Earth Day
Yesterday was Earth day and despite being quite the self-identifying greenie I did not make a post. This because there is a deep (and I’m somewhat ashamed of this) part of my ego that thinks it’s too cool to succumb to a trend that celebrates Earth for one day a year. “EvERy DAy sHoUlD BE eARtH daY” I muttered to myself yesterday, forgetting that when people say the same kinda thing about Valentine’s Day I am VERY QUICK to roll my eyes because I’m a bitter bitch.
My brother also likes to remind me that although I vote Green, I also single-handedly contribute A LOT of greenhouse gasses to the planet with my ridiculous and insatiable need to see things that can only be accessed by air travel. Sure, I might offset my miles, volunteer my time to Extinction Rebellion and other wilderness initiatives. I might pay more money and fly the “greener option” (is this really a thing or is it some ploy that Skyscanner started doing to make me feel better?) and I might try to be as zero waste as possible, but no amount of beach cleanups, volunteer hours, money or just a general amount of nature appreciation can necessarily make up for how much I personally contribute to the destruction of our collective home.
Will I stop flying? Probably not considering I am Australian and getting off this goddamn chunk of land is difficult without flying unless you’re Greta Thunberg. But, it’s important to be aware of our contradictions and shortcomings so that we can at least consciously work to minimise them as much as possible.
And hey, travelling by train or public bus isn’t too terrible. Like remember that time I took the 9-hour bus from London to Paris last year and our driver got arrested at Lille and we were checked 3 times of illegal immigrants and I made friends with that long-haired French guy called Tom from Bordeaux who was really into Parcels? Those 12 hours later I was richer in memories (God, that’s so wanky but whatever) than I would have been if I had flown with Ryan Air from Luton - I also saved £100, which we all know I spent on wine and crepes.