I am not going to talk about the environmental impact of a child growing up right now, it's huge no question. But the nine months leading up to having this child can already be an issue.
Being pregnant alone is a small environmental disaster if you get morning sickness, food aversions and strong sensitivity to smells like I did. We noticed that over the last weeks our garbage and recycling amounts have risen. That's because I am pregnant and buy and eat things I would otherwise avoid. My sense of smell makes everything and everywhere stink so cooking and baking are more torture than fun. I am totally off a lot of good foods but long instead for a lot of junk food. Obviously, to make cooking easier I'd use more canned food for example. I have to buy more bread, pizza, cookies ... baked goods because I can't bare to stand in the kitchen making them myself. Oh, leftovers have become a nightmare to me too so they end up in the garbage currently.
I hate the first trimester of pregnancy. It's going to be our second and last child, for sure. Last time I was pregnant I was working on a farm so I did not have to cook ... what a bliss. Obviously, we could have eaten out a lot recently but that costs a lot of money and it's against my good consciousness to spend so much money on eating out. There are better options to spend it on. Besides, our food expenses went up with buying more "convenience" food. So why is there the persistent opinion that cooking from scratch is expensive? It sure is not!
I can't wait to return to normal eating behaviours and enjoy all those foods that I used to love, including bread. My husband already mentioned that our daugther eats too much junk (sweets, potato chips, sucking hard candy all day etc.)... because that's what she sees me doing. Sorry, honey, can't help it. And my apologies to the environment too.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
He had a dream - it became a nightmare
Imagine you pack up your family and move out into a pristine countryside away from cities, noise and everyday hassles. Your family builds a house together, starts a garden and raises animals like goats and sheep to pursue self-subsistence, and generally lives a bit more simple to focus on things that matter more to you. After a few years a gas and oil company sends you a letter informing you that they'll start drilling for gas on your property next week. In no time you have a gas well next to your shed, without receiving compensation of course. In disbelief, you search for help but it turns out that you only own the top layer of your property and your government has sold underground rights to that oil & gas company without notifying you - because they don't have to. It also turns out that the gas is sour gas which contains some of the deadliest substances on Earth, including H2S - the colourless, highly poisonous hydrogen sulfide. Suddenly your animals abort, the women in your family miscarry and every family member falls sick. Oops, there was a yet undetected leak. Despite your struggles to live on your own property, neither the oil & gas company, nor a government body or the Energy Board cares about you. In fact, as you object and fight against what is happening to your family you become the suspect of "eco-terrorism" and the law-enforcement body of your country repeatedly invades your property and searches every corner of it.
If this happens to you, you probably live in Canada. Feeling lucky?
I'm not making this up - Wiebo's War is a real story of a large family that wanted to get away from it all to follow their religious beliefs and live more acccording to how God wants them to live. They move into Northern Alberta, unfortunately right into the middle of a large gas reservoir that is discovered a few years later. Within a few more years a 100 wells are covering the land around the farm, some wells stand right on the farm. The gas production, including leaks, threaten the life of the family as it contaminates the air, the water supply of the family and the soil. Meantime, gas wells are being bombed in Northern B.C. Although no evidence has ever been found, the RCMP highly suspects the Ludwig family (Wiebo is the head of the family) to be involved and starts disrupting the family's life. The most shocking part to me was that nobody cares about the health issues that affect the family and their livestock ever since the sour gas drilling has began. Even the neighbours oppose the Ludwig's fight against EnCana as most of them simply start working for an oil & gas company that moves in to "develop" the area further.
I don't agree with the bombings or with the family's religous beliefs but I don't get why the family is being attact for not submitting themselves to the regime of the oil & gas companies. Surfing quickly the internet on the subject, I read opinions expressing hate for him, saying he's a terrorist, he tore church communities apart in Ontario where they family moved away from, he could have just accepted an offer to be bought out by the oil & gas companies ... hang on a minute. Where do we end up if everybody just takes the money and runs and ignores the distruction that's being caused by greedy corporations that turn your once-idyllic home into an industrial site? We need more people like Wiebo if we don't want this country to become the synonym for apocalypse.
The film, a production of Canada's National Film Board was recently shown at Waterloo Library and there were a "whopping" 12 persons in the audience. Sigh.
If this happens to you, you probably live in Canada. Feeling lucky?
I'm not making this up - Wiebo's War is a real story of a large family that wanted to get away from it all to follow their religious beliefs and live more acccording to how God wants them to live. They move into Northern Alberta, unfortunately right into the middle of a large gas reservoir that is discovered a few years later. Within a few more years a 100 wells are covering the land around the farm, some wells stand right on the farm. The gas production, including leaks, threaten the life of the family as it contaminates the air, the water supply of the family and the soil. Meantime, gas wells are being bombed in Northern B.C. Although no evidence has ever been found, the RCMP highly suspects the Ludwig family (Wiebo is the head of the family) to be involved and starts disrupting the family's life. The most shocking part to me was that nobody cares about the health issues that affect the family and their livestock ever since the sour gas drilling has began. Even the neighbours oppose the Ludwig's fight against EnCana as most of them simply start working for an oil & gas company that moves in to "develop" the area further.
I don't agree with the bombings or with the family's religous beliefs but I don't get why the family is being attact for not submitting themselves to the regime of the oil & gas companies. Surfing quickly the internet on the subject, I read opinions expressing hate for him, saying he's a terrorist, he tore church communities apart in Ontario where they family moved away from, he could have just accepted an offer to be bought out by the oil & gas companies ... hang on a minute. Where do we end up if everybody just takes the money and runs and ignores the distruction that's being caused by greedy corporations that turn your once-idyllic home into an industrial site? We need more people like Wiebo if we don't want this country to become the synonym for apocalypse.
The film, a production of Canada's National Film Board was recently shown at Waterloo Library and there were a "whopping" 12 persons in the audience. Sigh.
The Freedom Train against Pipelines
This is an interesting website about First Nations fighting the Enbridge Pipeline from Edmonton across Northern Alberta and B.C. to Kitimat. It comes with a petition too: Freedom Train
Sunday, April 22, 2012
To charge or not to charge
We went with our local hiking group today to Webster Falls Conservation Area in Dundas (near Hamilton) , part of the Niagara Escarpment and the Bruce Trail goes through there as well, of course. We hiked 10-12 km, saw Tew and Webster Falls and enjoyed the scenery. It's very beautiful out there, the trails are interesting enough and even partially hilly and with staircases. Yeah!
The downturn was the entrance charge. Last year $8 per car, they are now already charging $10 per day! In order to avoid that we parked the cars at a school less than a km down the road. At this conservation area's main parking lot they don't trust people to use the parking ticket dispenser and instead have a cashier who happened to start working at the time when we gathered in the parking lot. Smelling that we must have gotten there somewhere she grumpily told us we all had to pay $4 per person. Dave and I had come in a pedestrian entrance though that said $2 per person. I must say the majority of the group was annoyed about the charges that hike every year considerably and this woman even seemed to make them up out of anger. So we cramped 8 people into a car, laughed ourselves stupid (this was stupid after all) and paid $10 for the load. The woman mumbled something about calling the cops. Blabla.
Note that there are at least another 5 entrances to the conservation area, especially when you come along the Bruce Trail or enter through a residential area where there is not even a sign mentioning a fee. If you stick to the Bruce Trail you will not even get close to the ticket booth.
Here's what angers me: I hate paying to enjoy nature. But here the conservation areas (CA) are run by municipalities. So even if we bought an annual ticket that gives us access to a bunch of local CAs we pay extra every time we visit one a little further away. Bah. Go to a Provincial Park and the province wants your money, go to a National Park and the feds (Parks Canada) want it. Boo boo booo!!! Stupid system. Why don't they introduce a single annual ticket for ALL protected areas in the country and that's it, if it really has to be.
In Germany all this access is covered by our taxes already, nobody would dare to charge a per day user fee. Besides we don't have too many fences around farmland so you walk, cycle, ride horses there. In the UK they have a Public Right of Way which allows everyone to cross private farm property on foot, sometimes by bike if you don't mind lifting it over fences with steps. That gives people access to the countryside just about anywhere, totally legal and nobody has to bother driving to a conservation area, provincial park etc just to go for a hike. They've created a trail system that basically covers the whole country!! In Iceland you can go just about anywhere. In Canada there are fences, everything's private and nobody wants to have you on their land (after all, you may bring a stupid ATV or snowmobile). So unless you stick to city parks you pay to get access to a trail, waterfall or whatever. Nonsense! Besides, the fees are too high.
The downturn was the entrance charge. Last year $8 per car, they are now already charging $10 per day! In order to avoid that we parked the cars at a school less than a km down the road. At this conservation area's main parking lot they don't trust people to use the parking ticket dispenser and instead have a cashier who happened to start working at the time when we gathered in the parking lot. Smelling that we must have gotten there somewhere she grumpily told us we all had to pay $4 per person. Dave and I had come in a pedestrian entrance though that said $2 per person. I must say the majority of the group was annoyed about the charges that hike every year considerably and this woman even seemed to make them up out of anger. So we cramped 8 people into a car, laughed ourselves stupid (this was stupid after all) and paid $10 for the load. The woman mumbled something about calling the cops. Blabla.
Note that there are at least another 5 entrances to the conservation area, especially when you come along the Bruce Trail or enter through a residential area where there is not even a sign mentioning a fee. If you stick to the Bruce Trail you will not even get close to the ticket booth.
Here's what angers me: I hate paying to enjoy nature. But here the conservation areas (CA) are run by municipalities. So even if we bought an annual ticket that gives us access to a bunch of local CAs we pay extra every time we visit one a little further away. Bah. Go to a Provincial Park and the province wants your money, go to a National Park and the feds (Parks Canada) want it. Boo boo booo!!! Stupid system. Why don't they introduce a single annual ticket for ALL protected areas in the country and that's it, if it really has to be.
In Germany all this access is covered by our taxes already, nobody would dare to charge a per day user fee. Besides we don't have too many fences around farmland so you walk, cycle, ride horses there. In the UK they have a Public Right of Way which allows everyone to cross private farm property on foot, sometimes by bike if you don't mind lifting it over fences with steps. That gives people access to the countryside just about anywhere, totally legal and nobody has to bother driving to a conservation area, provincial park etc just to go for a hike. They've created a trail system that basically covers the whole country!! In Iceland you can go just about anywhere. In Canada there are fences, everything's private and nobody wants to have you on their land (after all, you may bring a stupid ATV or snowmobile). So unless you stick to city parks you pay to get access to a trail, waterfall or whatever. Nonsense! Besides, the fees are too high.
EndurRace
In Elmira: 5 km flat ground, 303 runners, I came in 88. overall, 9. women, 4. in my age category, 22:58 min (22:50 chip time)
Part 2 is next Saturday at 6 PM - Stay tuned.
303 runners finished that race, 404 started although some of those would have done 2.5 km only. They took 584 photos and I am not on a single one :-(
Part 2: 8 km at 6 PM (that's too late for racing, for future reference). I came in 68. overall, 37 min 20 sec which I think is a bit faster than in February but really I was so tired all day I could have fallen asleep at the start line. Anyhow, 9. women I think (not too sure on that one), 2. in my age category.
Both races combined: I was 46. overall, 4. woman, 2. in my age category again. They called out all participants that finished both races and I had the impression my age category (women 30-34) was the largest with 6 or 7 runners finishing both races.
I bet I was the best pregnant runner ;-) not that there is such a category ...
The results from the February race have by the way been corrected (not sure how some runners got missed?!) but I'm now 39. overall, 5. women, 2. in my age category. Oh well.
Part 2 is next Saturday at 6 PM - Stay tuned.
303 runners finished that race, 404 started although some of those would have done 2.5 km only. They took 584 photos and I am not on a single one :-(
Part 2: 8 km at 6 PM (that's too late for racing, for future reference). I came in 68. overall, 37 min 20 sec which I think is a bit faster than in February but really I was so tired all day I could have fallen asleep at the start line. Anyhow, 9. women I think (not too sure on that one), 2. in my age category.
Both races combined: I was 46. overall, 4. woman, 2. in my age category again. They called out all participants that finished both races and I had the impression my age category (women 30-34) was the largest with 6 or 7 runners finishing both races.
I bet I was the best pregnant runner ;-) not that there is such a category ...
The results from the February race have by the way been corrected (not sure how some runners got missed?!) but I'm now 39. overall, 5. women, 2. in my age category. Oh well.
Earth Day
What did you do yesterday? I volunteered at an event in Huron Natural Area, in the south of Kitchener, where I also had a chance to plant 10 trees. Due to the weather, 5 degree C and a bit of wind, the turnout was not as big as last year and there weren't enough people walking out to the planting area to get the 550 white cedars, birches and black cherries into the ground. I love tree planting, it's not hard, especially not when all materials are provided. Fingers crossed we get rain soon to water the little fellows.
The event also included a birds of prey presentation, snakes and turtles, a butterfly display, bird silhoutte crafts, bird box building, fishing (for foam fish) and searching in the pond for aquatic insects. The Kitchener Trail riders, part of the city's bylaw enforcement unit, explained their jobs to keep the city's parks safe and sound. REEP was present too. All in all it was a very excited event, given one was dressed for the weather.
The downside of the event: the shuttle bus that connected several Earth Day Events in the city came and left repeatedly empty, while the road and parking lots of surrounding businesses were choked with cars for the entire afternoon. Preserving hte planet by pumping more emissions into the air.
The event also included a birds of prey presentation, snakes and turtles, a butterfly display, bird silhoutte crafts, bird box building, fishing (for foam fish) and searching in the pond for aquatic insects. The Kitchener Trail riders, part of the city's bylaw enforcement unit, explained their jobs to keep the city's parks safe and sound. REEP was present too. All in all it was a very excited event, given one was dressed for the weather.
The downside of the event: the shuttle bus that connected several Earth Day Events in the city came and left repeatedly empty, while the road and parking lots of surrounding businesses were choked with cars for the entire afternoon. Preserving hte planet by pumping more emissions into the air.
Monday, April 16, 2012
I love spring
Did I mention I love spring, really really love it. Not too hot yet but everything is fresh green. No other season can beat that. I want to go camping and hiking and BBQ and sit in the garden that we don't have. Sitting on the balcony is not the same. Mornings and evenings are especially beautiful. Unfortunately, we are very strict with getting our child to bed which is currently way before sunset so we don't get to enjoy evenings outside often. We still dream of the evening walks we used to take, because we don't have a garden.
I started our balcony garden, put seeds for parsley, chive, radishes and spinach in those long planting pots. We need more soil now and more hooks to mount the pots on the balcony railing since I don't have space for the pots to stand on the balcony floor. Nor do they get much sun and rain there. Our local hardware store - th one we can walk to because it's not in those endg-of-town-malls - had only two hooks left though, sigh.
I also take an hour lunch every day to go for walks or cycle to that one park nearby which has meadows and woods. So nice. Can't get enough. Spring should last 6 months. The old neighbourhoods in Kitchener, those with tree-lined streets, large front yards and garages set-back past the house front (all contrary to the new neighbourhoods), are beautiful now too. Hope you enjoy the spring as well!
I started our balcony garden, put seeds for parsley, chive, radishes and spinach in those long planting pots. We need more soil now and more hooks to mount the pots on the balcony railing since I don't have space for the pots to stand on the balcony floor. Nor do they get much sun and rain there. Our local hardware store - th one we can walk to because it's not in those endg-of-town-malls - had only two hooks left though, sigh.
I also take an hour lunch every day to go for walks or cycle to that one park nearby which has meadows and woods. So nice. Can't get enough. Spring should last 6 months. The old neighbourhoods in Kitchener, those with tree-lined streets, large front yards and garages set-back past the house front (all contrary to the new neighbourhoods), are beautiful now too. Hope you enjoy the spring as well!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)