Rambles

So, I was talking to the lady who owns the used bookstore “next door” on Wednesday.  Amazingly intelligent, well-read woman, she is. We talked about a lot of subjects.

The economy, and how the Alberta Premier is … well, trying to prevent a panic by … ignoring the fact that the economy is in shambles. And even if the Alberta economy was perfectly okay (it’s not, the oilsands are not economically sound as long as oil is less than $75/barrel, or something stupid like that) it couldn’t support all of Canada indefinitely. And how Canada has been rather  sheltered from the economic falling-apartness that is occurring everywhere else, but now we’re starting to feel it. (On a side note, I asked the lady at London Drugs if they were hiring and she said no, with the funniest look on her face, and then continued her thought with a “wow, it’s been years since I’ve said that… ” and a sad shake of her head.)

We touched on how the budget is going to infrastructure (okay), unemployment insurance and similar help (… why? If the Premier is so sure our economy is still booming, would unemployment help be so important?), and home renovations/purchasing a new home.

Now, if people were smart, wise, thoughtful or had an ounce of common sense, they’d use that home renovations money/bonus to refurbish the house to use less energy. Re-insulate, put in some beneficial landscaping (trees! block the hot sun or the cold wind depending on the season), that sort of thing. We came to a bitter, resigned conclusion that many of the people who qualify will spend the money on a hot tub, or something equally frivolous.

We wander off onto the cruise she’d just been on and how horrible the waste in the dinning room was. We talked about how people in Haiti are eating DIRT while people in the dinning room are ordering 4-5 dishes, a night, to eat a bite or two of each. Wow, that seems fair. Not only can these individuals afford to take a week or two off of work, but they”re throwing out enough food to feed 4 people (we’ll be generous and assume they ate enough to feed yourself, rather than simply sampling), each night. Oh well, go out with a bang, I suppose. Since cruises may become a thing of the past as first people can’t afford either the time off (in terms of lost wages, and risking losing the job) nor have the money to pay for the cruise itself. And then the cruises will have issues with fuel shortages too. Unless they start rowing around the Caribbean or to Alaska. That’d be something.

She likes the quote about living simply so others may simply live. How the developed countries have taken so much and, essentially put it on credit (and no, I’m not talking about money), that generation upon generation will be paying for it. How the USA has taken so many resources and lived so sustainably that the next hundred generations will be trying to make amends. That’s like passing on your credit card debt to all of your great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandkids, and each generation having to pass it on the entire next generation after having lived their whole life in poverty paying. For what? Some new clothes, nights out, furniture that matches, bought new, every time the style changes? Can you imagine making your grandkids pay for your latest wardrobe? Well, guess what, they will be. Chew on that for a while the next time you can’t possibly wear those jeans another 6 months.

I’m sure there was more, but this was all food for thought and what stood out to me. Made me think, anyway.

Habits

So, I was wandering around my house today (I do that sometimes, it helps with the ADD). Room to kitchen to sitting down at the computer to room to bathroom to computer to room to kitchen; All the while wondering what’s wrong with me (usually when I wander something’s on my mind).

Then it hit me, I was cold. My heat’s never on (it’s supposed to keep the pipes from freezing and that’s all as far as I’m concerned!) and the upstairs neighbours’, plagued with a job loss and a recent high utilities bill, must not have theirs on because oooh it’s chilly in here!

So I scampered towards the room (ie. did a u-turn in the bedroom door) and got out some socks, followed by a trip to the closet for my hat and one to the kitchen to heat up a bit of tea.

My thoughts never strayed towards the thermostat until after I sat back down with a wool blanket over my lap. And I’ll admit, those thoughts were more along the lines of, “aren’t I a good little environmentalist for not turning up the heat?”

I did this all without thinking. Habit. Impulsively, mayhap? So now I’m wondering, how much do I do without thinking that harms the environment.

For tasks that are simple and routine, most people don’t stop to think about them. They just do them the way they did them the last time it was done. Change is hard. And not soley because of the uncomfortableness that occurs when things are shaken – Change requires thought. Change requires remembering that you’re supposed to have changed. That the laundry gets hung up now, not put in the dryer. That getting the groceries means a stop at the farmer’s market first. That the brand you bought last week is not the same one you’re going to reach for this week. To make it from scratch. How many times have I made a loaf of bread, and still bought one from the store? (Hint: Too many!)

Last year I was going to garden.  I didn’t think to plant one (or even finish digging out the bed!) because it wasn’t something habitual. The same-old get home from work and turn on the computer was what happened. No matter how much I wanted the garden! Half the time it was late at night before I remembered I was supposed to have changed. And before I knew it it was too late in the season.

I’m sure there’s many, many things that I do without a thought that I really shouldn’t be doing. It’s hard to come up with these things without noticing yourself doing them. Which is also hard.

So I guess a green change I need to make is to be in the moment. Which will require lots of thought. Fortunately, once you make the change a habit, things no longer require any thought. They’re just what you do.

What’s the first thing you think of? Is the first thing you think to do in a particular situation harming or helping? What good habit will you form this month?

Water Conservation Part 2

Next up, showers. The amount and length of showers I have.

I do, however, need to smell acceptable for work. So I always, always shower before work. Once I’m working five days a week (summertime – I hope, anyway) I won’t have much say on how often I shower (um, 5 times a week). However, for any work weeks less than 3 days, I do have a choice.

Right now I’m showering 4 days a week, which I might leave it at… or maybe I’ll go down to just showering the days I work. Hmmm.

Currently, my showers average 3 showers at 5 minutes and one at 15 (when I was my hair) per week.

Goals:
~3 short showers one week, 3 short and a long the next
~Bring short showers to 4 minutes
~Bring longer showers to 10 minutes, reduce to once a fortnight (on a side note, whoever killed the word fortnight? Is it not so much prettier than biweekly?) My hair is in dreads (“dreamlocks”), by the way, it’ll be fine. Actually, even when I was slathering conditioner on everyday I could only wash my hair once every week or so, without turning it into straw. So this will be good for my poor hair.

This would bring my “minutes in the shower” total from an average of 60 minutes a fortnight (I’m bringing it back!) to 34, almost a 50% reduction.

Update from  Part one (here).

~I’ve put together a fourth work uniform (bonus: I didn’t buy anything to do so). With my cut hours, I now have two weeks worth of work uniforms (assuming I don’t need it for the new job I’m currently searching for).

~I’m still struggling to do one load the week I do my bed (fortnightly!) but the other week has become easy to do one load. Yay me! The reduction in work clothes should help.

Not much else to report. Still trying.

PS – My SO got a job yesterday. I’m still looking.

Voting with your Dollars

Okay, so by this time everyone and their dog knows about the economic crisis. There’s still some debate as to whether or not it’s just a short slump or a long term depression to rival the Great one in the thirties (can I call it the great one?).

And yes, I am writing about this because, yesterday, my SO got laid off AND I was informed that, after February, the best I can hope for is 13 hours a week (plus a shift or two around the various chocolate laden holidays). I may be just a little bit on the bitter and cynical side.

I can sum this post up in one sentence. With your dwindling dollars, who are you voting for?

Apparently Wal*Mart’s sales are through the roof. So, I guess everyone’s voting for Wal*Mart.

Now, I really do believe that this whole mess is tied in with peak oil. And the choices are really clear to me.

Choice 1: Do not, unless under absolute diress, make any sacrifices whatsoever. Keep consuming and keeping up with the Joneses and whatever else you’re doing right now. Fund it through a credit card, mortgage, the rights to your first born child, or whatever else necessary, but heaven forbid you have to make your coffee at home. I think the people who choose this category are dwindling because the credit card is maxed, the house got foreclosed and the first born child has already been sold. They’re out of options and have to deal with the harsh, sudden reality that their needs need to take precedence over their wants.

Choice 2: Same as above, but fund it through cheaper alternatives rather than credit cards. Wal*Mart, and what have you. Big name bargain places. Let’s give Wal*Mart our souls. The only problem with this option is that it leaves nothing for that first born of yours to use to … well… live at all. Wants shipped in from wherever they can be made cheapest, unfortunately, does not bode well for the future. Watch the story of stuff. Cheaper options that don’t rape the planet, like second hand stores and libraries, do not fall into this category. I know there are some people who feel they have no choice, but look around. Dig deeper. There are choices. Don’t buy anything you can borrow, don’t buy anything new that you can get second hand and don’t buy anything you don’t need.  Start with that and see how hopeless it seems afterwards. If it still seems hopeless, reach out for help. There’s a myriad of support systems out there. Remember, most of Wal*Mart’s (and Zeller’s) employees are already on that support.

Choice 3: Make sacrifices. Give up everything that can be given up. Do it slowly if you still have some time. Make a change, let it sit until it becomes just what you do. Make another. Give up the dryer, give up the second car, give up chocolate, whatever it takes. At whichever step you’re at. Simplify your life. Also, remember not to give up everything fun. Just find cheaper alternatives that give you just as much joy.

And with the dollars left over, vote for the future you want to see. And yes, I was promised flying cars and shopping trips on Mars too. Deal with it. Put the sci fi away (temporarily) and live with the reality that our future is going back to a simpler time. Think of someone younger than yourself, who you care about. Yes, they might need to give up the personal computer, but wouldn’t it be nice if they could still have access to health care and a public school system? Clean water? Food?

So, how, exactly, is buying a Big Mac contributing to the futures ability to eat? It’s not. However, giving up the dryer and using the money you save to first pay for the drying rack/clothes line/extra hangers in your closet (or, hey, get the hangers for free by selling all those clothes you haven’t worn in a year!) and then to buy one meal a week from a local source. Borrow a book from the library and put the money saved into a vegetable garden. Give up the car and put the insurance money into a heavy duty water filter. Use the money you save on gas for transit fare.

It’s time for anyone who can make some wiggle room to remember that every dollar you put into the conventional economy harms someone, somewhere.

My favourite definition of sustainable is “actions which do not inhibit future generation’s ability to meet their basic needs.” Isn’t it time we all did something towards enabling today’s children’s ability to live?

Water Conservation Part 1

Okay, so maybe I’m just really lazy, but this whole “figure out exactly how much water you’re causing to come out of the taps” thing is just too hard. Or, at least, too hard to remember. I have kept a half-hearted track of how much I’ve been drinking and filling the kettle with… and nothing else so far.

So. Instead of bothering tracking how much I use (water meters are mandatory in a couple years anyway! That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it) I’m just gonna focus on reducing the amount.

So, the first thing I’m going to try to do? Wash less laundry. Our place came with a decently new top loader, and I don’t have any say on it unless I want to wash my laundry at my parents house, the laundromat or by hand.

Since my parents also have a newish top loader and the laundromat is way outta my way and price range that leaves washing less loads and washing some stuff by hand.

Right now I wash about two loads a week on average. More if I run out of work uniforms midway through the week.

Goals from this post:

~Dig through closet and try to put together more work uniforms

~Failing that, stop at Goodwill and get some more shirts (I know I have bottoms!)

~Use towels more before washing

~Wear casual clothing more times before washing. Be more careful when you eat!

~Obtain some sort of hand-washing method and use it

~Ultimately, lower washing rate to one load per week, at the maximum