We’ve been a bit quiet on here over the last few months. There are few different reasons for this; as well as life picking up after the Covid shutdown, we both went through a period of despondency about the climate crisis, essentially feeling there was no point in sharing what we were doing as no one was interested or everyone had bigger things to worry about. That’s not to say we’ve been sitting on our laurels, we just haven’t been writing about it. But as 2022 draws to a close, we have decided to just get on with it and start blogging again.

On a global scale, 2022 has been a bit of a rubbish year (to put it mildly). In terms of the future of our planet, things seem hugely uncertain. Instead of looking back at the global progress (or lack of) made in tackling the climate emergency, we’re going to round up some of the things we’ve been up to this year.

* In late winter and early spring Caroline was among a small group of volunteers who planted 900m of hedgerow along a public footpath. This was part of Plant For Our Lives, a community tree and hedge planting project in the Pewsey Vale supported by The Woodland Trust.

* In April we both headed to London to support XR at the April Rebellion, marching through central London to hopefully draw attention to the government’s inaction on climate change. We felt it was hugely important to take part not only to spread the XR message, but because if the Tory government has its way, peaceful protests like this will become a thing of the past.

* Over the summer stifling temperatures (including the hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK) played havoc with our vegetable growing. Many of the always reliable crops like runner beans and courgettes were huge failures. Water shortages meant I learnt how to siphon off bath and shower water to use on the vegetable garden. But even with the extra water many plants did not survive in extreme temperatures.

* On the plus side, the endless sunny days meant Caroline‘s newly installed solar panels came into their own.

* As counter intuitive as it may seem, during the heatwave we were busy insulating our house. We had the failed cavity wall insulation removed and refilled, as well as properly insulating our loft. Both measures had an instant effect helping to keep our house cooler in the summer and we are really feeling the benefit now that temperatures have dipped.

* Caroline and her husband took advantage of a special offer on Inter Rail tickets and spent a month travelling around Europe by train. More of this to follow shortly, if you’re looking for eco-friendly holiday ideas.

* As Autumn approached, I splashed out on a second hand slow cooker (£10 from Facebook marketplace) as energy prices rocketed. I was a little dubious as to how much I would use a slow cooker but so far so good. I will update you on my slow cooker shenanigans soon!

* Caroline has also been busy honing her woodwork skills as she learns how to build a composting loo!

Keep an eye on EcoBabble in 2023, as we plan to post more often starting with Green New Year’s Resolutions: 31 Days of Eco-Actions on 1 January. As always, if you have any comments, ideas for content or feedback please get in touch.