The Greening of Gavin

The Fog of Future Events

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This morning was unusually foggy in Melton, and as I set off in my hybrid car to work, a chill shivered down my spine. It was a cold 4°C, and the fog was as thick as homemade pea soup. Visibility was down to 50 metres, so I knew that the 50 km drive was going to be a slow one. So I turned on my fog and headlights and proceeded off on my trip, albeit at a much reduced pace.

As I made my way onto the Western Freeway towards Melbourne, and as I could only see one to two car lengths in front of me, I thought it would be prudent to only go at 90 kph, in the 110 kph zone. Stupidly, I also thought that the other drivers around me would also slow down for their own safety. This was not to be so. They raced past into the void that was the fog cloud at speeds of between 110 -130 kph, some with only driving lights on. I even spotted one imbecile in a 4WD with no lights on at all. It was at this stage that I began to picture images of a 50 car pile up a few kilometres ahead. I slowed to 85 kph, and increased my vigilance.

It was about now as visibility began to increase to about 500 metres that I had a revelation. The behaviour that I was witnessing on the road in the fog was exactly how most people view the future of our existence. The majority of them were racing headlong into the void, without any idea or fear of the pending events of climate change and peak oil that are approaching us all. It really scared me to witness people behaving without regard to their own safety, and without thought of the ramifications and emotional impact upon their families, if, heaven forbid, a accident of their own making came upon them from their own stupidity. But alas, who was I, travelling at 85 kph in a 100 kph zone, to change their minds. I was looking after my own skin, and in a small way, trying to set an example for other drivers.

Then a funny thing happened. Other drivers began to slow down and line up behind me. I thought this very strange, because there was ample room for them to pass me as before. By the time we got closer to the city and the visibility increased to about 2 kilometres, there was a line of about 10 safety conscious drivers lined up behind my car. All had their lights on, and all making the choice to follow a leader. Yes friends, I was that leader. By setting an example for others, I gave them the perceived choice or excuse to follow me at a safe speed to get to work alive, but possibly late, or zoom past into the abyss to the potential 50 car pile up ahead. Thankfully, there were no massive accidents on the way into work this morning, however as I have described, there was a real danger of it eventuating. This may also be so with climate change and peak oil, and the effects may be mild and easy to adapt to, but I would rather take the necessary action now to avoid these two things in the first place rather than racing off headlong into the void. It is basic risk management 101, and simple common sense.

It also then dawned on me that this is exactly how I behave normally in every day life. I lead by example. I don’t set out to do this consciously, as I think it was drummed/brainwashed into me whilst serving in the Navy; however I make no apologies for who I am. So if that makes me a leader in everyday life and all things sustainable living like, then great. So be it. I reckon that the world needs a few more people willing to stand up for what is right, and not meander through life like the sheeple (baa!) that most of humanity has become.

So, I will continue to do what I do, on the journey towards a sustainable lifestyle, never knowing quite where this trip will take me or my family who are following, however I feel safe in the knowledge that we are well prepared physically and mentally for whatever lays in front of us.

A man said to me a long time ago, “Gav, make up your mind. Lead, follow, or get out of the bloody way!” I can’t to this day remember who said it, but they were very wise words indeed. I try to live by them each and every day.

Walk Against Warming 2

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Today around our nation the people of Australia (well some of us) spoke loud and with a single voice to let our politicians know that we care about their lack of solid action regarding Climate Change. We were willing to give up our time to demonstrate that we want strong emission targets followed up with quick and decisive action to combat Climate Change.

So here is my own little story about the day.

I picked up the first part of my band of eco-warriors at 0910 in Ballarat, finding that Amy and Jamie were very eager to get going. On the way home to my house I found that Winslow (the nickname Amy gave my Civic Hybrid) attained a record 4.1 L/100km. I was gob-smacked at the fuel consumption. Well done car!

Once we arrived home, we had found that Kim had been busy making us all a home made pizza. She even made the dough from scratch. She wrapped the slices up for lunch and also popped in an apple and a piece of rice bubble slice for each of us to eat when we got to the city. The two young ladies managed to convince Ben to walk with us, so now we were four. The more the merrier. Kim told me yesterday that she wanted to come along a walk as well, but that she probably was not physically able at the moment. We both agreed that it was probably the best thing that she just relax today and join us next time. Even Megan wanted to go, but had a prior engagement that she couldn’t break.

We left for Melbourne at about 1045. I had to get fuel for the car, and I found that the car achieved another record. From 40 litres of unleaded fuel, I managed to travel 804.5 Km! Got to love this technology. Anyway, the trip was uneventful and the traffic was light, and it only took 35 minutes to get to the Crown Casino, where we managed to get parked for $6 all day. Just compare that to my trip into work yesterday that took me 1h 45min in very heavy traffic and I left home at 0630. Bloody ridiculous yesterday, but a nice trip today.

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We walked up to Finders St Station where we met Lydia and Matt under the clocks and popped over to Federation Square where we had our lunch. Here is a shot of Matt, Lydia and Ben just after lunch.

 

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And here is one of Amy munching an apple and Jamie looking very happy.

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After lunch we walked over to the stage and giant screen where a Brazilian band was performing. They got the crowd clapping and dancing, which was pretty cool.

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After the band had been playing for about 20 minutes, quite a gathering started to occur. At around about 1310, the presenters began to speak about what I usually write about in this blog, and one Professor was down right depressing. I can’t remember his name, but he told it how it was, that we are already committed to a 2 degree rise in global temperature and that we could not stop the initial stages of Climate Change. So, we had to act before we reached the first tipping point, which could be either arctic ice gone at the North Pole, or Methane release from the frozen tundra, or ice-sheets melting in Greenland and West Antarctica. After his speech there was the usual call for action and we all got revved up and excited.

Here is Ben and I enjoying the speeches.

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Once the call to arms was over, we all headed off down Flinders Street and then left into Spring Street towards Parliament House. I wouldn’t even be able to guess how many people were walking, more than 25,000 would be a good approximation.

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There was about 700 metres of people in front of us, and about 1500 metres of walkers behind us.
As you can see from the faces, there was a very broad span of ages from babies and toddlers in prams to Grandpas and Grandmas all walking together with one purpose of getting our elected officials to act on Climate Change.

Now here are a few things we saw and did along the way. We saw Turtles who were against Climate Change.

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We saw dancing in the streets by Jamie, Amy and Ben to the Brazilian drum music.
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We saw Lydia protesting very loudly.

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We saw what the hole in the Ozone layer does to heads that don’t wear hats! That has to hurt tomorrow.
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And we saw a small cute boy with a solar powered fan in his hat.

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As we approached the steps of Parliament, I notice that there was a mounted police presence which was just a bit over the top. What were we going to do? Rush the empty halls of government and ransack the place? I don’t think so. This was the most peaceful protest I have ever seen.
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Once we got there, we all gathered and chanted that we wanted action now and when the tail end Charlie of the walk caught up, we counted down from 10 to 1 very loudly and basically raised the roof off of the building. Hopefully some of our elected officials heard us in their beach houses down the coast (that won’t be worth much when sea levels rise), and got the message. Hopefully on Monday, we may see a bit more action.

After the fun and games were over, we all dispersed peacefully and we all said goodbye to each other. Amy and Jamie headed off to Southern Cross Station, and Matt and Lydia had to go to St Kilda to meet some friends. I thanked them all very much for making an old mans day very fulfilling.
Ben and I walked back to Flinders St, caught a tram down to Spencer St and walked the rest of the way to the Casino Car park. For being such a good lad, I bought Ben a chocolate ice-cream cone. It is not often that most of the family get involved in something that we all stand up for and believe strongly in. It was a great day, and I thank everyone again for being part of a great event.
Maybe we won’t have to walk again next year because we, as a nation, will have begun to reduce our emissions in a dramatic way, but I am not holding my breath!

The Best Fuel Economy Yet

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Great news! Amy passed her driving test on Friday, and now has her provisional car licence. With this licence, she can now drive without supervision, but she has to display “P Plates” in the car for the next three years. Both Kim and I are very proud of her for passing first time around, as her driving instructor was a bit dubious about her ability to pass. I knew she would, because I have been going out for 30 minute stints for the last few weekends. 30 minutes is about as long as I can sit comfortably in a car at the moment. And, she drove very well when I was with her. Even Kim took her out a few times, so that she could get her experience hours up.

So, today, Amy drove me to Ballarat University because I am letting her drive my Hybrid car during the week to the Uni, instead of having to catch the unreliable public transport system. I have a novated lease, and unfortunately I need to get the kilometres above 25,000 each year or I have to pay extra Fringe Benefits Tax if I don’t reach this target. It is a ridiculous government rule, that forces you to drive further to get a tax discount, and obviously consume more fuel in the process. I hope they abolish it very, very soon.

We left at about 1030 and she did really well on the freeway, then we filled up the car with fuel and the it took 40 litres to fill the tank. With the price at $1.50 a litre it will cost me $60 to be able to drive about 850 km. Then we took off again, and Amy took the back road to the University through the country side, and she drove there with no problems. On the way back from the Uni, we came across some sort of bicycle race, as we had to pass over 50 bicycles as we headed back towards to the freeway entry. As the area we were driving through was really hilly, and there were double white lines everywhere, she could not pass them safely, so we crawled up the hills at the same pace as the bikes, until it was safe to do so. Behind us were your typical impatient drives honking their horns and trying to get Amy to go around when it was obviously dangerous to do so, not only for us, but the struggling bike riders as well. She just kept playing it safe and the arseholes sped around us at the first chance. Those sorts of drivers are the ones you hear about on the news, wrapped around a lamp post because they were speeding or some such stupid thing.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, and she did a great job. She even used cruise control on the freeway to cut down on fuel consumption. When we arrived home, I checked the fuel economy and to my disbelief, the computer in the car indicated that we had only used 4.7 l/100km, which is the best I have ever seen in the 18 months I have had the car! Well done Amy! With fuel economy like that, not only will we emit less GHG, but I will still be able to reach our kilometre target for the year, with a near guiltless conscious. Not to mention that I have already offset the emissions from the car via GreenFleet anyway!

Kim and I have decided to purchase the car when the lease expires in October 2009, as we have fallen in love with the car, and it is very cost efficient to run. I would love to be able to purchase an electric car and offer the Hybrid to Amy for the sale price, but there are none on the market in Australia, and conversions of older cars are very expensive. I hope that in the very near future, and before Peak Oil really starts to bite, that these types of vehicles are available for all at an affordable price. Wouldn’t it be good that with the sale of the car, a Solar PV system was part of the purchase price. This is so the car can be charged with clean, renewable energy, every single day. We can only hope!