Peak Oil Fantasy

I was so proud, I had to share my triumph with the clerk at Whole Foods. “Today is the first time I bike to the grocery store. Boy, am I good! Re-usable bags, donation to the homeless, biking . . . I deserve a place in green heaven.” And then the ride home, with Pervenche. Sheer pleasure of warm, almost summer breeze, whiffs of flowers along the path, I was feeling high from my satisfied green conscience and awakened senses. Trying hard to not get too carried away, and to pay attention to the road. 

This, folks is what a peak oil world can feel like, with the right infrastructure, as in bike path without cars.

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Inside the Climate Denying Mind

More potent than the most virulent tirades from flaming climate deniers, are the silent thoughts that circle in our minds and negate even our greenest intentions. It takes trained attention to catch these thoughts. Right now, for instance, I am about to go grocery shopping at Whole Foods. Only a few miles away. No objective reasons for why I can’t bike. Still, my mind is already made up:

I am going to drive. Don’t ask me to be good. Don’t ask me to be green. I don’t feel up to it. Need to be pampered. Out of sight, out of mind. Plus I am angry about stuff. Can’t deal with all that other shit. I fall back on what’s familiar, what I know best. Can’t, don’t want to make the extra effort. Right now, it is just me, me. Could care less about the planet, and what’s going to happen in ten, even a few years from now. It is too much work. I want simple. No room for other considerations. 

See what I mean?

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Biking the Environmental Talk, Part 2

Day 23 of Daily Footprint Project. I was to go through Craigslist to find a used bike. Instead my day got eaten up by greater priorities:

1. Going to the Farmers’ Market with Charlotte who is visiting from Berkeley
2. Taking Little Sister shopping for clothes at Target, and going swimming with her
3. Answering emails and commenting on other blogs
4. Cleaning up leftover mess from Thanksgiving
5. Paying my bills
6. Making weekly oversea call to my mother
7. Picking up medicine at drugstores (I woke up with a bad case of hives, oh, joy!)

By the end of the day, I was ready to sit down and read the Sunday paper, at last. Greening one’s life takes time, and energy. I am also picky. I have this picture in my mind of the old bike I want. And who knows how long it will take for me to find it?

 

Daily Footprint Project
Daily Log
Day #23

Water

personal:
flush toilet 3
wash face 2
brush teeth 2
wash hands 5
shower at pool 2
mom:
rinse dishes 3
wash fruit 3
communal:

Electricity/gas

personal:
electric toothbrush 2
microwave tea 2’
microwave oatmeal 4’
laptop on all ½ day
mom:
communal:
lights
stir fry baby bokchoy
pan fry fish 

Food

personal:
tea
organic milk
organic oatmeal
organic persimmons 2
organic chocolate
mom:
made chocolate pudding
bought nachos and turkey sandwich for Little Sister and her mom
communal:
baby bokchoys from farmers’ market
wild opah fish from farmers’ market

Waste

personal:
toilet paper
mom:
communal:
3 newspaper plastic wrappers
leftover cranberry sauce

Recycling

personal:
mom:
communal:
2 Sunday papers

Transportation

personal:
mom:
communal:
drive to pool  6 miles
drive to renters’ house 6 miles
drive to Little Sister 10 miles
drive to Target with Little Sister 7 miles

Non food shopping

personal:
mom:
clothes and shoes for Little Sister (Target)
communal:

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Biking the Environmental Talk

Day 22 of Daily Footprint Project. The numbers about the top three contributors to greenhouse gases emissions have left a permanent imprint in my brain cells. And are fueling my determination to get a bike.

Big step today. I visited the bike shop down the street, in search of a used bike. I refuse to get a new bike. And I don’t want to pay too much for it. The guy at the shop, told me this is a bad time to look for a used bike. All the new Stanford students wiped out his entire inventory at the beginning of school.

Next step: Craigslist.

 

Daily Footprint Project
Daily Log
Day #22

Water

personal:
flush toilet 3
wash face 2
brush teeth 2
wash hands 5
shower at pool 2
mom:
rinse dishes 3
wash fruit 3
communal:

Electricity/gas

personal:
electric toothbrush 2
microwave tea 2’
microwave oatmeal 4’
laptop on all ½ day
mom:
communal:
lights

Food

personal:
tea
organic milk
organic orange
organic oatmeal
organic persimmons 2
leftover turkey
Indian bread 1
organic yogurt
mom:
communal:
dinner out Italian restaurant

Waste

personal:
toilet paper
mom:
communal:
3 newspaper plastic wrappers
turkey stuffing leftovers
sweet potato puree leftovers

Recycling

personal:
mom:
new boots box
communal:
2 papers
junk mail

Transportation

personal:
mom:
communal:
drive to pool  6 miles
drive to renters’ house 6 miles

Non food shopping

personal:
mom:
communal: 

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