Grocery shopping in the USA

Last week in Michigan I went grocery shopping at the humongous supercenter store, a Meijers, in the town where I grew up. I was overwhelmed by how long I needed to get my shopping done. It all began in the supersized parking lot with the supersized parking spaces for the supersized vehicles. This led to …

The Virtue of Temperance

I am not a huge fan of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. While I appreciate the artistry of the 16th and 17th century European oils which are the bulk of the collection, I find the works’ motifs and the overabundance of portraits tedious. When I travel to my nation’s capital for some cultural edification, I …

Unbelievable but true

When Austria came out of the last corona lockdown, the above offer ran in the local freebie paper. For my non German-speaking readers, please allow me to translate and provide background information. The advertisement is for a flat-pack furniture chain store – think IKEA in green and purple with even crappier furniture – that operates …

Cathedrals or climate?

Two years tomorrow ago, a fire broke out in Notre-Dame de Paris causing the spire to collapse and severely damaging the UNESCO world heritage site. At the time, class conflict in France was playing out in violent street demonstrations as the gilets jaunes movement protested Emmanuel Macron’s economic reform policies. The destruction of Notre-Dame demonstrated …

Plastics reloaded

Last October I posted about excessive plastic food packaging. Today I am revisiting the topic based on a recent article in my daily newspaper, Die Presse. Citing a study conducted by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), they reported that less packaging does not always have a better climate balance. The …

Responsibility reloaded

Two posts ago I examined how stopping profligate bread waste could reduce C02 emissions. Earlier in a comment to my post on climate change responsibility, Jordan had astutely noted that while consumers bear some responsibility in reducing emissions major corporations should also be held accountable. Today I will explore how assigning responsibility to both consumers …

Our daily bread and GHG emissions

As examined in recent posts, one reason that people lack motivation in addressing climate change is that they have difficulty in conceptualizing how their actions can affect amorphous global problems. Wearing your clothes longer or driving less doesn’t result in a discernible reduction in GHG emissions. We need help in quantifying how our individual actions …

Climate change and FMGCs

Following up on my last post, today I want to examine the importance of narratives in getting people – especially Europeans since I’m Austrian – involved in climate change activism. First, it is important to note that current inaction is not because people reject climate science. Europeans overwhelmingly agree that “the climate is probably or …

Is shopping a basic need?

Yesterday the stores reopened in Austria after a six week lockdown. In a newspaper interview, the managing director of a discount fashion chain with over 180 outlets expressed his joy and relief. Customers could once again pay tribute in his shopping temples fulfilling a “basic human need”. What? When did shopping become a basic human …

Because there just wasn’t enough plastic

OK Rewe, I’m confused. On a separate website that you operate, gemeinsam-nachhaltig.at (sustainable together), you laud and trumpet your “Raus aus Plastik” (Get out of plastic) initiative. You inform gullible consumers, like me,  that you are committed to “... 100% umweltfreundliche Verpackungen. Plastik so weit wie möglich aus den Regalen verbannen …” (... 100% environmentally …