Here is one of the stupidest ads I have ever seen:
| World Record! We Ship To Australia Kyocera, SMA, Xantrex Since 1973 US |
That is a Google ad in the sidebar of an excellent website, Worldchanging.
Sadly that kind of ad makes a mockery of genuine efforts to reduce greenhouse gases... such as those made by Daily Dump who have a mission to get people composting at home in Bangalore, using these gorgeous pottery bins and bamboo baskets, all made locally..... while the rest of the world makes them from plastic!
There is so much emphasis now on buying stuff to make yourself more green..... solar panels made on the other side of the world is just one example. Someone said I should change my heating, change my oven, get a new washing machine, change my roof, get more rainwater tanks which just leads to more pumps, more plastic pipes to pump the water around in, more factories in China to make the fittings, more trees cut down to print operating manuals, all using totally crazy amounts of fuel and making huge plumes of CO2 but..... it makes you look green.
Unlike a lot of others, I think the best way to be green is to reduce what we use now, grow more food, buy local, swap stuff with local people, help each other out and share tools, trailers, skills and have more fun doing it. I am not going to the climate change rally in Hobart, an hour away by car; instead I am walking to a garage sale, then to the local man who makes fire tools and then to a friend's place for coffee and a walk around her garden.
We should all make small and permanent changes in our communities. I have just been reading a wonderfully inspiring story of a town in the UK called Todmorden which has gone from starting a herb garden to ... well everything you can think of. Please, take a few minutes to browse through some of the inspiring initiatives ordinary people have come up with and made happen.... Incredible Edible Todmorden.
I hope that I can say, in the years to come, that I helped do for Cygnet what these people and others have done for Todmorden and helped save the Cygnet Classifieds from stupid ads like the one above, instead making it a newsletter of inspiration for a simpler and more rewarding life.
Here are some of the inhabitants of my garden this week
5 comments:
I agree, Kate. It's better to manage with what you have rather than buy new green stuff. I'd love one of those pottery compost bins though....!
Kate,I enjoy visiting my local charity shop where,I buy most of my clothes.Most of them have only been worn once or twice.Its a good way of saving resources.
You are so right. They tell you to buy a more energy efficient car, but what happens with the old one? Besides I read somewhere that something like 50% of greenhouse gases produced during the lifetime of a car is in the actual manufacturing (the figure could be higher, I can't remember exactly). My computer is over 10 years old and has just been overhauled a couple of times rather than replaced and the old one adding to landfill sites. The list goes on...
Gosh! I didn't realise there were so many of us thinking this way. I like to keep things until they wear out - clothes, equipment, cars etc
But I too would love one (or even several) of those pottery Indian compost bins and I promise I'd use it daily and keep it forever!
i'm with you! what would happen to my not-so-energy-efficient fridge if i replaced it? can they guarantee that the new fridge would last the rest of my life???
low energy use should be really about low-energy consumption: do i really need a fridge at all?
but i'm wondering about those beautiful composters too... should i just commission a local potter to make some?
love your blog, by the way
b
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