For the last story discussing abundance, we circle back to choices – tiny step changes towards better. Choosing to live better, buy better, buy less and encourage our minds to think progressively. There is joy in the agony of change.

But choices and choosing from plentiful or profligate options – depending on your view of choices – requires us to actually think about it. And thinking requires time, which is usually scarce.  I do believe that lots of small, good changes lead to a revolution.  

As a business, we have long term goals and a new five-year plan is my key ‘project’. But we also discuss and action smaller changes as we learn more and know better. Fossil fuel use and our overall consumption of them has to reduce. I think we all know that, but I know that it also feels overwhelming and chaotic – and just a little frightening.

This year we changed the binder in our paint to bio-based. Some people will call this plant based or plastic free – I think it’s simpler to focus on it just being a logical and better choice.  We are the first UK paint company to make this change, but I hope not for long. It was a major change that required quite a lot of determination and it is more expensive to make, but I am very happy to make a much healthier product. 

My chemist and I are already back at it to see what we can improve, remove or adjust for the long term health of all. Our weekly discussions are properly thrilling.

Meanwhile, in the factory there has been a discussion on chocolate biscuits.

We have a small, rudimentary and happy kitchen. It gets the sunlight and has a lovely table and a small library of books. There are also apples, lots of teas, coffee, organic milk and biscuits. Vegan biscuits and chocolate biscuits (two types) and a little kitchen set up that can heat our soups, chop our salads and make each other hot drinks, break bread and be human.

It’s important to me that we can grab an apple or have an Earl Grey when we fancy. I bought biscuits for the same reason – but there has also been a slight discomfort with the packaging and some of the ingredients. We spend an inordinate amount of time discussing waste and materials. Anna has become our waste champion - our sorting systems are a beautiful triumph of how Anna thinks. We have food waste (bokashi) systems, recycling and then one container for packaging that can only be recycled at a supermarket – this holds the biscuit packaging. This is now full, and it bothers me and my team. 

So once the current stash of biscuits is gone, they won’t be purchased again. We don’t find this sad, instead inspiring. It may be a tiny change, but a small group of people who think the same means a significant reduction in packaging.

On the upside (and my team won’t know this until they read this - surprise!!!) is that there will be a small oven arriving next week. Chocolate digestives replaced with a weekly bake of good ingredients and an intention of small, delicious progression. 

Bitter Chocolate is one of my original colours and it is very beautiful mineral brown. As our colour of the week and the final colour in our chapter on abundance, I think it now represents our tasty change towards home baked chocolate biscuits, beautiful paint and good business.

Cassandra x

Photography by Ellen Christina Hancock & Kalina Krawcyzk