The Greening of Gavin

5 Simple Ways to Get A Weird Look In Public

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Being green can draw weird looks in public, especially when you do some of the things I am in the habit of doing.  Most of these are tongue-in-cheek, but quite frankly, I still can’t figure out why some of these behaviours or actions are not yet mainstream where I live.

Let me describe a few for you.

Taking Your Own Cup to the Coffee Shop

This simple act still gets me weird looks from coffee shop clients and barista alike.  You would think that people would be used to seeing eco-conscious folk take their own cups for a cup of java, but noooo, apparently it is more fashionable and planet destroying to ask for a disposable one.  But then again, I like to set my own trend.

My favourite reusable coffee cup is the KeepCup.  You can reuse it thousands of times, and if it ever breaks, you can recycle it in curbside recycling.  Try doing that with a styrofoam or plastic coated paper coffee cup!

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My hope is that more people take my lead at my local coffee kiosk, partly because it is the right thing to do, and partly because some café offer a small discount off the price of your cuppa.  What is not to like about that.

Wearing Gumboots to the Hardware Store

Yes, I must admit that when I am working hard in the garden and I need something urgently, I often forget what I am wearing on my feet and visit the hardware store with muck covered gumboots (aka wellingtons or rubber boots).  You should see the funny looks I get as I am pondering over which veggie seedlings to buy, or which bag of organic manure to lug home.  It may be okay in the country, but in the urban fringe of Melbourne, it still turns heads, especially when I have just mucked out the chook house!

Travelling on Public Transport with a Climate Change Placard

This one certainly got the most weird looks so far.  Ben and I had just attended a climate change rally in the city, and were travelling back to sleepy old Melton on the train.  You would have thought that we had two heads by the ogling that we received.  It was as if our fellow passengers had never heard of Climate Change!  May be they were blissfully unaware as I was before September 2006, but really, who hasn’t heard of Climate Change these days.  Denial or what?  What’s wrong asking for action on the most single issue affecting mankind?

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Using Canvas Shopping Bags instead of Plastic bags

Kim and I still get weird looks, especially from the supermarket checkout chick or rooster from this one (probably more like a groan than anything else).  A simple bit of forethought and planning to make sure that you have canvas bags if you go to the shops.  How hard is it, honestly?

The look usually starts when they (the cashier) asks “do you want a bag” and I reply, no thanks, I have my own.  Just that is enough to get a raise eyebrow or two.  Maybe it is my return look of disbelief that I still got “the look”.  It bugs me.

I wish our state was a bit more forward thinking like South Australia where all plastic LDPE shopping bags are banned and shoppers have to take their own.  It would be just so much easier on the environment and certainly people quickly get used it.

Refusing Bottled Water at a Function

This one gets some serious weird looks.  Not drinking water from a plastic bottle?  You must be crazy.  Yes, that is actually what I have had said to my face.  I told them that I was certainly not crazy and that there was nothing wrong with tap water, which I proceed to go and find.

I think it may be time to look in the mirror, because not only is bottled water so expensive compared to tap water, the empty bottles themselves are rarely recycled and take thousands of years to breakdown in the environment.  It is a luxury that is just not worth it.  Life’s a bitch with a Mitch.  You’ll know what I mean after watching the video!

 Take a look at this post I wrote about bottled water.  It is still relevant today as it was the day I wrote it.  Once you have tap, you won’t go back.

What Happens When “The Look” Stops?

I have probably missed hundreds of examples, because I am just that sort of guy.  The one that doesn’t give a hoot what sort of attention I attract when I am different from mainstream.  And you know what?  It’s okay to be different, and try to lead by example.  People take notice, then think a little bit more deeply if they see you doing it repeatedly.

You will know when green living is mainstream when “the look” stops or is seen on the rare occasion.  I am sure there are places around Australia and the globe for that matter where the things I listed don’t get a second look or raised eyebrow ever.  Now wouldn’t it be nice to live somewhere like that!

Where I live, we are not there yet by a longshot, but it will happen eventually if I have anything to do with it.  It will be a massive day of celebration at my house when it does!

So over to you.  What green behaviours or actions make you the receiving end of a weird look in public?  Oh, and Blue Steel or Ferrari don’t count.

 Post your comments below.  I’d love to read about your weird look moment!

Change. It Happens

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Change happensChange. It Happens.

An odd statement I know, but there is a lot of truth behind it.

Take the climate for instance.  It is changing due to human induced greenhouse gas emissions, which are now forcing natural tipping points.  The science doesn’t care if you believe in it or not.

It is happening, and no amount of denial from crackpot Prime Ministers can stop individuals from taking personal action to address it.

That change is also happening.  Many individuals and entire communities are taking action on climate change.

Let me repeat a short factual story that my daughter Amy told me tonight which proves my point.

Her friend and flatmate Kate went on a trip to Tasmania a little while ago, and stayed with some nice people.  They asked her where she worked, and she told them Melton.

Perchance, they asked Kate if she knew a guy called Gavin Webber.  Not only did she know this guy, but she shared a house with Gavin’s daughter, Amy.

They then asked if Kate was the naughty flatmate from the podcast that didn’t recycle properly and who Amy was grumpy at! (TGoG podcast 053).

They introduced themselves as Stewart and his partner and then went on to tell Kate that this Gavin bloke was their inspiration for living a more sustainable lifestyle and reducing their own impact on climate change.

Cool story, even cooler that it is true.  This is just one example of the positive outcomes of individual actions, which are making change happen right here, right now.

There are probably many stories like it.  There are thousands of individuals that demonstrate in their daily lives that change can and does happen, and they demonstrate that one person can make a difference, even when they don’t think they are.

Just like you.  By being here, reading this blog or many like it, you want change.

And if you are like most of my blog readers that I have met, you make change happen every single day, probably without realising it.

Every action you take is noticed by others, and it creates a domino effect that cascades and tumbles over and over.  One person changes, then another, then another.   People are often inspired into action by noticing the small actions of others.

It just makes me wonder how many people each of us have motivated or touched by our daily actions.

It is probably many, many more than you think.  This change is happening quickly before our very eyes.

We may shake our heads in disbelief at the shallow and short-sighted thinking of our political leaders, but it never ceases to amaze me to witness the green groundswell that is occurring all around us.  I for one am proud to be a part of it.

Just remember this statement the next time you hear some crazy anti-environmental statement spew from the mouths of  our well-loved PM and his cronies.

“We are the change we are looking for.  Don’t wait for things to happen.  Do it for yourself.  Do it for your kids.  Most of all, do it now!”

The Secret to Emptying the Too Hard Basket and Setting Goals

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Sometimes we humans have a tendency to put things off or to procrastinate and over think a situation so much that we put it in the “too hard basket”.

The easy way out or no action is chosen over the harder but usually more rewarding and important path in life.  This can be true of many things in life, from building an edible garden, reducing your energy usage, or to changing your lifestyle to a more sustainable one.

However, all the motivation, information, and inspiration in the world will sometimes not help move our sorry behinds off the couch on towards our desired action unless we do actually something about it.  Once in this mindset or behavioural norm, our dreams and goals seem so far away and unreachable.

So what can you do about it?  How do you turn it around and reach your goals?

While you ponder those two questions, let me share a little secret with you.

I have been in this place too!

Every night after work, and each weekend, I would just veg out.  Not wanting to think too hard or do anything to improve myself and no life direction.  It doesn’t feel like a nice place to linger very long, and can be soul destroying if allowed to fester.

This is how I behaved when I was stuck in the consumer culture, and just before my green epiphany.  Dreams and goals would come and go, not being started, or if they did, not completed to my satisfaction.

Even now, on the rare occasion, I can sense that I am slowly creeping towards the too hard basket.  Don’t let your too hard basket fill up.  It feels yucky.

So how do I snap out of it and read my goals each and every time?

Okay, it’s time to share my other secrets.  How to empty that basket!

Turn Dreams into Reality

The first secret is once you have your goal in mind, grab a pencil and paper and write it down.  In this way it becomes real, something you can touch.  It feels more real that it was as a thought.  You have taken it from your mind and given it a life of its own.

I do this action every time that I have something important that I want to achieve in my life.

Now that your goal exists, you need to take the next step the make sure it doesn’t wither and die.

Share Your Goal

You now have your goal on paper, so you can share it.

Tell a friend or family members about your goal, listen to their opinions, but whatever you do, just take their feedback on-board.

Take the good with the bad.  If negative comments come your way, then thank the person for them and ignore these (not the person).  Yes, sounds harsh but the reality of it is that this is your goal.  You have dreamt about it for ages, you know it is time for a change, so use the negativity or criticism to give you strength and purpose.

If the negativity has some validity to it, then incorporate it into the next step.  Show them that you can do it, whatever that may be.  This is what you need to do to move forward.

If I have listened to every negative bit of feedback I have received over the years, I would never had reached any of my lofty goals and would still be laying on the couch in front of the idiot box day after day!  Don’t let negativity get to you and drag you down.  It is simply not worth it.  Rise above it.

SMART Goals

Lets flesh out your goal more by making it SMART.  This stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely (time based).  Here is an good example of a goal I achieved and what I wrote.

“I am going to build a backyard clay oven from recycled materials over the course of eight weekends, by 31st November 2011”.

Notice how it is specific (I and backyard clay oven), measurable (8 weekends), attainable (cheap materials), realistic (time period is do-able), and time based (you have set a completion date).

Flesh It Out

Grab your pencil and paper again, and break down your goal into steps from start to finish.  Think of all the things you will need along the way.  These would be materials, skills, help in the form of willing helpers, and of course capital if you have to purchase some of the materials.  If you don’t have all the necessary skills, then find someone who does, or do some research.  Library books are free as is the resources of the world wide web.  YouTube videos are especially useful to understand concepts that are unfamiliar to you.

However, one can come unstuck at this point with information overload and once again put your goal in the too hard basket.  This is why the Timely aspect of your goal is so important.  It gives you a sense of urgency, because you announced your goal to the world, didn’t you?  Don’t spend more than a month doing research or your goal will turn into a dream again.  No point in going backwards, is there?

Ready, Set, Go

You have written it down, made it SMART, told people you care about, fleshed out the steps, so what are you waiting for?

Get going!

Don’t forget to measure your progress as you proceed along the way.  Self checking is important to stay on the path to attaining your goal.  If you need help, then ask for it.  People will always lend a hand towards a worthy goal.

I find that if I take pictures as I go along and post them on my blog, it helps to spur me on to completion.  If you need to, start a blog of your own if that helps to document it, especially if it is a really big goal and will take some time.  Make it real for yourself and others.  You will find that it takes on a life of its own, which urges you to finish it.

Here is an example of what I wrote when I began to build my backyard clay oven.  By sharing it with all of you at the time, it kept me motivated to complete it.

Celebrate

Once you achieve your goal/project/task, then be proud of what your have accomplished.  Be very proud.  You worked hard, and took the time, energy, and effort to do something really worthwhile.  Feels great, doesn’t it?  So celebrate with friends and family.  This also helps to reinforce your sense of self-worth.

And while you are celebrating, why not formulate your next goal.  No time like the present  If you can do it once, you will have no problem doing it again, and again.  The world is your oyster!

Summary

You will find that if you follow these simple little secrets, you can achieve anything you put your mind to.  Just think, all you need to start is a pencil and paper!  This is how I have achieved all of my goals so far.  It works.

So get to it.  Believe in yourself.  You can do it!