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Is This Travel Gadget Just Another Scam?
Posted On 2010-03-04 , 9:04 PM
I travel a lot, often for months at a time.
I also read a lot. At home, as well as subscribing to a local newspaper I read a variety of international online news sources and scientific articles. On my travels I access the same online news and scientific sites, but I also read printed books. Murder mysteries, courtroom dramas, scandalous Hollywood escapades, blockbuster dramas - I devour anything by authors I consider to be interesting, powerful writers – on my most recent trip John Grisham and Dan Brown were my favorites.
Anyone who takes books on their travels, however, knows they’re not only bulky but heavy as well. And if you’re visiting an out-of-the-way place, like Legaspi in the Philippines or Malang in Indonesia, it’s not easy to find material in English.
Enter the electronic solution – ebook readers.
The Cons
Ebooks purport to solve the problems of weight, bulk and content for the weary traveler. But they’re expensive – you won’t find one under $200 and most cost much more. Then you have to consider battery life, recharging times and screen resolution, particularly in bright daylight. What’s more, you’re paying for each book you download as well as the initial purchase price.
The Pros
Yet the benefits of ebooks are not trivial.
Apart from saving luggage space, lightening your load and having instant access to just about any book at your fingertips, you aren’t contributing to the destruction of forests or adding to the vast waste heap that each of us helps create every day.
Downloading an ebook is cheaper than buying a printed copy, so eventually your ebook will pay for itself. And I’m told that as long as any wi-fi facility is turned off, ebook readers - like other electronic devices - can be used while flying except during takeoff and landing.
The Decision
On a fairly recent trip, I was stuck in Kathmandu for an extra week, unable to get a flight out of Nepal because air services throughout South East Asia had been disrupted by a blockade of Bangkok airport. Having exhausted all my travel options, I stayed sane by sitting in the Garden of Dreams - a splendid oasis walled off from the traffic, noise and chaos of the streets - and reading four books in five days. Fortunately Kathmandu is well-endowed with second-hand bookshops selling English titles.
But that experience was what first got me thinking seriously about the advantages of the ebook. It’s practical, convenient and has strong green credentials.
I haven’t bought one yet. I’ve got lots of research to do but I’m quite confident that at least one of the brands will have all the features I need.
I’ll keep you posted.
What do you think? Feel free to comment on this blog by clicking the Comment link below. Or if you're receiving this blog through a feed, go to www.greengadgetstoday.com/greengadgetsgeek.php
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Is This Travel Gadget Just Another Scam?
Posted On 2010-03-04 , 9:04 PM
I travel a lot, often for months at a time.
I also read a lot. At home, as well as subscribing to a local newspaper I read a variety of international online news sources and scientific articles. On my travels I access the same online news and scientific sites, but I also read printed books. Murder mysteries, courtroom dramas, scandalous Hollywood escapades, blockbuster dramas - I devour anything by authors I consider to be interesting, powerful writers – on my most recent trip John Grisham and Dan Brown were my favorites.
Anyone who takes books on their travels, however, knows they’re not only bulky but heavy as well. And if you’re visiting an out-of-the-way place, like Legaspi in the Philippines or Malang in Indonesia, it’s not easy to find material in English.
Enter the electronic solution – ebook readers.
The Cons
Ebooks purport to solve the problems of weight, bulk and content for the weary traveler. But they’re expensive – you won’t find one under $200 and most cost much more. Then you have to consider battery life, recharging times and screen resolution, particularly in bright daylight. What’s more, you’re paying for each book you download as well as the initial purchase price.
The Pros
Yet the benefits of ebooks are not trivial.
Apart from saving luggage space, lightening your load and having instant access to just about any book at your fingertips, you aren’t contributing to the destruction of forests or adding to the vast waste heap that each of us helps create every day.
Downloading an ebook is cheaper than buying a printed copy, so eventually your ebook will pay for itself. And I’m told that as long as any wi-fi facility is turned off, ebook readers - like other electronic devices - can be used while flying except during takeoff and landing.
The Decision
On a fairly recent trip, I was stuck in Kathmandu for an extra week, unable to get a flight out of Nepal because air services throughout South East Asia had been disrupted by a blockade of Bangkok airport. Having exhausted all my travel options, I stayed sane by sitting in the Garden of Dreams - a splendid oasis walled off from the traffic, noise and chaos of the streets - and reading four books in five days. Fortunately Kathmandu is well-endowed with second-hand bookshops selling English titles.
But that experience was what first got me thinking seriously about the advantages of the ebook. It’s practical, convenient and has strong green credentials.
I haven’t bought one yet. I’ve got lots of research to do but I’m quite confident that at least one of the brands will have all the features I need.
I’ll keep you posted.
What do you think? Feel free to comment on this blog by clicking the Comment link below. Or if you're receiving this blog through a feed, go to www.greengadgetstoday.com/greengadgetsgeek.php
Become a friend of this blog and receive instant notification of the latest instalment.
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Can Green and Happy Go Together?
Posted On 2010-02-25 , 5:05 PM
Can Green and Happy Go Together?
Does the environment play any part in making people happy?
I know getting out into the countryside and walking does it for me.
Away from the noise, the crowds and the pollution I find it easier to put my life as a human in perspective. I’m reminded that we humans aren’t the only species on Earth, nor are we as smart as we think we are. Other creatures have adapted to conditions we could never survive, without resorting to energy-hungry devices and spoiling their own environment.
Poets, authors and composers have long extolled the beauties of the natural world. But as a whole, humanity seems to have forgotten that we are as a species an integral part of nature, not separate from or above it.
The green movement is an acknowledgement that some of us are belatedly recognising we tamper with nature at our peril. But in most countries, we’re still battling to have our voices heard, while profit-hungry vested interests try to discredit and sometimes demonize us.
A Fine Example
Fortunately one country stands out as an example for all of us in its enlightened attitudes. It’s a country we rarely hear of – probably because it’s not beset by wars, disputes, power plays, corruption or scandal. Can you guess the country I’m referring to?
The answer is...the small Central American state of Costa Rica.
A recent report by the BBC singles out Costa Rica as one of the happiest and greenest nations on Earth. It quotes a Happy Planet Index survey earlier this year by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) that concludes “Costa Rica boasts the highest life satisfaction of anywhere in the world”.
Costa Rica was the first developing country to state its aim of being carbon neutral (by 2021).
In contrast to the worldwide trend of catastrophic forest loss, Costa Rica now has more than half its territory covered by trees, way up from only 20% in the 1980s. The country pioneered a carbon tax in 1997, used partly to pay landowners and indigenous communities not to chop down trees.
Building regulations require every new structure to be built to strict environmental standards and cleared by a certificate from the national environment office.
Business groups, churches, diplomats and farmer organisations all support green policies.
And this green consensus hasn’t stopped Costa Rica from developing a stable and growing economy. By developing world standards, an annual per capital income of over $10,000 is more than respectable.
Amazingly, in a volatile and sometimes violent part of the world, this country doesn’t even have an army - it was abolished as far back as 1949.
The happy example of Costa Rica puts most other countries, particularly the rich ones, to shame. It shows that greenness and prosperity are far from incompatible. And that the correlation between greenness and happiness is far stronger than the advocates of unrestrained consumerism are willing to contemplate.
What do you think? Feel free to comment on this blog by clicking the Comment link below. Or if you're receiving this blog through a feed, go to www.greengadgetstoday.com/greengadgetsgeek.php
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The Argument for Persuasion
Posted On 2010-02-18 , 3:17 AM
How are you progressing with greening your household? Smoothly, with difficulty, or not at all?
A recent article in The New York Times reported that therapists were encountering an increasing number of conflicts among couples on the subject of making their homes more environmentally friendly.
In many cases, one household member will be keener on conserving energy, while the other is reluctant to change their way of doing things.
It’s tempting to say that the “greener” partner should always get their way. Yet this solution is simplistic and unworkable.
What if one partner insists that all food consumed should be locally produced, even if the partner occasionally likes a treat that is not available unless imported?
What if one partner constantly nags the other about their excessive use of water or energy?
The greener partner is not going to improve the relationship by arguing or nagging. Other devices may be needed.
The most common argument against taking individual or household action goes along the lines of “What’s the point of me/us trying to conserve energy and water when no-one else is bothering?”, or “How can just one household possibly make a difference?”.
This is the most destructive and self-defeating argument imaginable. It’s saying no individual has the power to change anything. If everyone thought that way, nothing would ever change or improve. In fact, the only real change is ever made by individuals working together, whether as governments, corporations, other non-government organizations or families.
Imagine if management of a corporation thought that way – innovation is too difficult/costly/disruptive so we’ll wait for someone else to do it or governments to force us to do it. Unthinkable. The corporation would self-destruct.
So what do we do if our partner doesn’t share our enthusiasm for going green?
First, what not to do.
Don’t get over-zealous and insist on making several major changes at once (unless your partner agrees).
Don’t pester and nag if you can help it – it’s mostly counter-productive.
Instead, make a plan for gradual change, starting with small steps – like buying a water-saving shower head or agreeing on reduced use of lights. Make a list, starting with all the easier things that can be done without big money outlays, then moving on to the more difficult and/or expensive ones.
Every month, implement the next item or two on your list.
If there’s resistance, explain to your partner to think of the process not as an imposition but as a contribution to your own well-being and to the planet as a whole.
Tell your extended family and friends – set an example. Show your partner that what one household does can be extended to other households. That’s how real change can be made.
You’ll notice that once a new practice is accepted, a new mindset takes hold enabling more new and beneficial practices to be implemented.
But remember, don’t get fanatical. Allow for occasional breaches, but don’t allow them to become habits.
Happy greening!
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The Most Important Natural Element of All - Water
Posted On 2010-02-11 , 4:45 PM
Earth, air, fire and water – the four elements of life recognized since ancient times by both eastern and western cultures.
And the most important of these is... water.
We can live without electronic devices. We could even live without electricity if we had to.
We already have the means to live outside planet Earth - in space, on the moon or even on other planets.
But regardless of where we live, we can’t live without water.
It’s said that future wars will be fought not be over land, political ideology or religion, but over water. And climate change is making our planet's water resources less stable and less reliable everywhere.
There are two elements to our use of water: collection and conservation.
Collection in more developed nations is by means of dams. In less developed areas people rely on wells.
Dams are a vital resource needed to quench the thirst of large numbers of people. But they also incur costs - not only in their construction, but in the loss of land that could otherwise be used for productive purposes and the displacement they can cause to large numbers of people. And they can, and do, run dry.
So it’s crucial that we who enjoy the benefits of a clean water supply delivered to our homes do everything we can to conserve this most precious resource. Here are just some simple ways you can contribute – and incidentally save energy at the same time.
In the laundry:
- Fill your washing machine as much as possible before washing a load of clothes
- Use a waterless or water-saving washing machine
In the kitchen:
- Fill your dishwasher as much as possible before starting a wash cycle
- Use the water saving option on your dishwasher
In the bathroom:
- Get a water-efficient nozzle for your shower
- Cut one minute off your shower time
- Use a dual-flush toilet
- Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth
In the garden:
- Fill your garden with drought-resistant plants
- Install a rainwater tank to collect water running off the roof of your home
- Collect and use non-toxic “gray water” from your bathroom and kitchen to water the non-edible plants in your garden.
All these simple techniques will enable you to reduce your water use without affecting your lifestyle.
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