Oh no, headache.
I don’t get them often, but when I do, they’re beauts. First coffee didn’t help much; water is on for more.
Last week I continued to NOT buy stuff in plastic at the supermarket where possible but in the end I failed, I succumbed to temptation. You can read about that in the UPDATE to the CTWW post. While it wasn’t such a transgression as to send me rushing off to confess on Sunday, it did sort of take the edge of the challenge.
After my Moan on Monday about tampering with genetics & DNA in humans, CelloMom mentioned the film Gattaca, I am downloading it now, it’s slow because it is competing with bandwidth for several episodes of Gabriela, a fantastic Brazilian series. I read the synopsis and it’s a powerful message that we shouldn’t tamper with things we don’t know about, even though we think we do; the results could be catastrophic.
Second coffee, and the world is looking rosier.
This week’s CTWW challenge on Reduce Footprints is a chance for ‘soul searching.’
I’m not good at this, mainly because I am biased. It’s a bit like a father saying his daughter is so lovely, when in fact she is a candidate for one of the ugly stepsisters. It’s difficult to be objective, especially about oneself.
| S | = | Strengths |
| (your own strengths) | ||
| W | = | Weaknesses |
| (again your own) | ||
| O | = | Opportunities |
| (external factors that might allow you to be even greener) | ||
| T | = | Threats |
| (external factors that threaten your green living) |
That’s heavy.
My strengths – The desire to make the world better, I really want to because I can see so much wrong in the way we are doing things. Things I watch for at home and successfully adhere to; water usage, power, usage of bad chemicals around the home, growing a few things, unnecessary paper products, recycling everything that can be.
My weaknesses – I am human, that in itself is a failing. I enjoy ‘easy.’ I must confess that ‘easy’ doesn’t always involve ‘green’ thinking, however, I get twinges of guilt that set me back on track at times. While I try, I am not perfect.
Opportunities – These abound, although we rarely see them. More supermarkets are offering alternatives to the plastic bag, but how many really avail themselves of the idea? I have, when I see it as convenient, but that is not all the time (see my weaknesses above).
Threats – Are presented at every turn in our day to day living. Everything today has plastic, whether part of the product or the packaging. I see that as a threat, and it’s difficult to escape from. This I consider to be the biggest threat to any effort to be green. Advertising is a threat.
Eco-Crap 
Posted by smallftprints on September 19, 2012 at 5:05 pm
Oh … sorry to hear that you have a headache … they are annoying things. Hopefully the second cup of coffee helped!! Actually, AV … I think you did quite well in analyzing yourself. You’ve always been pretty honest about your weaknesses and I believe you, more than most, have your eyes open to opportunities. Many of us simply don’t see them and really miss out. But you see opportunities to talk to people and to lead by example. You also see the threats pretty clearly … often when many of us don’t. I’d add to your strengths by saying that, in my opinion, you are very open minded and are willing to consider different ways of doing things. That’s huge because, again in my opinion, the world suffers when people continue to do something because that’s the way they’ve always done it. So … nicely done, AV! If everyone did as much as you do … this world would be a far different place!!
LikeLike
Posted by argentumvulgaris on September 19, 2012 at 5:39 pm
>SF, yes, the headache went once I was on the road to work. I felt as though I was a little out of my depth with this post, and not participated as was desired; your comments to the contrary were heartwarming. My age, and ergo my life experience, has given me greater insight to many aspects of life, some that I would be severely sanctioned for. But in the area of ‘green’ I tend to speak my mind, not always sure if it is right, or that others agree with me, but I tend to say it nevertheless.
I would like to see the world a better place, I recognise that it is man and his greed that has been the sole author of our woes, and I would dearly love man to wake up and smell the coffee; in that endeavour I shall remain steadfast while doing my bit personally.
Thanks for the support, I return from beer o’clock much heartened, and not just because of the beer. BTW, today over 40 degrees (106F), beer o’clock was as essential as coffee today.
AV
LikeLike
Posted by littlegreenblog on September 20, 2012 at 4:25 am
I really struggled with this challenge AV; will be published in the morrow. I just couldn’t find any relevance to me; I didn’t find it helpful, but then I figured after a few years working for large corporations I have an inbuilt “strategy planning exercise” radar that triggers me into overwhelm so I probably tackled this with blinkers on. Anyway, loved reading about your findings and glad the headache has gone…
LikeLike
Posted by argentumvulgaris on September 20, 2012 at 11:05 am
>LGB, I had a look but must be too early, will check later. As part of my job, years ago (more than I are to think about) I used to teach such lush subjects as decision making, strategy falling into the same barrel, so often things like that just fall into place as a part of life; I understand where you’re coming from. Yes, headache went, caffeine deprivation.
AV
LikeLike
Posted by CelloMom on September 20, 2012 at 10:01 am
ONE polystyrene tray and you call the whole week a failure? You have high standards for yourself, AV! After the last two weeks’ CTWW challenge, my family of four made about 1/3 less garbage than before, but I confess there’s still plenty of plastic in there, and plenty of room for improvement.
You’ve got to live (and scrumptious pies, in my opinion, are part of a good life). I now bring my own containers: bags and boxes, plastic or otherwise, when I go shopping. At the least I’m not accepting any new plastic. So far nobody has invoked the “health code” on me to stop me from doing it; if that happens I suppose I would have to acquiesce.
LikeLike
Posted by argentumvulgaris on September 20, 2012 at 11:09 am
>CelloMom, yes, but it happened again this week… I just love those little quichy things. Sometimes my won’t-power doesn’t function too good. If you have your own car, taking boxes and containers is good, but difficult by bus with a walking stick.
AV
LikeLike
Posted by littlegreenblog on September 21, 2012 at 3:33 am
here ya go my friend http://littlegreenblog.com/blog/family-news-blog/are-you-a-green-swot/
LikeLike