I have spent most of today catching up with my commitment to 'Combat Stress'. I realised I was way behind on my promise to use the fabric I was given and make items for sale this Christmas so I've been beavering away making cushion covers, peg bags and tea cosies. I am happy to support the charity this way and when I received our first Christmas card (what!) it reminded me of another charity and a request I'd like to make. The card above was my home made Christmas card from last year and yes, along with obsessions about beetles, moths, butterflies and buttons I also have a thing about stamps and about birds.
So, for the past few years I have been saving my stamps for the RSPB's Save the Albatross campaign. Friends and family know what I'm doing and keep me steadily supplied all year round with their British and foreign stamps. Once I have a large envelope full I send them off quite regularly and start all over again. If the Christmas cards are on the way there is no better time to start saving them. Even if it's only for Christmas, your stamps will make a difference. It's the one time of the year after all when we are guaranteed to get lots of post!
These beautiful creatures spend years wandering the seas only returning to land to form bonds and mate, which they do for life. With wingspans of up to 11 feet these wonderful birds can live up to 50 years old. In the myths of the sea the albatross used to be seen as a good omen unless one was harmed and then the luck turned bad. In sea lore they were said to be the souls of lost sailors.
Every species of albatross is facing extinction and numbers have plummeted worldwide. This is due in the main to long-line fishing practices. The birds are killed on hooks meant for fish, for no reason at all. They also die from ingesting the tons of plastic flotsam that the sea is riddled with. It is a sorry tale and if this majestic bird was lost for future generations it would be a crime not to have contributed to the fight to save them in some small way. Have a look at the link to the campaign and please think about saving those stamps this Christmas. Thanks.
2 comments:
I love stamps as well, and what a great cause-- I wish we could save all the animals, birds, fish--our ignorance and laziness and greed (humans)-- is slowly killing our planet. But all good causes - like this one-- can hopefully help.
Excellent cause - I've got to the stage where I almost cannot bear to watch wildlife programmes any more as there is always some part of the world we are destroying and I always feel so helpless.
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