It’s been three years since I quit drinking, something I never thought I would do.

It wasn’t so much as a battle or even much of a struggle at all in the end; it was a decision that I made, that I was completely in charge of.

An expectation

I grew up in a society where drinking from 18 onwards (16 at least, let’s face it), was a given. Every adult, in my eyes at least, drank alcohol even though my parents sparsely did. …

This isn’t another article on how Covid-19 has changed the world. Both you and I need a break from that. However, this country has discovered that it can upturn its traditional way of functioning and make sweeping changes in an extraordinarily short amount of time. It’s this discovery that is paving the way for a revolution.

MaaS — a transport revolution coming to a town near you

MaaS stands for Mobility-as-a-Service (which is not something you should try to say quickly when low on sleep).

Essentially, MaaS is the integration of multiple modes of transport — including public and private, but not personal — which users can access through a single…

December and early January are times for traditions but the holiday season is also perfect for experimenting with new recipes. We all grow up with the festive recipes in our families and cultures but it’s fascinating to look outside those tried-and-tested favourites to find even more glory.

The festive period has lots of similarities across the world. Roasting meat is a particular commonality although fish is also heavily emphasised in many nations. Earthy vegetables take a leading role during this time too, especially in northern hemisphere nations where warmth and cosiness are prioritised.

No matter which country you’re eating in…

Alcohol has long been sold to us as something to help us relax, make evenings more fun and kick off the weekend. I don’t know why you started drinking, but Teenage Me at no point thought, ‘man, school was tough this week, I just need a little tipple to kick back with in front of a film to really relax’.

Yeah. No.

I, like plenty of other people, started drinking because it quashed the teenage anxiety for a moment and allowed me to be someone cooler. Or, at least, that’s how it felt, which is all I was going on.

…

You might opt for the cheaper products in the supermarket but have you ever stopped to really think about how you spend on food? Have you ever thought that perhaps ‘cheap’ doesn’t always mean ‘cost-effective’ or even ‘responsible’?

The reset brought on by Covid-19

Global history has been marred by recessions but nothing in memory comes close to the worldwide economic and health shock of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Suddenly, not only is our health at risk, but our livelihoods and access to basic necessities such as food are too. …

I don’t know about you, but I find winter running simultaneously the most enjoyable and the hardest. Running in the cold isn’t the hard part though. The hard part is motivating yourself to get out the door and start.

When I’m cold (which I almost always am working at home), the idea of going out in the cold does not fill me with joy. Similarly, when I’m warm in bed at 7am, the idea of going out in the cold doesn’t have me leaping for the door.

In short, you can’t wait for motivation to come. It doesn’t come first…

It’s easy to spend an awful lot of our lives with our heads buried in the sand. We think that everything is, broadly, fine. The news rains down tales of disaster and woe but we get fatigued — sure, bad stuff happens, what’s new?

Most of us have experienced the overwhelming nature of COVID-19 because it affects each and every one of us. And not much does. But, by and large, we only have so much mental space for Huge Issues. It’s understandable that we try to ignore them as much as possible. …

Have you ever got to the supermarket with the intention of buying organic, only to baulk at the extra price and opt for conventional produce instead?

It’s okay, we’ve all been there.

The problem is though, the way non-organic produce is grown throws up serious issues. Not only are pesticides cocktails of toxins, untested in combination, but the methods conventional agriculture uses are destroying environments and soils.

In fact, in the US, topsoil (where the overwhelming majority of crops are grown), is disappearing 10 times faster than it’s being replaced. …