Dear Mr Prime Minister...

If Given the opportunity to speak with Herr Rudd about some serious problems we face today... this is what I, as a pro-cyclist/possibly hippy, would say:

I'll be blunt here. The world at large faces great potential problems in relation to a lack of concern for our environment and all the potential problems which will occur if global warming continues down its spiraling path. At the same time our country, among other developed countries, faces a growing problem in the form of the obesity epidemic. Obesity causes a range of problems from the distinctly physical such as diabetes, to the more psychological, such as hormonal imbalances leading to many problems such as depression. It’s been statistically proven that obese people are far less productive at work than their healthier counterparts and honestly is this such a surprise?

My proposal is simple, and helps to address both problems; the general health of our citizens as well as our environment. I feel strongly that we should further encourage cycling as a form of transport. Cycling will mean that there are less people in cars, resulting in less pollution. It will also lead to a healthier population who were less likely to be obese, depressed or suffer from common problems related to a lack of exercise.

Just think of the potential benefits that cycling can bring! People would be more productive and most likely more content. The environment would be all the better off and it would probably also lead to a change in how society thinks. Cycling promotes a more sustainable way of life in general, with the basic notion being that you yourself are creating the energy needed to get around. Cycling as a way of commuting allows individuals to feel that they are doing something positive for their bodies, their wallets and their environment, all while going from point A to point B.

I suppose the big question we have to ask is, so how do we encourage cycling? Well, despite Australia as a whole having desirable weather for cyclists we really do seem to lack cyclist friendly infrastructure. More bicycle lanes, more facilities for cyclists to use such as places to change in and more bicycle racks will all help to make a difference. Indeed I know that the government in countries like the UK are now paying people to lose weight. This is ridiculous. Think how much better that money could be employed by encouraging cycling and promoting awareness of it as a better alternative to driving.

Indeed instead of paying people to lose weight, maybe they should subsidise people who ride bikes. I believe the Chinese government does. Raising awareness about cycling and cyclists and the good they are doing for themselves and everyone else by helping the environment should also be stressed. The solutions I have proposed have been rather simple, but generally speaking I think that simple solutions often work more effectively than complex ones. By making cycling easier to do through creating more cyclist friendly infrastructure (most importantly cycle lanes) more people will be encouraged to take up cycling as a form of transport, which in turn will help spread the idea of cycling as a viable form of transport and make it more acceptable within our society.

I’ve given you a way to tackle serious environmental and health problems all while empowering the people of Australia and encouraging positive change. The question now is, will you take this idea and run with it?

Kangaroo Meat – Good For You AND the Environment:

Kangaroo meat is one of natures many wonders. I know it sounds a bit bizarre, and if you don’t live in Australia probably very foreign, but the facts remains that Kangaroo meat is an excellent choice of meat. It is both nutritionally beneficial for humans as it as well as being far better for the environment than other livestock, specifically cattle, which is probably the most eaten meat and also happens to cause the most environmental damage. If you are an enlightened citizen and aware of the importance of both your own health and that of the environments then Kangaroo is certainly for you. Admittedly its flavour is rather gamey, but this need not be a barrier to eating it. While many find it a unique flavour at first but then quickly develop a a taste for it.

So why is kangaroo so nutritionally superior to other meats Sam? Well, Firstly kangaroo is an incredibly lean meat by nature (probably has something to do with the fact that kangaroos jump around a lot and eat grass and not grains, therefore not developing excess unneeded fat). However as I mentioned in “"Fats: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly as well as Potentially Life Threatening:” fats aren’t all bad. It’s the saturated and particularly trans fats that we have to avoid. Well almost all products which are in their natural form like fresh vegetables and fruit as well as meat will contain for all intensive purposes absolutely not trans fat. Fats found in natural produce tend to contain only limited amounts of saturated fat and more of the unsaturated fats (poly unsaturated and mono unsaturated), which makes them appropriate for a healthy diet. Many unprocessed animal products however have quite high amounts of saturated fat, and typically far less in the way of mono saturated fats. This also holds true for traditional dairy products.

Some meats such as chicken and turkey are very low in fat by nature. Certain cuts of beef can be lower in fat too, but generally speaking red meats as well as pork have higher amounts of fat than other meats. One great meat source is of course fish. Certain fish such as tuna, salmon and sardines not only contain very low amounts of saturated fat but also contain higher amounts of the healthier unsaturated fats including the now rather famous Omega-3. Omega-3 in itself has been proven to be an exceptionally amazing fatty acid and I have written a whole article entitled “Omega-3: Something Smells Fishy, What’s all the Hype About?”, due to its amazing health benefits.

Now Kangaroo is a particularly interesting meat in that it is both a red meat but also incredibly lean by nature. Not only that but the little fat it does have contains quite a substantial amount of the healthier unsaturated fats. Due to its overall low fat content however Kangaroo can be overcooked easily, and hence be tough. This will take some mastering but once you’ve got the hang of it a Kangaroo steak is treat to behold… or be-eat as the case may be. Obviously Kangaroo meat is an excellent source of protein and has particularly high levels of iron & zinc. It also has practically not cholesterol and contains a healthy fatty acid known as “Conjugated linoleic acid” (CLA). While essentially all of the things about Kangaroo meat are good for you the fact that it contains good amounts of CLA is particularly interesting. Don’t only take my word for it though take the CSIRO’s: http://www.csiro.au/files/mediarelease/mr2004/kangaroofat.htm! The CSIRO site also notes that the interesting thing is not only that Kangaroo’s have high levels of CLA, but so do most grass fed animals.

CLA intake has been shown to help in reducing body-fat and do a host of other beneficial things, even reduce the risk of getting cancer. Allow me to quickly site some references. This site, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11725826?dopt=Abstract, explains how studies have linked CLA intake with lower bodyfat, yet similar bodyweight, hence not only helping humans to lower their body-fat but also increase their muscle mass. Of course the benefits would only be minor but it clearly indicates that Kangaroo is a very healthy choice of meat. Further more as http://www.adsa.org/jointabs/iaafs108.pdf explains:
“Research studies with animal models suggest that CLA reduces the risk of cancers at several sites (mammary tissue, prostrate, gastrointestinal tract, lung, and skin), reduces body fat and enhances growth of lean body mass.”

The same website (http://www.adsa.org/jointabs/iaafs108.pdf) also stresses that animals fed grain products produce less CLA. “Cows grazing on pasture had 500% more CLA content in milk compared with cows fed typical dairy cow diets containing conserved forage and grain in a 50:50 ratio.” It is indeed interesting to wonder whether feeding our primary meat sources (such as cattle) from grains instead of grass (which is what they would be naturally eating) has contributed to our obesity problem both through increasing the fat content in the cows and also through causing other changes such as the drastic drop in CLA found in grain feed cows.

Now if that’s not enough a reason to start eating Kangaroo maybe I should mention that Kangaroo’s cause far less damage to the environment than traditional meat sources such as cattle. See “Vegetarianism From a Different Perspective:” to see just how much a threat to global warming the meat industry alone causes to get an idea of what were comparing here. Firstly, realise that Kangaroos are farmed wild, which is also much more ethical. Secondly, realise that at the moment Australia has a heap of Kangaroos. While certain species are endangered most aren’t, indeed in some areas of Australia they are considered a pest. Hence Kangaroo farming began, more as a way to cull the kangaroo population than anything else. Unfortunately much of the meat has been used in pet foods as I don’t think the market for it is very big. However the market certainly should grow, especially given kangaroo’s wonderful nutritional properties.

Essentially as I argue in “Vegetarianism From a Different Perspective:” , cows create a butt load of methane (pun totally intended, even though I think a lot of it actually comes out their mouths). In contrast Kangaroos don’t, in fact their farts (or whatever you want to call them) are methane free. Hence eating kangaroos encourages fewer cattle to be eaten, which in turn makes for less cattle and reduces the output of deadly green house gasses (in the form of methane from cow farts. For those who don’t know Methane is in fact roughly 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to speeding up global warming). But wait, it gets even stranger! Kangaroo fart happens to be so methane free (due to bacteria in their gut) that scientists are in fact trying to transfer these bacteria to cow’s intestine, essentially to make them fart like kangaroos, i.e. causing less methane. Check out: http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/01/03/scientists-to-make-cows-fart-like-kangaroos/ if you wish to see where I got this information from and be mildly amused.

Kangaroo’s are also in large numbers and its believed that they are fair game (pun again intended) at the minute. Seriously, kangaroo is great stuff. I hope I have at least convinced you to go to the supermarkets and try some. If you need just a little more convincing then I have just one more thing to say. Ironically enough, Kangaroo meat is really rather cheap. In fact it’s typically much cheaper than most other meats! If I recall correctly a kilogram of kangaroo mince at Coles costs you around $7 Australian, while a kilogram of lamb costs you closer to $30.

While Kangaroo meat does have an acquired taste some certainly find it to their liking. Others adapt. It can also be cunningly used in dishes like bolognese where its distinct flavour is blunted by herbs and other ingredients. As I have stated above it is incredibly good for you, indeed it is no doubt the best of all the red meats. The only meat I would rank higher for your health would probably be fish, but given mercury poisoning problems due to ever rising pollution levels even fish can now be quite contaminated. Not only is it good for you however, it is also beneficial for the environment. Lastly its not overpriced either. So go on, have Kangaroo for dinner tonight, after writing all this to persuade you of how good it can be for you its worth at least trying!

Cycling and Your Wellbeing:

For about the last ten months I have used cycling as my primary form of transport. It’s a great thing to do for a whole heap of reasons. If I recall correctly I one day remembered that I’d been given a bicycle for my birthday and thought “I may as well use it!” At the time I only had a vague understanding of what I was really getting into. Now, after ten months, I have turned into a cycling advocate and feel the need to spread the word as everyone should know of the benefits of cycling. There are huge advantages, particularly when cycling is used as a form of transport. Allow me to clarify my claims…

We shall start with one of the most obvious benefits of cycling, exercise! Cycling is great for your health and fitness, both physically and mentally. If you commute by bike to work (or any regularly attended place) you in turn exercise on a regular basis. Exercise becomes easily intertwined with your day to day routine. Indeed for me personally cycling is more a form of transport than exercise. Many a day I have hoped onto my bike of a morning only to think: “Shit, I’m late for work, better pedal hard”. In comparison if I were to go for a run for the sole purpose of exercised I’d much more likely think: “Damn, I really don’t want to go for a run. Why can’t I do it later? It’s so hot… etc”. Clearly the commuting thought is much more productive as there is no direct quarrel in the mind with the act of cycling itself.

If exercise and transport are rolled into one you are much more likely to stick to your exercise routine, as it becomes so much more than just exercise, it becomes something with much more purpose behind it. Your motivation for cycling is to get to work, and with it you get the added bonus of staying fit! After you’ve gotten used to the initial changes of cycling to work it will seem far less an imposition. Indeed if anything you’ll most likely come to view it as a privilege, I know I do. By commuting to and from the city centre I now look forward to my cycling. I believe this may well be because of the added purpose given to the activity.

Essentially being fit and healthy is of immense importance to our overall wellbeing, so cycling helps this as a viable form of exercise. As the world is so preoccupied with weight and the obesity epidemic I should also note that if cycling becomes regular exercise and part of your routine (which will automatically happen if you become committed to commuting) it will also serve to manage your weight and keep your hormones and energy balance in check. I could go into mind numbingly complex detail as to why exercise is fantastic and has many benefits, but I’d get lost as there’s just so much to say. However feel free to have a look at “The Many Benefits of Exercise, Part 1:” for a general introduction to some of the many benefits of exercise.

One of the reasons cycling is so attractive and that I call it a “viable” form of exercise, is that it can easily be implemented into a busy schedule if is used for commuting. Almost all of us could do with a bit more exercise, and those of us fortunate enough to live and work in a small proximity (say within 10 kilometres or so) could quite feasibly ride to work and back each day. Indeed cycling is often faster than taking public transport or using a car (within the city this is)! I have written another article entitled: “How to Gain an Extra Week This Year:” which illustrates the time I would save over the course of a year if I cycled to and from work and uni, when compared to taking a car. Economic matters also come into play concerning how much extra someone would have to work per year to pay off a car rather than a bike, so check it out if you’re interested.

On the old economic front, cycling is obviously much cheaper than other forms of transport; particularly in the long term and it could greatly reduce your financial expenses. In another article "Pedalling Money – How to Save Money by Cycling:” I have demonstrated exactly how much cheaper cycling is. You may be rather surprised to see the difference, especially if you take into account ever rising petrol costs!

If you catch public transport you may be familiar (particular if you live in Sydney like me, where our public transport is poorly invested in) with crowded, dirty buses and old jam-packed trains. This too can be avoided by cycling. What’s worst however is late and unreliable public transport. I used to regularly wait for up to nearly half an hour for a bus or train (this is when going into the city or back home from it). In that same amount of time I could have quite literally ridden home! But these days I wait no longer! I only waited during my naïve younger years when I hadn’t even considered the possibility of riding a bicycle for transport reasons… I am convinced I must have been terribly sick back then to not have realised the benefits I could have gained by cycling. :P

Do you have to walk along way from your bus stop to home? You wouldn’t if you cycled. If you live far away from your work place, but there are trains, you might even consider mixing them. Particularly if you’re a few kilometres from the train station that takes you to and from work. The great thing about trains is that you can take bikes on them.

Cycling as a form of transport is also what is now often referred to as “green”. And “green” is now in. What once was hippy and rather borderline is now mainstream…well sort of anyway. Cycling doesn’t cause pollution (other than maybe the pollution in the making of a bicycle, but realise that this same process exists for all things produced in factories). The bicycle is also “The Most Efficient Form of Transport in the World:”! So cycling is clearly a good way to reduce damaging carbon emissions and create a sustainable future. Cycling would also use fewer resources (such as coal and metals etc) than other forms of transport. If everyone cycled we could even do with less infrastructure (smaller roads etc), which would again save on resources.

Lastly, and possibly most importantly, cycling will no doubt improve your general wellbeing. Yes, endorphins and feelings of wellbeing are a result of exercise, but it proves to be more than just this. Sydney University is providing a course in philosophy next year called “The philosophy of happiness” and in a sort of sneak preview my old philosophy lecturer told our class that for this course a large number of studies have been done. It’s explained further in "Cycling and the Philosophy of Happiness:” if you wish to know more, but for now you’ll have to be content to know that the studies suggested that commuting time is linked with long term happiness, and that as bike riding provides the double whammy of exercise with a typically short commuting time, it would seem to follow that it would promote long term happiness.

Let’s quickly summarise why cycling is the ultimate form of transport:
1) It will help to keep you healthy, keep your fitness levels up (and for those of us who are shallow, think about how it might help you manage your weight)
2) It is much cheaper than other forms of transport – It also allows you to avoid cramped, late, crappy and unreliable public transport (of course depending on where you are your public transport might be bearable so this wouldn’t count as much)
3) It is a time saver, in that you do your daily exercise (we’ll doctors keep saying we should be doing it daily, but most of us don’t!) at the same time as travelling, and overall end up gaining a bit more time each day than if you didn’t commute with a bike and still did the exercise. Sometimes (particularly in the city) it’s even quicker just to cycle than ride by car, regardless of exercise time even if the driver weren’t to compensate for the exercise the cyclist has done.
4) It is a sustainable form of transport that has little negative impact upon the world and is also a highly efficient form of transport.
5) Exercise has also been shown to be important for emotional wellbeing and happiness, and using your travel time more effectively could well also make you happier.

Some people will understandably voice concerns about the safety of commuting by bicycle. This is a valid argument, but one that is often blow out of proportion. The fact is that as cycling increases in popularity due to the move towards green transport and so on, and as numbers increase so too does bicycle infrastructure, bicycle safety equipment and awareness of cyclists by pedestrians and motor vehicles. The Sydney morning herald gives the example of a 50% increase in cyclists in Sydney over the last three years, with an almost non existent increase in injuries, which is pretty darned impressive. If you wish to see the link, clicky here: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/bike-riders-on-the-increase-but-road-deaths-stable/2007/10/07/1191695739443.html

Like everything in life, just be sure to use your common sense when riding a bike. Always be sure to indicate, wear a helmet, gloves, sunglasses, a reflective vest and use reflector lights. When its dark also be sure to have proper electric lights. If you do all these simple things you greatly reduce your chance of being involved in an accident, and as the number of cyclists continue to increase, the percentage of overall accidents should continue to drop with the developments that follow the increased demand for cyclist infrastructure, equipment and awareness. So hop on your bike!

How It All Ends:

More and more people are coming to realise that Global warming is a serious issue and not something to be taken lightly. I myself have done some mild research into the topic, but not enough to really warrant me lecturing you about it. However I did come across a fantastic video made by a science teacher (with a whole heap of add on videos with extra info called “The expansion pack”) which makes some excellent points. Therefore I thought I’d leave it to him to lecture you on the problems of global warming!

The video is entitled "How It All Ends" and while a bit slow to begin with its initial explanation of risk management, it then quickly develops and the science teacher who created it makes some very good and very persuasive points. While I haven’t watched many of the follow up videos they are there for all of those who might be interested in learning even more, I will no doubt watch them at a later date when I have enough time. So I strongly recommend that you all go watch "How It All Ends", right now! Even though it’s ten 10 minutes long, it’s a damn worthwhile ten minutes. After all nothing is more important than our environment and our place within it. We are after all dependent upon our environments wellbeing for our own health.

The video is very rational, concise and even humourous. It is probably one of the best brief explanations of why we need to take action that I’ve seen. The effort that has gone into the making of these videos must have been huge. Therefore I feel compelled to spread this video around to as many people as I can. The thing about global warming is that it is obviously a global problem. Hence, it doesn’t truly require great action from any individual but rather small changes from all individuals.

At Sydney University I am doing a course called “Global Studies”, and one of the first things we did at the beginning of our course was a global warming scenario where we played different countries. To cut a long story short I was Japan, the country with the second most ability to reduce carbon emissions (after the US), yet despite devoting all of my resources every turn to reducing global warming we did not stop the foreseen climate destabilisation. Why was this? It was because many smaller countries (in our hypothetical game this is, not real life) did not make the effort to change. They argued that they were small and couldn’t do much to stop global warming and therefore didn’t try simply because they did not have the same resources to devote as larger countries did.

Yet a global problem requires global action, that is to say that every one of us, no matter how insignificant we may seem in the grander picture still play a role. Indeed the scientist who created “How it all ends” even states himself:

“But what do I do I’m just one guy, with a stupid hat?

What you do is spread the word because the only way we really get into column A [that is to say taking action on climate change] is by policy changes and those only happen when enough people demand it. So we need nothing less than a change in the culture itself and you can help make that happen…”

So as you can see individuals do create change, its always been how it is, its just that they typically get nothing for their efforts. Well in this case we don’t get something, but at least we avoid disaster. And for those of you who are now feeling depressed at the whole difficulty of the situation fear not for as is stated in "How It All Ends":

“There’s a lot of reason to believe we can fix this, maybe even without reducing our standard of living, if were quick about it”

So chop chop, hop to it, go watch "How It All Ends", see for yourself what you think. If you find yourself generally agreeing with him then make sure you spread the video to all of your friends, family, co-workers and so on. At very least we will begin to get people educated on the severity of the problem faced. We little individuals can create change. Feel empowered by that fact. Start by watching the video and then take it from there. In the future I may well also post some more stuff on global warming and what we can do to play our part, but until then, watch the damned video!

Pedalling Money - Saving Money by Cycling:

No, there’s nothing illegal going on here… honestly! Rather, this article is about the amount of money you could save by riding your bike to work, instead of either taking a car, or public transport. Bikes are relatively cheap. In fact if your general travel is within say 10 kilometres of you, it would be far cheaper to ride around on a bike and get to work and various other places, than it would to use a car. Let’s get down to the number crunching:

Cost of riding a bike:
If you were to ride a bike it might cost you around 1000 dollars for the initial start up costs over the year (this is Australian dollars I’m talking here). The cost of the bike (as with a car in ways), will of course depreciate with time and once you’ve bought the initial investment. I know from personal experience that my bike cost me $500, and it was more than ample for the task, in fact it works pretty damn well. You could easily go and spend much more on a better quality bike, but I’m really comparing what the average sort of person would be looking at spending. On top of this its worth investing in a basic pair of sunglasses (you’d be surprised by the amount of crap that finds its way into your eyes otherwise!), a decent pair of bike gloves, which will stop you shredding your hands if you ever have a tumble, and of course a helmet. Investing in some panniers would be a good idea too. Panniers are essentially bike racks that typically go over your back wheel, so that you can attach two bag like storage containers on your bike. There essential if your ever going to ride with anything more than what you can fit in a small backpack. So the bike was $500, then the gloves, sunnies and helmet would be about $100, the pannier system might total 100 to 150 dollars (I got mine second hand from my father, but his model only costs about 105 dollars now) and then you might take the bike in for a couple of checkups each year costing maybe another 200 in total.

So our total for bike riding costs for the year is: roughly a 1000 dollars for the first year, but keep in mind that this is only the first year and that its an investment that will pay off long term (more on this in a moment). Now of course this is rather basic cycling gear were talking and you could easily quintuple this by buying the best racing bike and the best pannier system in the world, and so on and so forth. But for the average commuter it can be done, and done well for just under 1000 dollars a year. What’s more the costs will begin to depreciate as years go buy. Chances are that a 500 dollar bike may last a good 5 years and more. So suddenly you take out $500 for the next four years. Admittedly you might have to repair it a little more, so maybe we end up paying an extra 100 or 200 dollars for extra repairs as it ages per year, but even then you’re still saving more and more. Likewise the pannier system, the gloves and the sunglasses will all last a long time if you look after them. This insures that in successive years you only really have to pay for repair costs, as your initial investments should still be road worthy. Therefore over a 5 year period riding a bike would probably cost you something like:

Year: Cost: Total Cost:
1st $1000 $1000
2nd $200 (repair costs only from here onwards) $1200
3rd $250 $1450
4th $250 $1700
5th $300 $2000


So after five years we have a running total of 2000 dollars, which works out to be only 400 dollars per year! Now you could argue that when riding you have to eat more and you would have to buy more food, but I’d probably just laugh loudly, as we (in the western world) all eat much to much anyway, and its unlikely you’ll need to up your food costs. Plus condensed energy is so cheap in our society, a loaf of bread a week would supply you with HEAPS of excess energy, and maybe cost you a buck or two! So $400 dollars a year for transport, keep that in mind, and you could also argue that some even argue that commuting allows you to do away with your gym membership because of all the exercise you get through traveling.

Now onto the car costs:
Car costs can vary quite a bit more than bike costs, because of so many things like insurance and whether you get parking fines and speeding tickets or not, the cost of the original car varies much more as do repair costs. So I decided to have a look at a few other sources. Here is an American site and the link can be found here (the info I quote about half way down the websites page if your looking for it): http://bicycleuniverse.info/transpo/almanac.html

Principal on car loan $3579
Finance charges on car loan 359
Gas & Oil 1279
Insurance 819
Maintenance & Repair 662
Licenses, Parking, & Misc. 534
Total Yearly Costs $7,232

“Annual costs of car ownership in the U.S. is over $7000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics gave the breakdown shown in the table at right in 2001. AAA of Minnesota puts the annual cost at $7,754 for 2003 for a vehicle driven 15,000 miles. Cost per mile is $0.517”

So were looking at around seven grand there. However again we must realise that the costs would depreciate once the car had been paid off. As it all gets a bit confusing using other people’s figures I thought I would make some conservative figures as to the cost of a car:

Suppose an average car costs you around $3000, the insurance and maintanence and repair and licensing costs cost you around $1500 per year, Petrol (which is becoming ever more expensive) probably costs you a good $2000 per year (you would be seriously surprised how much people actually spend on petrol). Even these relatively conservative figures come up to be $6500! (This is also providing that you pay for your car outright with no loan!) Of course once the car has been bought the costs decrease as would be expected, but repair costs will also slowly increase, so heres a five year look at a car:

Year: Cost: Total Cost:
1st $6500 $6500
2nd $3500 (cost of car taken out from here on) $10000
3rd $3750 (Repair costs now begin to rise slightly) $13750
4th $3750 $17500
5th $4000 $21500

So after five years we have a running total of $21500! Wow, that’s a bit of money isn’t it? It ends up being an average yearly cost of $4300!

The Comparison:
Now I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a fair bit of a difference to the $400 per year to pay for a bike! In fact its over ten times as much. Needless to say not only can you stay fit and healthy as well as help the environment by reducing carbon emissions through riding a bike, you can also save yourself a small fortune over a few years!

The same website mentioned above from “bicycleuniverse.info” then goes on to provide some more interesting information by comparing the money saved by cycling to the time that would have been necessary to spend earning it:

“One interesting thing we can do with the car costs is convert the car costs into time. The average American earns about $17/hr., or $14/hr. after federal taxes. So $7,754 in annual car costs takes 554 hours to earn. That's over three full months of work each year. Just to pay for the car. And cars are supposed to be saving us time? Drive to work, work to drive.”

Now, even using my more conservative figures of an average cost over five years of $4300, and an average income of say $20 dollars an hour (we’ll say after tax too for simplicities sake) we still find that we’d need 215 hours of work to pay it off!!! Whereas to pay off the average costs of a bike over five years (at $400 per year) would only take you 20 hours!

By these figures if you rode a bike instead of driving a car you would save yourself (215-20) 195 hours of time each year!!! Alternatively you could still work for the same amount of time and either have more spending money, or have more money to save up with!

So by cycling you can save yourself money (or time as the old axiom goes) and also keep yourself healthy. We could also argue that by keeping fit and healthy you’d reduce the cost of needing medication for various problems like diabetes and obesity and so on. Exercise has great benefits for both the body and the mind (see "The Many Benefits of Exercise, Part 1" for further details) and leading an active lifestyle such as cycling promotes will pay great dividends throughout your life. This too could save you money in a sense, although here I think we get to a much more important argument, that is to say what of those things which are priceless?

No value can placed on a human being, nor on the environment, these things are simply to sacred to be commodified like a table or a chocolate bar. Cycling as a form of transport promotes both a healthier body and a healthier environment, really these are the greatest benefits cycling gives. However, for those are concerned with money and perhaps somewhat greedy maybe the above argument will persuade them to start cycling. Alternatively, for those who don’t have money as their primary objective in life it’s simply nice to know that what you do isn’t only ethically good, but also financially viable.

Vegetarianism From a Different Perspective:

As the name suggests this short series of posts is about vegetarianism! Shock horror! However I would ask that everyone stop yelling about how animals have rights, or how cows are inherently evil and thus need eating, or even that vegetables generally taste bad, to allow me to take a new look; well actually an old but often overlooked perspective, on why vegetarianism has several things going for it.

Firstly I would like to say that I am not going to even touch the subject of animals and ethics, because personally I’m more interested in some interesting ideas which might change a few minds, based not on ethics, but rational thinking. But the ethics argument does deserve touching on, so maybe another day I’ll write about it, if I feel up to the task!

For those out of the loop-hole and or living under a rock, a vegetarian eats no meat. Then again there are a myriad of variations such as lacto-ovo-vegetarians, but lets keep it simple for now. Good, now that we have our definition we can begin.

An Economic driven perspective on Vegetarianism:
As much as I love meat, and am inclined to eat it, I must admit that practicing vegetarianism does have certain advantages, for us and for our planet. Firstly I would like to view the matter from an economic standpoint. Vegetables and most vegetarian basics are cheaper than meat, so eating more vegetables could be easier on your wallet. But putting individual greed aside vegetables are economically easier to produce, particularly on a large scale.

Here’s one of many sites that cites some amazing figures:

http://www.selfempowermentacademy.com.au/pdf/L3_LIVING_on_LIGHT/Glob_Journ/5-vvmbd.PDF

“9. Amount of potatoes that can be grown on 1 acre (4,047 square meters of land: 20,000 lbs. (9,072 kg)

10. Amount of beef that can be grown on 1 acre (4,047 square meters) of land: 165 lbs. (75 kg)”

Firstly we can see that we can grow much more in the way of vegetables than we can produce meat per unit of land. Thus vegetables are much more space efficient to grow. If everyone in the world is to get adequate amounts of food it would be much easier to do this with a vegetarian diet. The land is used much more efficiently if we used it to grow potatoes rather than feed cattle.

Secondly we must realise that for every pound of meat we create, several pounds of vegetables are used to create it. Whereas this is not the case if we eat the vegetables ourselves.

But wait, there’s more:

“16. Number of pure vegetarians who can be fed on the amount of land needed to feed 1 person consuming meat-based diet: 20 (This number could be closer to 150 if you're talking about pure Raw-vegetarians.)”

The list goes on and on. Meat production, when compared to growing various vegetables, uses more water, damages the topsoil more, and is also a major cause of deforestation and general land clearing. If that’s not enough it seems that meat production uses more energy (by a significant amount) than producing vegetarian foods.

Another interesting fact is of course the amount of waste created. The article is definitely worth a quick look… Keep in mind these statistics are from 1996. If they are reliable in the first place than the situation has probably only gotten worse.

A nutritionally driven perspective on Vegetarianism:
So we move on to the next milestone… Nutrition. As much as many meat lovers might not like to admit it, the fact is that vegetarians as a whole, seem to be healthier people. It is also true however that many of them lead generally healthier lives in regards to habits such as the amount of exercise done, whether they smoke or not, how often they drink alcohol or do other drugs. Still, even if we were to factor all of this out of the situation I think we would find that most vegetarians are healthier for their diet. Limiting the saturated fat intake of meat means they usually have lower bad cholesterol levels while all the fruits, vegetables, grains and good fats mean they have high good cholesterol, lots of fibre for good bowels, heaps of antioxidants, minerals and vitamins. (With maybe the exception of some b-vitamins which can be a little harder to find – still mushrooms, yeast and other vegetarian sources can be used). Yes, science might not be completely sure as to the exact specifics but vegetarians do seem healthier.

Of course this isn’t to say all vegetarians are healthy. I know several that eat a lot of candy and junk. But even so, they’re still healthier than there pal eating the candy the junk, and lots of meat. In particular red meat seems to be the main culprit. I remember once reading that people who eat red meat more than twice a week increase their chance of getting bowel cancer by 40%!

Here’s some more interesting information regarding a vegetarian diet and cancer:
http://www.goveg.com/heartdisease.asp

“A major study published in February 2005 reconfirmed the link between meat consumption and heart problems. The study, which was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, concluded that among the 29,000 participants, those who ate the most meat were also at the greatest risk for heart disease. The researchers also reported that a high intake of protein from vegetable sources like tofu, nuts, and beans lowers our risk of heart disease by 30 percent. Dr. Linda E. Kelemen, the scientist who headed the study, told reporters, “Not all proteins are equal”—while vegetable protein can help keep our hearts healthy, eating animal protein can put us in an early grave.”

Even if these numbers aren’t exact the general trend is still proven so by now I hope you get the general idea. A study named the China study (which is of some repute) came to the conclusion that vegetarian diets are healthier. And even just looking at most of the healthier diets of the world they typically contain far more fresh produce and vegetables, fruits and grains than the typical rich western diet. Granted they often contain traces of meat… but in very small quantities compared to what we are used to. Indeed I might argue that meat is infact a wonderfully fine thing to eat, but only very occasionally, say once or twice a week.

We can also look at our closest relative the chimpanzee and see that their diet is by and large vegetarian. They do eat the occasional insect, termite or each other. But generally it’s based around fruits and vegetables, even grains are cut out here, which makes an interesting argument for anti-grain supporters.

The rather controversial “ape diet” (http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3966) is centred on fruits, vegetables and nuts all uncooked and in their natural state, i.e. raw. Sounds like an argument for raw foodism doesn’t it. But the interesting thing is that the diet seems to really work, for health purposes anyway, I’m not sure how good it would taste. Raw vegetables tend to be a little hard to stomach, or so I find (with exceptions such as carrots), but then again I’ve never really eaten vegetables raw very often. Anyway the people on the ape diet saw a massive slash in cholesterol.

“After four-weeks, levels of the harmful LDL-cholesterol plummeted by 29 per cent on the ape diet…Bad cholesterol fell by only 8 per cent for those on the standard low-fat diet.”

Pretty impressive and needless to say it’s about as vegetarian as you can get really. However a couple of articles seemed to suggest that cooked, oily fish was added in after the first week. Even so, this is a largely vegetarian based diet, and the addition of fish does not significantly rise the saturated fat component but does significantly increase the amount of unsaturated fats, thus further helping to improve cholesterol levels.

Global concern – a Global warming based perspective on Vegetarianism:
The production of meat requires more energy than the equivalent production of a vegetarian style diet. In this way the energy put in is less efficient to the nutritional value we get out of it, particularly when we consider that in many ways the vegetarian diet is healthier anyway.

However just the other day I reread something I find particularly astonishing. In essence it seems that cows, and more particularly their tendency to burp methane and have particularly odorous sheisse, are huge culprits for global warming. The reason being that we breed so many of the damn things (mostly for eating, but also for milk) that collectively they number a huge amount, and the costs involved in processing the land and so on, all the way up to the waste created by the cows adds up to a rough 18% of all global warming. That’s right. 18% caused by and large by cows.

Don’t believe me? I don’t blame you, I’m still sceptical, but then again the bbc said it! Feel free to be enlightened by clicking on this here link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/2007/02/meet_daisy_the_cow_global_climates_enemy_number_on.html

“No, the main culprit is out there in the fields, chewing her cud. It turns out that livestock – predominantly cattle – are responsible for an astonishing proportion of global warming gases - 18 per cent of the total, to be precise…That’s right, almost a fifth of all emissions which is more greenhouse gas emissions than all the transport on earth – planes, trains, cars, skidoos the lot…You’ll be wondering how I reach that staggering conclusion… The research implicating Daisy and her bovine brothers and sisters in global warming is very well sourced. A good start is “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, a report by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation.”

The author (Justin Rowlatt) then goes on to later state that due to other chemicals other than co2 causing global warming livestock are in fact responsible for more than 18% of the damage. He thinks it would be more like 60%!

“which means sixty per cent of the global warming potential of the average diet is from animal products.”

There you have it. Certainly seems to suggest that there’s often more to a problem than meets the eye. I certainly don’t think vegetarianism is for everyone, indeed I Think small portions of meat (particularly lean meats and fish which contain unsaturated fats) if anything improve our overall health, but as we can see the consequences of eating large amounts of meat are disastrous. If everyone collectively only ate a little less meat, the combined difference would be huge. It would ultimately benefit everyone by keeping us healthy and also our environment, which think about it, is absolutely essential to our own wellbeing.

Cycling and the Philosophy of Happiness:

Sydney University is providing a new course in philosophy next year (2008) called “The philosophy of happiness”. My previous philosophy lecturer gave us a briefing about the new course citing some studies that have been done. Now I’m not really sure how they measure happiness (this itself could be seen as a large flaw in the study!), but essentially they tried to find variables that affected long term “happiness” (whatever that is!). For instance researchers discovered that if one bought a larger house they were actually more unhappy for the first 6 months (due to the stresses of moving and so on), but were then happier from 6 to 18 months later (as they enjoyed their newer, bigger house); But after 18 months they had seemingly adapted to their bigger house and were now identically happy (or unhappy as the case may be) as they had originally been in the old house. A similar thing happened when moving to a smaller house, except that the occupants were unhappy until 18 months after moving (as the house was smaller, more cramped etc). It seemed that regardless of what happened, after 18 months people had adjusted and happiness went back to a “normal” level.

Several such studies seemed to imply that happiness seems to be relative, and adjusts as such. Thus something can make you happy, but most likely it will only be short lived. However, one variable they found which made you happier long term, was commuting time. The shorter your commuting time (for this study I believe it was to and from work) the happier you are, presumably as it gives you more time in the day to do things, and maybe you live in a close nit community etc. So in the case of commuting time it was found that individuals were happier both immediately after reducing commuting times as well as much further down the track (that is to say 18 months later and beyond).

Now the lecturer who told us this (Professor David Bradon Mitchell, a fabulous lecturer) happens to be a cyclist. So as the class filtered out after the lecture I went down and approached him, with a question set in my mind. I essentially went up to him and asked “But what about cycling?”

“Cycling!” he said, “Well that’s a whole different kettle of fish.” (Please note that those weren’t the lecturer’s exact words, although the meaning was identical. I suppose I am taking my artistic license a little far here by paraphrasing adlib!) We then proceeded to both talk about how as cyclists we were happier to have both exercise and travel time rolled into one, thus saving time. This in turn enabled us to spend more time on other pursuits such as leisure, which helps to make for a happier life. Also we get the many health benefits of exercise and as we both lived in the inner west (although he is now in Newtown and so close that he doesn’t really ride, as he can simply walk) we could even cycle around the city faster than cars and public transport in peak hour and heavy traffic.

Thus from a time saving point of view commuting by bike (this is of course again within the context of the city and inner suburbs) can indeed help to increase your happiness. So cycling is good for your health, your pocket and your happiness is there anything more we can learn from this? Yes, there is one other important lesson! As our rather humourous lecturer said in concluding this lecture “If there’s one thing you can learn from this whole philosophy course its don’t move out to the suburbs to buy a bigger house!”

I suppose another way cycling makes me happy is that I know I’m doing something good for me and the environment and thus those around me. I like helping people, and by cycling I feel I help everyone, albeit it in the smallest way. One person can really only create so much change. If you’re a completely average person without great finances or great intelligence or great determination or great luck or some other such quality how can you possibly completely change the world? Well as far as I’m concerned you can, sort of, but only within reason. By cycling every day I keep myself fit and healthy so that I can help others. I also do not create pollution for others to have to inhale or the planet to have to absorb. Lastly, and in some ways most importantly, by riding as often as I do I might make an important impression on some people who see me riding. I tell my friends, co workers and family of the benefits of cycling. So far I’ve got one friend cycling around, and I hope to convert many more.

The more people that start cycling the more people will see people cycling and the more other people will begin to cycle. In turn the more demand for cycling products and cycling infrastructure will increase and hopefully this demand will lead to greater research and development into both these sectors. This really puts the moral impetus on an individual’s action, a good thing to, as all of societies greatest accomplishments have ultimately been a joint effort. It really does create a positive snowball effect which gains momentum. The Sydney morning herald mentioned in an article that the amount of cyclists in Sydney has increased by 50% in just three short years (the article was published on the 8^th of October 2007). That’s an amazing amount and clearly shows that some positive change is taking place in today’s society. If you wish to check it out (and some great reasons about how bike riding isn’t as dangerous as people think it is due to an increase in cyclists themselves) then see the following link:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/bike-riders-on-the-increase-but-road-deaths-stable/2007/10/07/1191695739443.html

Happiness is an interesting little topic, and a rather important one in my view. I will be sure to write more on the pursuit of happiness later in life, and if I do happen to study “The Philosophy of Happiness” as a course at Sydney Uni next year I’ll be sure to write more about the topic. So until then give yourself a piece of happy pie and savour the wait.

The Most Efficient Form of Transport in the World:

I’m about to let you in on a big secret… one of mans most coveted gifts of knowledge. I’m about to tell you of the most efficient form of transport known to man. Is it an alien spaceship? Nope they are not known to man. Is it an airplane, nope they do really quite poorly efficiency wise. Is it human locomotion? Nope, but your pretty damn close. Well then, what is it? It my friends, is the humble bicycle.

You laugh, you cry and then you look me in the eye and say “bollocks”. I knew you wouldn’t believe me, it must be some sort of insecurity complex of mine. Yet it is true I swear it and many books and websites document this little known truth, or at very least quite obvious but seldom thought of truth.

So what sort of efficiency am I talking about here? Well largely I mean how efficient a vehicle is to transport its passenger. Here Bicycles come out top. Simply take a quick glance at the graph featured at: http://www.exploratorium.edu/cycling/humanpower1.html

However Bicycles are also far more efficient to produce and repair than other forms of transport while also being more space-efficient than other forms of transport. Heres a nice chunk of information from:
http://eco-living.net/writings/transport/effengine.html

“Not only are bicycles most efficient to propel, they also take far less energy (and lower levels of technology) to produce than motorized transport. The energy and materials needed for one medium-sized car can produce one hundred bicycles! Starting up a bicycle production or repair and maintenance business requires very little capital; the amount of money needed is insignificant compared to what is required to manufacture, maintain, and repair automobiles. Bicycles are also more space-efficient than cars. That is, more people on bikes than in cars can move through a given lane in a given amount of time. Cars are in fact the least space-efficient form of transport on the planet.”

We live in a day and age were people are fixated with efficiency and health and fitness and the likes, yet why does bike riding still remain so unpopular in places like Australia and America. At least in Europe they have a larger cycling population. I can think of many reasons as to why this is the case such as that Europe simply has much better infrastructure for cyclists. I’ll admit even cycling has disadvantages like getting a little sweaty on a hot day or struggling when it comes to transporting your fridge to your new home, but even so, I believe it has been greatly overlooked as a fantastic way to save the environment, save our wallets and not to mention improve our health dramatically. The fact that the humble bicycle is the most efficient vehicle in the world is simply one more reason on a long list as to why almost everyone should cycle!

Well now I’ve given you the information and it’s up for you to decide whether you are willing to take to cycling. Remember it need not be extreme, even cycling to work one day a work will do wonders compared to no days a week. I only wish I could somehow encourage you as well as the Chinese government does its citizens! As
http://eco-living.net/writings/transport/effengine.html puts it:

“In China, bicycle avenues with five or six lanes are common, as is plenty of safe and convenient bicycle parking. The government provides a monthly allowance for cycling to work.”

Here are some more snippets of information from:
http://eco-living.net/writings/transport/effengine.html which will hopefully further convince you of the benefits of cycling, enjoy:

“More than half of all commutes in the U. S. and more than three-quarters in the U. K. are less than eight kilometers (about five miles). This is a reasonable cycling distance; it is also the range in which internal-combustion engines get the poorest mileage and emit the most pollution.”

“Besides placing drastically less stress on our environment, human power also benefits the engine - the human body! The advantages of regular, sustained exercise are already well documented, and bicycling is a low-impact form of exercise as well. Studies have shown that workers who commute by bicycle are happier, more alert and more productive than average.”