This weekend I could have gone to Bellevaux for the VF, Thones for the VF, Kandersteg for the VF, and gone to Charmey, Rocher de Naye and one other places for hikes and climbing. I chose to do none of these things. My reason for this is to save money on petrol, after driving quite a bit last week but also to recharge.
I’m Still an Introvert Last week I went for a hike and thought “I wish I had not gone”, until the end, when I was sad that the day was over.
Last year I tried Cloudneo shoes. I paid a monthly fee to use shoes that were made from beans that were processed into ’environmentally friendly recyclable shoes’. In reality this is a con. According to an RTS article the shoes are made from natural products, that are treated in a manner that is dangerous for humans and nature. The shoes themselves, at the time the article was written, are still not recycled.
Yesterday I had to drive from Nyon to Founex to do a favour for someone. Normally I would have used the car but it was in for a tire change. I was switching from winter to summer tires at last.
On the way to Founex I took farm roads as much as possible because they’re less likely to have cars, and I’m less likely to be in the way of those cars.
Yesterday it rained so consistantly that I didn’t leave the house. I stayed indoors the entire day. I wanted to go out but because of the never-ending rain I never set foot outside.
I considered going for a run but by the time I had digested I considered that the rain would be soaking. I don’t like not going out.
I could have gone for a meetup event on Saturday and enjoyed snow, crampons, plenty of climbing and descending, while hiking.
Rain was forecast today. If rain had not been forecast then I would have driven to Ins, near the Lake of Murten near Neuchatel to go around the lake at a slow up. I didn’t go, not because rain was forecast, but because rain was expected although not quantified. I like to drive and do things, sometimes, but if I drive so far, especially to do something in relative solitude I would prefer to do it when the weather is good, rather than rainy.
Yesterday while driving the radio was on. Usually I would turn it off because people usually speak about unimportant things. Yesterday was different. Yesterday someone was speaking about solar power and Switzerland. He said that at the moment just 6 percent of houses have solar panels, when it should be closer to 20-30 percent. He also said that instead of destroying pristine nature we should add solar panels to train stations and other buildings.
When people speak about construction they always think of the carbon footprint of construction but I’d like to take a look at the noise footprint of destruction of old buildings and construction of new buildings.
I live close to a quarry. If I open the windows I can hear the noise of tracks grating along as diggers and machines move around and drop construction rubble and other materials either onto the ground, or into the truck’s back.
Today is Earth Day, as Google, Moleskine and other companies are reminding us of. Earth Day is an opportunity to think about how to reduce our carbon footprint and ecological impact. Sigg recently began to sell aluminium water bottles that are made entirely from recycled aluminium. Instead of encouraging us to recycle our old bottles, they have skipped a step, and now make their bottles from recycled aluminium directly. It takes five uses of a recycled Sigg water bottle for the carbon footprint to be offset.
Today as I walked I could see clear evidence that Switzerland is now dry. As you walk by the side of the road you see that it is yellow, and that there is no growth. Crops are withering away and water gauges are now filling with dust, rather than rain.
We now go for weeks without rain. If I wanted to pick up the soil it would crumble in my hands and blow away as dust.