haven't heard of Common Folk yet, that's because it only launched last month. It's the brainchild of Tina Ziegler, a Californian girl living in Spain from the art industry, and a woman I'm proud to call my sister-in-law.

 

Struck by how much waste she was creating in her everyday life, Tina sought to raise awareness about plastic pollution and created CO/FO to draw attention to our daily habits that collectively form part of the global environmental problem. Less than 10% of plastic worldwide is recycled, the rest goes to landfill, is burned or will eventually make its way to the ocean. The catastrophic effect this is having on our eco-system is captured in this powerful and beautifully shot video.

           

Although I had finally got into the habit of bringing my own bag out shopping, up until now I'd found it hard to avoid using those little bags for fruit. Responding to this problem Tina set about creating attractive and affordable 100% organic cotton bag as an alternative, and there is a range on her website available to buy.            

 

No one likes being preached at and Gandhi really got it right with his catchy line: 'Be the change you want to see in the world'. If it wasn't for seeing the founder of Common Folk in action, living the change she wants to see in the world, then I wouldn't be writing this blog and five times out of ten I'd still be forgetting my bag for life. I don't feel overwhelmed by the problem, I feel grateful I've been woken up to it so I can help.

 

 

Plastic Tina found at a beach in Palma de Mallorca

 

 

Connect with Common Folk:

 

commonfolk.eu

facebook.com/wearecofo

twitter.com/WeareCofo