Green Month x2

So COP17 inspired me to do something.  I mentioned it in my Captain Planet article. I've always been aware that I should make changes to my lifestyle to make my difference and was active a few years ago but I've become lazy. I throw away large volumes of paper without recycling, I've been doing bad things with batteries and even picking up trash that has missed the bin has become a mission. In between thinking of big ways to innovate things and save the world, you know brainstorming, I've come up with Green Month x2.

There are specific things that I'm going to try for two months. I could end up extending Green Month x2 to Green Month x12 and maybe even Green Month x∞. I'm on a mission to pick up good green habits. They say if you can do something for more than two weeks then it becomes a habit. I'm trying to quadrupley reinforce green habits.  I was going to do Green Month for just one month but then I realised that I wasn't going to be at varsity for the first month. That could spell disaster for all the hard work I did in picking up my new skills once the semester started. So it's Green Month x2. A lot of the things that I will do seem insignificant but if I can motivate you to do them too, and you can motivate your friends to join you then we're doing something right. A lot of the time we forget just how powerful collective action is.

The main aspects of Green Month are:

1. Vegetarian

Did you know that a domestic cow will emit 280 liters of methane gas each day? Methane is even worse than carbon dioxide for the atmosphere and short of setting all the cows a light we have to do something else. The idea behind going vegetarian means there is less of a demand for meat in my family. We buy less meat, you buy less meat, less cows are needed and therefore less methane is hosed into the atmosphere. 

The cows are the enemy!
Courtesy of Aerosvit

Farmers would also have to plant more vegetables to deal with the increased demand for vegetables. More plants are good for the atmosphere! We'll worry about decreasing bio-diversity due to farming some other time. My challenge for you is to also consider a vegetarian lifestyle of sorts. Cutting down on meat, more veggies and maybe even having a "Veg-out Day" every week when you don't eat meat at all that day.

2. Public Transport

We are always encouraged to use public transport to cut down on our carbon footprint. Truth is public transport is a hassle. However, I will use public transport at least once a week. This means I will walk or get onto a bus. You could do the same or try car-pooling?

3. Plant

I'm going to try my hand at gardening. The goal is not to start something I can't maintain but rather to plant two trees during Green Month x2, so a tree every month effectively. You could start a herb garden or actually tend to your dying garden.

You can help these guys if you want to.
Picture available here

4. Recycle

I don't have to explain this one. I just need to say that I'm going to get bins so I can separate things so they can be effectively recycled. Then I'll work on ways to make compost without making everywhere stink. 

5. Terrarium 

I mentioned innovative ideas about how to solve our global warming problem. Playing with a terrarium is one of the ideas I have. I just have to make one during Green Month x2. So just ignore this one, unless you feel like playing with terrariums too.

The world is really a beautiful place, we need to work together to prevent the climate change horrors that await us. 

In the meanwhile, I will save up for my bunker, build it and lie in wait for when the world's weather flips out and there is no water for you.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - The Dad Episode

I love The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I've been watching a lot of it since it's been aired on Sony Entertainment. Will is hilarious and the show has a feel good vibe. However, some episodes do leave me feeling sad because the show deals with unpleasant issues. Like the one episode when Carlton accidentally takes stimulants from Will's locker and almost dies. That was not nice. Now I should give you context about the video you're about to watch. It's one of those sad episodes. Will's dad turns up in this episode after abandoning him when he was young. They bond and are supposed to be going on a camping trip. In the start of this video, the dad is in the process of leaving Will without telling him. Will Smith helped co-write the script for this scene. He was drawing from personal experience because his dad had left when he was a baby and when he became famous because of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air he turned up like nothing had happened. At 2:04 Will goes off script, so everything that happens after that is real. He was supposed to play it off and walk off but then he carried on. This performance perhaps formed the fundamental core of Will Smith's acting career because he realised that not everything has to be scripted and he could draw on emotions to make things more real.

Will's Father Leaves Again... by K1NG-M

Where am I from? I am from...

Some say where you're from is determined by your place of birth

Available here

Some say where you're from is where you've lived longest.

"Tell me I'm not the greatest North Korean ever lived. Go ahead. I dare you." - Photo available here

Some say where you're from is where your father is from.

Some people have different answers for each one of those definitions of where you are from. 

I am one of those people. 

Growing up in a multi-cultural home is amazing because you get to have such a broad worldly view. You learn to have respect for different cultures and nationalities at a young age. However, we all know that everything has a trade-off. Where you gain in experiencing different cultures, you lose a sense of personal definition of where you are from. This is what I was struggling with. I recall when I was younger my mom used to warn me that one day I was going to struggle with finding my identity. I used to shrug this off as future me's problems. This year I realised that her warnings all those years ago were present day problems because I am future me. I was only really aware of this when I wrote the article about Cape Town and why I should have moved there, read point 1.1, and because I have visited both of my parents' homes in the space of a year.

I live in South Africa. I was born in Country A and my parents are from Country X and Country Y (side note: I'm paranoid about identity theft, so the countries will be labelled like that). I have a limited understanding of my mom's language, my dad's language and Afrikaans because it was drilled into me for 9 years but I will tell you that I only speak English. It was the language that my parents met each other with, are fluent in and what was convenient at home because neither had the time to teach me their languages. 

Now because of this upbringing and where my family is from I am expected to fit into four boxes of where I am from.

I'm supposed to be that South African black girl who speaks Zulu, Sepedi, Sotho or Xhosa. Most specifically Zulu because my nickname mean "ours" in Zulu. The fact that I only speak English and have an understanding of Afrikaans is not good enough and on more than one occasion I have been called a "Coconut". I subsequently hate that word because I am not.

I'm supposed to be that Country A girl with citizenship but I'm not. I was just born there so I cannot claim that either.

I'm supposed to be that Country X girl who is completely mindful of culture and is of course fluent in Language 1. 

I'm supposed to be that village girl who understands all Country Y culture and of course speaks Language 2. 

What I'm trying to highlight here is that people, most people, seem to determine where you're from based on languages you speak. That is a problem for me now, isn't it? It's why I've felt I've never fitted anywhere, especially when I go to my many homes. I do realise that I'm not the only one who feels like this. The beauty of this is that I met a whole group of people who were just like me in high school. I was only aware that I was different when I wasn't in school, when I went to university. When people ask me to define myself in a short paragraph, normally at interviews, I break out into a cold sweat and ramble on about my parents' jobs and my family.  

I made the decision that I'm either going to stay in South Africa when I graduate or go abroad with a friend. I'm most likely moving. When I go I don't want to be confused about where I'm from because that will eventually lead to an identity crises. With this in mind, I think my parents were wise in taking me to see Country X and Country Y these past two December holidays. It's good to know where I come from and being from both countries I can now complete my identity definition and not waffle as I used to. My mom says that knowing where you're from grounds you. She's right. With conviction I can say: I come from Town B, Country Y, Town A, Country X and I am South African. 

I hope all people who struggle with the "Where am I from"  bit of their Identity sort themselves out. Sometimes it's not about joining a side but forging a new one because you are not only defined by one side. 

How to Leave the Planet - Douglas Adams

1. Phone NASA. Their phone number is (713) 483-3111. Explain that it's very important that you get away as soon as possible.

2. If they do not cooperate, phone any friend you may have in the White House-(202) 456-1414-to have a word on your behalf with the guys at NASA.

3. If your don't have any friends at the White House, phone the Kremlin (ask the overseas operator for 0107-095-295-9051). They don't have any friends there either (at least, none to speak of), but they do seem to have a little influence, so you may as well try.

4. If that also fails, phone the Pope for guidance. His telephone number is 011-39-6-6982, and I gather that his switchboard is infallible.

5. If all these attempts fail, flag down a passing flying saucer and explain that it's vitally important you get away before your phone bill arrives.

Douglas Adams.
Los Angeles 1983 and London 1985/1986.

Cheaters are s**t faces (soot faces)

There are plenty of shits in society. Wait, excuse my language! I meant cheats! I guess the difference is so slight that I often confuse the two.

Original image, without the editing is courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Cheating.

I'm not referring to the cheating involved when fraud cheater people do what they're good at, cheetahs or even when you attempt copyright and copyleft in an exam or test. I'm writing about cheating done within a relationship. The one that involves you doing stuff that you wouldn't do if your girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, husband or fiance was there with you. If you knew your girlfriend could have access to your Facebook inbox would you write that dirty (not dirty in a Dubstep way) message or if your boyfriend could see you enjoying that drunken hook-up with a guy you just met would you do it? No, you wouldn't. If you still would carry on with your crap behaviour then ask yourself if you should be in a relationship. Also, maybe, Tybalt should have stabbed you instead of Mercutio (doucheface).

Society has made it okay to cheat. It has become something that you should expect. There's science to back up why men do it, musicians sing about and say "It wasn't me" and marriage has become an extended long relationship. I still don't think it's okay. I hope I'm not the only one who still thinks that. I believe in people from an age ago that would stick together forever. You know those cute but incredibly creepy photos of old people kissing? I believe in things like that. There's something righteous about resisting temptation if you know it's the correct thing to do. There's something amazing about choosing to stay faithful. Cheating is a choice you make.

What irks me is how far some people are willing to go to cheat. Did you know that, "I'm sorry, I have a boyfriend," has never worked for me (even when I was dating someone)? When I use it as an excuse to get away from guys I don't particularly want to be near, I say it convincingly. I don't know how many times I have heard this response: "It's okay, it's not cheating if he doesn't know." You would think that the  boundary of a relationship would keep someone away from you but it has never worked. People have no sense of what is right anymore. A joke I used to laugh at:

Reasonable guy: "Dude she has a boyfriend..."
Fool: "Yeah so? Soccer has a goalie, doesn't mean you can't score."

Guess you didn't manage to score this time (Edwin van der Sar)

On December 1st, World Aids Day, my mom mentioned that there was new data coming in about the groups of people with the highest rate of new infections. The one that bothered me was the category of married women. You wonder how they fall into the high-risk category? A majority of the women reported to have contracted HIV as married women had only slept with their husbands in the past year, not other men. That means that their husbands not only cheated on them but also contracted HIV from somewhere and passed it onto them. That's a double-whammy of horror! The ultimate betrayal.

Why shouldn't you cheat even though it's 'okay'? Firstly, you are aware that it destroys the other person and gives them a host of insecurities that they carry into their next relationship. That person becomes that naggy, insecure girlfriend who questions you when you want to go to the bathroom or that guy who will come with you to a girls' night out. By cheating you also tell that person that they weren't good enough and fell short in some area. However, as everyone falls short, I believe that you happened to fall shortest (if I can say that) because you're a cheating mess who was too cowardly to do anything about your current relationship. You're also limiting yourself. If you're not happy in that relationship and feel a need to cheat then why are you still there? You could meet so many more awesome people if you were single.

My honest feelings are:
- If you want to cheat. Don't date.
- Don't double-time someone, choose one and stick with them.
- If you do mess up (as in a once off stupid drunk mistake), be honest.
- If you loved them then you wouldn't do it.

So I hope you think twice about shitting (cheating) and that you join me in trying to fix the sordid mess our society has created. I do believe in values and morals and not all this darkness and lust that destroys everything we touch.  

Captain Planet, he's a hero! We gotta take pollution down to 0.

The world, specifically South Africa, has been focused on COP 17. Nations have been trying to come up with solutions to the combat climate change, enforce climate justice and find ways to prepare nations that will get most affected by climate change during this conference. I am aware that certain organisations, like the Global Humanitarian Forum, have been trying to enforce climate justice without much success for a while now. The Global Humanitarian Forum (link) was headed by Kofi Annan and the Swiss Government. GHF featured speakers such as: Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu, Wangari Maathai, Mary Robinson and Dr Samual Kobia. It was supposed to be officially launched in 2009 to demand decisive action at the post-Kyoto Protocol talks later on that year.

Nothing happened there, in fact the program was shut down in 2010. This further enforced my idea that we all need to make a difference. I'm not saying that we should become radical Greenpeace people but we have to try something. Every single small thing you do adds up if everyone does a *small thing. Friends of the Earth is one such organisation with this mind.
Friends of the Earth are an international organisation dedicated to educating people about Climate Change and things they can do to help slow it down. They also make use of petitions to make wins for planet earth. Here's a link to their UK website (http://www.foe.co.uk/) and also to their South African website (http://www.groundwork.org.za/). I have never heard of Ground Work before (the South African version of Friends of the Earth) but I'll be sure to get involved with them. They made this video with Catsnake, a film production company, that I'd like you to see. The video forms part of their campaign to halve rubbish in landfills by getting it recycled.

*For instance I will try: recycling at home, brainstorm ideas for products that could assist with the climate change crises and start saving for my bunker in Mount Kilimanjaro for when the effects of climate change are severe.

A Love Story… In Milk from Catsnake on Vimeo.

Made by Catsnake (www.twitter.com/CatsnakeFilm) on commission from Friends of the Earth (www.foe.co.uk).

www.foe.co.uk/lovestory

Written and produced by Stephen Follows (www.stephenfollows.com)
Directed and edited by Danann Breathnach (http://vimeo.com/danannbreathnach)
Music composed by Michael Csanyi Wills

New Blog - Drop Your Drink

So I finally managed to split my blog in two. It will make far more sense now. I came up with a new name and chose Blogger over Wordpress. Go check it out at drop-your-drink.blogspot.com. I already imported some of the relevant articles from Erase Nothing to it and I'm working on two articles that are going to be awesome to read.

[Insert words about being indecisive about Erase Nothing]

I want to split my blog in two. 
I think it's too haphazard as it is. 
My personal stuff is getting in the way of the entertainment and because of that I've been thinking of what to do. I have three brain trending topics:


a) I don't know what to call the new one 
b) Should I change my blogging platform 
c) Should I bother creating the new blog or should I decide to write for another blog like We-Are-Awesome, Dont Party or I Love P Town.

a) Naming blues
The problem I have with naming the new one is that it has to cover a range of things. Below is the structure of the "new" Erase Nothing vs. the structure of the new blog. You'll see it still covers a wide range of things. Erase Nothing will finally simplified and not as random.

b) Blogging Platforms
The two options are Blogger and Wordpress. I never really considered Tumblr because I write too much and I'm not too keen on the reposting. I really like Blogger because it's convenient. It links to my gmail account and Google+. There is a lot of support for it, it is extremely easy to support multiple Blogspot blogs and all the awesome people seem to have it too, like Vinny from Jersey Shore. Yes, I think he's awesome (shut up). He's the smart one in that bunch.
However, I was checking out Blogger's tab functionality and what irks me is that any tabs you add onto your blog cannot be separate pages. They are static and don't update unless you work on them yourself. I don't think I'm making any sense but someone will understand what I mean. 


Then I checked out Wordpress after discovering this flaw with Blogger and even went as far as to create sleepwhenyouaredead.wordpress.com (this link will probably not work after I deactivate it). I liked that the tabs could update themselves and that there appears to be far more support for Wordpress blogs. However, Erase Nothing has to stay and I don't know if it's worth switching between blogging platforms.


c) Scrap the new blog
This one is hard to do because I don't think I'll like being told what to write about and when. I know that between the three major blogs I mentioned I would get to meet a lot of people and (this is going to sound corny) I wouldn't mind being part of something that reaches thousands of people everyday and in the case of We-Are-Awesome inspires others (me). 


So I don't know. I guess I'll pretend to think about it so I can do nothing. That works for me.