Sunday, November 09, 2008
Fucking Fabulous London
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
A Place That Looked Strangely Like Paris
That's him in the middle and on the left you have the smiling Kim McCoy - she's the executive director of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and also one of the three Shark Angels. I need not mention that the conference was absolutely great and gave me a lot to think about and plenty of motivation. The most amazing was that only two months ago I was surfing the net, reading Sea Shepherd stories and watching videos and thinking how great it would be to be able to meet Captain Paul Watson some day. And there I was! I even managed to shake his hand and ask him some questions :)
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Step Three... but not here
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Step Two
- Water: try to use as little as you can - don't leave it running while brushing your teeth (I know, it seems obvious but there actually still are some people out there who don't pay attention to that) or while washing dishes or rubbing shampoo in your hair... Well, I just try to minimize the moments where it stays running uselessly. Don't buy water in bottles! Tap water is ok to drink and if you don't like the taste then getting a filter is not a bad idea. Have you ever noticed that if you spell the name of a famous bottled water backwards you get "naive"? Do you think that's a coincidence or could it mean something about the fact of selling people water for more than 1 euro per liter whereas they can get it as much as they want for free at home? Besides, some of the chemicals used in making the bottles are actually transferred into the water, which makes it bad for you and the nature.
- Recycle: I know, I know, it's obligatory in most countries now, but from the example of my flat-mates I also know that we can always try harder. Re-use the glass and tin jars to put in your tea/coffee/sugar etc. If you have the possibility of choice, buy the products that aren't packed into ten million different bags and boxes.
- Plastic bags: Get a cloth tote bag for your grocery shopping (or make it yourself with personalized decorations). Don't hesitate to refuse the free bag they give you in all the different clothing and what not stores, unless you really need it. Re-use the old ones instead of trash bags... And I still haven't really figured out how to replace or reduce the little bags used for fruit and vegetables in supermarkets (the ones we use to weigh out and then stick the price on, which makes them tricky to re-use)...
- Transport: walk or take the bicycle as much as you can. Or use public transportation rather than a car. Pay attention to where your food (especially fresh stuff) comes from: did the orange travel all the way across the globe, polluting a lot of air and wasting a lot of fuel on its way to your plate? Prefer your local products as much as possible, they are surely better for your body too.
This obviously is far from being a thorough list and all new propositions, ideas and/or objections are very welcome. Those to whom the above is not only a habit but already an obvious one, might want to take a little step further in the whole "making a difference" business. On this occasion I eagerly encourage you to take the 30-day Veg Pledge. You can even download your free Vegetarian Starter Kit, which might seem a bit cheesy for the skeptics, but it's actually quite informative and motivating and answers to pretty much all the questions that might arise for a beginner-vegetarian. Plus there are some really nice recipes and who wouldn't appreciate a possibility to eat somehting new and tasty?!
Any more ideas on this subject? Let me know! In the meanwhile I hope you'll keep tuning in and that the next time you read my new post, it will be as (even temporarily) a meat-free person :) As for all the already-meat-free readers: thanks for bearing with me, I promise that the steps yet to be taken might interest you guys...
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Step One
So I would like to benefit of this privilege and share with you some of the things that I hold very dear, hoping that you might understand (wherther you know me in person or not). This will be the prelude (The dress rehersal I should say) to my explaining and reassuring and facing scepticism etc that I feel is yet ahead of me. But this is not about me, it is about everything that is and should be important.
So step one: If you haven't yet seen or heard of the film "Earthlings" and if you are still reading my post inspite of the crappy and confusing intro, then please go and watch it, it's available here. I'm not sure about how legal and thus lasting this Internet-available version is, so check it out before it's gone. But I must warn you: unless you suffer of severe compassion defficiency, you will probably need some hankys to go through it. It's probably best to watch this alone or in a close company, at least for the first time. So please take a moment to sit down and go through the whole lot of it right away... (You can come back here and finish reading the post afterwards if you want, but I thinks it's important that you see this first).
After you've watched it (or if you've already seen it), you might feel hopeless and powerless (maybe even unwilling) to change anything. Or you might feel like doing something, anything about it... That's how I felt anyway - and here I am, writing this post. I assure you - even the smallest effort is already a good start and the fact of having watched the film through shows you have consciousness and interest regarding these questions...
Letting other people know about what you've just seen is the first reflex I guess. Tell your friends, send them the link, put it in your MSN personal message, your blog, your internet site - anything might work to spread the word. Then you might want to find out a bit more about these things. Meat.org - for more precisions on the food issues; The 11th Hour - for a more global and less hard core view on how serious the problem is (this is what inspired me to believe that I can actually do something) ; Sharkwater - as extremely overlooked as it is important (unfortunately "Earthlings" did not feature the shark finning issue), this film is being screened all over the world and should definately be seen by the biggest possible number of people. This was also where I first found out about the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and which gave me the last positive push I needed... The last two films are unfortunately not available directly on the internet, but they should be downloadable (sorry Rob and Leonardo, but the cause is more important than the copyright!). This is not about some commercial stuff or profit, it's - I repeat - about everything that's important on this planet and for our generation...
The conclusion of this post is not long, but sincere. If you have been patient enough to see "Earthlings" and are still with me: thank you..! Keep tuned for the upcoming.