I am a "psychogeographic avant-garde!"

04/10/2012

0 Comments

 
Here are two interesting articles I've read today on transportation.

From Slate: "The Crisis in American Walking: How we got off the pedestrian path." This article describes how Americans walk less than any other nationality in the world (Canadians are probably not far behind), and references the term in the title of this blog post.

From The Atlantic: "Why Young Americans Are Driving So Much Less Than Their Parents." Like me, a lot of younger Americans are realizing that rather than being a ticket to freedom and mobility, cars can be an annoying and expensive burden. 

On a local level, I'm attending a workshop this Saturday morning about transit in Calgary and have an extra ticket. Does anyone want to join me? Check out the TransitCamp YYC website!
Add Comment
 

In praise of walking

03/14/2012

5 Comments

 
Hello friends! Tony reminded me the other day that I have a blog and politely suggested that I update said blog more often than I currently do. Don't worry, I haven't abandoned the notion of blogging, nor my commitment to green principles; nor have I gone and done something rash like buying a car, which would make keeping a blog on the joy of car-free/carefree living a little bit awkward. Mostly I've been trying to finish my MA and find a satisfying job, keeping up with current events, and playing musical instruments.  Also, I've been walking a lot. As in about 1.5 hours each day. Though I live a stone's throw from a c-train station and can usually make it downtown in about 20 minutes, I've taken in recent months to commuting to work on foot.  it a) saves money since I don't need to pay to take the train* and b) is good exercise, helping to balance against the eight hours a day I spend in front of a computer plus the unceasing stream of leftover pastries and muffins that seem to magically appear in the break room every afternoon with alarming regularity. But wait!  There's more! 
5 Comments
 

Important documentary

09/29/2011

0 Comments

 
I thought this was clever.  If you don't already know about the great pacific garbage patch, google it.

Add Comment
 

Guest post: in which Tony Pizouli discusses everything that is wrong with the world

09/24/2011

4 Comments

 
Ok, that's a slight exaggeration.  There are a few social problems that aren't discussed in the following manifesto - however, it's very very difficult to talk about food security without talking about a lot of other things including but not limited to evil corporations, globalization, poverty, migration, water and soil quality, oil shortages, and the pressing issue of overpopulation. 

Why I Buy Organic - by Tony Pizouli

Most people have had some experience with organic food. In the first world, we expect it to be certified and labelled as such, but many people forget that until the 20th century all food would have qualified as organic. Even now, in much of the world where people grow their own food or big agribusiness does not reign, much food is still produced without the inputs that make food fall under the terribly inappropriately named category of “conventional”.
4 Comments
 

Décroissance. It sounds so lovely in French (part 1)

09/22/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
WARNING!!!!!! THIS POST HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CROISSANTS.  SADLY. 

Last summer I took a course on EU environmental policy at the Free University of Berlin, possibly the best course I've ever taken.  My major course project was on EU waste policy, which project made me the compulsive composter and recycler and judger of all who use plastic products of any kind that I am today.  It was through this project I met Guillaume from Paris.  I wish I could say that Guillaume and I had fallen in love and moved to Paris to actively campaign for the rights of Mother Earth among the Gallic people.  In reality I only vaguely remember Guillaume - in fact I don't know his last name or his e-mail address, nor can i remember what he looked like (except that he was about a foot shorter than me).  However, I do have a very clear memory of meeting with Guillaume and my friend Vera at a bakery across from Curry 36 on Mehringdamm to discuss this project, and listening to him explain (in his very sexy french accent) the concept of décroissance.  While we ate "des croissants." Get it?
Add Comment
 

Attention women: this post will change your life!!!

09/05/2011

0 Comments

 
I'm not sure how I've neglected to discuss the Diva Cup on this blog since it did alter my life rather dramatically.  Like most women since the dawn of human civilization, I've never been a fan of having my period.  Let's be honest - no matter how ad agencies try to jazz it up in tampon ads, menstruation is messy, uncomfortable and inconvenient.  For most of my post-menarche life, I have made do with tampons, pads and stain remover... but last year, I was accidentally introduced to the Diva Cup and the monthlies have never been the same!!
Add Comment
 

My new obsession with composting

08/06/2011

2 Comments

 
For much of my life I was a faithful but passive composter.  That is, my mother composted, and she also cleaned up after me which meant that any organic waste was carefully returned to the ground from whence it came.  When I moved out on my own it did not occur to me to follow in her footsteps.  I never ended up living in any one place long enough to invest in a composter and forgot about the environmental benefits of so doing.  
2 Comments
 

Calgary Transit adventures

06/21/2011

1 Comment

 
As I have alluded to in previous posts, I no longer own a car.  Not only do I not suffer for the lack thereof, I rejoice that I am no longer burdened by the cost and stress of car ownership, insurance payments, parking costs, parking tickets, red-light tickets, oil changes etc... I never have to sit in traffic for hours or worry about getting in car accidents on the Deerfoot.  Now I'm not suggesting that everyone get rid of their cars - particularly my friends whose cars I occasionally borrow.  I am going to go out on a limb and step on my soapbox and say that CALGARIANS DRIVE WAY TO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!
1 Comment
 

I'm back!!!!!!!!!!!

06/19/2011

1 Comment

 
Hi Everybody, sorry for not posting for many many months.  I hope all my faithful readers are still making their own yoghurt and eschewing all plastic products.  You'll be happy to hear I'm sure that I've repented of my sloth vis à                vis this blog and vow to post regularly for the next little while  

So as I alluded to in my last post, I've given up on Europe and its high cost of living and come home to Canada.  I am currently a resident of Calgary, a city not necessarily known for its commitment to environmental stewardship.  It has one of the largest civic footprints in North America and is (to borrow for Volkswagen) built for drivers, public transit is a far cry from what it is in Berlin or London, and people threaten to revolt when recycling infrastructure is introduced.  However, there is a small but dedicated community of people who are interested in making ecologically sound life choices, and I think the city has potential to make itself respectable.  So for the next little while, this will be a Calgary-centred blog, although my large international fanbase is welcome to read and comment as well.  

1 Comment
 

Enough Already!!!!!!!!!!!

01/14/2011

0 Comments

 
Happy New Year everyone, I've spent the first two weeks of 2011 mucking about in my parents' basement.  I don't know how, but every time I come home I manage to find carload after carload of old junk for the landfill or the Salvation Army.  My mother is becoming a champ at letting things go - it's much less of a fight than it was about six years ago when I started tackling my family's clutter.  I recently asked my mother asked my mother a while ago if she's ever regretted anything that we've gotten rid of, and she had to admit that the only item she's ever mourned was a set of Beatles cards she sold at a garage sale in 1981. 
Add Comment
 
<< Previous