Plastic Mindset

I’ve been working hard to drastically reduce the number of plastic bags that I use. It is truly astonishing how many we could go through if we simply didn’t care.

Every store you go in, there are plastic bags. Grocery stores are horrible for plastic bag use. The cashiers seem to just put in a few items before reaching for a new bag. Sox and I bought some of the cloth re-usable bags, and I really like them. What fits in 3 cloth bags, used to end up in ten or more plastic.

When I first started reducing bag consumption, I started by requesting no bags for items I can easily carry by hand, or in my backpack. Each week at work I tend to head to the grocery store to get lunch supplies for the week. If I can walk through the store, and not need a basket, then I won’t get any plastic. Reasonable rule, but some of the cashiers are incredulous when I decline a bag, and have 6 items or more. I am only going upstairs so it isn’t a big deal.

This weekend, I needed to head to the store to get some lunch for Sox and I. When I drive to the grocery store, I quite often forget the bags in the car, but this time I was walking, and remembered to grab one before I left. I felt quite good about this since it signalled to me that the cloth bags are more of a first thought, and not an afterthought. The return trip home was nicer due to the cloth bag not cutting into my hand like the bunched up plastic bags do.

Now, any time I come home with more plastic bag, I feel bad . This is quite a mindset change, that I hope more people can make.

One thing that I like is that many shops give a discount when you bring in your own bag. Strangely, if you say no bag, you often don’t get any discount. The result is the same (no plastic bags leaving the store), but the environmental impact is technically a little better (some resources were used when making the cloth bags). I would love to see more stores offer incentives to people not using bags or bringing in their own. I just remembered that MEC donates money to a charity if you decline a bag.

Backyard Explainable

Some pictures from the backyard, taken some time in the last couple weeks. I haven’t been shooting as much recently, but that is easily explainable. Work has been pretty busy, and there are more demands for time at home too. Something will fall through the cracks.

Spring is here though, and the flowers are making their appearance. I can’t wait for everything to be in bloom.

LOTD – Information Riding

I’ve seen the google maps pedometer, and have created a couple maps when I was training for Canmore. That’s perfect if you are walking, since the information (likke calories burned) will be valid.

Riding though is a whole other game. For that use map my ride. The main page claims it is for cyclists, but when saving your map, you can mark it as running, walking, cycling, kayaking, dog walking, or others. This site can also be used to find new ride routes, and to share ride routes.

The workout calculator is pretty cool too. I think that when I get back into roadie riding, I will make use of this site.

VoiceMob Ouch

I still remember with fondness working for the VoiceMob. I loved working there during the dotcom boom era. It was exciting, challenging, and fun. The company took a downward turn with the dotcom bust, but amazingly they are still clinging to life.

They posted some financial documents today.

Since inception through December 31, 2007, we incurred aggregate net losses of $50 million.

Ouch.

Security Flagged

It always feel wrong, but somehow fun to cut up a credit card. Recently, a voice message at home from a 1-800 number, apparently from MasterCard Security made me a little nervous. After talking to the person, and not recognizing the number, I decided to call their regular 1-800 number.

Turned out someone in the US had tried to buy something from HomeDepot, and used my card number. They had the wrong expiry date though, and that flagged something at MasterCard. They canceled my card so I got to cut it up.

Nerve wracking at first, but not too much hassle after that. Just need to update the automatic payments.

Lost Loose

I had a cool experience on the way home today: I helped re-unite a lost dog with its owner. Leaving work, I was about to turn onto Oak Bay Ave, and I saw a lone dog crossing the road while some shop clerks were watching it. Realizing it had escaped from being tied up, I circled the block, and tried to track it down.

Dogs are fast. It was a couple blocks from “home” when I caught up to it. No matter what I tried, the dog would not come to me, so I walked behind it a bit while it wandered towards the shop.

I had to get my truck, and when I saw the dog again, it had headed up Wilmot Rd. I parked, and went back to the shop in case the owner returned.

A lady crossed Oak Bay and looked a little frantic, and began asking if someone had let her dog loose. I told her where I last saw him, and she ran towards the rd and thanked me.

As I got to my truck I looked over and saw she was hugging the dog. She thanked me again, and I was very glad I took a few minutes from my day.

LOTD – Geotagging Records

Geotagging is the name for tagging your photographs with GPS coordinates. Kind of cool if you come home with a shot, and 6 months from now you forget where you took it from.

Not many cameras (if any) have GPS built in, and I have seen a couple flash hotshoe adapters that record GPS when you take a picture. You must always have the flash turned on though, and can’t use a real flash.

ThinkGeek is selling an interesting device. It is a GPS receiver you toss in your pocket or backpack, that continually records where you are. When you offload your pictures from your camera, you can use the supplied software to merge your pictures with your GPS data. Cool.

via ThinkGeek