coup d'tea

The week of no carbon is done with…

As with every week that I’ve undertaken so far on this Lenten journey, I find myself in an entirely new position than the one I would have declared myself in previously. No Carbon has been difficult on a number of levels, but essentially what it has done has…

a) reminded me of how I never previously used a car (and rarely a bus or train) and…

b) made me reassess just how much I use one now.

In the town I grew up in, it would take 40 minutes to walk from one end to the other. This was undertaken on a daily basis with absolutely no thought; walking with my cd player if I had time, cycling if I was in a rush. I would see my friends and neighbours on the way, as well as get to know about everything that was taking place in the town.

Nowadays, my walk from my house to the centre of the city, where almost everything takes place is the same, about 40 minutes, yet I can count on my fingers how many times previous to this week that I have made the journey under my own steam. For what reason? I’ll often wait twenty minutes for the twenty minute bus ride. The car takes perhaps slightly less time, but if traffic isn’t good, it can take much much longer, and this doesn’t consider costs, fitness and interaction with the world at all.

I anticipated that this week was all about environmental issues, but in truth, those ideas have been reinforced, but also superseded by notions of what individual travel has taken away from our existence. We now live not by weather, or tides, or seasons, but by traffic lights, the whims of public transport, other drivers and roadworks. I for one am delighted to find that control can be mine once again!

any thoughts?! http://sevenweeksoflent.com

4 April 2011 ·

• Tags
• lent
• no carbon
• cycling