My Experiment

Have you noticed lately the flurry of shows and articles about how we can spend less, use less, be `eco-friendly`, etc? Although I applaud the ideas presented, these seem to me to be somehow unrealistic. I mean we don’t all have big renovation budgets, we don’t all live in nice warm climates, and we don’t all live in urban areas (although I do acknowledge that the population treads are moving that way). So I’m going to try a little experiment. How can an average rural-suburban Canadian family try to do all those things, without massive financial, physical, and social upheavals?

Over the next 12 months I want to see how we can live within our means, how we can live `green` (realistically) by consuming less, utilizing local resources better, use DYI projects to improve our surroundings, and reduce our carbon footprint. A second reason for this experiment is to provide opportunities for our son to learn, respect and incorporate these ideals into his own life. Let’s face it; we adults are only renting this planet from our children.

I'm not a writer, journalist, or filmmaker, I just feel compelled to write and share my experiences. Hopefully this journey will inspire and encourage others to try the same.

Be good and have fun.

It's not so bad ...

I was reading an article in the local community paper today which talked about the writers experience with a homeless person. The writer was not in a particular good mood, yet this homeless person made the effort to stop and suggest to the writer that maybe he should try smiling.

This got me to thinking about the time I was busing (doing my bit for the environment!) to work one morning. It was not a day any different from any other day yet I felt inconvenienced, moody, and plain old grumpy from 'having' to deal with the daily grind. It so happened that on this particular day, a certain passenger go on to the bus. He was a young man, modestly dressed, no particular features except one - a big huge smile; and he was a quadriplegic. The fact that this man, who had to over come more obstacles and discrimination (probably not outwardly) in a day than I would probably experience in a lifetime, and still woke up in the morning with a smile - humbled me to the core.

Now matter how bad a day I am having, or how rough or stressed I think I am, I take a moment to think about that guy on the bus, and re-think what my real situation is. Don't get me wrong - this is not a guilt or sympathy trip for disabled people. In fact I think they are the couragous ones and I am the 'disabled' one for not recognizing the positive aspects of life that are in front of me. Yes we all have to deal with reality - but it is how we deal with it that matters.

And that was what I learned on the bus that day.

When technology fails us ...

Ok, I thought this was pretty funny. I was hanging out the clothes on the line the other day (doing my bit to conserve energy) and had a mix of these new plastic pins and some wooden clothes pins. Well needless to say after about a half a dozen plastic ones in a row broke in my hands, I switched to the wooden variety.

Just goes to show that technology can't solve all our problems and if something ain't broke don't fix it.

Ok, now what ....

Well, I have finally done it. I have started my own blog. Hello!

Funny, being involved in the tech industry for the majority of my career, I still seem to be a late adopter (perhaps because I use technology so much I don't trust it?).

But that's not why I am here. I want share some thoughts I have about living in Nova Scotia, where we should be going as a community,province,country,planet, how we use (or not use) technology to help use along, and what that might really mean.

Just one person's observations.