Natural responsibility
Feeling small but on top of the world (Scafell Pike). Photo from 2021 as I'm posting ahead of time, but pray for blue skies like this for me!
It will be a quick blog this week as I’m in the UK’s Lake District National Park, admiring the beauty of the natural landscape and hearing the words from one of my favourite classic novels (Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen) echoing in my mind, “What are men to rocks and mountains?”
It’s easy to feel small in such a vast place, but it does also get you musing on your responsibility for ensuring its future is bright. The area has seen damage over the past few years by flash flooding, made worse by climate change. The Lake District Foundation is running The Big Green Give from 22 to 29 April this year, with donations made between this time being doubled. The Foundation has said it will plant trees, hedges and riparian barriers to slow water, reduce flooding and protect the landscape, working with farmers, experts and communities to create sustainable flood defences.
Other brilliant charities off the top of my head include Friends of the Lake District and the Cumbria Wildlife Trust. The husband and I will be doing our bit and donating this week, as well as using our National Trust membership to help support the open spaces and historic sites it owns in the area.
Also part of our responsibility is of course not to litter! I always reiterate that littering is one of the most idiotic crimes. We’ll be packing away all our rubbish and ensuring the recycling is actually recycled at the cottage we’re staying in! And we’ve been sporting our reusable metal flasks and bottles – I’ve been very careful not to lose mine down a stream, which happened last time we were here, before a helpful hiker rescued it for me!
With Easter upcoming, now’s the perfect time to purchase all sorts of tinned and foil-wrapped treats, and my time to remind all my close friends and family to scrunch up their Easter egg foils into balls to ensure they-re recycling-ready!
Time for another walk for me, but I’ll end this with a huge thank you to our editorial assistant, Lily Blackmore and the rest of team CanTech for seeing the May edition through to press today while I’m away!
- Alex Rivers (she/her), CanTech International editor
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