10:10 Carbon Friendly Backpacking?

I've mentioned a couple of times that I've joined the 10:10uk initiative. This is an ambitious, but achievable goal to unite all sectors of society with the aim to reduce the UK's carbon footprint by 10% in the year 2010. Individuals, organisations and companies are all being encouraged to get involved.

So..if you're a regular follower, you'll also know that in about 3 weeks time (Easter Sunday in fact) I'll be leaving on a jetplane for South East Asia on a 3 month backpacking stint.

Jetplane, I'm not getting off to a good start am I?

If I were looking for a get-out clause then I could probably argue that I won't even be in the UK for 3 months so that's guaranteed to lower its footprint right? I'll be emitting all my carbon in SE Asia so who cares?

Fortunately I'm not that way inclined. Wherever in the world I am, I should be taking responsibility for the resources I'm using and the byproducts I'm producing (is this a fancy way of talking about poo??). After all, at the end of the day, the whole world will suffer, something todays 'superpowers' need to get their heads around.

So, what am I going to do to reduce my carbon footprint?

1) Use as little electricity as possible

I'm blogging my way around so I'll be using a netbook as well as a mobile phone, camera and ipod. There's the danger that I could be using a stupid amount of electricity....which is why I've invested in yet another gadget, this little beastie here:

The Freeloader, a solar charger that will charge my phone, ipod and camera batteries (possibly my netbook though I've yet to try that one). This will be good in reducing my carbon impact and also for reducing the number of chargers I have to lug around with me.

Knowing my luck it'll be cloudy and rainy the whole trip now.

2) Buying Local

It's very easy as a westerner suffering total culture shock to migrate towards anything familiar. I'm sure I'll spend a whole lot of time in Boots on Kho San Road on the first day, just stroking bottles of sun lotion and the like. But supporting local markets and shops is important, as well as really supporting the economy (rather than just the capitalist bigwigs), chances are I'll be purchasing less in the way of packaging.

I'll also get to chat to locals, practice some dire local language and try haggling (something I'm a little bit terrified of given how terribly English I am)

3) Transport

There are a couple of internal flights that I'm unlikely to be able to avoid (Cambodia to Bali for example...if anyone has a good suggestion please let me know), but mostly I'll be trying to go for buses or trains when it comes to long journies such as Bangkok to Chiang Mai and Hanoi to HCMC.

I'm a big walker, I love walking and so if I can avoid having to use a tuk tuk, mototaxi or cab whilst exploring a city, then I will. Bonus, it'll save me a little bit of money too.

In terms of transport, I'm going to try and remember to make a note of what I use and where, and then compare my average carbon usage during a month at home and a month away. A handy resource for working this out was pointed out to me a few weeks ago, a study by the UCL Environment Institute. They carried out a survey into how staff travel to work, and have worked out average footprints for different types of staff. Interesting stuff, if you'd like to read it, here's the link.

4) Use 'green' companies as far as possible, support green initiatives

For trekking opportunities, and organised visits to places like HaLong Bay which is a UNESCO world heritage site it's best to use companies that are sensitive to both the environment and those indigenous peoples living in the area. Green Discovery Laos is one such company I'll probably be harrassing.

You can also find many hostels that are striving to be 'green', and there are restaurants and bars that run schemes whereby they take on young locals as apprentices and train them up as chefs or bar management. These are good to support for the sake of the local economy, I'll be carrying around a list of some good places to visit.

5) Do Some Volunteering

Well, depending on the type of voluntary work you're doing I guess this might not directly affect your carbon footprint, but I like to include it because it fits in with the general theme of awareness. One organisation I'm dying to spend some with is Big Brother Mouse in Luang Prabang.

The main thing these guys do is teach Lao kids how to read and write Lao, in an effort to increase rates of literacy in the country. As you can imagine, I wouldn't be much good at that! What they also do is, from 9-11am every morning, they encourage English speaking tourists to drop by and chat to Lao teens and young adults, to help them develop their English conversational skills. I'd love to do this for at least a few days.

Although it might not directly impact on your carbon footprint, doing work like this helps you to learn more about the people and the culture you're submerging yourself in. I think that this in turn increases your awareness of how your activities might affect them and makes you more likely to take care of how you treat the country you're moving through.

Those are the main things, but there's also the little things like making sure I throw away all my rubbish, don't waste anything, take my own water bottle etc etc. When you think about it there are lots of little things you can do to try and leave as little trace of yourself as possible...who wants to see piles of backpacker detritus building up?

If you haven't joined already then check it out here 10:10uk.

What will you be doing over the next few months to lower your carbon footprint?

Tarrah xx

Homophobia makes me haz an angry

"A school board in the US state of Mississippi has cancelled a high school prom after a female student asked to attend with her girlfriend."

You can read the full story here.

Apart from the blatant homophobic discrimination, the part of the story that got to me the worst is a quote from the lady in question:

"A bunch of kids at school are really going to hate me for this"

Yes they probably will. The sad truth is that lots of her fellow students will be more upset and angry about not being able to go to their highschool prom than the fact that their school, state and much of their country is suppressing basic human rights.

Gah!

Where's my MOJO!!

I feel that I must apologise for my distinct lack of blogging mojo at the moment!! Thanks to #167 Dad who has been plugging away replying to even my most dire 'Dear Diary-esque' postings.

It seems that the trauma of the move home, all kinds of evil things going on at work, and the slight mental panic of my trip being less than a month away has contrived to rob my of my (tenuous to start with) creative edge.

Luckily in less than a month I'll be having SO much to write about that I won't be able to fit it all in, so it's a momentary glitch.

Whoop!!

Now I'm going to go and learn some lao and play with my new solar charger, it's very pwiddy, I'll tell you all about it soon when I do my Bloggers Unite post for 10:10 Cutting Carbon Emissions. Join in if you haven't already :)

Img Cred

Month of Madness

Well, March is well on it's way to becoming possibly the most manic month ever.

So far this month I've been to the doctors twice for vaccinations. Well, the nurse actually, her name is Zenith and she was very very lovely!

I had been slightly concerned that I'd have to have 5 different injections, what with needing Diptheria, Polio, Typhoid, Hepatitis and Tetanus. But luckily, those clever pharmaceutical companies have combined diptheria, polio and tetanus into one, and typhoid and hepatitis into something called Hepatyrix...catchy.

I'm glad it wasn't 5 different injections, because just those two made my shoulder ache like a bitch for about 3 days.

It's lucky Zenith was very lovely as I do tend to rather make a tit of myself....ALL the time. The second time I visited I was having an injection which had to be given in the bottom. It wasn't as bad as you imagine, they give it right at the top, so you just pull your trousers down a little bit.

However, the entire time I kept saying 'stop looking at mah ass!', or 'stop touching mah ass!'

A bit self destructive really, as the mixture of perplexity and mirth probably served to distract her a tad.

Yesterday was just ridiculous as EVERYTHING seemed to go wrong at the last second for a practical that I was running, including a fire alarm at the last second which sent all the demonstrators and students out in to the cold.

Coming up...well, I think everyone has decided that they must see me one last time before I go and die miserably and horribly in South East Asia, or, as ThatIsTheWhy kindly posted on a previous entry:

'kidnapped/sold for spares/struck down by jungle fever/lost/injured/struck down by malaria/robbed/raped/struck down by encephalitis/poisoned/sold to a whore house/struck down by typhoid... you know... the list goes on..'

Thanks for that!

So the next couple of weeks is a whirlwind of social arrangements. It's great actually because as well as mates whom I see every couple of weeks or more, I'm also catching up with friends whom I haven't seen properly for ages! Clara and Arlene came to my birthday party in November, but I was already as pissed as the proverbial fart, and they left relatively early as Claray had to work, so it'll be fabulous to see them properly next Friday, along with Mikey who I've only seen properly a couple of times since we moved from Streatham!

My mate Claire from college who lives and work in Loughborough now is down this weekend and I'll be seeing her tonight, it's months since we've managed to meet up.

Vicky, Kayleigh, Mark, my lovely Jojo, Steve, Angela, all people I must see before I leave! If I've left you out it's not malice...my brain just doesn't work properly.

I'm going to see Osteology Lady on Monday :o) So I should have an update on Yorkie for you!

I bet you simply cannot wait.

Alas.......Poor Yorkie

No, I didn't get it wrong...I'm original. Geddit?

Neither do I, it's ok.

Bruce got a very interesting email today, amongst the usual boring complaints about lack of water pressure, malfunctioning air conditioning and broken door hinges, this gem of an email really stood out.

It was from a guy called Toby explaining how he had this skull.......Apparently it was found in a filing cabinet that came from Central Services, but they believe it originally belonged to us ('us' being a very loose term, I suspect anyone working within the Division of Biosciences constitutes 'us'). It's been gathering dust in the PhD office for a couple of years and he figured it should be returned to its rightful owners.

'Oh...and we think it's real'

As soon as I heard 'real' I wanted it, I wanted a real human skull, I want it for my office. MINE! Bruce seemed equally enamored so we asked where we could pick it up from and I hurried over post-haste.

When I was presented with said skull (which the current owner seemed remarkably reluctant to touch) I was surprised at the relatively small size, but then, I'm used to lugging alligator skulls around at the zoo.

At first I was a little skeptical over whether it was real or not. This may have been because of his fetching additions. There are springs attaching the temples to the mandible in order to allow demonstration of how muscles work the jaws, and lovely little clips on each side of the cranium that hold on the top half of the skull, it's been neatly sliced off to allow inspection of the insides.

Upon closer inspection I've decided that it's likely real, I've seen a few replicas in my time and this has faaar too much detail. If it's a replica then it's a very good one!

The guys I picked it up off of began asking me questions:

'Can you tell us anything about it?'

'Male....female?'

'Age?'

Whereupon I started to feel exceedingly stupid...but consoled myself with the fact that had Bruce come to pick it up he'd have been just as stumped! I confessed that I knew nothing but that I could probably give it to someone who did. Before I left they made me promise to email with anything I found out. Clearly they'd become quite attached over the years....I wonder if they'll lament the loss of their bookend?

So, as promised, when I returned to the office I looked up the guy who ran the MSc in Palaeoanthropology and sent him a little email. One of the things I love about working at UCL is being able to send strange little emails like this, I'd never have sent this working at TESCO:

Hello Andrew,

I hope my email finds you well :o)

My colleague and I received a strange email today asking if we’d like to rehome a skull that’s been gathering dust with them for a while. They found it in a filing cabinet that they got from central stores and must have found us in association with the Div of Biosciences.

When I picked it up they seemed interested to know a bit about it, ie, male, female, age etc. I can’t give them ANY of that detail (for shame…I did the palaeoanthropology module with Charlie in 2004ish). I was wondering if you know anyone I can show it to who might be able to shed some light?

This is where I take it to someone and find out it’s plastic…….I think I’ll prepare a hole to bury myself in, just in case.

Thanks very much for your time, I look forward to hearing from you,

Yours,

Becki

To which he replied:

Hi Becki,

This is one of the emails I will remember!! I have given AC a ring, who is a postdoc in the IoA in human osteology, and she would be happy to have a look at it. Her email is (booger), but I am copying her in, so she will probably get in touch.

Best wishes,

Andrew

(Her email isn't REALLY booger, but that would be cool!)

I tell you what, it's so nice when we have little interesting things like this going on to just distract us from the endless firefighting that we seem to do sometimes.

Alas.....poor Yorkie....we know him not at all!! But soon we shall....Horatio...*ahem*

Do I hear Shakespeare turning in his grave?

The Big Move

Phew....boy am I glad that's over!

This move has only set in concrete a long held suspicion. That suspicion being that my possessions (that's too many s's surely!!) secretly fornicate and multiply whilst I'm not looking.

When I moved into this place in Walthamstow I had the same amount of stuff PLUS a wardrobe and a set of drawers. Dad thinks the drawers were flatpacked, but after thinking about it I distinctly recall us hefting that bastard set of drawers into the back of the van. The wardrobe was unceremoniously strapped to the roof of the van.

I kept all the cardboard boxes I used in the first move flatpacked under the bed for reuse, and so I know I had the same number of cardboard boxes. The same number of plastic boxes from under the bed, the same slowcooker, CD rack, various bags of crap, bed. The same laundry racks, rolled up carpet and tub chair that I harangue my ever-suffering father into moving for me whenever the whim takes me.

All packed into the same van.

So why this time so tight? I left the set of drawers behind....so that should have freed up a crapload of room!

The one possible variant is the ubiquitous black binliners full of clothes. I didn't think I'd bought more clothes. I don't buy clothes.

I do.....however....steal clothes. From my sister. She has so many clothes that she doesn't even notice. And I only ever stole them from the 'spare' room, where clothes go to die, or be sold on Ebay/at a jumble sale.

However, I like to think I offset my ill-gotten gains with a massive bag of clothes that I recycled. Well, I tried to recycle them, Waltham Forest council claims to recycle clothes. In reality they sat in the recycling bin in a clear binliner outside the house in the rain for about a week..before I gave up and chucked them in the bin.

I tried, I did try.

Anywhoo, I remember last time being so impressed at how neatly everything had packed into the back, how much room (relatively) there seemed to be left, how STRESS FREE it had been (time heals all wounds).

Before my dad turned up at 9am I thought it would be a good idea to bring everything downstairs. I'm ashamed to say that the idea hadn't occurred to me a few days previous...of course my father doesn't want to be traipsing up and down stairs with his gammy knee, fingers, head, shoulders knees and toes knees and toes. I blame the lapse in foresight on the fact that I was desperately attempting to avoid thinking about the fact that I was moving AGAIN!

Nonetheless, the thought did eventually occur and I began to take boxes and bags etc etc downstairs. 17 boxes and 8 binliners later, along with all the other shite that inhabits my room...I was starting to get a bit worried. HOW much? Still, my arguments from above allayed my fears, no drawers, same stuff, no drawers, same stuff.

Right?

Only just.

This time it was a crowbar jobbie, a KY Jelly and shoehorn jobbie! Dad took one look and raised his eyebrows, 'well, the mattress will be going on the top'. And so it began, Dad started loading the van whilst I ran a hoover around my room, trying to chase down all those stray hairs I leave behind wherever I go. Despite my efforts they're guaranteed to be finding long blonde hairs for weeks, it's almost inevitable!

As the van gets more and more full I contemplate nipping down to Lloyds pharmacy for the aforementioned KY jelly. But finally, FINALLY everything seems to be in. Everything except my laptop, coat and fern which I hold in my lap...thereby obscuring one of the only mirrors my dad has left for the purposes of driving safely.

We may have fitted everything in the van...but will we get home alive?

We got home alive, and survived the marvellous pyrotechic-esque belongings-explosion that issued from the van when we dared to open one of the back doors.

I'm almost fully installed now........what a flippin palaver

I blame that kingsize duvet, I moved in with a double.....definitely the kingsize duvet.

What am I going to do with a useless shoehorn and all this KY jelly??! I can read your minds you grotesque individuals....wash your brains out.

Moving.....again, and the Winter Rooftop BBQ

I'm moving....again.

Back in with the parentals again. This time comes in many a young persons life, having flown the nest for a couple of years, circumstance will almost always conspire to take you back to the bosom of your loving family for a while, sometimes on more than one occasion.

My circumstances involve 3 months travelling (incidentally, in answer to Jamies question in the comments some time ago, yes I will be blogging whilst I'm away, you can follow over on Fly Away With Me, my travel blog). Ma and pa are kindly taking me back in for a month before I go away and when I come back until I find my feet again. I'm moving in this coming weekend, so all may be quiet for a few days.

I should be packing as we speak, but I'm the kind of person who need 'the fear'. Dad is arriving at 9am on Saturday, I'll probably finish my packing at roughly, 8:45am Saturday morning.

In fact, I'll probably still be packing when he arrives......

Enough of that! Depending on how traumatic it is I'll give you the lowdown sometime next week.

On Friday I attended a winter rooftop BBQ. Is it still officially winter? Are we in Spring yet? I've lost all track of time and season. It certainly felt like winter that's for sure.

This is Kayleigh and Toms place again...you may remember them, they're the gerbil people...a flicker of recognition, I knew you'd remember. Just to remind you, Kayles and Tom live in a lovely little studio. In the set of flats they're in, they're the only ones with their own bathroom, huge tub, lovely. It's a very cosy little place, and every time Kayles has a gathering she starts to fret about how she'll fit everyone in, but it always turns out fine.

It started off pretty quiet, but more people turned up and Rob even turned up with the second half of the BBQ eventually! Huzzah!! Just when people were starting to get hungry too, what timing eh?

Kayles mate from uni....also called Kayleigh, which was convenient because I'm RUBBISH with names...came along with her mate Dillon. Dillon turned out to be a hero BBQ master! At every BBQ there's always someone who emerges as the master and Dillon filled those shoes perfectly. I was in awe and spent most of my time standing outside staring into the embers in fascination, soaking up the testosterone.

The food was cooked to perfection, most BBQ's I've been to are of the typical British variety where you're served up offerings fitting one of two categories:

- Raw to the point where you may have just scraped it off the pig

- Charred to the point where the sausages, burgers and chicken become entirely indistinguishable from one another in both appearance and taste.

Despite Kayleigh being upset that many people had dropped out, I thought the company was great, and not many more people would have fitted comfortably into the room. I noted definite emperor penguin type behaviour, with people rotating between the roof terrace and the flat. All very altruistic! Toms mates John and Leon turned up, Toms brother Rob and his mate Rich, Kayles mates Sasha, Lorraine, Kayleigh and Dillon. Have I forgotten anyone? I apologise muchly if I have.

The entertainment was also excellent. Tom is a Dee-Jay...did I get that right? He and his mates spent much of the night mixing tracks. There were two MASSIVE speakers out on the roof terrace blaring music into the night....which led to what must have been the highlight of the evening.....

At one point in the evening most of us were out on the roof tucking into lovely burgers and hotdogs etc, when we noticed a guy down on the pavement who was dancing to the music like he was in a trance club. We pointed him out to each other..he seemed completely oblivious to us and totally into the music, we wondered whether he was on something.

Tom's mate Luke arrived in the middle of all this and we pointed the dancing man out to him...at this point he'd been there at least ten minutes....Luke looked over and laughed, then said 'hang on a sec....that's my cousin!' We thought he was kidding until he called out the guys name and he looked up, waved and headed towards the pub (this place is above a pub by the way).

Luke ran downstairs to meet him, but, and this is the most surreal moment of the night, as I was chatting away to Kayleigh and some others, I suddenly saw him emerge onto the roof over a wall. He'd just climbed up the wall! Like some kind of SpiderPig.

Amazing.

He stayed a while, and for your enjoyment here's a little vid of Tom and Luke on the decks and the other Tom (I believe that was his name but as I said...bad memory for names) dancing away in the background.

Classic, great evening!