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Showing posts with label suburban living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label suburban living. Show all posts
Monday, September 6, 2010
Saturday, October 3, 2009
grey days
This is my response to Towards Sustainability she seems to be having a grey day, which happens to me all too often :) (I also have a lot of red days- where i'm angry and snappy all day, *sheepish grin*)
Working the jobs i do, I am privy to a lot of different people's lifestyles and I get frustrated when I see some of the things people do. Some of the things, I have been guilty of myself, so i try not to be judgemental, but the simple fact is there really is no excuse for not knowing better, anymore. Even mainstream media has newspaper articles and tv shows on simple, green living, so most people are aware of the issues...
Some of the things I have seen, (perpetrators shall remain nameless)...
This annoys me, a fair bit. It takes me 1 hour total, to catch the bus from 2 kilometres away, get son and other hangers on, and catch bus home again. Sometimes we walk home, because we enjoy the walk! Some days, I hate the walk, and the chunk it takes out of my day, I will admit. However, it has cost me $2 for the bus fare, the bus goes that way whether i'm on it or not, so I'm not adding to emissions and I get a bit of exercise.
Also I can:
How to feel less frustrated/angry/depressed/worried about the world ending in a human wrought environmental disaster...
Truthfully, it's hard. It's enough to make you want to take up goat farming in woop woop.
The only thing you can control are your own actions, which is pretty sucky.
Wouldn't it be cool to be the government for a day, or a week?
To just blanket declare pesticides illegal, or to ration car use, or to give away water tanks and alternative energy systems?
We could make it compulsory for every school to be a permaculture site. How great to go to a school that is passive solar designed, shady, airy, non toxic and has chickens roaming around?
We could ban MDF, chip board and air fresheners... sigh.
(Actually, the first thing I would do, as President of the world, would be to ban the use of perfumes/body spray/cologne and cigarettes if you plan on using public transport... this is purely selfish, i find the cocktail of smells mixed with stale cigarette smoke makes me feel ill when i'm on the bus. Why do teenage girls think they can cover the fact they have been smoking with half a can of impulse?)
To combat the hopeless feeling, the "why do i bother being vegetarian and using bicarb soda to clean the bathroom, when next door is flushing scented bleach down the loo, and eating preservative laced factory farmed chicken nuggets" feeling, I remind myself that I am not alone.
There are people just discovering how to have less of an impact on the planet, and there are people who have been living frugal simple lives forever, before 'eco' was a buzz word, or before even hippies for that matter. And there are plenty of people who also feel that the world is going to hell in a plastic shopping bag.
You could bang your head on a brick wall, or you can slowly chisel at its foundations.
Simply by sharing fragrant bunches of fresh basil, and sunripened homegrown tomatoes with friends, I motivate them to grow their own herbs and some vegies. When a client needs plants, I use local organic nurseries and substitute productive/native plants for ornamentals and exotics. When I give a friend a handmade gift, they feel special, the extra effort on my part is worth more to them than if i spent more money. When I turn up to a friend's house with some fresh baked breadrolls, or a bowl of home made dip, they are blown away, it's much more impressive than a bottle of wine you bought on the way there.
Keep on imagining a better world, living as simply and as greenly (is that a word?) as you can and take your canvas bags to the super market.
Working the jobs i do, I am privy to a lot of different people's lifestyles and I get frustrated when I see some of the things people do. Some of the things, I have been guilty of myself, so i try not to be judgemental, but the simple fact is there really is no excuse for not knowing better, anymore. Even mainstream media has newspaper articles and tv shows on simple, green living, so most people are aware of the issues...
Some of the things I have seen, (perpetrators shall remain nameless)...
- 4 (!) airconditioners on at once, with windows and doors open... the mind boggles.
- Televisions left on all night, with no one even sleeping in the room.
- Manicured, monoculture lawns, that are as productive and useful as a carpark, and use more resources; petrochemical fertilisers, precious drinking quality water, etc.
- Driving less than 1 kilometre round trip, just to pick up "dinner" through a drive thru.
- Dozens of cars waiting in a line for over half an hour, engines running, to pick up children from school.
This annoys me, a fair bit. It takes me 1 hour total, to catch the bus from 2 kilometres away, get son and other hangers on, and catch bus home again. Sometimes we walk home, because we enjoy the walk! Some days, I hate the walk, and the chunk it takes out of my day, I will admit. However, it has cost me $2 for the bus fare, the bus goes that way whether i'm on it or not, so I'm not adding to emissions and I get a bit of exercise.
Also I can:
- chat to my son, who isn't really a talker, (when we are walking, there's no chores/tv/homework to get in the way of chatter),
- collect flowers for my cockatiel to nibble,
- drop off letters at the post box,
- collect seeds and leaves from street trees for craft,
- chat on the phone without worrying about causing an accident,
- read a magazine/book at the bus stop, (guilt free 5 minutes of sitting down, oh yeah)
- listen to my mp3 player,
- or just "be" in silence (it's truly amazing how quiet the suburbs can be, especially between 8am and 6pm, when no one is home!).
Some, not all, of the people in the pick up line have thier reasons, like not wanting to disturb a sleeping baby, that's fine. Seriously, though people, if you can, - walk, or turn your darn car off!
Anyways, back on topic...How to feel less frustrated/angry/depressed/worried about the world ending in a human wrought environmental disaster...
Truthfully, it's hard. It's enough to make you want to take up goat farming in woop woop.
The only thing you can control are your own actions, which is pretty sucky.
Wouldn't it be cool to be the government for a day, or a week?
To just blanket declare pesticides illegal, or to ration car use, or to give away water tanks and alternative energy systems?
We could make it compulsory for every school to be a permaculture site. How great to go to a school that is passive solar designed, shady, airy, non toxic and has chickens roaming around?
We could ban MDF, chip board and air fresheners... sigh.
(Actually, the first thing I would do, as President of the world, would be to ban the use of perfumes/body spray/cologne and cigarettes if you plan on using public transport... this is purely selfish, i find the cocktail of smells mixed with stale cigarette smoke makes me feel ill when i'm on the bus. Why do teenage girls think they can cover the fact they have been smoking with half a can of impulse?)
To combat the hopeless feeling, the "why do i bother being vegetarian and using bicarb soda to clean the bathroom, when next door is flushing scented bleach down the loo, and eating preservative laced factory farmed chicken nuggets" feeling, I remind myself that I am not alone.
There are people just discovering how to have less of an impact on the planet, and there are people who have been living frugal simple lives forever, before 'eco' was a buzz word, or before even hippies for that matter. And there are plenty of people who also feel that the world is going to hell in a plastic shopping bag.
You could bang your head on a brick wall, or you can slowly chisel at its foundations.
Simply by sharing fragrant bunches of fresh basil, and sunripened homegrown tomatoes with friends, I motivate them to grow their own herbs and some vegies. When a client needs plants, I use local organic nurseries and substitute productive/native plants for ornamentals and exotics. When I give a friend a handmade gift, they feel special, the extra effort on my part is worth more to them than if i spent more money. When I turn up to a friend's house with some fresh baked breadrolls, or a bowl of home made dip, they are blown away, it's much more impressive than a bottle of wine you bought on the way there.
Keep on imagining a better world, living as simply and as greenly (is that a word?) as you can and take your canvas bags to the super market.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Oh ha bloody ha!
Stupid climate change, stupid el nino/la nina!
10 years or so of drought, then we get a years supply of rain in 48 hours!
grumble mumble razzafrucka sassafrum (muttley style grumbling)
NSCF went under, because Enoggera creek broke it's banks.
Roads were shut all over the place, and despite Anna Bligh saying all was well with buses etc, it took me an hour to get my son to school (from Lutwyche to Wilston, 2kms/1.25 miles). We ended up walking, after waiting for ages, then, as can be expected, the bus passed us just as we were almost there.
I didn't bother to try to get my assignment back from NSCF, yesterday. It was hard enough just getting 5 minutes up the road.
Some people are complaining that all the roadworks and developments have fiddled with the drains and creeks. It is possible, especially around the Bowen Bridge Road area, and Toombul shopping centre, but the floods were all over SEQ and North NSW. Can't really blame Clem7 or the airport link, for floods in Beerburrum. Fun to try though :).
I'm not sure that building tunnels under flood prone creeks and rivers is really a sensible idea, Mr Newman, Ms Bligh. General consensus on climate change is that storms will increase in intensity, cyclones will become more frequent and will range further down the east coast of Australia.
If the last few days is an example of what happens when a low pressure system hits Brisbane, I'm not sure we'll stand up to an actual cyclone...
Stupid climate change, stupid el nino/la nina!
10 years or so of drought, then we get a years supply of rain in 48 hours!
grumble mumble razzafrucka sassafrum (muttley style grumbling)
NSCF went under, because Enoggera creek broke it's banks.
Roads were shut all over the place, and despite Anna Bligh saying all was well with buses etc, it took me an hour to get my son to school (from Lutwyche to Wilston, 2kms/1.25 miles). We ended up walking, after waiting for ages, then, as can be expected, the bus passed us just as we were almost there.
I didn't bother to try to get my assignment back from NSCF, yesterday. It was hard enough just getting 5 minutes up the road.
Some people are complaining that all the roadworks and developments have fiddled with the drains and creeks. It is possible, especially around the Bowen Bridge Road area, and Toombul shopping centre, but the floods were all over SEQ and North NSW. Can't really blame Clem7 or the airport link, for floods in Beerburrum. Fun to try though :).
I'm not sure that building tunnels under flood prone creeks and rivers is really a sensible idea, Mr Newman, Ms Bligh. General consensus on climate change is that storms will increase in intensity, cyclones will become more frequent and will range further down the east coast of Australia.
[T]he intensity of the 1-in-20 year daily rainfall event is likely to increase [...] by up to 30% by 2040 in south-east Queensland [...] The frequency of severe
tropical cyclones (Categories 3, 4 and 5) on the east Australian coast increases 22% [...] from 2000 to 2050, with a 200 km southward shift in the cyclone genesis region, leading to greater exposure in south-east Queensland and north-east NSW. (IPCC 2007, Chapter 11, Australia and New Zealand, "Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability")
If the last few days is an example of what happens when a low pressure system hits Brisbane, I'm not sure we'll stand up to an actual cyclone...
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Living in an elevator
You know how you step onto an elevator, and immediately, every one shuffles back for you to fit, with out a word said and no eye contact made. Everyone faces the front, and the trip is in silence. Temporarily, your personal space bubble shrinks. You politely ignore the fact that the briefcase of the guy next to you is digging into your side. You breathe shallowly, feet together, elbows in, taking up as little space as possible.
I have a theory, that the same unspoken rules apply to modern life, with so many people, living in such close proximity.
Living in a block of units, with large blocks of units on two sides of our block, and another block across the road... We are living in an elevator.
(The purple arrow is pointing to my place)
When you live in an elevator, your personal space bubble is permanently shrunk. We pretend that we don't see each other. You ignore the fact that you can hear each other laugh, sneeze and cry. You pretend you can't hear anyone fighting, or making love, and pray that you are quiet enough, yourself. Curtains have to be closed, because it is too easy to see across into the neighbours place, and for them to see into yours. You feel self conscious hanging out the washing, taking out the rubbish, even checking the mail. You never say hi, or make eye contact, because of the unspoken elevator rules.
Life can be claustrophobic, and pretty lonely.
I have a theory, that the same unspoken rules apply to modern life, with so many people, living in such close proximity.
Living in a block of units, with large blocks of units on two sides of our block, and another block across the road... We are living in an elevator.
(The purple arrow is pointing to my place)When you live in an elevator, your personal space bubble is permanently shrunk. We pretend that we don't see each other. You ignore the fact that you can hear each other laugh, sneeze and cry. You pretend you can't hear anyone fighting, or making love, and pray that you are quiet enough, yourself. Curtains have to be closed, because it is too easy to see across into the neighbours place, and for them to see into yours. You feel self conscious hanging out the washing, taking out the rubbish, even checking the mail. You never say hi, or make eye contact, because of the unspoken elevator rules.
Life can be claustrophobic, and pretty lonely.
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