Illustrated Epistle Extract: Being Healthy in New Zealand
As I write this we are still Covid free, but getting fed-up of mostly sitting outside bars and cafes, especially as we have had a burst of wintry weather. The boyf is super fed up as he doesn’t have as many down jackets and woolly hats as I do.
Because of my reducing-the-money-I-give-to-polluting-dairy-companies, I have amassed a small fortune with the money I've saved from having my coffee black instead of enjoying a latte. But my jar will keep filling up for a while before I feel it is worth the risk of eating out..
I'm waiting for three weeks to pass without hearing of a someone we know here getting Covid before I venture inside to mingle with people at random, without a mask.
We've also been looking into our long-term health. We are generally healthy, but we're getting older (shock!)
So we want to know that should anything happen we’ll be covered. New Zealand has a public health system that covers emergencies, but it is patchy when it comes to everything else.
This is an extract of my Illustrated Epistle, which goes out once a month-ish. It is a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a cartoonist (specifically, mine). I'd love it if you signed up at the bottom of this page, or here:
http://eepurl.com/cCOOeD
Or head to the archive to read more here.
Arctic Circle Cartoons - We Need to Stop Bombarding Bees With Pesticides
Even in New Zealand bees are dying at alarming rates. But pesticide use here is high. Bees and other insects cannot endure the onslaught of neonicotinoids, fungicides and other chemicals that are used to coat seeds (the ones that are bright blue when you open the packet), or are sprayed onto plants to control pests (only the biological controls have any specificity. Even natural pyrethrin kills a broad spectrum of insects).
Instead let’s make the soil healthier so that plants can look after themselves better. No dig, regenerative farming builds soil, fixes carbon and is better for bees and all of us.
Can You Tell How Much I Hate Social Media?
I wish I could leave Facebook, Instagram and Twitter completely, but they have become almost mandatory to be able to do certain things (following local events for example).
Arctic Circle Cartoon - What Plastic Recycling Numbers Mean (Mostly That You Can't Recycle)
Plastic recycling is complicated. Much of it isn’t recycled locally and has to be shipped overseas to process it. Even when it is processed, it has to be clean for it to be recycled.
All of which means that a tiny percentage of plastic is recycled and the rest is landfilled, or littered, or drifting around in our waterways.
