A Smaller Footprint

Over the past few months I have been thinking about how I want to reduce the impact of my family has on the earth - leaving smaller footprints. And I have been doing the following:
* Turning the lights off when we are not in the room
* Turning the appliances off standby when we are not using them - including the phone charger!
* Keeping the temperature of the house lower than comfortable (18degrees) - wear a jumper & a beanie.
* Recycle everything our council will take
* Buy less generally
* Cycle instead of drive
* Grow our own veges - well, we've made the bed for some spring action
* do things digitally - why print photos? Why buy CD's? Why print essays 3 times?

I have just been looking at this website and they suggest:
* Make a quick call to switch your electricity supplier - I was going to do this anyway!
* Change your holiday plans - flying is BAD
* Fill up your car with biodiesel - hmm, not poss for me with petrol car.
* Revise your shopping list - yep, will start shopping at the local farmers market again & will make more conscious choices.

Other things I can do:
* Save our rain water for the garden
* Buy secondhand (esp books for Uni)
* Sell a car & Buy a more economical car to share
* Convert the kombi van to unleaded...
* Don't burn the gas fire...
* Work hard on consuming less...

Right, I have been wanting to do this list for ages. It is good to make declarations and put them down in writing. Now I just need to have integrity with it!

Winter Solstice

Today I handed in the last of my coursework for my first term at university - yay! I should be rejoicing and I am feeling like I can no longer go on avoiding christmas. I am really struggling as I do every year. I LOVE bringing a beautiful tree into our home, smelling it, watering it - it feels like such a privlege. I LOVE a celebratory feast with family and good friends. But I just can't deal with the shopping for gifts. I am dreading facing the shops or even the websites - I worry about how much we consume - how much plastic, paper, how much of the earths resources are used. So I have been cruising the internet reading about Yule and Solstice. I'm very happy that we are having our family dinner on the 22nd - winter solstice. I will have celebrated every solstice and equinox this year. I love the dark days and my body is seriously struggling recently to live the long days our society demands of us. In fact, this week on Monday and Tuesday our family all stayed in bed until late; relishing the warm sheets and the dark cozyness. I have been really hibernating indoors this winter and it feels good and I feel blessed that I have the option - thanks to study...

This Christmas we will be not be buying gifts, we will save our money enjoy our holiday in the forests of switzerland. We will fill our house with Holly, Ivy, Mistletoe and Poinsetta. We will have a light ritual on the 22nd. We will remember mother earth and her beauty and her cycles. We will think and talk about the past year and be thankful. We will think about the year ahead. We will not be mass consumers, ruining our earth in the process. I feel so much better for having made this declaration!

We have forgotten who we are

We have alienated ourselves from the unfolding

Of the cosmos.

We have become estranged from the movements

Of the earthWe have turned our backs on the cycles of life.

We have forgotten who we are.

Now the forests are dying

And the creatures are disappearing,

And humans are despairing .

We have forgotten who we are.

We ask forgiveness

We ask for the gift of remembering

We ask for strength to change.

We have forgotten who we are.

(United Nations Environmental Sabbath Programme)

The word

In the next 4 days I will be writing an essay: 'The phrase "the text and the world"...immediately presents a questionable distinction - discuss'. Bennett & Royle say:
* Texts make up our world
* Everything human that happens in the world is mediated in language
* There is nothing outside the text - no access to 'the world' except through language

And I say: Our world is 'created' in text/language/word.

So, this being the case we need to really value what we say - we ARE our word. But also, we need to value our language and how we use it. The other day I came across a chat forum that was obviously a 'london geeza awight innit' kind of website, but between this, texting the written language abbreviated and using symbols it seemed like another language that these kids were talking in. I know that words always evolve with time, but, I do think we need to use words properly and carefully.
Same goes for grammar and punctuation. Why do some people write without using capital letters or proper punctuation? Writing like this is like talking with no expression and looks like the writer is ignorant. More importantly, when there is not proper punctuation the writing is MUCH more easily miscommunicated.

If all we have is language, I believe we need to be really careful about how we use it. What we say - creates who we are for others. Writing is our only way of expressing ourselves non verbally when we are not in front of each other, so it is damn important if you want to be understood to do it proper, innit! hehe.