Shoe solutions

Tidying out the closet I found not one but two pairs of shoes that I'd loved but had worn out to the point that they had holes in the bottom. Holes that let the rain in.

I hated the idea of just throwing them out though. What to do, what to do?

*Cue interval on google.*

What do you know? Turns out Nike takes back sports shoes to recycle into artificial sports surfaces. Awesomely enough, they even collect shoes in New Zealand. That's pretty cool.

I didn't have sports shoes though. Hmm.

*Cue interval staring into space with pensive expression on face.*

My solutions:

1. Earthquake shoes! I took one pair to work to keep in a drawer in case I need sensible shoes in an emergency.

2. Repair! (This is yet another one of those "green" ideas that's really rediscovering something that your grandparents did but feeling like it's new again.) For some reason I had the idea that my shoes were the non-resoleable kind, but I took them into the shoe repair shop on Ghuznee St and there was no problem at all.

Twenty-five bucks and it's like I've got a whole new pair of shoes.

Loving the lovely shoe repairman right now.

The best garden shop ever

Completely shameless plug for Grow from Here, now my favourite garden shop ever.

Not only did they get in the exact thing that I wanted (Awapuni newspaper-wrapped leek seedlings), but, when they saw me testing out the weight of bags of compost, they lent me a trolley to get a 20L bag home with.

Wish I had a big garden and therefore a reason to rush out and buy heaps of things from them.

Hmm, maybe I could turn the living room into an indoor jungle ...

Plenty more fish in the sea

... or not.

For ages I've felt bad about eating fish because of plummeting fish stocks. Meanwhile, you're always being told how healthy eating fish is, so, simultaneously, I feel bad about not eating fish. In a word, I have felt torn.

So this morning I was interested to hear an interview on National Radio saying clearly that we can't rely on fish as a source of omega-3s. (It's not available on their website, but this story from CBC late last year covers the same ground.)

(NB Whether you think GM soybeans are the solution is another question altogether.)

What are your other options? Flaxseed oil, hempseed oil, soy/tofu, walnuts and eggs (if the chickens get to eat greens).

And, interestingly for us in New Zealand, grass-fed meat and dairy products have more omega-3s than their grain-fed equivalents, so maybe we're not doing so bad anyway.

The year in review—guest post by Bridget Jones, Compost Girl

Apartment-building-wide compost schemes 1 (v. g.)

Global climate action treaties 0 (poor, but surely cannot be held personally responsible for actions of 192 countries at the UN? [God, did love it though when Ed Miliband started striding about all sexily and telling other countries to pull their acts together when it all looked like it was falling apart right near the end. Mmm ...])

Emissions trading schemes botched 1 (I think—surely no normal person can be expected to understand all that complicated kerfuffle about free allocations, phase-out periods, "stationary energy sector", "trade-exposed industries" etc. etc.)

Emissions reductions targets set 1 (0–20% reduction—slight variation on the recommended 40%)

Bathrooms cleaned with baking soda and vinegar 1 (v.g.)

Minutes spent thinking about buying tissues 357

Minutes spent using tissues 17

Takeaway meals consumed 11 (but necessary for research)

Plastic bags avoided 417 (hurrah)



All in all, a creditable year.

Hmm, must try to get one of those "I only date boys who vote green" badges.

The Christmas present challenge

Yes, I found it hard to reconcile Christmas with trying to be "green". For example: present shopping.

You don't want to give someone a crap present, right? And you don't want to be all sackcloth and ashes and puritanical, because it's Christmas and you're supposed to be celebrating, right? And yet ... there's all this other stuff you care about, so what to do?

A clever greenie friend has a good solution: make sure to give people things they want. She asks people what they want and tells people what she wants.

This is in fact what we always did in my family, and it's a good system. Even when you (obviously) can have a good guess that it's coming, opening up the paper on a gift that you really really want is still a great feeling. And likewise, it's pretty satisfying giving someone something that you know that they're thrilled with.

However, as a veteran I can give a key tip to avoid disappointment:

1. Don't pick an item that requires the exercise of personal taste. As a teenager I asked my (predictably) unhip middle-aged parents for new jeans for Christmas ... Result: misery.

Edible hedge

The new feijoa hedge around the council flats on Aro St is flowering.

Edible hedge—what a brilliant idea.

Tramping

Here's a thought: plastic-free tramping.

Imagine. No polypro, no quick-drying nylon shorts, no lightweight rip-stop tents, no plastic pouches of freeze-dry, no plastic bags keeping everything dry and separate. No Goretex. No snowfoam.

Yikes.

On my tramp along the Abel Tasman this summer, I realised that if I'd left all the plastic behind I would have been wearing a sunhat, a t-shirt and an Icebreaker top and carrying my unpackaged food in my bare hands.

But people used to tramp before plastic, so there must be a way.