One of the drawbacks to being alone on a rowboat is that there isn’t very much to do apart from, well, row. So on a day like today, when there isn’t any rowing to be done because the sea anchor is out, it’s a slow day for news.

In fact, I spent part of today wondering just why I do this. There must be more effective ways to get the good green word out there. I could have been online, or networking at a conference, or writing articles. However, it occurred to me that the number of waking hours that I spend at sea this year will probably not be so much more than the number of waking hours that the average person spends watching TV, or the average gamer spends playing computer games, and suddenly this doesn’t seem like quite such a waste of time.

This is rather a short blog. I reckon a good blog post should say what it has to say, and then stop. So I will.

Other Stuff:

I hear it is the Slow Living Summit conference in Vermont this week. Today slow living is something I know all about. A big hello to all the delegates, and to Bill McKibben and all the good folk of 350.org.

And an inspiring quote to get your week started – one of my favourites:
“If you think you’re too small to have an impact try going to bed with a mosquito.” (Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop)

Photo: me in my NOW hat: No Opportunity Wasted, courtesy of Phil Keoghan, presenter of The Amazing Race.

Sponsored Miles:

Christopher Senn. (Some miles unsponsored.)

31 Comments

  • Hi Roz,

    I am Tim’s mom. Tim talked to me many times about you. Needless to say
    I was estounded by your rowing, Tim, equally as me. All for a just
    cause, the environment. My would like to invite you to our home, Tim’s
    home. We are  still in shock from the loss and have not thought througth
    ways we can honor Tim’s memory. I will follow your blog. Stay safe,
    one loss is too many. Bye for now, Julie Jackson-Ray.

  • Hi Roz,

    I am Tim’s mom. Tim talked to me many times about you. Needless to say
    I was estounded by your rowing, Tim, equally as me. All for a just
    cause, the environment. My would like to invite you to our home, Tim’s
    home. We are  still in shock from the loss and have not thought througth
    ways we can honor Tim’s memory. I will follow your blog. Stay safe,
    one loss is too many. Bye for now, Julie Jackson-Ray.

    • Hey @fcbbffebe60a5c6930cac95107469af4:disqus :

      Speaking for Roz’ “Rozlings” here, All of our thoughts are with you and yours. As I said on his tribute page, I personally never had the opportunity to meet Tim- even having studied very similar things, way back when, at Miami’s RSMAS… The more I read of Tim, the more I was staggered by the loss his loss could be IF we do not carry on his studies and legacy – which many will, I am sure!

    • Julie, very sorry for your loss. As a parent who lost a child I offer my condolences and any help I can give. If you are in the US look up the local chapter of Compassionet Freinds. They were a great help and saved my sanity. I wish I could have met Tim.

  • Roz: Please chalk this up to a comatose loss of some specifics regarding important memories… The same grandfather I grew up with on Martha’s Vineyard who used to end each days with, “Today was a great day, Let’s make tomorrow even better!”, also said something that fits your blog today! I have forgotten the exact quote – Sort of a “Those who can, Do…” type quote. But the gist was, The people who change the world are not the masses of talking and writing “Heads”, They are those who go out and make personal “statements” that change their world, spurring on others to do what THEY can personally to DO the same – rather than talking or writing about it only! So you ARE doing a great and important thing with ALL of these rows – NEVER FORGET what these rows have spurred other Rozlings on to do… Rozlings have listed some things they have done as a result of your example… Hope more will do that right here and now!!! Ra Ra went the crowd…

  • Good to be allowed to “slow down and smell the roses” sometimes.
    As promised this row is quite reflective. Keep up the reflecting and your spirits. 
    Much rain here at the moment. 
    Off to Thailand soon … anybody know how an ordinary Aussie can offset his carbon from air travel. I’m already an avid tree planter, composter, and mulcher.
    Jim Bell (NSW Australia)

    • @jimbellofbelmont:disqus some will say this is a stupid minor way, But tell your neighbors that they are welcome to add to (and possibly remove what they need from) your “Compost” and “Mulch” piles IF they do not want to start their own… For each “Neighbor” who does this you have cut your/their carbon-footprint in half in this way at least – and it is quite simple…

      • Excellent idea! I just had a wonderful conversation along those lines with a young fellow who came up to Vermont from DC to attend a tiny house building seminar … he is actually a self-described “computer geek” concerned about getting back to basics.

        He spent the weekend learning design and carpentry fundamentals, while surviving rain, bugs, mud, cold, thunder, lightning, wet, hot, humid, out-of-doors natural conditions … relying on others, building community, sharing, supporting, encouraging, team work. 

        Sharing compost is a form of this … and will be a fundamental element that will keep society knitted together as this bubble in The Anthropocene moves forward to whatever comes next. 

        Thanks, Richard! And thanks Jim for bringing up the issue.

        • @UncaDoug:disqus & @jimbellofbelmont:disqus Not knowing Jim’s neighborhood, But if he has one neighbor on each side, and one behind, and they share the compost and mulching pile, Then They have cut their carbon-foot print on this quite a bit, and it would be convenient to all… A Win, Win.

      • Sounds do-able.

        Here at home we have “Council cleanup days” “rubbish” is put out for collection but in the days leading up to collection a GREAT deal of said “rubbish” is picked up to be either reused or recycled.

        I’m fond of collecting cuttings that have been discarded as green waste, I’ve several plants in my garden that were on the side of the road.

        Cheers Jim Bell

  • Roz began to wonder, “What’s The Point?”
    “I’d rather be watching the tube in some nice joint”
    Her Rozlings said, “Don’t Be Silly!”
    “Please don’t think of things so willy-nilly!”
    “You are changing the world We all shouted with an explanation-point!”

    • REALLY Stupid Typo!

      Roz began to wonder, “What’s The Point?”
      “I’d rather be watching the tube in some nice joint”
      Her Rozlings said, “Don’t Be Silly!”
      “Please don’t think of things so willy-nilly!”
      “You are changing the world We all shouted with an exclamation-point!”

  • roz, where you at girl? how can we follow where you are? would love to know, and see your progress.goodluck girlfraaan

    • @9c5c6cdb792630ad8e431eed243a11c0:disqus Welcome to the group… This question has been answered lots of times now – if you read Roz’ archived Blogs you will see the same question lots of times… On the Indian Ocean leg of Roz’ World Row, Piracy is a huge risk! So for her security, No tracking is being posted…

  • One of my favorite old chuckles just popped back to this post-comatose mind… And Roz seems to like good chuckles from time-to-time…

    “The Pilot, An old Priest, A young Hippie, and Henry Kissinger were on a small plane. There were only three parachutes on-board.  Something terrible goes wrong with the plane. The Pilot runs back, Grabs one of the parachutes, and says, “I am The Captain, But I’m not going down with my ship!” as he jumps out. Henry Kissinger grabs one of the parachutes and says, “I am the smartest man in the world, I have to live!” as he jumps out. The old Priest looks at the young Hippie and says, “I am old, You are young, I would die soon anyway. You take the parachute. The young Hippie smiles and says, “Hey Father, Don’t worry about it! The Smartest Man In The World just jumped out of this plane with my knapsack!”

  • Roz – found this and thought of you today… “He who postpones the hour of living rightly is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.”~ Horace

  • Hey Rozlings, I need your help – in answering a question that I have had for a long time “conservation-wise”… As I was just making my PB&J for lunch (I am sort of forced to live on PB&J these days, several meals a day, until this medical mess is resolved) I was reminded of this old question I have had. Most American Community/City/Town Recycling Programs require you to “Rinse Your Recyclables” before putting them in your “Recycle Bin”… Some Communities… will even fine you, or stop pickling-up your recyclables if you don’t… Now, To STUPID ME, It would seem that the temperatures needed to melt Steel, Aluminum, Tin, Glass and even Plastics for recycling would surely burn away what little PB (or whatever) that I/We cannot scrape from the container – not being able to afford to leave any behind in my case? The water needed for rinsing or washing these recyclables therefore seems unnecessarily anti-conservation of (water) resources to me? Can you explain why so many Recycling Programs require this step?

    • Hi Richard~ I think the reason to rinse out your recyclables might be more as a courtesy and to protect the workers who have to handle them. You can imagine a bin of recyclables that hasn’t been rinsed might become sticky, moldy, smelly while awaiting pick up, and might also attract flies, etc. So, I think it’s basically a sanitary thing.

      • @fc9ee911866c7760e8659b59e4e1782c:disqus that is their explanation too… I just think that, from what I have seen of these Recycling Plants, their staff wears as protective clothing as possible, and much of it is automated these days – and machines are not affected by flies, grime, goo or otherwise… And IF you want a nice clean job, anything to do with collecting, sorting, moving, burying trash of any sort, would not be the choice that you should make… And the water usage to rinse/wash recyclables, combined with the energy used to recycle these things negates a lot of the conservation reason for doing it unnecessarily…

        • Recycleables don’t always get recycled soon after collection. Depending on market conditions, there may be a wait of many months while they breed flies, rats, etcetera. I rinse my cans and things in the water left after washing the dishes. A dishwasher works, too, because you don’t have to care whether your plastic cottage cheese containers are dishwasher-safe.

          • Where’s June when we need her? Her Mum’s the recycle Queen.
            I rinse out some things (usually into the scraps bowl that goes into the compost) but believe me there is never a drop of wine left in the bottles I recycle, so they never get rinsed! 

  • Hey Roz I can so see your point, I mean… 

    You could be sat trying to imagine what the problem is like out there in the ocean, putting it into a presentation, printing it out…but running out of ink, then starting the journey to the event via car, waiting on cold station platform, walking 5 miles in the pouring rain, getting there and the projector isn’t working, presenting to people who are there to get a day off work…..

    Then starting back on a journey again…which starts with a 25 minute traffic jam, 1 hour delay on the train and the plane grounded for volcanic ash….

    Yes I can see YOU much prefering the “easier” life!!

    Girl you do this because you are challenging yourself, you are challenging all of us to wake up and to realise that the problem is not on a paper presentation but REAL.

    Sorry been a bit quiet but finals now over…listening to the podcasts has helped me stick at that revision – I mean if you can cope with that I can cope with a few intellectual property cases!!!

    Love from Yorkshire xx

  • @42a8947347a926bf43f877644593cb3d:disqus Thank You! STUPIDLY, I Had not thought of the delay… Makes perfect sense now… And I have been doing in in the dishwasher when I run loads anyway – to keep the excess water usage to a minimum… So I guess I have been doing it as “Conservatively” as possible?

  • So glad you mentioned the Slow Living Summit, Roz.

    Bill McKibben discusses the reality that this is our future in his book “Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet” which I highly recommend for Rozlings of all ages.

    The following from http://www.slowlivingsummit.org/ is an excellent summary of the concepts we will hear more about in the future, and are helpful guidance today as well.

    This simple phrase – “slow living” – expresses the fundamental paradigm shift that is underway in this age. “Slow” encodes the transformative change from faster and cheaper to slower and better—where quality, community and the future matter. 

    This summit is about slowing down and becoming more mindful of our basic connection with land, place and people, taking the long view that builds a healthy, fulfilling way of life for the generations to come. It is about common good taking precedence over private gain. 

    Let’s make sustainability and resilience a mainstream movement. We will explore the methods, tools and resources needed to build sustainability from the ground up. 

    Row slowly, Roz

  • National Public Radio did an article on utilizing the cooperative play of gamers to solve real world problems. Sorry I don’t have a link but I’m sure it could be searched.

  • Hi,
    been away for a while, came back…..to find Roz on the road again. And the community as vivid as can be.
    Glad to be back 🙂

  • I completely agree 🙂 I’ve limited myself to watching Emmerdale (Only)… which I refuse to give up. I allow myself to watch this whilst ironing… sat watching telly is a waste of a life!! Keep up the fantastic work Honey X

  • There’s very little to watch on the box anyway & who wants to come home after sitting at a computer all day to play games on one all evening… oh, what am I doing sitting here…

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