Walk: Improve your health and the planet

Bob Ewing — Two years ago, I made a two-fold pledge to lose weight and to keep my blood glucose levels in line. My doctor had just prescribed insulin injections, twice a day, and I was determined to keep the amount I needed to a minimum and hopefully, one day, no longer need the injections.



This pledge has an additional benefit — weight loss. In the past month, I have lost three pounds. This may not seem like a lot to you; however, if you want to take off weight and keep it off, your goals need to be realistic and ones you can achieve without adding undue stress to your daily life. Over the past six years, I have lost 50 pounds.

The weight loss was accomplished by eating fresh, seasonal foods and mostly by walking. I walk daily, except in extreme weather. Walking is not just my means of exercise but my principal mode of transportation. This means that I do not drive, own a car, but rely on my feet to get me from place to place.

In May, I added a daily morning work out, 15 minutes in duration, with a pair of dumbbells (weights). They only weigh two and a half pounds; however, I will increase the weight when needed.

Walking is healthy. It will help you lose weight. It is also good for the environment as the walker is not pumping any noticeable amount of fossil fuels into the environment. This may sound facetious to you but think about it for a minute, if more people left their cars at home and walked, rode a bicycle or took public transport to work, the cumulative effect of their actions could be significant. So I set an example. This is a win-win scenario, good for me and good for the environment, which is good for me and my neighbours.

The other part of my weight loss scenario is food. Avoid anything that comes in packages or cans; be sure too recycle all packing purchased when possible; canned tomatoes and cereal boxes, for example.

Composting and recycling reduce the garbage produced and both actions produce raw material that could be used to regenerate a local economy. In addition, recycling and composting reduce our impact on the earth and help build soil.

Buy products when they are in season, blueberries, strawberries, apples and am able to purchase these items from a small shop that buys from growers which are for the most part located within 100 miles of where I live. This means that the food I buy does not travel thousands of miles to get to the store but under 100, sometimes much less.

A farmer’s market recently opened in the city and I now have access to grass fed local beef and chicken and fresh vegetables.

Walking is healthy not just for the walker but for the community he or she is walking through. Good shoes and loose fitting clothing are all that is needed. Make a difference in your health and reduce your impact on the earth by making a few lifestyle changes.

A Permaculture Lifestyle: Part One

Bob Ewing - There is no such thing as a free lunch. If you plan on living a low impact lifestyle, you must understand this.

Everything we do has a cost. Money may not exchange hands but there is a transaction taking place when we undertake any action. We will not always be aware of the extent of our affect on the world around us, but this lack of awareness does not negate the fact that we do, indeed, effect our environment. Some affects are positive others are negative.

Permaculture recognizes and maximizes beneficial relationships while minimizing or eliminating harmful ones. My choices do matter as do yours, so it is important to understand that all we do has a cost or produces an affect.

Take transportation. We all need to get from one place to another, whether it is to work, shopping, going out for dinner, or visiting friends and relatives; we all need to move from our home to other locations, school, hockey, piano lessons and so on. The list can go on and on. Our mode of transportation can have a major impact on our environment, pollution being one of the most obvious affects.

If you are committed to living a low impact life, then begin with how you get around town. Do you drive, take public transport, ride a bicycle or walk, for example.

Walking is how I get around town; it is as low an impact as you can get for personal transportation. I emit very little greenhouse gas when I walk and use almost no fossil fuels.

My wife also walks. Our choices have consequences that some may not at first consider. One, were we presently live there is no public transit. The city is simply too small to make public transit viable. This means we would need to buy a car, use taxis everyday, both to and from work, or pick a place to live that is in a reasonable walking distance to where she works. This in bad weather is ten minutes.

The weather here gets nasty, winter is long and it get down to minus 30 Celsius on a regular basis. Snow storms and heavy rain and winds are common in season. Appropriate clothing is essential; this includes boots and coats, plus a variety of layers for warmth.

Walking to work also means buying or renting a home that is located within that ten minute radius. This limits selection. We are fortunate that her work place is close to our doctor, grocery shopping and downtown so we rarely need any other mode of transportation than our feet, but the quality, affordable housing stock in this area is limited.

The upside, we have the financial freedom that walking brings; no worries about car payments, car insurance, car repairs; no pumping greenhouse gas into the atmosphere to get to work and back or to go grocery shopping or get a coffee, a great coffee shop is within easy walking distance, as is all else we need on a regular basis.

One of our major social problems is the design of our urban centres. They are stretched out and everything is miles away from everything else. This creates a situation where a personal transportation means, such as a car, is far more convenient that taking a bus; walking takes too long and the distances are too great, and bicycling, while a good option, requires bike lanes, weather gear and a change room at the work place so you can get out of your riding clothes and into your work clothes.

Our cities, villages and towns are not likely to get redesigned anytime soon, but we can redesign our lives, next week we will begin to look at how we can apply permaculture design methods to everyday living including transportation.