7 Days of Veggies

Well it's been a week of solid vegetarianism and I have to say it ain't that hard! There was one slip where I went to a friends house and he'd made a pasta sauce with (unbeknownst to me prior to tasting it) pancetta in it but I ate it anyway. I figure a little sprinkling of meat in one pasta sauce isn't going to destroy the planet.

I think one of the things that made me figure I could do this was discovering there's a lot more to eat than just salad. In fact, I've eaten very little salad. My diet hasn't changed all that drastically other than the omission of meat from my meals.

Also, I've started to save plastic bags that I get from the grocery store and bring them back to reuse them. I always saved them and reused them but only once. I always put my lunch in a plastic bag but then I throw it away. I figure, if it's not torn or soiled, I'll just bring it home and reuse it. I did this 3 times last week and therefore saved 3 bags. I haven't been using them for lunches in general anyway since I'm not going into school and they're starting to pile up. So, I figured I'd bring them back to Sainsbury's and just reuse them there. First time I've ever done this was today. Two bags saved! Less oil and pollution! Go Environment!

There's a store here called ethical superstore which I just discovered. I think it's fairly new. I'm not sure. I'll be checking it out when buying stuff. Not sure what the prices are like. I checked those energy efficient light bulbs and they seem way more expensive than I could get them elsewhere but I haven't really looked that much into other products.

It's based in the UK but here's the website for anyone who's interested: www.ethicalsuperstore.com

The UK is just so far ahead of Canada in Environmental initiatives that it just ain't funny.

I saw solar charger for phones, ipods, cameras etc on there and I thought that's a great idea! I wonder how much energy comes off the grid to recharge all those items? I wonder how much of your energy bill consists of energy used to charge stuff. You could save money! See, every time these sustainable and green technologies are used it benefits the environment and the consumer.

I'm actually excited and encouraged by the green initiatives that are taking place. I read an article in the financial section of the paper the other day that said that Green Technology is expanding at 20% per year - which would get any investor excited. They're talking about a possible boom such as happened in communications in the 90's. This would probably be followed by the requisite "bust" but the internet and communications technology stayed and revolutionized our lives.

Green developments are being built everywhere. Even in Victoria BC! There's a great condo initiative there. In fact it's one of the best in Canada. I went to the show room when I was in Victoria and was really impressed. Valerie is thinking she might buy one. (Go Valerie!) You can read about it and watch a video about here: http://www.windmilldevelopments.com/resources_news.html

In London they created a "Congestion Zone" a few year back that charged you 8 pounds to if you travelled by car down town. This money went to fund more busses down there and it's cleaned up congestion, air quality and improved transit. Now they're proposing that high efficiency that get great gas mileage (smart cars for example) would pay nothing, typical cars would still pay 8 pounds, and inefficient cars like SUV's and sports cars would pay 25 pounds. Great idea I say. Reward the good cars and charge the bad. It'll lead to a shift in consumer spending which will make efficient technology cheaper.

I could go on and on but I'll have to leave some for another day.