Monday Moaning

Get off your ass and walk!

I read a post this morning about the costs of private transport. I’ve lost the link now… Arrrggghhh!

But it took into account the cost of mining, manufacture, etc, right up to the consumer.

Update… 

The link: Good News Monday

The problem today is people seem to have forgotten that they have legs, and that legs were around long before cars.

Cities are not designed for walking, they are designed for cars, and there is more than half the problem.

The old days when you had a corner store and could walk have gone, because people have cars, they can drive to the supermarket.

One of the major problems the world is facing today is obesity. Today in an article I read that 50% obese by 2020 is greatly underestimating the problem.

People today need to get off their asses, and walk. Walk to the shops, I do sometimes, 25 minutes, and I am encumbered by a walking stick. Most people today are encumbered by their i/smart phones. We are encumbered by our need for convenience, and it will be the death of us.

As parents we are setting a horrible example to our kids, and making the problem worse by our own pathetic examples. Kids today just want to sit with their TVs, video games, etc. We need to give them better examples to follow.

Change the World Wednesday – 12th Jun

I am pre-Coffee at the moment

Please note, I am pre-Coffee and it is not yet 5am.

*Yawn!*

Beefless week last week, another success. Not only that, but I accepted Small’s challenge and went vege for a day and had quiche as my main meal. The rest of the week was pork, chicken and fish.

As usual, I bussed and walked to my jobs, and I walked to the supermarket. Just thought that I would mention, for those of you who don’t know me that well, I am confined to a walking stick for anything further than the little park where I live. I figure that if my leg does give out and I do fall (haven’t yet) the locals know where I belong. So for me the 25 minute walk (Monday-Friday) to my second job is a task; the longer hour walk to the supermarket is definitely taxing. There are two reasons that I commit this foolishness, one is financial; the other is that I need the exercise to combat my sedentary lifestyle. Besides, I get to see more of the neighbourhood and what is going on.

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Time for this week’s CTWW.

This one is for me, I am a gazer.

This week be very mindful of opening the refrigerator and freezer. Resist browsing the contents and/or “grazing”. Close the door rather than hold it open while you pour a glass of juice or quickly use an item to be returned to the shelf. When you must open the doors, minimize the time and shut them as quickly as possible.

This is not my fridge… it has food in it

Actually, I do feel twinges of guilt when I open the fridge door and normally get what I want and close it again.

But, I am also a gazer (not grazer, I don’t have grass in my fridge). I gaze into the empty space and wonder where all the food went. I gaze into the empty space and promise I’ll go to the supermarket. As I never have more food than I need, the gazing is brief.

I realise that when you open the door there is that WHOOSH! of cold air escaping, here in Rio on a 40°C (96°F) it is most welcome. But I don’t close the door while I am pouring a juice or water, or adding a splash of milk to my coffee; and for good reason. If you close the door and open it AGAIN to put the juice, water or milk back, there is a second WHOOSH! I have reasoned that the second WHOOSH! displaces more cold air in the fridge than it would lose if the door was left open momentarily.

If I am cooking, I get all the required ingredients from the fridge in one opening, rather than get them each as I need them.

So I am mindful of my fridge opening habits, and I have given them some thought in the past. This is one of the advantages of being old, you have time to think.

So yes, I have and do meet this challenge on a daily basis.

 

Change the World Wednesday – 5th Jun

My Mean Green Leaf Eating Machine has disappeared. Read Done a Bunk for the full story.

I am still hopeful that I will see him as a moth, but I’m not holding my breath.

Still, it was a few exciting days watching him deforest my guava tree faster than illegal loggers in the Amazon.

I bought my second energy efficient light bulb to replace the incandescent one that blew out on Sunday night. That’s the two most used in the house now.

I try to be green. I have been interviewed by EcoGrrl, and I realised that I have always been greenish. It was a part of our growing up 50 years ago, we didn’t have to concentrate on recycling so much, because we didn’t have stuff to recycle. Somewhere along the line we lost the plot, I guess it was about the same time as plastic appeared. In those days all bottles were recycled. You paid for the soda/beer bottles and got a refund when you took them back. You didn’t have to think about it. As kids, if we wanted a little extra pocket money, we scrounged the backyard, then the neighbours for ’empties’ and took them to the shop, emerging triumphant with pockets jangling with change. It was a part of childhood.

But today, the kids are a lost generation. They have to be taught because they have no role models.

They say that technology is progress. I disagree, technology has created a ‘throw-away’ world, a wasteful world, a world where we don’t respect the green hand that always hovered over us anymore.

It was a time when if you didn’t respect what you had, you got a clip around the ear, and deservedly so. Today, it is child brutality and you are risking the kid growing up with a twisted view of the world. I’m sorry, that’s bullshit! I had my ears boxed thoroughly as a kid and I appear to be okay. We are losing our grip.

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This week’s CTWW.

OPTION 1:
This week drive less … or not at all. Consider walking or bicycling. Plan out trips so that the least mileage accomplishes the most. Plan at least one day when you leave the car parked and perhaps stay at home. Avoid quick trips to the market or driving your kids around when they could walk. If you must make a trip, consider public transportation or carpooling with a friend.

 

OR …

OPTION 2:
This week, for at least one day, go vegan or vegetarian. Yep, meatless for a day … longer if you can. Search the Internet for great recipes. You’ll also find wonderful dishes (tried & tested) right here on this blog (click HERE or use the tabs above).

 

OR …

If you are an Eco-Superstar, do both activities … perhaps for the whole week.

For me this is not so much a challenge. I always use public transport. And, like today, I combined my supermarket trip with returning from work, so I don’t have to make a ‘special’ trip.

My second job, is closer by, and I walk to work. It takes about 25 minutes, and gives me much needed exercise.

This is my sixth beefless week, so I consider my efforts to reduce beef consumption to be doing my bit rather than go totally meatless.

I’m certainly no Eco-Superstar, I don’t have a cape and I wear my underwear on the inside.

Until next week.

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