Shrinking eco-footprint
by andrisMalaysia, 22 Sep 2006 --
I remember a concept that was getting popular a few years ago involving calculating your net individual environmental footprint including everything down to the emissions generated by transporting the food that makes up your meals from one place to another. I don’t know if this concept is still big, but it ocurred to me today that we’ve been making a pretty small footprint over the last few days.
I had this thought as I was sitting down at a strawberry farm to eat a strawberry sunday made with strawberries plucked from plants I could see from our table. Earlier in the day, my lunch at an apiary (bee farm) run by a Chinese family consisted of honey water (pretty much what it sounds like) and organic, vegetarian fried rice made with local veggies Before that I drank a cup of fantastic tea at the tea shop of the Boh tea plantation on which it was grown.
We took a bus most of the way to the tea plantation, walked the 8 km there, back to the bee farm, and on to the strawberry farm. Then we took the bus back to the town our guesthouse is in. Our primary activity for the previous two days has been walking (jungle trekking) and we’re staying in a guesthouse where the linens are only washed between guests.
Granted, I’m not going to undo the damage done by my years of capitalist, American lifestyle…but hey, it’s a start.
Categories Malaysia
September 23rd, 2006 at 12:18 am
Hi, kids,
I looked up Cameron Heights and found some interesting pictures of the tea plantation and strawberry farm, so it was fun being able to somewhat picture what you are talking about. I’m sure your pictures will be great.
Keep letting us know about your adventures!
September 27th, 2006 at 10:42 am
I read an interesting stat in the latest Harper’s Index (I bet Kuala Lampur has a stand selling Harper’s at every street corner).
- Energy, in megawatt hours, saved over thirty-five years by a bicycle rider who does not drive a car: 109
- Portion of these savings that will be used up over the extra years the biker will live: 9/10
November 1st, 2006 at 6:51 am
[…] Walter’s Brother, Mado: This guy was really smart. We stayed overnight at his house and he told us stories about the WWII Japanese occupation of Malaysia and the 1965 ‘confrontation’ with Indonesia over the border. On both occasions the Brits and the Aussies parachuted soliders in to Borneo to help prevent the invaders from attacking the Kelabit, and for that reason the white man is held in high regard with the Kelabit. Nice to see westerners doing something right for a change. Also, Mado filters his own water and uses solar panels he installed himself instead of the standard generator. I think he has the smallest eco-footprint of anyone I know. […]