Travel is interesting since it gives you the chance to understand the silly things we do everyday.
During my travel in US, I realize something:
People in China always use energy to make water hot, while
People in US always use energy to make it cold.
I just cannot bear that everything I drink is cold. Not only “not warm”, half of the water in the cup is “ice”. I didn’t think about my love to hot water too much before I realized American’s love to cold water.
The even more serious energy waster is the drinking machine in Shanghai. Many drinking machine has hot water on the left, and cold water (cold, not normal temperature) on the right. Many people just mix the hot and cold water to get water that is directly drinkable. But why waste the energy to cool it and heat it, before they are mixed?
Thats the way the water machines are generally in the US. I prefer that as I just like water that is cold or water that is hot for tea, noodles, etc. In China my water dispenser has hot and room temperture, so in the summer it means I have a choice of warm and hot, think I will get a new one next spring that does cold water instead (no need to now as winter will be here soon enough and my room temperture water will become cold water, as my apartment has another energy waster, the ineffecient wall AC unit for heating)
What about the taxi drivers who love to put heater and at the same time open the window.
What about the office/shop who so often put aircon very cold and open the window/door at the same time?
What about… so many more.
What about the taxi drivers who love to put heater and at the same time open the window.
What about the office/shop who so often put aircon very cold and open the window/door at the same time?
What about… so many more stuffs…
But more important what cause lot of waste of energy is a poorly isolated house, a house in suburb who force to drive lot of km a day by car (high consomation car in the USA… European car use around twice less petroleum each km)
Of course plane travel pollute quite a lot.
– What about the taxi drivers who love to put heater and at the same time open the window.
That’s not really waste if they do it during driving. The heat is just the heat from the engine, so no need to worry.
A big problem in USA and China is the lack of isolation. Heating in Winter with your A/C is so wasteful. But more wasteful is that if the A/C stopps to take a breath the cold breeze starts to come to you.
Let’s hope all the world helps to save the planet!
Hi there,
Your blog came up on my Google reader reccommended reading tab, and I had a look.
Very interesting insights here. I enjoyed reading your more recent entry about the random notes, and also this entry.
Many of the ‘random notes’ echoed how I feel now. I have been on the road for over two years, travelling only by bicycle or skateboard. I cycled 12,000km from Japan to Switzerland, and just two days ago, I arrived in Shanghai by skateboard, after skateboarding 12,000km across Europe, the USA, and China.
I travelled solo, and during this time I was largely detatched from ‘normal society’ and a normal way of life. I experienced the world with all things ‘stripped away’ I suppose you could say. I spent so much time observing, rather than expressing thoughts through speech. Upon arriving back in Shanghai, and going out with some ex-pats (I’m from New Zealand), I realised how little I had to say compared with the others….so I believe there is some truth in what you wrote: “It is not what you say that matters. It is what you are seen that matters”.
Anyway, keep posting, you have some great insight here.
Rob Thomson
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14degrees Off The Beaten Track – Around the world solo by recumbent bicycle and skateboard. 24,000km. 2 years. // URL: http://www.14degrees.org // email: rob (dot) thomson (at) 14degrees (dot) org // Raising awareness for Lowe Syndrome – http://www.lowesyndrome.org
Rob, the journey is amazing. I just dropped an email to you. Do you have time to meet in Shanghai?
poclnj