behind the curtain

This month was an adventure! We headed to Catalina Island for dear husband's birthday, then to Northern California for Christmas.

Catalina Island was full of Smart Cars. This came as a surprise. Upon returning home, I found that a smart car classifies as an "autoette." There are only 1,000 parking spaces in Avalon, so there is a long waiting list to import a car (if you move there, expect to wait 14 years or so). Since the island is space-limited, the Smart Car is very popular. Given that Catalina is known for its eco-mindedness, it is a surprise to me that electric cars are not mandated. The noise of the golf carts alone really disturbed the peaceful retreat atmosphere, not to mention to pollution left behind.

what seems like paradise

The birthday adventure included driving 300 miles in automobiles, 80 miles on a ferry, and 12 miles in a golf cart. Tickets on the Catalina Express are $37.75, unless it's your birthday (which is free).  Best case, gas is $3/gal and we get 40 mpg, so that cost $22.50 in gas (7.5 gal).  Worst case, gas is $4/gal and the inlaws' car gets 20 mpg, so that cost $60 in gas (15 gal).  The boat burned 160 gal of diesel fuel. For the golf carts, estimates range between 10-30 mpg, using a price of $4/gal that would mean we spent $2.40 on gas, but $90 for a 2 hour rental period.

3584 lbs carbon dioxide from the boat
    44 lbs CO2-equivalent GHG emissions from the steak dinner
    30 lbs carbon dioxide from the car
    12 lbs carbon dioxide from the golf cart
3670 lbs carbon dioxide from the weekend (1.66 metric tons)

Weather Disasters are costing us Billions... and devastating events are increasing in frequency!

A carbon offset is a credit that is purchased to negate carbon emissions. One carbon credit is equal to 1 metric ton of carbon emissions. It costs $10 per ton to purchase carbon offset from the Arbor Day Foundation.  I'm thinking about all this because at Thanksgiving, my dear sister-in-law told her recurring story/joke that our low-car lifestyle offsets their carbon-hungry lifestyle.  All the bicycling we do is negated by their dry-cleaning.  And they laugh about this.

$150.00 in ferry tickets (for 4 people)
$300.00 in beef (for 8 people)
$ 60.00 in gas for the car & golf cart (for 4 people)
$ 90.00 in rental fee (for 4 people)
$600.00 total cost

Not only that, but we ate steak for dinner.  It's interesting how eating that steak seems so luxurious.  Well, that's because of what it takes to produce the meat. It was disgusting driving up to Nor Cal and seeing (smelling) feedlots. I'm not sure, but I think it was Harris Ranch, which supplies I-N-Out Burger among others. The smell was so bad, and stretched for miles, I almost vomited. If you're considering a New Year's Resolution, consider that substituting one beef-based meal a week for beans, you can avoid releasing 331 kilograms (730 pounds) of carbon dioxide every year. One quarter-pound of beef results in 5.5 pounds of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

behind the curtain you find this

One mature tree absorbs carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 pounds per year.  This means it would take 76 trees a whole year to consume the carbon dioxide we generated in one weekend.  I'm concerned about this in light of stories I'm hearing about Nebraska farmers cutting down mature trees to plant a few more rows of crops. This is alarming coming from the birthplace of Arbor Day.  So if you want to do me a birthday present, purchase carbon credits and let's stay home and go for a walk.  And I've purchased a pressure-cooker to cook my beans in 1/3 of the time.

While in Riverside, we stopped at our old favorite Winco Foods to buy bulk grains and dried beans.  Then we stopped at IKEA Burbank to get some reusable storage containers for said grains and beans.  Then we visited the $10 Bookstore to find a used cookbook that is all about using whole grains.

$100 at IKEA
$177 at Winco
$  27 at Best Buy (rice cooker)
$  20 at Bed Bath & Beyond (pressure cooker)
$    6 at Bookstore (whole grains cookbook)
$330 for home-cooking

I really hope 2018 is a year of home-cooking and bike riding and car-free travel. Let's make it happen. FYI the 2nd Annual Women's March in Los Angeles is happening on Saturday, January 20, 2018.  Let's remind Donald Trump that we disagree with him.

TRUMP: We’re going to win another four years for a lot of reasons...they basically have to let me win. 

Link to New York Times Interactive