A Low Carbon Life | Post 2 2017 | Wrapping & Wondering
Autumn in southern Australia is apple harvesting season. Despite being only five years old, our little apple tree has borne a bumper crop of wonderful apples. Friends and family have received gifts of our apples but most people we know have their own substantial crop, so the issue is how to preserve them. These apples are not suitable for stewing so what are my options?
Refrigeration in a vented plastic bag is the usual way of storing apples but it does take up a lot of space and, indeed, energy. People must have known how to store apples prior to refrigeration so I looked up the method. 
It turns out that apples can be individually wrapped in paper (newspaper is fine) and then stored in a cool, dark place and so, this week, I have been wrapping apples. The less than perfect ones have been left on the bench to be eaten first because, remember the old saying, one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. Time will tell if my wrapped apples are still good to eat in a few months.
Wrapping apples is a nice thing to do, a little mindless, but nice and so while I was working on storing apples my mind wandered to wondering. Each week, thanks to my friend from the Plea Network, I receive a series of email updates from a selection of sites devoted to climate change issues. I have been receiving these emails for three or four years now and sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the reading so I scan for general ideas then read a few articles in detail. Unfortunately I am getting the strong impression that it is almost too late. Here are some recent examples:
Half a billion years since this much carbon; Crack in a Greenland glacier; Record breaking climate change; Completely unlivable; Home loans, climate change & the ANZ bank; Post apocalyptic national parks; River vanishes in four days; Barrier reef doomed
For anyone who thinks there is still a debate about whether or not climate change is occurring, and that it is due to human activity, that debate is over and is only still alive among a small minority; nobody is spending time trying to convince that minority – where they hold power, they are being worked around – it’s too late for the do you/don’t you believe discussion. This sort of wider wondering leads me to a narrower wondering; what is the point of a low carbon life? Why not party like there is no tomorrow? My answer is multi-faceted – I don’t think I know how to party like there is no tomorrow; hopefully I’m wrong and we can influence the future by living a low carbon life right now; I have to do something and living a low carbon life is one of my ‘somethings’; how can we look young people in the eye when we are doing nothing; and, we will need the skills of a low carbon life to live in the future.
Sometimes I receive emails asking me to share information. To date, I haven’t done so but today I will. One site is fun; the other is concerning (to watch this outside of Facebook, click ‘Not Now’ at the bottom of the screen). Finally, I’m not going to give up; I’m going to work harder.
Until next time, Jane