Am I Green Enough?

If it is a question posed to me, I can only answer based on my own practices and the context that I am living in and I would call for a third party to decide. I am quite fortunate to live in an area where the recycle bins are just within a short walk away. My attitude toward products is that, I don't just use the contents but I will try to re-use the packagings, which means I will recycle them (I am a big fan of BodyShop!). I will put paper packs, plastic bottles, tetra packs, glass etc in a separate bag, not with the waste where you categorise it as rubbish. Oh yeah, not to mention, aluminiums. It's so important to recycle them as it takes a lot of energy to produce aluminiums cans from scratch and it takes many times fold of reduction in energy usage to simply recycle them.

I am constantly questioning myself what are the impacts I am producing with my sheer existence. Our modern lives are detrimental towards the environment, no doubt about it. That is the price to pay for our growing thirst for comfort and self-entitlement. I will think of Buddhism and the concept of karma. Whatever I am aware of, I will try to put it into practice except that I can't quit my job even where the industry is claimed to have contributed towards global warming. I wonder what industry won't except if you choose the noble path of social services and education.

I am trying to cut down on meat. I told my friends I want to become a vegetarian. But I think it's not easy. I did survive a few days without meat and I was fine. I will continue to avoid meat whenever and wherever possible. But sometimes, you might not get enough support. I was really touched when a great friend ordered a vegetarian pizza on a recent gathering. I take it as someone really cares and of course, not to mention the taste, which everyone agreed was good.

If I see the tv, decoder, radio and washing machine are on standby mode, I will switch them off completely. Standby mode uses as much as 40 per cent of energy when these appliances are switched on. There is plenty of room for improvement.

I use only one bath towel and a floor towel (to avoid accidental slip) whenever I stay in a hotel. I carry my own soap now as I find it wasteful to open new ones just for a couple of wash. I also try to carry a re-useable shopping carrier (courtesy of Zone Duty Free of KLIA) for groceries shopping but sometimes, I need those plastic bags for rubbish too. I try not to pack my food but to have it there when I am out. If I need to pack food, I will try to stop them from packing with unnecessary paper and plastic.

I try not to print anything into hard copies now and go digital thanks to my hubby who recently bought me an iPhone and I adore it tremendously as I can store many important information in soft format now. I always re-use envelopes and papers printed only on one side for my work, the rest, I rely on my iPhone.

I think the bottom line is, there are many more people out there in an advanced stage of practicing green. Just be sensible with our existence and try to curb our appetite for more materials. We can still live large even with very little. Avoid wastages as the term suggests, it's always a waste.

I am not sure whether it really makes any difference but I think a little effort if multiplies, can be sufficient to make an impact.

"Right" Museums

Museums in Amsterdam are a joy to vist to say the least. My first ever visit to a museum here was Anne Frank House, a few years back. I can still remember how touched I was and I shed tears at the end of the visit, reading the writings of her famous diary and on the wall in the annexe where she was hidden. Then comes Rembrant House where the story of his life revealed itself together with the many original exhibits which were once his own personal belongings.

Recently, I paid my homage to Rijkmuseum which is just a stone throw away from where I was put up. Without any expectation, I would think this museum is a history museum of Netherlands. I was quite right. There I paid about 8 Euro without the audio guide. I was quite amazed how globalised our world was back then, in the days of the Dutch East Indies. Trade flourised but the exchange of goods between the West and East does not always mean fairness was in place. Slavery was used and slowly colonisation took place.

I also saw some pieces by Rembrant himself. His works are so magnificent that the potraits he painted resemble photographs of modern times. The amount of details is amazing and he was truly an intelligent artist with great knowledge in using the light. Just like how a great writer is able to use words to record what she or he would like to say as accurately as possible.

I’m not sure whether there is a winning formula in the part of the musuem directors, where there is a sure-win structure to follow that will make the experience of the visitor, a memorable one. Just like a great movie, it must have the right moment of climax and the right moment to inject humour and drama. And I think Rijkmuseum did follow that winning structure. Or I wonder whether it is me. Maybe I have reached a state where museum visit is more of a highlight, more interesting than going to the familiar path of shopping and sight-seeing. I must be aging (of course, I am! ) It must be derived from my thirst for knowledge and to make some sense out of the places I visited.

Drought

I hit the plateau again. Just like drought preventing harvest, I could not reap anymore inspiration other than pretending this entry as another well-deserved and timely post on this blog.

I wonder why. Maybe it’s the books I am currently reading or have just finished reading. I read about famous people these days. I just finished Steve Jobs, just in time to have a sense of what makes 3G iPhone such a big deal when it was first launched on July 11th 2008. I was in Auckland at that time and I witnessed the first ever person to buy an iPhone in the world, due to Auckland GMT of +12. He queued for 55 hours with his sleeping bag, a red bean bag, a laptop and some food outside the shop before making his personal historic feat. I wonder what sense of accomplishment he must have felt as I am certainly a nobody when it comes to technology hence it was quite difficult for me to understand. I supposed it was the same feeling I felt when my best friend and I queued up for Faye Wong’s meet-the-fans session in Mid Valley, KL in 2004. Unfortunately, we were not the firsts or among the firsts. But when Faye extended her hand and I shook it, it was a certain sense of accomplishment for me, to have made it there, to have such a close proximity encounter with my dear idol.

I am also reading an autobiography of Ms Aung San Suu Kyi and my mind seems to be stimulated again. Already I have thought out a list of books to read and something about male psyche is not among them  I only have interest in life and people in general. Hope my list of books will pull me out of this drought soon.