Your green promises:
Re-use plastic bags when shopping, Oliver Marcus, London  >>  Stop wasting resources, Ness Backs, New York  >>  Consume more plant-based foods, Chana Tzi, L.A., Ca., USA  >>  Start growing my own herbs and vegetables, Holly Weisfeld, Herts  >>  Cycle one a day if not more, Jamie Cooper, Harts  >>  Visit a lot of eco-sites, Maria Kamutzki, Berlin  >>  I won't litter, Joel Austin, Pinner  >>  Be more eco friendly, Connor Buchalter, Hatch End  >>  Re-use water bottles so less waste, David, Middx  >>  I won't waste water anymore, Ben Green, Hach End  >>  Help my dad recycle everyday, Phoebe Decker, Northwood  >>  Turn electrical things off when I have finished using them, Talia Austin, Pinner  >>  Not to waste food, Joshua Roson, Rickmansworth  >>  Eat fairtrade chocolate, Josie Sacks, Pinner  >>  Bike/walk to places not to far away, Zoe Buchalter, Hatch End  >>  Recycle plastic bags when I go shopping, Sophie Scholl, Moor Park  >>  Take and re-use our own plastic bags when we go shopping, Cass Family, Harrow  >>  Not waste paper, Jed Gaffin, Northwood  >>  Walk to school more, Lea Abrahams, Pinner  >>  To be more careful with water, Max Abrahams, Pinner  >>  Turn the tap off when I brush my teeth, Ellie Roston, Rickmansworth  >>  Try and ride my bike as much as I can, Zack Bluestone, Stanmore  >>  Walk to from school everyday, Meiron Avidan, Stanmore  >>  Use tap water instead of bottled, Rianna Roston, Earth  >>  Turn everything off, not leave it on standby, Lewis Decker, Northwood  >>  Put my rubbish in the bin, Aron Bhalla, Harrow  >>  I will put my rubbish in the bin, Seth Bhalla, Harrow  >>  I will not watch the same thing as my brother on a different TV, Ilana Braham, Northwood  >>  Our family will walk to places if it is less than 2miles, the Garland family, Pinner  >>  Don't use sandwich bags for packed lunch, David Braham, Northwood  >>  Switch off lights when I am not using them, Matthew Rodin, London  >>  To walk and get the train more, Steph Leigh, Watford  >>  Not to litter and put rubbish in the bin, Jacob Lauder, Harrow  >>  Help put out the recycling more, Rachel Bard, Hertfordshire  >>  To put my cans in a recycle bin, Hannah Hyman, Borehamwood, Herts  >>  Walk to the bus stop, Matti Brooks, Borehamwood  >>  Re-use plastic bags when shopping, Gemma Black 5B, Hertfordshire  >>  I pledge to water my plants with a watering can and not waste water, Gemma Black 5B, Hertfordshire  >>  Make more things e.g sculptures instead of just putting them in the bin, Minnie Diamond, Bushey  >>  I shall turn off lights and T.V. when not needed on, Harrry Rubin, Hertfordshire  >>  Turn the TV off and not leave it on standby, Harry Rubin 5 Beech, Herts, London  >>  Turn lights off when I leave a room, Katie Moss, Radlett  >>  Only flush the chain when I need to, Hannah Hyman, Borehamwood, Herts  >>  Cycle one a day if not more, Jamie Cooper, Harts  >>  Ride on my bike at least once a day, Sophie Pollock, Borehamwood, Herts  >>  Grow my own fruit and vegetables in the garden, Isabelle Copeland, Bushey  >>  Don't leave lights on, Rebecca A, Herts  >>  Use energy efficent light bulbs!, Dov Colman, Borhamwood  >>  Not use the car for short journeys, Josh Zucker, Hertfordshire  >>  Turn the TV off and not leave it on standby, Jake Murray, Borehamwood  >>  To not leave the shower running!, Lauren Seres, Herts  >>  Turn lights off when I leave a room, Tyler Freedman, Bushey  >>  Do more recycling and help my mum sort out the waste, Maddie Freedman, Bushey  >>  Turn the TV off and not leave it on standby, Joseph White, Radlett, Herts  >>  Turn lights off when I leave a room, Zoe Klein, Hertfordshire  >>  turn off the plugs in my bedroom, Oliver Rothstein, Adlenham, herts  >>  Turn lights off when I leave a room, Nina Freedman, Borehamwood  >>  Take showers instead of baths, Harry Singler, Bushey  >>  Recycle my household waste, Harry Black, Bushey  >>  Recycle my household waste, Mrs Myers, Borehamwood  >>  Re-use plastic bags when shopping, Daniel Simmons, Radlett  >>  Not to turn lights on if it is not neeeded, Etienne Dean, Borehamwood  >>  Not use the car for short journeys, Leah Gorb, Bushey  >>  Use bits of junk around the house to make something & to not throw it in the bin, Sophie Pollock  >>  Turn the tap off when I brush my teeth, Natalie Maurer, Hertfordshire  >>  Turn the TV off and not leave it on standby, Rebecca Selt, Radlett  >>  Turn the TV off and not leave it on standby, Avital Cohen, Borehamwood  >>  Recycle my household waste, Max Bean, Bushey  >>  Start growing my own herbs and vegetable, Talia N, Hertfordshire  >>  Recycle my household waste, Leanne Rosner, Radlett  >>  Turn lights off when I leave a room, Leanne Rosner, Radlett  >>  Turn lights off when I leave a room, Kezia Blakeley, Hertfordshire  >>  Don't buy herbs if you can grow them, Emily Sterman, Hertfordshire  >>  Re-use plastic bags when shopping, Joshua Silver, Radlett  >>  Turn lights off when I leave a room, Ella Kosmin, St Albans  >>  Turn lights off when I leave a room, Ella Green, Borehamwood  >>  Replace two light bulbs in my house with energy efficient light bulbs, Jacqueline Sefton, Bushey  >>  Take showers instead of baths, Sophie Hyman, Borehamwood, Herts  >>  Turn the tap off when I brush my teeth, Joshua, Herts  >>  Turn the tap off when I brush my teeth, Benjamin Isaac, Herts  >>  Turn the TV off and not leave it on standby, Abby Rosen, Elstree  >>  Replace two light bulbs in my house with energy efficient light bulbs, Amanda Finestone, Borehamwood  >>  Try to have a shower instead of a bath and will not sing in the shower for too long, Sadie, Hertfordshire  >>  Cycle at least once a day, Jamie Cooper, Borehamwood  >>  Re-use plastic bags when shopping, holly, herts  >>  Turn lights off when I leave a room, Michelle Hertz, Stanmore  >>  Start growing my own herbs and vegetable, nicola weisfeld, hertfordshire  >>  Turn the TV off and not leave it on standby, Jack Glazer, Bushey  >>  Turn lights off when I leave a room, Jack Glazer, Bushey  >>  Turn the tap off when I brush my teeth, Holly Weisfeld, Hertfortshire  >>  Turn the TV off and not leave it on standby, Joshua Collins, Hertfordshire  >>  Eat less meat, Stephen Scott, London  >>  Turn the tap off when I brush my teeth, Hannah, London  >>  Continue to educate myself and others in ways of taking care of our earth, Raven Moon, Connecticut  >>  Try to live on less and take pleasure in the effort, Erich Connell, Greenville, NC  >>  I will be a vegertarian on a weekly basis, Lee-Ann, Tauyuan, Taiwan  >>  I promise to make sure all recyclable items go in the recycling and not in the bin, Lara Gordon, London  >>  I will try to keep recycling my clothes and not buy too many new ones, L.Bratter, North London  >>  I promise to recycle by altering my clothes, Anita Lancet, London  >>  
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Gabrielle Lobb

My name is Gabrielle Lobb. I run a community arts charity through which I engage with young people and adults from diverse communities. I'm married to Richard, a musician, and we became parents to our son, Eden, in July 2010. We are enjoying this new adventure and attempting to make environmentally-conscious parenting choices as we go. We grow a lot of vegetables in our garden and have recently taken on an allotment - this all helps with our choice to eat an organic, vegetarian diet. I bake and supply organic cakes to some local cafes. I love music and theatre, camping, cooking and entertaining.


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Parent Blog

Big Green Jewish would like to introduce Gabrielle Lobb, a Jewish Parent living in North London. Gabrielle will be sharing the joys and challenges of trying to raise children in an environmentally friendly way. 

Click here to subscribe to Gabrielle's blog - just tick the 'parent blog' box.

Winter Play 

I’m so pleased that we had some snow – we have a much-loved series of four books by Gerda Muller, each containing beautiful depictions of one season. The illustrations are wonderfully detailed and the books have no text so are completely open to interpretation. This offers great freedom for talking about what is seen, and as children get older, scope for returning to the books again and again, developing and creating endless versions of their own narratives, relating to their own experiences etc. However, as much as we had been enjoying the Winter book, it felt somewhat arbitrary as the pages are filled with snow and its related activities which Eden had never experienced... finally, he has been able to match real life with pictures and he had great fun. Now of course he wants to look at the book even more frequently than before!

During the cold snap, we’d still been wrapping up warm and managing to spend some time outdoors, but we’ve also been creating more indoor activities now that Eden is really starting to engage in purposeful play. Here are some of the things we have been enjoying:


Rice tray

A deep roasting dish filled with rice to scoop, tip, pour and spoon (and then sweep up afterwards!).

Play house

I made this play house from a large cardboard box found lurking at the back of our shed. This only required one cut in one box (plus I cut a window). It’s a work in progress as I’m making paper roof 'tiles' and going to use some garden canes to ‘clad’ the shutters and front entrance, and in the meantime, Eden has been colouring on it.

You will need:

One cardboard box. As big as you can get.

Strong, wide, sticky tape. 

A sharp knife.

Instructions (see here for step-by-step photos):

Tape together two adjacent flaps at top and bottom of the box to form the gable ends of your roof.

Cut open the corner of the box opposite to your roof ridge.

Pull the walls into position and tape the walls to the flaps of the gable ends to give the walls strength.

Stand the house the right way up.

You may want to add window(s), paint it, wallpaper it, furnish it - no rules, no limits!

Homemade Playdough 

Takes about a minute to create, provides hours of fun and lasts for months.

Recipe:

1/2 cup of salt

1 cup of flour

1 tablespoon of Cream of Tartar          

1 tablespoon of oil

I cup of boiling water (from the kettle) mixed with? some colouring (for natural dyes use beetroot, spinach or carrot juice)

Mix all the ingredients together, stirring until a stiff dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. 

Turn out onto wax paper and knead the dough with your hands until of recognisable ‘Play-Doh’ consistency (happens almost immediately!). 

Allow to cool, then let the fun begin... 

The inclusion of cream of tartar means this dough will last 3-6 months in an airtight container.

And finally...

With our baby due very soon, we have at last been turning our attention to preparing for the new arrival. A book I read before Eden was born, and one I have returned to this pregnancy, is The New Jewish Baby Book: Names, Ceremonies and Customs - A Guide for Today's Families by Anita Diamant. It really helped us to think about how we could arrange a welcome for our new family member that would be meaningful in a Jewish way and also feel appropriate and comfortable for us and our lives.

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