‘I keep the home fires burning’

We drive an electric car, we switched our old oil boiler for a heat pump, we consume less – food, plastic, Sellotape, soap – and even our four dishwashers are more efficient than washing the same volume by hand.

What I haven’t yet been able to compromise on is our fire, which burns for much of the winter, belching smoke out into the environment I’m so hell-bent on protecting.

The thing is, I’ve found alternatives for my other sacrifices, but a fire… It becomes the focal point of the house; the children hang off the fender; our dog Storm battles for a spot close to its embers.

My grandmother, who in her final years lived on her own, used to say her fire was company. And as the days get shorter, I’ll enjoy every moment of it. Marina Fogle

Marina Fogle co-presents the As Good As It Gets podcast