I haven’t written anything for this website for some time now because it’s hard to know what to write about without offending anyone! When I read the news it would be fair to say that many people are not happy about a lot of things and an opinion of one person can offend another and provoke a reaction in another that offends someone else!

As I read all of this discontent through the fog of my menopausal brain, I am even left wondering if being applauded for talking about menopause today will become frowned upon if talked about tomorrow – will it be too feminine, offensive or whatever? I think you get my drift, the world feels upset, angry and frustrated and quite rightly so, there is a lot to feel emotional about.

We all agree that many things people are reacting to are very genuine issues. We use too much energy, we have too much waste, the use of plastic is killing our planet, not everyone has been, and in some cases, are still not treated fairly, equally and with respect. When I say everyone, this includes our environment and animals as well as humans. However, there is a time to stop complaining and protesting about what has happened in the past, learn and accept it as part of our history. I understand that we need to turn the whole thing upside down to get the attention of everyone, but at some point we need to look forward and make changes. We need to look into our hearts, reach out to one another and use our voices to work together to make those changes, not use them to provoke reaction, protest about the past and hurt each other. Only by us all positively coming together can we each make small changes to create a big one

And what has brought about this outpouring of my thoughts? Last week I was interviewed by a Radio Station about our beautiful wool duvets and I discovered that I had a voice. There may have been only a few listeners, but this new found voice felt very daring and emphasised to me that we can all make a difference by changing just small things in our lives. When the radio presenter asked how our natural fibre wool duvets compared to synthetic ones, I was very polite and was very careful to only say positive things and not criticise other company’s synthetic ones, after all I thought, everyone can make their own decisions. However, by doing this I realise that although we would never make synthetic duvets ourselves, I am giving the impression that synthetic is acceptable, when in my opinion it is not.

It was only when the radio presenter asked “why should I sleep under what is in effect a plastic sheet?” that I realised the responsibility I have to encourage people not to do this. The presenter was right, why should there be a choice to be able to sleep under duvets made from plastic, why are they even being made?

There has been very clever marketing by the companies that sell plastic bedding with stories of recycled materials, plastic bottles reprocessed into duvet filling, but in reality, how responsible is it to reprocess a piece of plastic into something that will get thrown away in a few years and just add to the plastic burden in another form – I’d say not responsible at all. All we are doing is creating a market for it, not removing the plastic as I feel we should be.

So here again, we need to accept it happened, it is part of our history, we made plastic and we need to learn from this and find natural and sustainable alternatives and each and every one of us need to use our voices to demand these alternatives. We have to stop making, in the first instance, single use plastic and destroy all that has been made in a way that makes use of it in an environmentally friendly way (release no toxins) for heating/energy. Not create another market for it.

Yes, I am rebelling and I am criticising ‘plastic’ duvets, however recycled they are and I am letting you know that not only is wool far more superior, sustainable and luxurious, you will actually sleep better. I know this to be correct, after all, I am in the business of wool duvets but as far as I am concerned in this instance, it doesn’t even matter to me whose wool duvet you buy, it doesn’t have to be one of ours, Devon Duvets , so long as it is purely wool and cotton, local and sustainable and contains no plastic, glues or chemicals. AND very importantly, the wool needs to come from animals that have been treated with care and respect.

I feel liberated enough to say, just stop sleeping under plastic! Imagine what we can all do together for Mother Nature if we all find our voices and take the small steps needed to make a change.

We can all make a difference and it begins with small things like respecting each other and making conscious and responsible purchases….