Month: January 2005

Done some research on my standard of living image stream. My problem with STANDARD OF LIVING as a sustainability tool is that is often measured in terms of financial health: the quantity – in financial terms – of consumption by the members of that population. The sites posting definitions like this include the drawbacks of…

People rail about fuel- consuming unnecessarily big SUVs. I don’t. I rail against the USE of them. Example. If I were lost in a desert and needed rescuing I would be so happy for a gas-guzzling Humvee – safe, well-equipped, powerful, etc to get me out of there. Regardless of my green-ness I would not…

Researchers have shown that those who move around more in their daily lives also stay slimmer. In a way this goes against popular ideas that leanness requires a higher metabolism or hours at the gym. Not so it seems. Comparing groups of obese people with those of slim, the obese group tended to spend two…

In my quest to find out how a standard of living could be produced for all sustainably, that is efficiently and with minimum impact on the environment and health, I visited PORENA again. The country of PORENA abolished work as we know it some time ago after they realized paid work was actually fueling the…

Being one to practice what I preach, and having been looking into creating a 10,000 steps (a day) culture in organizations I started to find out my baseline. I have a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 27, weigh 93 kilos and used a pedometer for a week to see how many steps I normally take.…

Gym and sports centres don’t appeal to everyone as a way of keeping fit. The UK organization BTCV, founded in 1959 and the UK’s largest practical conservation charity, brings us the marvellous social invention of the Green Gym. The gym gets people from all ages and walks of life out working on conservation – planting…

Get walking! It is well known that intervention in nutrition and exercise produces positive results in adults at risk of high BMI (Body mass index, a measure of overweight.) It has also been demonstrated that this is possible to achieve with simple methods like increasing the number of steps the sedentary individual takes to a…

Predictions and hopes for the coming year… SLEEP. Yes, that time honoured thing we all try to get away without and end up paying a non-sustainable price will be a lot bigger in 2005. Look for companies increasingly selling a good nights’ sleep in their products, unions demanding working hours to allow for good sleep,…

Canal side walk in Lincoln, England Many times during my visit to England I was struck by the number of signposted, arranged, designated walks. From short city walk by canals and railway lines to longer walks in the national Parks. AVBP comments, designated walks are a great way to get people walking more, both in…

At end station high up in dales Wensleydale Railway plc is not only one of Britain’s newest train operating companies but also the only one run entirely by members of the local community. Locals assembled volunteers, started the company and raised more than £1M. The service runs 7 days a week and provides a lifeline…