When public transport doesn't connect

A friend told me a tale today.  This is a tale of missed opportunity.  Perhaps it is also a tale of mean spirits.

My friend relies on public transport to go everywhere. My friend can get around on the trains easily enough, but relies on a bus service to connect to the train service. The problem with that last sentence is evident in the phrase: "relies on a bus service to connect to the train service". It does connect. As long as you're not picky about arriving everywhere 40 minutes early or 40 minutes late.

My friend was to meet me at Flinders Street this morning 7:45am. I received a text message at 7:22am to say she had already arrived. We live on the same train line, so I wondered why she wasn't on the same train as me, leaving at 7:26am. It was the buses!

My friend told me that the last bus of an evening leaves the station at 9:00pm. The station where she most regularly travels to and from (Yarraville) has a level crossing. Commuters disembarking an outbound train are left on one side of that crossing. The buses leave from the other side of that crossing. When a train is at the station, the boom gates on the crossing come down so everyone has to wait until the train has left the station before they can walk across to the buses. Imagine the heart break as 9:00pm approaches, but a late train has meant arrival at the station almost right on that time. You're stuck on the opposite side of the tracks, the bus driver can see that a train has just come in and that the boom gates are down and chooses to drive off before the gates go up and people can get to the bus!

Situations like this are one of the reasons that people don't like to travel by public transport.  Situations like this can be fixed by planning the services to connect better and ensuring that drivers are instructed to wait for the boom gates to go up after a train has arrived before leaving.

So because of where my friend lives - about 10 minutes drive from where I live - she had to leave home at 6:45am for a 7:45am meeting in the city.  I left home at 7:15am, walked to the station and was ready to catch a 7:26am train which delivered me to Flinders Street at 7:40am - less than half an hour, while she had almost that amount of time to wait.

This is not the public transport system that one expects in the world's most livable city! But I guess it's what happens when you privatise the systems and they're all run by different people.

Do you catch public transport?  If not, what stops you?  What do you like about it?

Throw away papers - anyone reading?

I'm currently on hold.  The hold muzak is falsely upbeat, but slightly static, like a radio station tuned in the cracks between the stations. Every 30 seconds or so, the muzak is interrupted with the news that my call is important, they're grateful for my patience and they'll be with me real soon.

I'm calling the local give away newspaper after another lot was dumped in a pile at the foot of the 28 letter boxes which serve my apartment block.  Often I chase the pages down the street before dumping them in the recycling bins.  Other times I'm picking up wet paper slurry after the pile of papers has been rained on for a few days and dumping it in the recycling bins.  "Throw away" would be a more apt name.

It's hard to imagine that the people who produce the paper and the people who pay to advertise in it would be happy that this is how their product ends up.

It hasn't rained today, so the newspaper soup is not evident.
(c) divacultura 2012

Today I decided to pick one up and see what's in it.  There were two free local papers.  One of them had some stories of local interest, the other was really a vehicle for real estate advertising.  Inside the two papers there were 19 junk mail catalogues.  Nineteen!  It's end of financial year so there's a big pitch for people to spend money in the hope that they will gain a tax benefit.  If you're stuck for ideas, look no further than the junk mail.

After almost five minutes on hold Andrew answers my call.  I describe the fate of his publication and he agrees that the delivery process renders the whole exercise pointless.  My "complaint" will go through to the people who do the deliveries.

I mention my "no junk mail" label that I have on my letter box.  His hackles go up.  His newspaper is NOT junk mail.  It's unaddressed mail.  Apparently I need to apply a more comprehensive sticker.  I'm beginning to understand why my crazy neighbour has sealed his letter box shut by attaching a metal plate.  So that pile of paper slurry at the entrance to my building is unaddressed mail, NOT junk mail. Must remember that.

I've written before about my relationship with junk mail.  Looking after the world I live in is something I am passionate about.  I don't like litter.  I don't like waste.  It could be argued that the very existence of these throw aways is an exercise in both, regardless of how they are delivered.  I don't even read the newspapers offered for sale.  Dumping them in a pile sends the message that the producers think the same way.  I'm sure the advertisers probably suspect this.  This problem could be solved with some creative streamlining: advertisers can transfer money to a bank acccount somewhere.  No need for paper, ink, time or recycling collection.  Same result, less litter.

I'll be interested to see whether the distribution method changes in coming weeks.

Do you read the throw away papers?  How about the catalogues? What do you do with them?

Eco friendly gift wrapping ideas

Most of my Christmas shopping is now done.  So is the wrapping.  This is down to two reasons:

1. I have limited financial resources.
2. I used the free gift wrapping offered in store.

Usually I go for a united theme in my gift wrapping so that anyone looking under the tree can tell what's come from me.  One year I spent hours wrapping everything in brown paper then clear cellophane with a sprinkling of Christmas star confetti in between, topped with coordinated curling ribbon.  They looked beautiful but made a mess when opened and there was such a lot of waste!

This year my united theme is "someone else wrapped it".

There are lots of options for this.  Many stores offer free gift wrapping as a matter of course. Sometimes you have to have the branding of the store on the outside of the parcel.  Often this is quite lovely if done thoughtfully.  The white parcel in this photo is an example of this - purchased and wrapped at the wonderful local treasure, Sedonia.

The navy and gold one is a particular favourite, not because the wrapping particularly fancy, but because of the precision with which it was wrapped.  My favourite city book store, Reader's Feast, is open again and offers this stylish and fuss-free gift wrapping.

The young man providing the service was reading a book about oceanography in between wrapping.  He was Japanese and sprang into focussed action as I presented the item for wrapping (and the receipt to prove that it was actually now mine to have wrapped).  He sized up the article and then precisely cut the exact amount of paper.  He very carefully and squarely, placed the gift in the exact spot on the paper and then proceeded to fold and crease and tape.  His head was bent very close to this work.  He didn't just fold the flap of paper over, he folded and creased and caressed with the level of attention an engineer would use to build a bridge.  The corners were a work of art in themselves, symmetrical and neat.  He quickly cut the smallest amount of tape and placed it just so.  A beautifully wrapped square.  He's probably an origami master in his other life.

I thanked him for his beautiful work and wished him Merry Christmas.  His face broke into a wide smile and he bowed slightly.  I could have watched him all day.

I guess he has it made, working as a gift wrapper in a book store.  I mean everything is going to be square or rectangular and pretty easy to wrap.  No lumpy bits, soft bits or weird angles to contend with in a bookstore.

I do love thinking of different ways to present gifts as I think the presentation of the gift is as much a part of the gift as the gift itself.  However, I just don't want to have to purchase more stuff that I then have to store somewhere for a whole year before I use it again.  And I am concerned about packaging generally as a waste of resources, so I now try to apply this to my personal packaging.

So here are my eco-friendly gift wrapping ideas:

• Don't wrap at all.  Just present the gift. Wrapped in love of course.

• Reuse wrapping that you've retrieved from gifts, shopping, packaging.

• Buy reusable bags and place gifts in these.  The bags then become part of the gift and can be used over and over by the recipient.  One year I bought a whole lot being sold as a fundraiser for the Royal Children's Hospital.  They came in a range of gorgeous colour combinations and were only a couple of dollars each. 

• Choose gifts that don't require wrapping or are impossible to wrap - plants, food, vouchers.  

• If you're a cook and giving your goods as gifts, choose a reusable tin, cannister, bottle or other container to put them in.

• Use the gorgeous pages from last year's calendar as wrapping.  I also use this throughout the year for birthday gifts.  It's often particularly appreciated where the correct month is used.  This is never possible in June!

• Pillowcases make excellent Santa sacks.  I remember as a child we each had our own with a Christmas picture on it which was instantly recognisable, usually with a jolly image of Santa on a roof carrying a big sack of presents.  If you're handy with a needle and thread you could personalise these with initials, names or other appliqued images or use fabric paint and get artistic.

• A pretty tea towel, fine handkerchief, table cloth, apron or face washer make excellent wrapping that also have useful after-lives.

• Depending where you live and quarantine rules, big leaves can work as natural wrapping. They can be composted in the garden afterwards.

How do you wrap your gifts for giving?  Do you consider the planet?  What's the best idea you've had or seen?

Editted to add (9:20am 14 December 2011):

Overnight I thought of some other wrapping options for things that can have an afterlife:

• sarongs
• scarfs
• wall paper 
• magazine pages 
• newspaper (thanks to Angela for this suggestion 
• brown paper bags can be decorated (thanks Kellie) - even better if you can re-use rather than buy
• re-purpose a shoe box (or any other box).