Personal Blog of Ellen MacArthur

In a world where we can build huge multi-storey buildings within months rather than years and we can create transport networks which cover the whole planet, I find trees retain an incredible integrity. A huge majestic tree is not something which you can build or create, it will grow in its own way, in it’s own time.

If you had all the money in the world it would be nigh on impossible to ‘artificially’ plant a tree on a building site or in a garden. you must be patient and wait for the tree to grow. Once a 300 year old tree is felled we must wait another 300 years to replace it. I respect trees hugely, many have been around in this world longer than we have, and they are alive!

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Waste, waste and more waste!! Today really had us thinking in the office when a group of us went to island waste on the isle of wight to see what happens to all of our rubbish on the island, and where it ends up?

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The first two weeks in October I was away on a bit of a holiday. Not surprisingly it involved boats, and a bit of sailing - but surprisingly it was on the inland waterways of Great Britain!

The goal was to try to paddle a collapsible canoe for roughly 300 miles to circumnavigate the industrial heartland of Great Britain. I adapted the canoe to sail and be steered, and fashioned a sailing rig from some fibreglass tent poles. I made a tent on the old Singer sewing machine that my Mum made her wedding dress on, and enjoyed the preparation as much as the journey itself. I love making things! It also brought back many memories of my childhood as I spent hours on the floor using that same machine making everything from my first pair of sailing trousers, to the cover for the life-ring on my second little boat.

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I was sitting in a busy cafe the other day full of commuters. I made a few interesting observations… One was that you could have your drink in a mug which in my opinion always tastes a bit better anyway, and certainly as the winter draws in it makes you think of being back at home after working outside, holding the sides of a mug with your cold hands to warm them up again.

Also available in the same cafe were disposable cups and just watching the number which were being collected from the tables in one cafe, in one hour was incredible.. My mind boggled as I day-dreamed of just how many cups that was, when multiplied by every cafe in the world just how many stadiums must be filled on an hourly, or is it on a minute basis!?

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Well I have a huge amount to communicate right now after a few weeks of many varied activities!

I was just taking some glass jam jars to the bottle bank when my brain started churning. I was throwing the jam jars into the bank, hearing each be smash.put made me think how incredibly wasteful it is to break up a jar when it will then be melted a huge expense of energy, and most likely be made into jars again!

Why oh why, can’t we have 10 or 20 designs of jam jars which can be washed and reused without being broken and remade?