London has this brilliant cycle hire system, where you can pick up a bike at one of many stations around the city, ride to where you're going and drop it off at another station.
Paris has something similar - Velib. When I was there in 2011 it seemed wonderfully romantic and very French to see all these chic, beautifully dressed Parisians gliding past on their grey Velib bicycles.
How great would it be to have something like this in Wellington?
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
No junk mail
I've been pretty quiet on this blog for a while because life has been hectic - we've just moved to a new house.
The new house has a minor but unexpectedly great little feature:
The letterbox already has a "No Junk Mail" sign on.
Living in my apartment with its indoor mailroom I had been shielded from junk mail for a while, so I was pretty shocked by how much junk mail we used to get at our last house - half a dozen items almost every single day.
I had vaguely thought about putting a "No Junk Mail" sign up, but wasn't really sure if it would work and never quite got around to it.
Well, now I wish I had. That little sign on our new letterbox has created some kind of brilliant junk-mail-repelling forcefield. We have not had a single item of junk mail since we have been here. Fantastic!
The new house has a minor but unexpectedly great little feature:
Living in my apartment with its indoor mailroom I had been shielded from junk mail for a while, so I was pretty shocked by how much junk mail we used to get at our last house - half a dozen items almost every single day.
I had vaguely thought about putting a "No Junk Mail" sign up, but wasn't really sure if it would work and never quite got around to it.
Well, now I wish I had. That little sign on our new letterbox has created some kind of brilliant junk-mail-repelling forcefield. We have not had a single item of junk mail since we have been here. Fantastic!
Friday, May 17, 2013
More on green beans
I slipped up at the supermarket a couple of weeks ago and bought some green beans to make a particular recipe, even though I knew the season was really over.
It wasn't until I got them home that I noticed the label - Product of Australia.
Say what?!
I felt kind of shocked because it had never occurred to me that they sold imported perishable vegetables in regular ol' supermarkets here. I remember how gobsmacked I was by the imported African green beans I saw in UK supermarkets, but I hadn't realised that this was happening in New Zealand too.
However, in digging around on the topic I came across this interesting article from the Guardian - How the myth of food miles hurts the environment. It turns out the African beans are a common product over there - who knew? The article argues that food miles are only part of the picture and lots of other aspects of food production also have environmental impact - ideas that have been circulating here for a while thanks to the study on the carbon footprint of New Zealand lamb released in 2010, but including a few other factors that I hadn't considered. I find it intriguing to think that the air freighted beans from Kenya could actually be better than the local ones - I wouldn't have thought that the impact of using fossil-fuel-based fertilisers and oil-powered tractors would be that great compared to flying them to another country.
On the other hand, I'm guessing that those Australian beans weren't grown using just manual labour and cow muck.
It wasn't until I got them home that I noticed the label - Product of Australia.
Say what?!
I felt kind of shocked because it had never occurred to me that they sold imported perishable vegetables in regular ol' supermarkets here. I remember how gobsmacked I was by the imported African green beans I saw in UK supermarkets, but I hadn't realised that this was happening in New Zealand too.
However, in digging around on the topic I came across this interesting article from the Guardian - How the myth of food miles hurts the environment. It turns out the African beans are a common product over there - who knew? The article argues that food miles are only part of the picture and lots of other aspects of food production also have environmental impact - ideas that have been circulating here for a while thanks to the study on the carbon footprint of New Zealand lamb released in 2010, but including a few other factors that I hadn't considered. I find it intriguing to think that the air freighted beans from Kenya could actually be better than the local ones - I wouldn't have thought that the impact of using fossil-fuel-based fertilisers and oil-powered tractors would be that great compared to flying them to another country.
On the other hand, I'm guessing that those Australian beans weren't grown using just manual labour and cow muck.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Sorbent follows through
We all had colds in our household last week, so I bought a box of tissues. I was dead impressed to see that Sorbent tissues are now PEFC certified.
It is great to see that they are following up on their commitment to move to certified fibre, as mentioned in my tissues post from 2009.
Even better, since I wrote that post I was motivated to start using traditional fabric handkerchiefs more and I think this is about the first time I have needed to buy new tissues since.
It is great to see that they are following up on their commitment to move to certified fibre, as mentioned in my tissues post from 2009.
Even better, since I wrote that post I was motivated to start using traditional fabric handkerchiefs more and I think this is about the first time I have needed to buy new tissues since.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Petrol update
The fuel light came on in the car so I had to fill it up again on Tuesday - that's five weeks on one tank of gas, which makes me feel a little bit better.
However, I'd done about 475kms on my 34L of petrol. That's about 7.1L/100 kms - noticeably more than the 6.1L/100 kms the EECA fuel efficiency website rates the Honda Jazz at. I guess that's partly because I have just done short trips around town, but I feel there's plenty of room to improve my mileage here.
Number one priority: check my tyre pressure.
However, I'd done about 475kms on my 34L of petrol. That's about 7.1L/100 kms - noticeably more than the 6.1L/100 kms the EECA fuel efficiency website rates the Honda Jazz at. I guess that's partly because I have just done short trips around town, but I feel there's plenty of room to improve my mileage here.
Number one priority: check my tyre pressure.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Friday, March 15, 2013
Saving water
With Wellington's water crisis, talking about ways of saving water has gone mainstream.
As well as saving the baby's bath water for the garden, we've started showering with a bucket.
My Dad is catching the water from his washing machine in the laundry tub and siphoning it onto his garden. I reckon I might try doing that myself when I wash the baby's nappies today.
As well as saving the baby's bath water for the garden, we've started showering with a bucket.
My Dad is catching the water from his washing machine in the laundry tub and siphoning it onto his garden. I reckon I might try doing that myself when I wash the baby's nappies today.
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