Okay. I don’t really think I couldn’t actually live without the sites I’m going to list here. But I’m pretty sure they do make my life easier, and more enjoyable and I use most of these almost every day now. I suppose most people have their personal favourites. I’ve tried to group mine together under different headings:
Organising my life
First up there’s my on-line bank and my credit card site (for obvious reasons I’m not going to mention which ones). It’s actually a long way to the bank in town, so this saves me time (and fuel) if I take the motorised route. I try to check my statements most days, to guard against fraud and make sure my money lands where it is supposed to.
I’m also likely to find out about paying taxes on-line, and accessing advice on health issues by using the local government portals and contact the local city council site about recycling my rubbish. In fact there’s hardly anything I do in the house which doesn’t benefit from Internet input. Web-based email and web-based accounting systems are important and useful to me too.
On-line shopping sites
I use these a lot to buy fair trade and organically made clothes for my family which are difficult to find otherwise – Traidcraft is a favourite of mine. Greenfibres is good for this too. I also buy regularly from a nearly new designer website called Clothesagency they have the most beautiful things and many of them are flawless and unworn. You can sell with clothesagency too.
For ethical shopping at bulk buy discount prices I use the ethical superstore and save more cash on all my purchases by using a cashback scheme website.
Emotional support and networking
My all time favourite alternative parenting website has got to be the greenparent – I’ve made so many friends there and learned so much about the day-to-day challenges of doing parenting differently. Plenty of disagreements too! I’m not so fond of Facebook or Twitter, but I suppose everyone has their personal favourites.
Keeping up to date with the news
The Guardian newspaper website takes a lot of beating as far as quality information is concerned. I understand it won a ‘Website of the Year’ award recently for design, content and ease of use.
Entertainment
I love KGI (Kitchen Gardeners International) – I don’t know who writes the copy, but it’s really witty and prods me into not taking myself too seriously. The pictures are lovely too (but then I’m obsessed by fruit and vegetables).
Last but not least there’s SCD (Strictly Come Dancing) – I don’t get to dance myself much these days, so if I want glamour and a bit of escapism there’s plenty of it here.
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