Man, I came THIS close to reaching for the paper towel to dry my hands at work. Phew...
In the meantime, here's a great-looking movie trailer I got from Anne after my copious amounts of environmental-related posting. Click here.
The movie is about an Anglo-Finno family that does something similar to what No Impact Man did. And it looks pretty funny.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
The beginnings...
So now that I've finished the book, I need to start making a plan on how to reduce my own waste. As far as our household goes, we're only 2 people. We don't produce an abnormal amount of waste but by being slightly more attentive to our resource-usage, I think a definite improvement can be made. (And I need to start by doing instead of just talking Juha's head off.)
For starters, I won't be using the elevator anymore. (Unless we're moving a large piece of furniture in or out... or a big suitcase.) But the point is, on a regular basis, regardless of my energy levels, I will dutifully walk up to the 4th floor with the use of my legs. This shouldn't be too hard unless I happen to be way too focused on what I can do to change my ways and happen to take the elevator while I'm deep in thought... only to realize it too late.
In terms of transportation, I'm going to minimize my usage of the bus and start riding my bike to work. If it rains, I'll probably take the bus, but if I'm going for a full day, I'll ride my bike there. The 7km should help get me into shape and by the time I'm ready to come home, I always had a nice semi-downhill ride to look forward to. As for traveling between Helsinki and Tampere, there isn't much I can do about that during the school year. I have to go to class and the train will have to do. International trips are a huge issue I haven't yet decided on... but baby steps.
Paper towels: we never buy them so that's easy. But we have them at work and in just about any public bathroom. I've stopped using them. It's really not that much more time and energy consuming to take a few extra seconds to shake my hands around a bit and then dry them on the way to my desk or table or where ever I'm headed. This brings me to another interesting topic which took all the attention of Colin Beavan's book, and that's the usage of toilet paper. Here's the deal: women use a lot of toilet paper. We realized this in university when I was living with 2 other girls. We went through toilet paper like nobody's business. But the point is, if you reduce your regular usage of it, for example, by using 2 squares instead of 4 or 1 instead of 2 (depending on its thickness and your needs) you've already halved your consumption. You just have to stop meditating before you reach for the roll and make sure to remember to use less :) (And by you, I mean me.)
Tissues, or Kleenex as we call it, has also never been apart of our regular shopping. Toilet paper is usually a substitute but here's an idea: blow your nose in the sink with a bit of water or use a handkerchief. Easy.
I've never been a huge fan of bottled water. I usually just get a glass and drink but especially in the summer, I get really hot and start to feel whoozy if I'm not constantly sipping water. I went out a couple weeks ago and bought myself a stainless steel (I think?) water bottle. As soon as I find a nice mason jar at some second hand store, I'll start carrying that around (since I can put a few more things in it) but for now, this works great! Speaking of water, as our detergent, body wash and shampoo progressively run out, I'm gonna replace them with alternatives that do not contain chemicals and are not harmful in any way. No need to race to the store for those products until I've used what I have now but I've already bought a few things with that in mind and it's no harder than just knowing what you want and when you'll need it.
Also, I'm going to start bringing my cloth bags with me everywhere even if I'm not intending on doing any grocery shopping... since I always end up wanting something and I hate having to use a plastic bag just for that. Again, easy. I also happen to have a super stylish one, courtesy of my friend Emilia who works at Marimekko ;)
(The above pattern is one of the ones on the bag, because it's actually a mix of a few.)
Now comes the tough part and this is a phase I haven't quite figured out yet: reducing the use of plastic. I don't mean that I buy plastic spoons and use them once only to throw them away. I mean the plastic that wraps almost every single thing we buy: from yogurt containers to milk to frozen pizzas to juice to fresh vegetables and salads! So yeah, the plastic that wraps just about everything. To be honest, I'd never considered that stuff plastic before and I realize how idiotic that sounds. But I was just recently tuned into the fact that it actually is plastic... and it's EVERYWHERE. So now comes the hard part... finding food without it. I have to start researching (in Finnish) local farms and other providers of milk in glass bottles, cheese without plastic around it, fruits and vegetables from market stands... and all that jazz.
But for now, one thing at a time! I think your head must be spinning right now, but mine's been spinning for a week now with all these thoughts and I just needed to write it all down somewhere.
For starters, I won't be using the elevator anymore. (Unless we're moving a large piece of furniture in or out... or a big suitcase.) But the point is, on a regular basis, regardless of my energy levels, I will dutifully walk up to the 4th floor with the use of my legs. This shouldn't be too hard unless I happen to be way too focused on what I can do to change my ways and happen to take the elevator while I'm deep in thought... only to realize it too late.
In terms of transportation, I'm going to minimize my usage of the bus and start riding my bike to work. If it rains, I'll probably take the bus, but if I'm going for a full day, I'll ride my bike there. The 7km should help get me into shape and by the time I'm ready to come home, I always had a nice semi-downhill ride to look forward to. As for traveling between Helsinki and Tampere, there isn't much I can do about that during the school year. I have to go to class and the train will have to do. International trips are a huge issue I haven't yet decided on... but baby steps.
Paper towels: we never buy them so that's easy. But we have them at work and in just about any public bathroom. I've stopped using them. It's really not that much more time and energy consuming to take a few extra seconds to shake my hands around a bit and then dry them on the way to my desk or table or where ever I'm headed. This brings me to another interesting topic which took all the attention of Colin Beavan's book, and that's the usage of toilet paper. Here's the deal: women use a lot of toilet paper. We realized this in university when I was living with 2 other girls. We went through toilet paper like nobody's business. But the point is, if you reduce your regular usage of it, for example, by using 2 squares instead of 4 or 1 instead of 2 (depending on its thickness and your needs) you've already halved your consumption. You just have to stop meditating before you reach for the roll and make sure to remember to use less :) (And by you, I mean me.)
Tissues, or Kleenex as we call it, has also never been apart of our regular shopping. Toilet paper is usually a substitute but here's an idea: blow your nose in the sink with a bit of water or use a handkerchief. Easy.
I've never been a huge fan of bottled water. I usually just get a glass and drink but especially in the summer, I get really hot and start to feel whoozy if I'm not constantly sipping water. I went out a couple weeks ago and bought myself a stainless steel (I think?) water bottle. As soon as I find a nice mason jar at some second hand store, I'll start carrying that around (since I can put a few more things in it) but for now, this works great! Speaking of water, as our detergent, body wash and shampoo progressively run out, I'm gonna replace them with alternatives that do not contain chemicals and are not harmful in any way. No need to race to the store for those products until I've used what I have now but I've already bought a few things with that in mind and it's no harder than just knowing what you want and when you'll need it.
Also, I'm going to start bringing my cloth bags with me everywhere even if I'm not intending on doing any grocery shopping... since I always end up wanting something and I hate having to use a plastic bag just for that. Again, easy. I also happen to have a super stylish one, courtesy of my friend Emilia who works at Marimekko ;)
(The above pattern is one of the ones on the bag, because it's actually a mix of a few.)
Now comes the tough part and this is a phase I haven't quite figured out yet: reducing the use of plastic. I don't mean that I buy plastic spoons and use them once only to throw them away. I mean the plastic that wraps almost every single thing we buy: from yogurt containers to milk to frozen pizzas to juice to fresh vegetables and salads! So yeah, the plastic that wraps just about everything. To be honest, I'd never considered that stuff plastic before and I realize how idiotic that sounds. But I was just recently tuned into the fact that it actually is plastic... and it's EVERYWHERE. So now comes the hard part... finding food without it. I have to start researching (in Finnish) local farms and other providers of milk in glass bottles, cheese without plastic around it, fruits and vegetables from market stands... and all that jazz.
But for now, one thing at a time! I think your head must be spinning right now, but mine's been spinning for a week now with all these thoughts and I just needed to write it all down somewhere.
Design Schmasign
On a completely unrelated note, here's a link to a site I really enjoyed:
http://cunicode.com/one-coffee-cup-a-day/
A guy designed 30 coffee cups, every day for a month, and now sells them online. He got really creative with them and although they may not be at the top of my list of purchases, they're definitely great to look at, if only just online!
x.
i.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
No Impact Man
It’s been a long time coming. I walked into a bookstore last Sunday, fed up with the idea that I would let the library or the idea of sometime wandering to the library, dictate which books I’d be reading. Instead, I marched into the bookstore, browsed to my heart’s delight and finally settled on 3 books: “No Impact Man” by Colin Beavan, a graphic novel in Finnish translated as “Berlin: Smokey City” and a fiction novel called “Await your Reply.” It’s not Wednesday night and I’ve already breezed through the “No Impact Man,” save for a dozen pages, and I’m itching to share my thoughts… or contain them, or even organize them some how. That’s it, I need a place to organize my thoughts.
So here’s a quick premise for the book: Colin and his wife Michelle and their daughter Isabella and their dog Frankie all live in an NYC apartment in Greenwich Village. Colin feels guilty about the environment (you know, in general, as most people do, but without knowing too, too much about the details) and sets out to finally do something about it. He intentionally doesn’t plan too much but decides that over the course of a year, his family will live without having a harmful effect on the planet and live sustainably (which according to Word, is not a word). What I really enjoyed about the novel, other than the inspiration it provided its readers with, was the candor with which the book is narrated. Our author is no environmental guru. He does not know 101 ways to find, buy, cook and serve sustainable dinners for three. He isn’t an athlete who has spent years training for the most physically active year of his life. He is simply, one of us.
I hope I’m not breaking any copyright laws by quoting this passage from Colin Beavan’s “No Impact Man” (Piatkus, 2009) but it was my favourite, so I’d really like to share it:
“Dae Soen Sa Nim [a Korean monk who founded the school of Zen] decided that peace would come if all the religious leaders of the world got together and had a good human conversation. The way to do that, Dae Soen Sa Nim decided, was to have all the world’s religious leaders get into a hot tub together.
“ In order to get all the religious leaders into the same hot tub, Dae Soen Sa Nim thought ut was important that the invitation come from the Pope. He wanted the Pope to send out a letter that said, essentially, ‘Dear Religious Leader, How about we get into a hot tub and figure out how to attain world peace? Yours truly, the Pope.’
“So, without invitation, Dae Soen Sa Nim got on a plane, traveled to Rome, marched up to the gates of the Vatican, and asked to see the Pope. No, he told the guard, he did not have an appointment. The guard sent Dae Soen Sa Nim to see one of the priests. A day or two later, the priest sent him to see a bishop. A couple days after that, the bishop got him an appointment to see a cardinal.
“As the story goes, the cardinal in question did not see the value in Dae Soen Sa Nim’s hot tub approach, and there the effort died.
“But why this story gets told again and again in the Zen school is because of the sheer “just try” energy of Dae Soen Sa Nim’s approach. It suggest that instead of trying to save the world by sitting around figuring out the best course of action, we should just start trying to save the world. If we all just start trying from where we are, even if some of us fail, one of us or a couple of thousand of us will cross the finish line and get the job done.
“And if we don’t, we will inspire other thousands the start from where they are, just as the story of Dae Soen Sa Nim and the Pope has inspired many hundreds of his students to just try. Is one of those students succeeds, then Dae Soen Sa Nim’s stunt will have worked.”
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Lululala.
I finally found a pair of Lululemon shorts while I was in Canada this time around; I bought them and wore them cycling yesterday...for 29 I'm. Note to self: do not cycle 29km in short shorts.
Juha calls them my Lululala shorts. (Lululemon isn't so well-known here...or at all really.)
Maybe JC will want to take the bike tour next week!
I am excite!
Juha calls them my Lululala shorts. (Lululemon isn't so well-known here...or at all really.)
Maybe JC will want to take the bike tour next week!
I am excite!
Monday, May 23, 2011
It's been awhile...
...but I figured better late than never! Once we fall off the blogging horse, it may take awhile to get back on it but it's best we do when we realize we've fallen off than to lie on the ground... I'm sure I was going somewhere with that but to be honest, I've completely lost my train of thought. (Or is it trail of thought? I tried to Google but it seemed both meant more or less than same thing. Alas...)
So I'm blogging from Toronto today! I'm sitting in my new room in my parents' brand new house and I've got blogging on my brain. I met up with one of my best friends from Toronto yesterday and she's thinking about starting a blog and it made me wonder about starting a blog as well, a different one involving photography, and I'm thinking I wanna do this as soon as possible.
The idea is still pretty unclear. We talked about various possibilities, involving architecture, food, culture, etc. but overall, I haven't decided to commit to anything quite yet. Broader is better for now. But your suggestions are warmly welcome in the comments box!
"The Birds"
So I'm thinking I may take my camera out with me today and see what I can capture... for now though, here's a picture I took in Romania on our last trip there.
So I'm blogging from Toronto today! I'm sitting in my new room in my parents' brand new house and I've got blogging on my brain. I met up with one of my best friends from Toronto yesterday and she's thinking about starting a blog and it made me wonder about starting a blog as well, a different one involving photography, and I'm thinking I wanna do this as soon as possible.
The idea is still pretty unclear. We talked about various possibilities, involving architecture, food, culture, etc. but overall, I haven't decided to commit to anything quite yet. Broader is better for now. But your suggestions are warmly welcome in the comments box!
"The Birds"
So I'm thinking I may take my camera out with me today and see what I can capture... for now though, here's a picture I took in Romania on our last trip there.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Job Interview.
Today I attended my second ever job interview in Finland!
It was a long morning leading up to the interview but surprisingly, it went by fast and was rather painless. We had an 8:30am research seminar lesson and I'd gone to bed a bit late but I surprised myself but getting up easily AND catching up with an old friend on Skype.. around 7:12am. (Gotta love how productive time differences can make you feel... and so not annoyed at early mornings.) After class, I went to get a coffee before our second class started and everyone arrived. The first part of that class was a presentation that Di and I had to do (well, each of us had different presentations) as punishment for having missed a lecture (due to Switzerland trip, see last post.)
I'd had a bit of a panic getting myself organized the night before because I was supposed to read and analyze a thesis - or more specificly, the interview portion of the thesis. Upon logging onto our school's online thesis database, I discovered that I counldn't open any of the files. Luckily, an FB status update and 15 minutes later, my good friend Evgeniy came through and emailed me, not 1, but 4 theses! So yeah... it didn't take too long to come up with a 2.5 minute presentation.
Then lunch with tons of people (playing musical chairs as people came and went) as Sara, Mette and I grabbed a table at the back until the late afternoon. Alex came to join us and later walked with me to my interview because the sun was shinning and it was such a nice day to be outside!
The interview went really well. I felt really confident because I'd be referred to the position by a friend but I also knew that I was the kind of person they were looking for. Still, that didn't mean I didn't have to prove myself. I was there for almost an hour and there were lots of questions about career plans, future, hobbies, reasons I came to Finland, languages I speak... etc. Ultimately, I felt they got to know me pretty well and liked me. In turn, I found out my interviewer had lived with a Romanian girl before so that was a neat surprise! At the end, they told me that they would definitely offer me a job, but unfortunately, training starts next week and I'm going to be away but if the project time is lengthened, then they'll be in touch for the next training session.
So I walked back to school pretty happy! What you have to realize is that it's not always about going in, selling yourself and getting the job, but also about how the interview makes you feel. And I felt that I gained a lot of confidence, good practice and experience from my one hour there. Sometimes it's easy to get all tangeled in your replies and say something that sounds bad... so thinking really fast about what you're gonna say before you say it is a big help.
Otherwise, it was nice to hang out with everyone at school again before heading back to Tampere. The funny thing was, as I left school to run and try to catch the tram, a bus went by and splashed a HUGE puddle all over my pants, boots and purse. Then to top it all off, the tram drove off without waiting for me... even though I was running after it, soaking wet. It wasn't until after it pulled away that I started to try to wipe my purse and well... there was nothing I could do about my pants or boots but the walk to the station helps dry them off.
(Photo credit)
Still, nothing could ruin my mood today!
Juha met me near the train station and we went grocery shopping. Then I dragged him to Eurokangas (European Fabricland) to score some CURTAINS for my room in Helsinki. I dropped 62 euros on those babies and I hope they'll be perfect! (And that Anne likes them too.) I was inspired by some pastel coloured buildings close to Hanken so I tried to recreate the atmosphere of the street in my room. They're hemming the ends for free and I get to pick them up in 2 weeks.
As if that isn't exciting enough (my Helsinki room needs spunk, you'd be excited too) I get home and check facebook only to see a random picture of a friend on my profile. I click and, lo and behold, she's dating a Finn! I comment on the photo, I stalk around a little and then she messages me. Long story short, her boyfriend now lives in Canada but they're coming to visit Helsinki in May. We were both so excited we couldn't stop smiling (she was in class) or dancing/being hyper/cooking dinner (I was at home.)
So yeah. That's my day. And I'm freaking ecstatic about it!
It was a long morning leading up to the interview but surprisingly, it went by fast and was rather painless. We had an 8:30am research seminar lesson and I'd gone to bed a bit late but I surprised myself but getting up easily AND catching up with an old friend on Skype.. around 7:12am. (Gotta love how productive time differences can make you feel... and so not annoyed at early mornings.) After class, I went to get a coffee before our second class started and everyone arrived. The first part of that class was a presentation that Di and I had to do (well, each of us had different presentations) as punishment for having missed a lecture (due to Switzerland trip, see last post.)
I'd had a bit of a panic getting myself organized the night before because I was supposed to read and analyze a thesis - or more specificly, the interview portion of the thesis. Upon logging onto our school's online thesis database, I discovered that I counldn't open any of the files. Luckily, an FB status update and 15 minutes later, my good friend Evgeniy came through and emailed me, not 1, but 4 theses! So yeah... it didn't take too long to come up with a 2.5 minute presentation.
Then lunch with tons of people (playing musical chairs as people came and went) as Sara, Mette and I grabbed a table at the back until the late afternoon. Alex came to join us and later walked with me to my interview because the sun was shinning and it was such a nice day to be outside!
The interview went really well. I felt really confident because I'd be referred to the position by a friend but I also knew that I was the kind of person they were looking for. Still, that didn't mean I didn't have to prove myself. I was there for almost an hour and there were lots of questions about career plans, future, hobbies, reasons I came to Finland, languages I speak... etc. Ultimately, I felt they got to know me pretty well and liked me. In turn, I found out my interviewer had lived with a Romanian girl before so that was a neat surprise! At the end, they told me that they would definitely offer me a job, but unfortunately, training starts next week and I'm going to be away but if the project time is lengthened, then they'll be in touch for the next training session.
So I walked back to school pretty happy! What you have to realize is that it's not always about going in, selling yourself and getting the job, but also about how the interview makes you feel. And I felt that I gained a lot of confidence, good practice and experience from my one hour there. Sometimes it's easy to get all tangeled in your replies and say something that sounds bad... so thinking really fast about what you're gonna say before you say it is a big help.
Otherwise, it was nice to hang out with everyone at school again before heading back to Tampere. The funny thing was, as I left school to run and try to catch the tram, a bus went by and splashed a HUGE puddle all over my pants, boots and purse. Then to top it all off, the tram drove off without waiting for me... even though I was running after it, soaking wet. It wasn't until after it pulled away that I started to try to wipe my purse and well... there was nothing I could do about my pants or boots but the walk to the station helps dry them off.
(Photo credit)Still, nothing could ruin my mood today!
Juha met me near the train station and we went grocery shopping. Then I dragged him to Eurokangas (European Fabricland) to score some CURTAINS for my room in Helsinki. I dropped 62 euros on those babies and I hope they'll be perfect! (And that Anne likes them too.) I was inspired by some pastel coloured buildings close to Hanken so I tried to recreate the atmosphere of the street in my room. They're hemming the ends for free and I get to pick them up in 2 weeks.
As if that isn't exciting enough (my Helsinki room needs spunk, you'd be excited too) I get home and check facebook only to see a random picture of a friend on my profile. I click and, lo and behold, she's dating a Finn! I comment on the photo, I stalk around a little and then she messages me. Long story short, her boyfriend now lives in Canada but they're coming to visit Helsinki in May. We were both so excited we couldn't stop smiling (she was in class) or dancing/being hyper/cooking dinner (I was at home.)
So yeah. That's my day. And I'm freaking ecstatic about it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)