Interesting science and green Christmas?

I experienced some interesting science on Wednesday. On Tuesday, I had parked outside the Church Office under a tree - and the birds had obviously found some berries! I cleaned the windscreen and one side window using a sponge that son-in-law George had used to wash his car at the weekend. The sponge had some soap in it (Ecover washing-up liquid I think) but I had filled it with water so the soap was very dilute. On Wednesday morning the car was covered in frost. All the windows looked the same but the two that had been wiped with the sponge - and therefore had some very dilute soap on them - were not frozen and scraped off much easier than the others. I know that adding impurity lowers the freezing point of water but I’m really surprised that such a small quantity makes a difference.

How green was your Christmas?

I thought we were doing quite well until today. I left our regular paper box full for collection at Little Hampden and took two boxes of cardboard to the recycling centre at Gt Missenden. When I returned home I saw that neighbours had added to the collection pile. I think most of this is packing for children’s toys. I’m pleased that this is all being recycled (and probably much of it was made from recycled paper and card in the first place) - but do we really need all this?