A gold mine of syncopated rhythms

While loads of people in the office were getting over-excited about seeing Nick Cave at the Picture House, Neil and I were at the Cameo watching a special screening of Vanishing of the Bees, a documentary about, er, bees that are leaving the hive, NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN.

The night started with a brief speech and Q&A with two members of the Edinburgh and Midlothian Beekeepers’ Association, who hadn’t seen the documentary either but said that Scottish beekeeping — along with sharing in the global issue of vanishing bees — had some local problems with disease.

Then they screened the documentary. Cinematically, it’s nothing groundbreaking or overly impressive. The Co-operative (who supported the film financially) got their marketing message in there and it kind of messed up the flow, frankly. The message, however, is important: the fact that bees are vanishing in such numbers is a sure sign that nature is beginning to fight back for all the abuse we’ve put it through in our demand of ever cheaper food, in ever greater quantities.

In short, I think the the moral of the story is (or should be): we keep fucking with nature to make it do ‘unnatural’ things, so don’t be surprised when it fucks us all over big time to bring some sense of equilibrium back.

I definitely learned some interesting facts and was made aware of how absolutely unsustainable industrial farming has become (it is now a fact, not a debate). As one of the academics in the documentary noted, the best thing we can do is ‘vote with our forks’. Assuming we can all afford farmers’ market prices. Our economies and industries are set up to ensure that most of the population can’t.

There will never be the political will to do what is necessary to bring the ecosystem back into (an approximation of) some sort of balance. We are well and truly fucked. Have you read The Road? That is our future if we don’t (in Singapore Army parlance) wake up our idea pretty damn soon.

Taking a swing

In the news today is more about Trump’s proposed golf course in Aberdeen — there’s a council meeting being held today to see if they’ll allow Compulsory Purchase Orders to be served on the four homeowners who’re refusing to move.

The Trump people say they’re doing everything they need to ensure the environment is protected (the area they want to develop is a Site of Special Scientific Interest), but they’re not building a nature reserve, they’re building a golf resort. The council had initially voted ‘no’ on Trump’s planning application but the SNP government stepped in to overturn the vote (that’s representative democracy for you).

So, only four households are against giving up their houses to Trump. Continuing to change the landscape and natural habitats for wildlife is seen either as necessary economic development or destruction of the environment. Trump is a businessman and is in it for the money (it’s expected and natural). Alex Salmond wants to play with the big boys.

What’s the solution? Ban golf. It’s a dumb game.

Making the tiniest of differences

I’ve been reading (and almost finished) a book titled Toxic Sludge is Good For You. It makes me despair*. They even say that blaming consumer’s behaviour is a PR ploy from the large corporates. To some extent I agree. Stuff is so excessively packaged that even if we wanted and tried to consume less, there’s no guarantee the amount of plastic we throw away will be reduced.

Talking about the environment, carbon emissions / footprints, and being green is so trendy now that I don’t want to be involved**. I am sick of businesses and politicians saying we can ‘save’ the environment by simply altering what we consume, but not changing how much.

I don’t need to spend more money on ‘ethical’ or ‘fair trade’ things just to show how good a global citizen I am. I’m not a good citizen. I like stuff. I don’t like waste, however (although Neil would disagree, judging by my ‘eyes bigger than stomach’ habit). It’s really up to genuine grassroots activism to cut pointless demand and, hence, waste.

So what I’m going to try to do is this***: save underwear, socks, and shoes, I will not buy new clothes. If I want to buy clothes, I will go to a charity (op) shop. I love a bargain, so finding something I like (and fits) at a charity shop will make me happy. I will endeavour to keep the clothes that I do own in good nick, either by mending, dyeing, or re-purposing them (I have been eyeing a jumper of Neil’s that’d shrunk in the wash for arm warmers).

I’m thinking of freecycling our non-working car stereo so someone can use it for parts. Assuming someone wants it, that is. But we’ll be getting a new stereo to replace it at some point.

Nothing revolutionary or PR-able. I just think I could be more thrifty.

* Even organic farms are being lobbied to use said toxic sludge on their land. Nothing is safe! AAAUUUGGGGHHHHHH! (The book is old, so for all you know, all your organic American food could be contaminated with heavy metals!)
** For example, all these car companies and their ‘low CO2 emissions’ and hybrid cars. If you say you’re concerned about the environment, don’t buy a car. Buy a secondhand bike or use public transport.
*** Like the (non) smoking journal, I’m making this public so I’ll be too embarrassed to renege.

A coinkydink? I think not!

Two articles on the same topic in the same day. Two completely different countries are involved.

Sainsbury’s in disposable bag ban

100,000 plastic bags saved on Bring Your Own Bag Day

Will Britons be ‘paying for the convenience’ soon, or is it their right to get free plastic carrier bags? Hehe.