Environmentally conscious ways to fly

Flying for work or pleasure is an unavoidable modern day necessity. Along with the ticket, we unfortunately believe that we've bought the right max out on every entitlement. More luggage weight, better in-flight food - just top-it-up for me please! While what we buy is ours, a greater responsibility on our shoulders is to not use up all that is given to us. When you are thinking environment, less automatically becomes more. Here are some practical ways to be environmentally conscious when you fly.

1. Travel light: Travelling light will definitely make your travel more enjoyable, but the lesser your luggage, the lesser the load the airline will have to fly. Unnoticed by you, each extra shirt, dress or shoe that you carry contributes to more fuel being consumed. It becomes more fun when you start to keep a track of the average luggage weight you carry (per day of travel).

2. Eat on ground: Though it has become a practice for airlines to offer food on flights, we generally consume what's on offer not necessarily because we are hungry, but because we have nothing better to do. Eating on ground before the flight is a good way to show that one more person does not want their food-weight to be carried on the flight. Of course, the airline will have already carried the food, but with each subsequent person not eating in-flight, the airline will gradually lessen the food-load they carry.

3. Laundry: For travel of more than a few days, if circumstances permit, see if you can get the laundry done on ground (through the hotel or family you are staying with) rather than carry extra clothes. If you think that hotel laundry service is exorbitant, find a good 24hr cleaners service near your hotel. Think of the extra spend as your contribution to the environment kitty and the extra effort as the one reason you needed to explore the city.

4. Use less disposables: To the extent possible, reuse the disposable cups the airline serves beverages in, refuse tissues with every serving if you do not need it, use only the toilet paper necessary when using the washroom. This reduces the environmental burden due to the disposables, but over time and when enough people do it, the airline will also reduce the disposables they carry in-flight.

5. Newspapers etc.: If you are reading a newspaper in the flight, ensure that you keep fold it back in as close to pristine condition as possible. Place it in the seat pocket as if the airline put it there on purpose. This will ensure that the cleaning crew in the next stop does not dispose of the newspaper and it will be convenient for the next reader to read as well.

6. Give feedback: Take a little time out to give the airline your feedback about their environmentally conscious ways (or the lack of it). Bring it to their attention and reiterate it over email as well. Your compliment for good environmental action taken by the airline or your reprimand for their lack of environmental consciousness will get their attention for sure, goading them to change policy that is better environmentally suited.

Also smile a lot and thank the crew for taking care of you. They sure to give you back a sunshine smile - and we all know how important sunshine is for the environment!

(If you have any practical ideas on how to be environmentally conscious when flying, please add them as comments on this blog.)

Cycle your way to better sleep, better health and a new high

My experiences on the 9+1 reasons to take up cycling

Take up cycling. If you've learnt it once, you never forget it, so all it takes is a little initiative. If you've not learnt it, this is the best time to learn. The best cycles are available and you can choose one that best fits your budget. 

1. You’ll get there faster 

Commute in any city and you'll find that you'll get there faster. Well, maybe not really faster, but the time difference between a 4 wheel ride and a 2 wheeled pedaled ride is not much.
I started in Sewri (where I stay) and went to Marine Drive land's end in 30 minutes. When I take a car, I reach there in 20-25 minutes. I pedal from Sewri to Seawoods (35km) in 1hr 20min. and if i drive there, I take about an hour. For short circuits of less than 10 kms, you'll actually reach faster in a bicycle. (just the time it takes to take your car out and put it into parking can often take 10-15 minutes). 

2. You'll sleep more deeply

If you're the type who tosses on the pillow, then biking will solve that problem in a jiffy. A research by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers asked sedentary insomnia sufferers to cycle for 20-30 minutes every other day and the result was that the time required for the insomniacs to fall asleep was reduced by half, and sleep time increased by almost an hour.

The article quoting this research said, “Cycling helps get your circadian rhythm back in sync, and also rids your body of cortisol, the stress hormone that can prevent deep, regenerative sleep.”
I sleep better now than any other time in my life. 

4. Look younger, be smarter, healthier, live longer

Cycling helps in circulation  and in regeneration of new cells. Your skin will have a lot less wrinkles (if it already has them), else it will delay wrinkling. Memory loss due to brain cell decay can also be delayed (which usually starts once you've crossed 30). Cycling makes immune cells more active and helps you stay healthier as well. Research with 2400 identical twins showed that such exercise made the body more efficient at defending itself. Though cycling is a great sport at any age, it is imperative after 30. 

5. Save the environment

How many times have you wanted to do something active about the deterioration of the environment but it just remained nothing more than lip service. You can now contribute by doing something you enjoy like cycling. Not only do you contribute to saving fuel, but it takes lesser energy to make bicycles and they produce no pollution.
6. Build values for your children 

There is no better way to build values in your children than to show them how. If you cycle with them and show them that you care, you'll build lasting values for them (something that every parent strives to do). But more importantly, you'll do it while you're bonding with your kids and while you're having fun. 

7. Sure cure against heart disease and keeping away cancer 

Exercise is the best way to give your heart a better chance against Cardio-Vascular Disease and strokes.  I hear of 35 year olds getting into critical cardiac care very often and it is a sign of the poor lifestyle and uncontrolled diet that we are all getting accustomed to. By keeping cells in good order, such exercise also helps moderate the body. One research shows that those who did such exercise were half as likely to develop cancer as those who didn’t. 

8. Fun way to Lose weight in the saddle

Loosing weight is the toughest thing in the world. I lost 4 kilos a couple of years back when I did a 15 day trek. And after that I've been able to lose not even a gram despite having a very regulated diet, regular exercise etc. etc. That's probably because I don't push myself in exercise and I am not paranoid about the diet.
However, cycling is changing all that. The exercise is fun so I tend to do more, it is competitive (if you set records for yourself), and all it needs is a cycle and you.  One hour of cycling burns 300Cal and its much better than even running because you don't load your knees with your body weight (which is a valid medical argument against running.)

9.Develop a positive addiction and get a high (a legal one)

Cycling releases endorphin in your body - the 'happy' chemical. This addictive rush  will give you a feeling of well being and get over any work or social depression. Cycling is also like meditation because you keep your focus so sharply on the road that there is little else that enters the mind. Try that without the cycle and you'll know what a difficult state it is to achieve. This will also give you ability to concentrate. 
Last few weeks, my happiness index is bursting the charts. :-) 

Last of all, 

10. Do it because it matters, it matters to the future of mankind. 

The more we cycle, the less dependent we are on fossil fuels, expensive cars which choke up roads, and we work towards a better collective future. 

Start now, you'll see the benefits accrue faster than you can imagine.