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Ranty rant (written earlier today)
Mar. 7th, 2007 04:41 pmGah, just went to the toilet and was overwhelmed by the scent of "Apple & Honeysuckle" (or something) spray. Of course it contains absolutely no apple or honeysuckle. It's all a melange of chemicals, it even says right on the can "deliberately concentrating and inhaling this product may harm or kill you". I'd rather have to deal with the lingering scents of farts and vomit then have to breathe in that artificial chemical crap. At least bodily odors don't set off allergies or threaten death.
You know what else shits me? Scented toilet paper in non-personal toilets - like toilets at work or public toilets - places where you don't get a choice over what paper is used. I think it's downright rude to have scented paper in these places - a lot of people have reactions to it and it's not good for anyone's pink bits. Stick with the plain paper please. And preferably white, so I can see if I have something wrong with me when my pee is suddenly bright blue or there's bright red blood all over the paper.
Being "green"
Well, finally it seems the majority of people are finally wising up to this whole climate change/greenhouse effect/global warming thing. I rememember first hearing about it AND taking it seriously in 1988 - I was 8 years old at the time.
The thing is, it's SO EASY to do environmentally friendly things. It's just that society has become so used to doing it a wasteful way that that's how most of us just do it now. If recycling was commonplace everywhere, everyone would do it because it really is no extra effort. If houses were built from the getgo with rainwater tanks, water conserving reticulation, composting toilets (they really are quite pleasant these days) and grey water recycling, we wouldn't have the crisis we have no and people wouldn't have to put in any effort. It's not hard to put your veggie scraps into a compost bin instead of a rubbish bin. It really is no big effort to recycle shopping bags and choose food that's not overly packaged (you don't need to put your pineapple into a bag, honest, it will survive. Heck, I don't even bag my soft fruits or lettuce until I use the shopping bags at the checkout, and I haven't caught anything yet, just saved a load of rubbish. It would also help if manufacturers won't so obsessed with overpackaging - surely it's cheaper not to?)
Then of course there's the germphobia sweeping the world, whoever started that needs a good flogging. You DON'T need a separate, potentially lethal chemical for every different type of dirt that may encroach your house. Lemon juice, vinegar, carb soda and boiling water - that's all you need. It won't kill you (though be careful with the water, can give you a nasty scald), and it's a damn site cheaper and just as effective. And it won't help breed superbugs or set off allergies. I'll let you in on a little secret - kids are meant to eat dirt. A little bit of garden dirt (not a whole plateful from the local toxic waste dump or anything) will be a better immunity booster than any medication a doctor can give you. And it's FREE!
It doesn't matter how much of this you can actually achieve. Water tanks are expensive and require space and a house that isn't a rental. It's tough to grow a veggie garden when you live in a flat (but your high density living is also helping, no forest had to be knocked down to build the ground you're living on). Just do SOMETHING because every bit counts. Doing something is ALWAYS better than doing nothing. And doing something is barely any more effort than doing nothing, and you get to feel good about yourself.
Of course if I had my way I'd be a little stricter. I simply would not allow people to have a 4WD if they're just going to parade it around town and never see a drop of mud in it's life. It's not fair on other drivers, it's not fair on the environment, and hell, it's not fair on the poor 4WD that was built to go galavanting over rough terrain. I can't understand why people would buy a huge, expensive, gas guzzling 4WD when they could get an cheap, economical, smaller car that's a damn site easier to park as well and doesn't make you come off as a dumb soccer mum or an obnoxious prick.
I'd be making hell sure that lawns became uncool and native gardens were in. Again, it's less effort people! These plants were MADE for these conditions, just stick 'em in the ground and let 'em grow. No excessive watering, no fertilising, just lovely native plants and the birds to go with them. I understand SOME lawn is a good thing, I like a good roll on it myself, but it should have underground trickles to water it, and in the summer, just let it go brown. It'll bounce back when winter rolls around again and not like you're going to be sitting on a bare lawn in the scorching sun in summer.
And then there is the kangaroo issue - which has come up in the journals of a few other people recently. Yes, kangaroos are cute. They are supremely designed to live in Australia - one of the reasons we should be farming them rather than damaging, hard hooved sheep and cattle. They are our national emblem - as they should be, they're abundant, distinctive and able to provide various usable products without excessively damaging Australia's fragile environment. There IS an excess of them, ironically due to the farming of sheep, cattle and wheat, and this excess can threaten the survival of other just as beautiful, just as distinct species here. What you may not know is that the annual kangaroo cull is strictly quotaed to remain sustainable. Right now, because of the drought the quota for red kangaroo has gone down but grey kangaroo has gone up. They're in no risk of going extinct due to being shot and eaten, if anything they're even better managed now that they're a commodity. The numbers need to be controlled, we may as well not be wasteful and use the meat, leather and fur they provide. And the meat is healthier for you, high in iron, low in fat.
There's no excuse for not doing your bit. The more we do the more we will keep doing. Green ways have to become the normal, commonplace way of doing things. Because if it doesn't every single species on this planet is going to suffer for it.
You know what else shits me? Scented toilet paper in non-personal toilets - like toilets at work or public toilets - places where you don't get a choice over what paper is used. I think it's downright rude to have scented paper in these places - a lot of people have reactions to it and it's not good for anyone's pink bits. Stick with the plain paper please. And preferably white, so I can see if I have something wrong with me when my pee is suddenly bright blue or there's bright red blood all over the paper.
Being "green"
Well, finally it seems the majority of people are finally wising up to this whole climate change/greenhouse effect/global warming thing. I rememember first hearing about it AND taking it seriously in 1988 - I was 8 years old at the time.
The thing is, it's SO EASY to do environmentally friendly things. It's just that society has become so used to doing it a wasteful way that that's how most of us just do it now. If recycling was commonplace everywhere, everyone would do it because it really is no extra effort. If houses were built from the getgo with rainwater tanks, water conserving reticulation, composting toilets (they really are quite pleasant these days) and grey water recycling, we wouldn't have the crisis we have no and people wouldn't have to put in any effort. It's not hard to put your veggie scraps into a compost bin instead of a rubbish bin. It really is no big effort to recycle shopping bags and choose food that's not overly packaged (you don't need to put your pineapple into a bag, honest, it will survive. Heck, I don't even bag my soft fruits or lettuce until I use the shopping bags at the checkout, and I haven't caught anything yet, just saved a load of rubbish. It would also help if manufacturers won't so obsessed with overpackaging - surely it's cheaper not to?)
Then of course there's the germphobia sweeping the world, whoever started that needs a good flogging. You DON'T need a separate, potentially lethal chemical for every different type of dirt that may encroach your house. Lemon juice, vinegar, carb soda and boiling water - that's all you need. It won't kill you (though be careful with the water, can give you a nasty scald), and it's a damn site cheaper and just as effective. And it won't help breed superbugs or set off allergies. I'll let you in on a little secret - kids are meant to eat dirt. A little bit of garden dirt (not a whole plateful from the local toxic waste dump or anything) will be a better immunity booster than any medication a doctor can give you. And it's FREE!
It doesn't matter how much of this you can actually achieve. Water tanks are expensive and require space and a house that isn't a rental. It's tough to grow a veggie garden when you live in a flat (but your high density living is also helping, no forest had to be knocked down to build the ground you're living on). Just do SOMETHING because every bit counts. Doing something is ALWAYS better than doing nothing. And doing something is barely any more effort than doing nothing, and you get to feel good about yourself.
Of course if I had my way I'd be a little stricter. I simply would not allow people to have a 4WD if they're just going to parade it around town and never see a drop of mud in it's life. It's not fair on other drivers, it's not fair on the environment, and hell, it's not fair on the poor 4WD that was built to go galavanting over rough terrain. I can't understand why people would buy a huge, expensive, gas guzzling 4WD when they could get an cheap, economical, smaller car that's a damn site easier to park as well and doesn't make you come off as a dumb soccer mum or an obnoxious prick.
I'd be making hell sure that lawns became uncool and native gardens were in. Again, it's less effort people! These plants were MADE for these conditions, just stick 'em in the ground and let 'em grow. No excessive watering, no fertilising, just lovely native plants and the birds to go with them. I understand SOME lawn is a good thing, I like a good roll on it myself, but it should have underground trickles to water it, and in the summer, just let it go brown. It'll bounce back when winter rolls around again and not like you're going to be sitting on a bare lawn in the scorching sun in summer.
And then there is the kangaroo issue - which has come up in the journals of a few other people recently. Yes, kangaroos are cute. They are supremely designed to live in Australia - one of the reasons we should be farming them rather than damaging, hard hooved sheep and cattle. They are our national emblem - as they should be, they're abundant, distinctive and able to provide various usable products without excessively damaging Australia's fragile environment. There IS an excess of them, ironically due to the farming of sheep, cattle and wheat, and this excess can threaten the survival of other just as beautiful, just as distinct species here. What you may not know is that the annual kangaroo cull is strictly quotaed to remain sustainable. Right now, because of the drought the quota for red kangaroo has gone down but grey kangaroo has gone up. They're in no risk of going extinct due to being shot and eaten, if anything they're even better managed now that they're a commodity. The numbers need to be controlled, we may as well not be wasteful and use the meat, leather and fur they provide. And the meat is healthier for you, high in iron, low in fat.
There's no excuse for not doing your bit. The more we do the more we will keep doing. Green ways have to become the normal, commonplace way of doing things. Because if it doesn't every single species on this planet is going to suffer for it.
