I bought a royal blue Patagonia jacket with a red lining in 1983. I wore it for several years. Three of my children claimed ownership and fought over it. After 25-years it still looked new. The only reason we don’t have it anymore is because it was lost or, even more likely, stolen.
I have a black Patagonia jacket that had a little tear on the sleeve. I took it into the Halifax store and sent it for repairs. It came back good as new and without a repair charge. I continue to buy various items of Patagonia clothing. I will never need another raincoat, polar fleece sweater, or jacket again. If I do want to change up items in my Patagonia collection, there will be takers in my family or I can donate them to charities.
All of this is by way of introduction to a couple of themes that will be recurring.
The “Buy better, buy less” mantra can apply to anything we consume. It is difficult to apply “repair, reuse”when shopping for food but we can buy and waste less, and recycle. Coffee grounds are great for your garden or sprinkled in your house plants. We have organic composting in Montéal so there isn’t much garbage bound for the land fill from our home.
I have had “environmentalist religion” for may years now but it was a bit like my Catholicism – largely unpracticed. Over the past few years world events, personal circumstances, documentaries, food channels, and casual observation have increased my attendance at the environmental church.
We can all do something for our environment by being better consumers.
Buy better, buy less, reduce, repair, reuse and recycle. Shop local, support local businesses, buy from local farms, and support local artisans and manufacturers. As always, wear face masks as required, wash your hands, practice social distancing, hydrate, and exercise.
Anastasia Mourogova Millin, March 5, 2024 Earth’s urban population will grow by 2.5 billion people over the next 30 years. Over the same time period, urban land expansion put at risk the survival of 855 different species and will threaten the homes of over 30,000 animal and plant species. Add in the impact of climate […]
Co-working space came to mean the notorious We Work model. When I had been asked to opine on co-working I tried to steer the conversation away from the Adam Neumann / Softbank flimflam growth model. Instead, I suggested that property owners look at usage and users. While I doubted We Work’s ability to survive I […]
Before I fall completely into the trap of opposition politics, I have decided to take a break from never-ending criticism and to start suggesting solutions to the affordable housing conundrum. Do I have a plan? No, more a collection of ideas To start with, I think there are three key issues: Home ownership is not […]
I know! I am going to sound like a grumpy old man. Maybe that is because I am. I have been scratching my head in wonderment at the Taylor Swift phenomena. Is she an Incredible song writer, composer, and performer? I really don’t know! A discussion for another time? But probably not. At my age […]
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We were visiting Glasgow (literally that Dear Green Place in Gaelic) to see where my father was born, grew up, and went to University. Fortunately for me, my cousin John from Australia had just visited and had met with historians, Bruce Downie and Norry Wilson. So, we too arranged to meet them in the Govanhill […]