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Starting my journey of making paper at home


Litter picking on a local beach is really where my journey began.  I decided to volunteer with primary school children to collect discarded plastic and the like.  I felt really proud of myself.  I had always wanted to operate a litter picker.  I really didn't expect to find much as I frequented this beach on many occasions and had never noticed things that weren't supposed to be there.

Within the first few hours we had managed to fill so many bags of rubbish that the local Council sent a vehicle to pick the waste up.  I found a sharps container full used syringes, so many plastic bottles and discarded balloons, bits of plastic that I was shocked.


I grew up with the Wombles of Wimbledon, who were ahead of their times.  Picking litter of Wimbledon Common, public funded signs and message telling you to take your litter home.  Under no account drop litter in the streets.  The one items that was commonly seen everywhere was discarded pull rings from cans of soda.  Then someone I dont remember who, invented a can of drink whereby the ring pull stayed on the can.  That one idea must have saved millions of tons of discarded bits of metal on the streets.

How I love paper, I love books, cards, the smell of new paper is like raindrops on plants or is that just me?  I started life working in a newspaper.  I can still picture the excitement when the newly published editions landed in the office.  The office junior (me) would grab a scalpel and like an expert surgeon, make an incision through the ribbon and open the wads of freshly printed paper.  Everyone would gather each week for this occasion.  Checking their adverts were right, seeing if there were no smudges.  

Therefore now I have gone full circle and want to start making my own paper.  I meant the actual paper not producing a daily tabloid.  I wanted to start this blog to document my journey, the highs and many lows to getting it right.  I do hope you can take the time to read this and let me know if I inspire you to stop using as much plastic and start your own eco walk.


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