I got a press release the other day which put across a sensible message that people often don't understand what recycling symbols on packaging mean. The sponsors of the survey SaveOnEnergy asked 2,300 people the meaning of various recycling symbols - the infographic shows their results. The percentages are interesting, though not really surprising, apart perhaps from 88% not able to understand the aluminium one. (I certainly had no clue about the financial contribution one.) So far, so good. But the headline of the press release blares Brits Are Spending 54 Hours A YEAR Trying to Recycle . What? Where did that number come from? We are also told that 'Brits can spend up to 14.2 hours a year searching for a recycling symbol and its meaning, before deciding to give up'. Really? The press release gives the following methodology (and full marks to them for telling us what it was - many don't): 1.      SaveOnEnergy averaged a ‘big shop’ every 2.5 weeks, with 60 items brought...

Like a lot of people during lockdown, when supermarket deliveries were like gold dust, we found a number of alternative sources for food. Most of those have now gone by the wayside, but one that is a continued favourite is Wild and Game . This is a non-profit with the aim of making game meat more accessible. Obviously not a lot of interest if you are vegan/vegetarian, but if you eat meat I'd highly recommend giving them a try. Apart from anything else, game has arguably significantly better animal welfare than other meats and tends to be lower in fat. But, to be honest, my main reason for recommending them is their products are so good. We're particularly fans of their brilliant patés, which are up to anything you'd get in a posh restaurant, along with their sausages, burgers, various venison products and game bird fillets. If you're into pies, they also have an excellent range of these. We started with one of their variety packs , but it's we'll worth having a ...

My natural inclination on encountering a self-help book is to cringe - but I have to admit I rather enjoyed How to Be a Well Being by Andy Cope, Jim Pouliopoulos and Sanjeev Sandhu. It's amiable, quirky and doesn't take itself too seriously (a common fault of many such books). Inside we find 22 (a strange number) lessons or rules for life, each getting a short section that gives us some detail, some thoughts on addressing the lesson and often a story of personal experience from one of the authors. Although the authors touch on spirituality occasionally, there is no resorting to woo, mindfulness and other such stuff (despite the dubious term 'wellbeing') but, rather, sensible observations on life. One way to look at these 22 sections is a series of short sermons for those who don't go to church - little contemplations on something important to our lives. It's interesting how many of the rules are obvious. We all really know them. So we get, for example, things l...

I have become very fond of a distinctly niche genre - urban fantasy crime fiction. Books by Paul Cornell (Shadow Police) and Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London) combine magic in a present day world with a police procedural to make a fascinating and fun read. Having exhausted their output so far, I was looking for something else on the same lines and came across Sarah Painter's four books (to date) in the Crow Investigations series, starting with The Night Raven . Although not strictly police procedural (the main character, Lydia Crow is a private investigator rather than a cop), this London-set series combines crime and magic with a genuinely original and delightful scenario. There are four 'magical families' in London with special abilities who have used these abilities to further their families fortunes - sometimes legally, sometimes otherwise. Lydia is part of the the somewhat dodgy Crow family, but has been brought up out of the family circle and has just moved back to L...