Savoring Lately
Getting dressed, is therapy.
25,000 climate conversations, is a pledge we took as a group at CCL to make climate a part of the every day discourse with friends, family and colleagues. I am logging my climate conversations with my outfits here.
Climate conversation of the day : Lamented to a colleague about how popular posts on substack are skewing towards climate misinformation, just like any other platform.
Climate Conversation of the day : “Chunky soles help when carrying my heavy grocery bags home from the store. I am trying to get my 10,000+ steps per day distributed over all the waking hours of the day with some functional weight training thrown in.” This is shoe talk with a girlfriend, but a drive-less climate conversation in disguise.
Climate conversation of the day : Took the train+bus to the Stern Grove to see the SF Symphony perform. Several of our friends opted out because driving to the venue was not an option. (In the midst of housing crisis, should the city use its valuable land to provide more parking lots to the suburbanites ? Do the suburbanites have the right to pollute the air in a walkable city with their cars and punish the humans living more sustainably in urban dense regions ? ) Conversation with my husband : “In the Indian sub-culture we grew up in, public transit is for “them”. Taking the bus or to walk, is seen as beneath oneself. How are we to reduce climate harm with this attitude ?” His response : “We will do our part. I want an entire gallery wall in our house dedicated to transit maps. We will take our nieces who are visiting soon, on trains, ferries and busses.” This conversation touched toxic femininity where he is judged if he doesn’t “provide” (offer to chauffeur in soul sucking traffic with his time and energy spent behind the wheel). Patriarchy !
Climate conversation of the day : A friend was discussing our state electric provider’s clean energy transition strategy. It costs a lot, is a very slow and the politics painful. Prolonged that conversation by listening.
Climate conversation of the day : Asked a stranger for the names of the trees in her front yard. She showed delight when answering this question.
Climate Conversation of the day : A friend was “what-bout China and India”-ing to oppose climate action in America. Mentioned cross-border carbon tax as a solution that is already being implemented in Europe and Canada to some capacity. I asked them to call our senators and express support for the bills stalled in congress, if they feel this strongly about China and India.
Climate conversation of the day : Ma girlfriend and I spent sometime bookmarking plant-based lunch places around Oakland. Ethiopian places are our go-to for comfort food.
Climate conversation : A lady at the dog park got sweet potato based treats for her dog. I asked for a sample and we discussed insect based dog food.
Dear reader, do join in on the pledge or make a pledge of your own with a group you are a part of. Please keep climate in your thoughts, prayers, protests and actions.
I've never thought about it, but climate and climate-adjacent topics do occur more often in my life than I realised, and it's encouraging to realise that if we were all just a bit more intentional in our actions and everyday chats with people, we might move some mental needles.
My partner and I don't own a car and it's always tempting to use our shared car membership whenever we are going somewhere beyond our neighbourhood train line (changing lines instantly adds 20 minutes to any journey because the connecting trains don't always line up), but this year I've been trying to plan our journeys better so that we can avoid the temptation of driving, and eventually it becomes more of a habit. We picked our home for its proximity to public transport and I am really glad we did, so we should use it more!
My dog is basically vegan with the exception of a small dollop of yogurt to his food after being diagnosed with allergies to chicken ( and I wasn’t even going to try red meat options).
He eats Halo plant based dry and wet food ( lentils, chickpeas, brown rice etc).
His treats are also Halo ( oats and blueberry, sweet potato and quinoa).
He is perfectly healthy although this diet may not be recommended for a puppy under 12 months.