EDITOR’S NOTE HELLO This issue titled “Concrete and Conservation” explores the relationship between urbanisation and sustainability. As human impact on the world grows it is crucial that we take into consideration how our actions affect the natural world and what we can do to best preserve it. The city of Glasgow is expanding every day so it is important to take the time to reflect what this means for our local environment. Whilst the topic of urbanisation can be extremely negative, this issue hopes to approach it from a more positive angle. Stay safe, Marissa - @DGPZine
CONTRIBUTORS
LOOKING AFTER YOUR HOUSEPLANTS Page 3
Lauren Crilly Repair Café Glasgow Jodie Macpherson Upcycling Furniture Saskia McCracken Poet, Eco Art Jamie Small / sprooter.net Design, Layout Marissa Trimble Writer, Editor, Illustrations
DEAR GREEN PLACE: THE IMPORTANCE OF GREEN SPACES Pages 4-5
WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
ON FILM: NATURE VS. URBANISATION Page 14
The next issue will be coming out in July and will focus on ocean pollution. If you want to be part of it, just email your idea to: deargreenplacezine@gmail.com
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CONTENTS
UPCYCLING FURNITURE Pages 6-7 LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS Pages 8-9 ECO ART Page 10-13
RECIPE: NETTLE SOUP Page 15
LOOKING AFTER YOUR HOUSEPLANTS Having some plants around your home not only brightens the place up but provides you with your own little supply of fresh oxygen. The only thing is keeping indoor plants
alive and thriving can be a tough job. Learning to keep plants alive has definitely been a learning curve for me and I’ve sadly lost many a plant friend along the way. However, after researching each of my plants and learning their unique needs they soon began to thrive! So here’s the key areas you need to consider when caring for your plant babies:
WATER
So everyone knows plants need watered, but just how much does your plant need? Over or under watering can quickly lead to a decaying plant. Check online how frequently you should be doing this and always check how moist your soil is.
LIGHT
Where you position your plant is also extremely important. Not every plant actually does well in a high light setting as some prefer a little bit of shade. Make sure you’re opening your curtains every day to let in enough light to “feed” your plants.
HUMIDITY
Some plants, especially tropical ones, like a daily mist of water on them.
FEED
A lot of indoor plants don’t require special plant food at all. However, some flowering ones will need a bit of feed to help them grow.
CLEANING
Did you know dust can gather up on your plants leaves and hinder their growth. Make sure you give the leaves a gentle wipe every now and then.
PRUNING Some plants may need to be pruned. This can be done by carefully picking off dead leaves and flowers with your fingers.
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DEAR GREEN PLACE THE IMPORTANCE OF GREEN SPACES
During times like these where we are limited in how far we are able to wander, I find myself lucky to be situated in a place with so many beautiful green spaces. The name Glasgow is meant to mean Dear Green Place, which is aptly suited due to the city’s huge amount of parks and designated green areas. I am located in the southside of Glasgow and have several large parks within walking distance, including Pollock Park, Queens Park and Linn Park, and even more smaller ones between them to choose from each day on my daily walk. This variety is something I am grateful for as it means I won’t get tired of seeing the same scenery each day. Also each place has its own unique features to appreciate. Queen’s park’s ponds are home to baby ducklings, Pollock Park has the grandiose Pollock House to appreciate and Linn Park has a beautiful river going through it. But why else are green spaces so important? The link between experiencing nature and improving mental health is well known. Having parks and woodlands means those living within urban areas are not missing out on this and are saved from the bleakness of grey-washed concrete and housing. Urban green spaces also makes experiencing nature more accessible as people don’t need to go outside the city limits to enjoy nature.
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Speaking of enjoying nature, green spaces in an urban setting is also great for wildlife. Urbanisation has totally obliterated the habitats of wildlife so its important to preserve these green areas to make sure animals always have a safe place to live. If you go into any park in Glasgow you will be able to see wildlife flourishing. Parks now even have designated wild areas where no maintenance is done so the real life habitat of the animals is mimicked. Policy like this is becoming a bigger part of urban green space discourse and hopefully in the future we will see a rise in this sort of approach in parks. Experiencing these green spaces in such a routine way during lockdown has highlighted to me even more the importance in maintaining green spaces in a city. These spaces are not just beneficial for the animals who can make a home in them, but also for us humans who can appreciate them too. As more urbanisation of areas take place, planners must take influence from Glasgow and make sure they include plenty of green spaces for people to enjoy.
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UPCYCLING FURNITURE Upcycling furniture is perfect if you have some old furniture or random materials lying about and you fancy getting creative. Architecture student Jodie Macpherson has been using her lockdown-time to make some gorgeous creations. @Archi.jod
FOOTSTOOL What you'll need: • • •
Scrap plywood for base Layers of scrap foam (if you don’t have foam lying around, you could use an old pillow/ cushion or a couple of old towels folded on top of each other) Something for the legs (Jodie repurposed some old Ikea legs, but you could use scraps of wood or even cabinet handles)
For the cover: • • •
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Any old scraps of fabric/clothes, Jodie used old jeans that don’t fit anymore Cut the fabric and sew together into a piece big enough to cover the whole footstool, you can definitely hand sew if you don’t have a sewing machine Pull it tight over the stool and staple gun to the base, (nails or glue will also work as long as it is secure)
Pictured:
TV remote holder made with extra fabric so that nothing goes to waste!
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LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS REPAIR CAFÉ GLASGOW We got in touch with Lauren Crilly from Repair Café Glasgow to learn more about the organisation, what they do and why you should be repairing your things rather than throwing them away. “When we are not in lockdown caused by a global pandemic, Repair Café Glasgow hosts monthly community repair sessions in spaces across the city where you can fix your broken stuff alongside a volunteer repairer. As well as repair workshops that teach people important repair skills.”
1. HOW SHOULD PEOPLE APPROACH REPAIRING AT HOME? IS THERE REALLY STUFF THEY SHOULD LEAVE TO PROFESSIONALS? "If you have the right tools, just try it out - if it doesn't work out that's okay, you'll have learned something in the process and you can try it out again! You can field questions to our volunteers via emailing us jon@repaircafeglasgow.org and if you really can't fix it, you can bring it to us eventually to us!" 2. RESOURCES- IS THERE ANY GOOD PLACE TO LEARN HOW TO REPAIR? IS YOUTUBE THE BEST BET? "YES, there are so many amazing resources out there for repairers, YT is obviously great, iFixit is a great resource, Love your Clothes which exists to help change the way the UK consumers buy, use and dispose of their clothing. There are online repair cafés happening through Restart Project which are open to everyone, that people should check out!" 3. WHY SHOULD PEOPLE BOTHER FIXING STUFF AT HOME? "Fixing your own stuff at home is an amazing way to reduce waste which is great for our planet, you can save yourself money on the new things you would have bought and teach yourself some new skills. When you repair something you have an amazing sense of achievement, it is a wholly satisfying activity so why not?" @RepairGlasgow
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GIVING NATURE A HOME IN THE CITY Shawlands resident Cara has found herself in a great position to observe nature up close as once again a mother duck has come to nest on her flat’s balcony. The returning expecting mother clearly feels she has found a safe and secure place for her ducklings to be born as this is the 9th year in a row the duck has come to nest! Although this isn’t common for most people we can learn lots from this wonderful situation. Firstly, that animals are adaptable- the duck has chosen a man-made structure to nest in rather than the typical natural setting. Secondly, it proves if we allow nature to come into our spaces it can thrive. This year alone the duck had 11 cute ducklings (sadly only 10 made it to the water). If, 9 years ago, the duck had been shooed away and not allowed to nest who is to say it would have been so successful in producing chicks? We must follow in Cara’s suit and allow nature into our lives, as we did take away their habitat in the first place. It's the least we could do.
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ECO ART Saskia McCracken has been published in Datableed, Front Horse, Zarf, SPAM, Epizootics!, The New Writer, and Adjacent Pineapple amongst others.
NIGHT SHIFT 9th June 4am, black shirts line up under artificial lights, sign the time sheet. Black shoes stick and unstick; mint leaves, Bacardi, Laurent Perrier. A single earring lies under a chair. Then alone crossing the river. The BBC Scotland building rises up ahead. The sky fades from pink to blue, shades of eggshell in the glass buildings along the opposite bank, and in the water, which also holds half the moon. 11th June Orange peel on concrete. 15th June Crossing the cranes of Clydebank another her with another crane unfolds the origami of possibilities. He knows what he wants, he knows not, I want that/ to know, I don’t. 16th June A woman gets out of a car, a man in the passenger’s seat. She has one red heel on, one converse, and climbs over the wall into the estate. 19th June Finished early, BBC Scotland building still lit up, light reflected on the river, bright, melting and bending from right to left as you cross the bridge. Further up, flowers spill over the estate wall, in the streetlight you can’t tell if they’re white or yellow. Camellias or roses, maybe something else, never look at them in the day. The fuchsias cover their purple skirts. A Saltire flag as a curtain, thin enough to see through to the bare walls and bright, naked bulb. 22nd June The look of windscreens and concrete in the rain. Fool’s gold.
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23rd June Rain, a cardboard Tennents box umbrella. An upstairs kitchen light; a half-naked woman bends down over the counter. 24th June Broken glass on the sofas, wet. They crowded round the canapÊs, snatched handfuls, left half eaten fish cakes on the tables, in the carpet. Danced on furniture, the mother picked ribbons and cake off the floor. Music loud, tomorrow’s money jumped up and down in black and white, mocktails spilling. Sticky sweet smell. Over two grand. Happy twelfth birthday. 25th June 3am on Glasgow Green, on a bench with a bottle of Blossom Hill on a Sunday night. Duncan smokes for the first time, says he has the urge to drive. An Estonian comes over and talks about his job in the Hilton. Ewelina had a garden with plum trees once. @SaskiadeRM
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ECO ART XI ECO-FRIENDLY ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL CONCRETE1 I GREEN CONCRETE waste or residual materials produces less cheap burden on natural resources, and increase dependency multiple strategies re-using wash water II ASHCRETE green concrete. lime and water reduced bleeding reduced shrinkage III BLAST FURNACE SLAG byproduct alternative to. glassy granular quenching molten iron into water or steam. for hydration. V AGGREGATE REPLACEMENT paper/fiber post-consumer glass, debris. VI PAPERCRETE OR FIBROUS CONCRETE waste paper manufacturing small ill effects
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‘Eco-Friendly Alternatives to Traditional Concrete’ (July 18, 2019): https://www.specifyconcrete.org/blog/eco-friendly-alternatives-to-traditional-concrete 1
VII CONCRETE DEBRIS debris to cut the process
fill space
VIII POST-CONSUMER GLASS Glass inert material without changes waste. X COMPOSITE CEMENT foam beads requiring improved method of , and sound absorbing.
@SaskiadeRM
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ON FILM NATURE VS. URBANISATION
Studio Ghibli are known for their beautifully animated and inspiring films. With regard to urbanisation there are two films which stand out in portraying deep messages.
The first thing that stands out about Pom Poko is the total absurdity and craziness that goes on through the film. However, there is an important message told as well. The story follows a society of humanoid shapeshifting racoons whose home is under threat of destruction from a suburban housing development. As their land and resources dwindle the racoons must fight back against the humans to save their home. By the end of the film you are left bewildered at how the humans could possibly want to wipe out these lovable racoons and question who urbanisation really affects. Princess Monoke tells of young man's quest to find answers after being cursed. His travels take him to "Iron Town" a representation of the boom of the iron industry that took place all over the world. In the film there is a constant battle between the people and the animals as the humans destroy the forests for their own needs. The exploitation and destruction of the land and the creatures who live on it is illustrated so darkly, the movie can leave you really unsettled and full of guilt. This movie definitely provides a strong message of the dangers of human impact on the earth. The strong storytelling as well as the quirky Ghibli nature make this movie a must see.
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RECIPE NETTLE SOUP
The thought of eating nettles seems like a nightmarish idea, but these stinging plants are actually revered within the foraging community for their nutritional value. They contain important vitamins including A, C and K, as well as minerals, essential amino acids and fibre. Their flavour can be compared to that of spinach.
INGREDIENTS (Serves 2 - 4)
Approximately 200g of nettle leaves, around half a carrier bag. Tbsp of olive oil Tbsp of butter (or vegan alternative) 1 onion (chopped) 1 leek (chopped)
STEPS 1. Pick your nettles. No one wants to get stung by a nettle so it is best to wear thick gardener’s gloves. Also it makes things easier if you bring scissors so you can easily snip leaves off. The best plants to go for are less mature ones, preferably those that haven’t yet flowered. If you do get stung, wash the area with soapy water and apply antihistamine cream or a baking soda paste. If you don’t have access to these wipe the area on a clean cloth or shirt, or look for a dock leaf nearby and apply to your skin.
1 potato (finely chopped)
2. Heat the oil and butter in a pan and gently fry the onion. Once cooked at the leek and potato and cook until softened.
500ml of vegetable stock (Try our veggie scrap stock from issue 2)
3. Add the vegetable stock and simmer for another 10/15 minutes until all of the vegetables are cooked.
Cream or creme fraiche to top (or vegan alternative)
4. Add the nettle leaves and simmer for a couple of minutes. (Cooking the leaves kills the stings!)
Salt and pepper to season (we recommend seasoning well)
5. Season well and then blitz with blender. Serve with cream or creme fraiche.
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Marissa’s EcoBox aims at giving you an easy and affordable starting off point to sustainable living. It allows you to explore a range of eco-friendly products including eco starter kits, soaps and shampoo bars to reduce your waste and help the planet.
Use CODE: deargreenplace for 10% off your order marissas-ecobox.myshopify.com
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