 The change of seasons is upon us - and maybe the urge to buy some new clothes is too (although the perspectives of working in leisurewear at home all day are still quite high for the foreseeable future..)
Given the crisis ,on one hand it may seem like a good idea to move the economy , but on the other, finances may be tough and so there may be a tendency to choose something that is cheaper . But is it really cheaper on the long term ? Let me introduce you to a concept that I found well explained on this french article about the ‘prix d’achat versus the prix d’usage’ translated as the ‘price of purchase vs the price of use’ :
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 Today I want to leave you with a little song that made me think a lot about the current state of affairs and humanity (at least the western world) He's one of my favourite French artists and this is more of a poem than a sog In bold the parts that hit me the most (in French and then terrible English translation) Original video here: Youtube link  This week extinction rebellion is having back to back protests in Rome. I follow some of them and am friends with some of the XR activists . I have to say I am really impressed with the imagination behind the protests , with the way they are spreading the message. Always peaceful. Always impactful .
This said. I don’t know why but I don’t see myself being out there in the square. I am in 100% with their ideas and the message. I just don’t see myself as that kind of activist. And I figured , I may not be the only one.. So here it is a little post trying to look at the different faces that activism can take.  Photo by Mike Corbett/CC BY-2.0 taken from the climate institute If you haven’t seen it yet I recommend you to exit this page and go watch the social dilemma.
As far as documentaries go this was very well made , a mix of documentary and film which captures you . At the same time, it was fairly scary . So maybe don’t do the same mistake I did and don’t watch it before bed. Oh and watch it with someone and be prepared for some intense discussion to follow.  In these days you can do a lot of things for free. Legally . No need to buy a newspaper- you can read it for free (some papers are changing to subscriptions only , but often you can still get some free articles - or choose a different one). No need to pay for a cinema ticket : movies are cheap and if you subscribe for very little you can get many films for a very small price . You can also find plenty of free entertainment online on platforms such as YouTube , Vimeo .. no need to buy cds : Spotify has all the music you want , for free . You can also just listen to very informative stories or fun chats on various podcasts platforms . You can get workouts for free and yoga classes for free, on YouTube or on the many apps which have a free version. If you buy something online , for much cheaper than in shop , you get free deliveries and free returns .
 Outdoors adventures. If you know me even a little bit, you may know I am not shy of outdoors adventures. Hiking, running, sailing, swimming, rowing, surfing, climbing.. anything that makes you be in the great outdoors. You will find me there . There is something magical about being there , you become aware not only about the beauty of the surroundings but also about the power that nature has. You learn it the hard way too, when a wave crashes on your head and you end up in a washing machine trying not to hit your head while hoping you will get to breathe soon, or while you have too much sail surface on, making hard to impossible to steer, or while you are atop a mountain and you see a storm coming and the path in front of you looks so hard and rugged but going back isn’t an option.
I wrote before about the importance of respecting nature and being careful about planning adventures . I also made a list of sports and how to ensure to make these really sustainable (e.g. sustainable scuba, sup). Today I want to focus on the idea that maybe outdoorsy people are more likely to want to protect it too.  Living waste free is often only associated with the avoidance of packaging , single use plastic and the swap to reusable everything . But it’s a limiting vision. Being waste free means being mindful of how much we buy, because inevitably the more we buy the more we end up throwing away. This goes for items, buying new shoes and throwing away old ones when maybe we could just fix or wash the older ones, just as an example. But if nobody buys shoes, and companies keep on producing them , there will be waste. So the key is to reduce the demand . The ‘fast - economy' (fast food, fast fashion ...) is the number one enemy of sustainability. But this also goes for more ‘basic’ needs - like food .  ‘Arm race’ stand for a pattern of competitive acquisition of military capability between two or more countries.
The term is also used in evolutionary biology, preceded by the word ‘evolutionary’ to describe the struggle between competing sets of co-evolving genes, traits, or species, that develop adaptations and counter-adaptations against each other, that resembles this competitive arms race.  Today’s post is inspired by some recent reading.
Please bear with me, it may sound ‘difficult’ but i hope it will make sense in the end. I want to talk about the idea of putting a price on carbon emissions, a carbon tax. I already wrote in a previous post about the carbon market and carbon credits and how they work. But how really is the price of carbon calculated?  The Cruise industry may be over. It surely took a big blow with the pandemic (if anything, something to see some good amongst a lot of terrible things).
In order to celebrate some victories sometimes, albeit small, here is one: the cruise sector has cancelled all cruises passing in Venice for 2020. Considering that there was the idea of having one arriving on August 15th, the fact that none will pass for the rest of the season seems like grand news. I know that I am biased , and likely ships not coming here means that they will go somewhere else. And I know , that it came more as a ‘sudden’ shift , for which people were not prepared (although, really, they should have been!! It was a long time coming..) and that a lot of people have lost their jobs as a result . I know that. But one has sometimes got to hit rock bottom to lift back up. This is our opportunity for change |
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Photos used under Creative Commons from marcoverch, Pascal Volk
