and the seventh day...

... we rested.

Welcome to Eco Sabbath! Colin Beavan's year-long experiment has been condensed into one week, and on this seventh day, we have phased out everything he phased out and are experiencing life as he did over the period of several months. Today we're asked not to plug anything in, not to go anywhere or do anything -- have a true rest from the stuff that seems to make the world go round and really experience life au naturel.

I did go out today; for me, spending time with friends or family here means going out to see them. I went to the church I found here, an English-speaking congregation; this morning it was a mass with all three parishes that celebrate in that church: the English, Italian and Filipino communities. It was pretty crowded and it was nice to be among people. I wandered through the procession happening downtown in honor of the beatification of Don Carlo Gnocchi (I have no idea why he became a saint but he was obviously a big deal), picked up an empanada in the Peruvian market crammed into an alley beside another big church downtown, San Stefano, and wandered home, where I had a much-needed nap. I consider that a fairly low-impact activity... happy eco sabbath to you, too.

Some reflections on the week are in order. I learned that while superficially, my big problem appears to be food packaging like every Italian, the hidden problem of energy and water over-consumption are much more pronounced, and this is probably true of all of us. It is really hard to gauge the amount of energy and water you use individually, but it's worth trying to track for a week if only to become cognizant of your consumption. It also made me think: If I reduce my trash, buy locally, buy unpackaged foods, take the stairs, etc etc etc etc etc, and then take a 15-minute shower, did I just undo everything I tried to accomplish? Some things measure higher on the footprint scale. Is it that easy to undo your good intentions? We need priorities.
Mor ethan a week of experimentation this felt like a week of becoming conscious. I learned so much this week due to my research and to the people I met in my forums; I am really glad I was inspired to do the reading and researching that I did. I feel a lot more in control of my actions now that I've quantified them and evaluated them against a standard (the organizers put otu a guide for the week); I also feel like I can make better choices now, being equipped with the information and resources i need to follow through.
There's nothing wrong with taking the stairs, hopping on the bus, choosing not to buy when you don't have to, carrying a hanky, handwashing your clothes. Most of these things I do already.
I am excited to buy bananas again, and eat food that came in bags (granola, here I come!), and super excited to go out for a drink this week! Some things you just don't want to live without.
And with all that said, I am going to turn off my computer and sing some music. It's nice to have a no-impact passion.
Good night!

I took action.

Today marked my first and only attempt at environmental activism.

I heard about a march in Milano in honor of 350 Day, which is basically to get world leaders to talk about climate change in Copenhagen at the summit. (350 refers to the parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is considered liveable for Earth; we are at 385 right now.)
I showed up in Piazza de' Mercanti to find that there was another demonstration happening as well; some people were handing out flyers and denouncing Berlusconi in the name of freedom of speech and of the press. Can you believe that in a so-called democracy, such a thing occurs? Maybe it's just the Canadian in me whose sensibilities are offended. I know that people live differently the world over, but Italy is a developed, European nation with a democratic government in place; yes it's a rightist government, but its people should still be able to express their opinions of said government. No?
Anyway, I saw a mass of bicycles behind them, all with people atop them sporting cloth signs saying "NO" to various things related to oil and greenhouse gases, and they all seemed to know each other. Needless to say, the activist community in Italy is small but mighty. I went up to a girl handing out cloth banner thingies and asked if there were people walking.
Girl: No. We're all riding our bikes. But there's a march on foot at Parco Sempione in a n hour.
Me: Oh. Thanks.
So, it woul dhave been really nice if the website told me where to go for which event. I saw them off, then wandered around downtown for a while before going to the pool and then coming home to sign up for an internet chat room as a volunteer ESL teacher. It's based in Afghanistan, which is only a three-hour time difference from Italy, and I'll be chatting with Afghan women in various stages of education and emancipation and providing ESL support, international perspective, and maybe just a friendly presence on sort of a part-time basis.
It's something I've been meaning to do, and I'm comfortable putting my efforts towards this type of cause. I've never been the type to get in your face with a megaphone about any cause; I am also a terrible fundraiser. I just don't like to make my personal opinions the immediate problem of anyone else, as I don't like it happening to me, even if I happen to agree. When my help is asked for, it's a different story. When I feel my efforts actually make a tangible difference to someone else, also a different story.
Though I didn't actually participate in 350 day, I am still impressed by the website today. Many photos and videos from all over the world have been uploaded and it's heartwarming to see the variety of events, settings, nationalities and languages represented. It makes me want an elementary school class of my very own for one split second because that's the type of group that's really interested in this type of activism. The feeling passes quickly, though.

Tomorrow is an Eco-Sabbath... we also turn our clocks back tonight. Good bye, dinners in the waning light of day!

TGIF!

Well, I made it this far -- Now I HAVE to see it through!

That was my motivation today to do... well, anything really. It was another grey and dreary day, and I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept at all, which is a really awful feeling when you've slept 6 or 7 hours. Or, you thought you did.

Today was water day. We were to do everything in our power to consume as little water as possible. Did I? What do you think?

Instead, I decided to do as much as I usually do -- that is, quite a bit -- and observe where in my life I create the need for water usage indirectly, and where I can cut down or eliminate water usage.
I worked this morning and needed a hot shower to wake up. I take fast ones, but let's face it -- we could all probably take shorter, colder showers and still live to tell the tale.
I forwent the pool, which is a HUGE water-sucker. However, I don't think I'm prepared to give up swimming as my main outlet for fitness. Gyms and other public fitness locations are probably enormous sources of energy and water consumption; is there a real solution to this?
Going to a restaurant, or even just a coffee bar for a quick espresso, can generate a lot of water consumption. Think of how much water is used to cook your food and clean your plates. The amount of water used in the cleaning of my espresso cup, making of my coffee, and cleaning following the making is decidedly out of proportion to the amount of water used in the actual coffee. Perhaps it is better to have your coffee at home. I turned down a lot of social invites this week because I would either have to take a taxi home or they were out at restaurants. It was hard to do, that's for sure, and unless you and all your closest friends have made a green-living pact, it's impossible to keep up, in my opinion. The more bold among us would be pesky and push establishments that had made certain green adjustments in their energy usage or food choices, but I am definitely not a greenvangelist.
I did do my laundry today. In the end, I did the great majority by hand in the bidet (which is really the best use for it I can think of.... if you really feel the need to use the bidet for its official purpose, just bite the bullet and hop in the shower... though I am sure the tree huggers will argue me on that one). But I took one look at my jeans and bath towels, thought about squeezing them out by hand, and set the washing machine to cold and energy efficient. Sometimes you just CAN'T break the habit. We are spoiled! The washerwomen of yore must have been Amazons -- it's more work than I can imagine doing. And they'd never dry! I'm curious -- has anyone here ever grapestomped an entire load of clothes?

Tomorrow is Giving Back day. It's almost the end of this experiment. I wonder how many of the changes I made will stick.

Addendum to the last post: I forgot to mention that the article directly before Dump Berlusconi was written by a British guy and entitled, "In defense of Berlusconi". (I still don't buy it.) Gotta have that devil's advocate!

When I woke up today, it was still raining. Rain has a discernible effect on my well-being. It produces that sluggish, bluesy feeling we all experience when it's cold and damp out; I also become quite stiff and sore and decidedly self-indulgent. (Admittedly, since I've made certain changes in my diet and begun natural supplements things have improved but that doesn't mean I've kicked the self-coddling.) Needless to say, today was not a day I felt particularly strongly about my little experiment. In fact, at times I resented it and consciously performed actions that were contrary to my aims (example: I am eating spelt cookies from a non-reusable bag right now), just because I COULD. It really threw into relief just how much of a commitment a no-impact, or low-impact, lifestyle is, just like any other lifestyle commitment: a specific diet, quitting smoking, trying not to phone that bastard who stood you up on Friday but totally apologized and after all is really cute (this didn't happen). At times you couldn't care more and willingly devote all of your most positive energy to your cause, feeding off of your own success; other times you just say, "screw it", and reach for the spelt cookies. I can be an indulgent person; I guess my own personal challenge has to do with reducing the amount of times I cave, and furthermore, setting realistic goals.

Today is energy day. Instead of trying to use less energy, since that clearly wasn't going to happen, I decided to do some research on the devices I used and how much energy they really account for.
I wasn't able to find a lot of really concrete figures. But environmental blogs the world wide web over agree that using your microwave oven, especially for short periods of cooking or for small portions really does save a ton of energy once you do the math. My Chinese doctor cousin David would be having a conniption but you know what? Most of us use it anyway, and in exactly that manner; good to know it gets a green thumbs up.
The bulbs we have here are all energy-efficient. If you have not changed your bulbs to CFL's, I suggest you do so. Today, preferably.
Something I may never be able to renounce is a hot shower in the morning. I researched ways to reduce your hot water usage: installing low-flow showerheads and faucets, fixing leaks, and using the energy-efficient cycles on your dishwasher and washing machine topped every list. There is also something called On-Demand hot water, which is basically a tankless system: water is heated as required. The only downside is that you might let it run for a while before it warms up sufficiently, so I'm not sure how much you really conserve with this method. You can also just set your washer to "cold"; the clothes still get clean.
If only I had known! The Green Beanery in Toronto has a novel little gadget that makes espresso without any electricity -- it's lever operated. You still have to boil the water, though.
I could go on and on-- generally, if you are interested in lowering your energy impact through absolutely any small obscure detail of your life, there is a way. It was a useful thing to discover, and anyone can -- I amno Google master but I found a wealth of information.

Needless to say I didn't grape-stomp my clothes...

All Hail Newsweek

This article turned a few heads on the subway, as its headline was plastered across the cover of my international edition today. DUMP BERLUSCONI is pretty unequivocal even to your average non-English speaking Italian.

Il Cavaliere has just been hit with two really major court rulings, which in itself is a first. THis is, after all, the guy who rewrites laws to suit his own ends. He was ordered to pay damages as he is partially responsible for a corruption case invovled ina judge in the 90's. The second, and in my opinion more important, ruling is that the law that makes him immune from criminal prosecution as the prime minister (guess who wrote that one) has been declared unconstitutional, and rightfully so.
This author lays out the reasons for Berlusconi's early popularity (his policies in the 90's, when he first came into power, lined up really neatly with the general Italian sentiment following the "mani pulite" debaucle in which the political heavyweights were unseated on corruption charges -- he was anti-politics and against taxes), and why it just doens't work in the long run ("If he were the father of his country, he'd be feeding his children pure sugar"). He outlines Italy's current problems -- aging population, labour force dwindling (and would-be labourers from abroad are treated with hostility), economy struggling, education an embarrassment, and the prime minister is doing very little about anything except his own interests.

The truth of the matter is that there are and have been and will be terrible world leaders who behave badly or who run their countries in a questionable manner. Berlusconi is not only doing this but also driving Italy's dignity into the ground. Not too many world leaders want to sit at the table with the guy who cracks jokes about Obama's suntan, who pays for hookers for his distinguished guests, and puts his neighbour in Sardegna into Parliament to settle a personal dispute over the use of their shared land.

The problem? It's an English-language magazine. Berlusconi himself controls the TV that most Italians watch and he controls the major avenues of the press, as well. Journalists who write against them have lost their jobs. He files against those outlets not in his control regularly. We are the only ones hearing this kind of news, and we are not the people who need to hear it -- voting Italians do. But they have accepted him and the censureship that comes with him, or so it may seem.

Even so, liberal Italians have hope. The family I live with is very very leftist and they say often that the country will turn around when Berlusconi dies and another takes his place. But I personally don't think much will change.



The same issue ran an article on why Obama shouldn't have won the Nobel Peace Prize and why the Nobel Peace Prize is a big sham anyhow so it doesn't matter. It drops a few too many names but certainly outlines a strong opinion.

My school subscribes to Newsweek and though I think it's beyond most of the students' level, it's certainly nice for me to have some reading material that also keeps me up to date. Italian press is a bit skewed, due to the fact that Il Cavaliere owns it all, so sometimes I feel like I don't know what to believe. I can't imagine a world in which Berlusconi's news was my only news but that is the case for a good portion of Italians, and the scary thing is, they don't mind.