Ok, I am not an environmental activist, but when I learned about Blog Action Day, happening October 15, I thought, “Hmm, that’s a pretty neat idea. I wonder what I would blog about?”
I started to think about what it means to be environmentally-friendly. I started to think in terms of “conservation of energy”, and its opposite, “consumption of energy”, on a personal level. As a human being, I consume things, such as food, water, heating, cooling, etc. I asked myself, “How has my pattern of consumption changed, since becoming a salsa gigolo?”
Food: Whenever I go out to salsa, I usually end-up eating an extra meal. It may not be a full meal. It may be as simple as two slices of bread with peanut butter, and a cup of milk. Nevertheless, I consume more food. Sometimes I prepare this food at home. Other times, I eat out, at places that consume energy to not only prepare the food, but also to market and sell the food. The food I consume is rarely organic. I also tend to eat more protein, such as meat, eggs, and peanut butter.
Water: I drink a lot more water because of salsa. Bottled water. Most of that plastic will be placed in a blue box, but I’m sure I’ve sent the odd one off to a landfill, either through my own action, or through someone else’s action, e.g. salsa club. Why don’t I just drink tap water in the washroom? I have to admit, a small part of me feels obliged to purchase at least 1 bottle of water when I go out to a salsa club. Often, I purchase and consume more. With consumption of water, and food, goes expulsion of water, and food. Let’s just say, I flush the toilet a lot more now than I did before salsa.
Clothes: I buy salsa-specific clothing. Clothing that has no other purpose than to be worn when I dance salsa, i.e. above and beyond my normal consumption of thread and dye for the purpose of hiding my Kuta Cowboy from the unsuspecting public. Not only do I have more clothes, but I also wear more clothes, which means I dirty more clothes, which means I have to clean more clothes. The cleaning of clothes consumes water, electricity, and sometimes dry-cleaning chemicals.
Transportation: I travel around in TO a lot more now than when I did in my pre-salsa days. This causes wear and tear, and consumption, of transportation-related things. Everything from the rubber of a vehicle’s tires, to the rubber on the soles of my shoes. Yes, I still dance with rubber sole shoes, shoes that I bought with salsa in mind, and in under a year, I’m ready to buy another pair of shoes. Compare this to a pair of shoes that have lasted me in good tread for about 10 years. Mechanized transportation requires consumption of gasoline, and exhaust of pollution. I don’t live next door to a salsa club. I am not chauffeured to the salsa club in a Prius taxi.
Heating and Cooling: When I dance, I generate body heat. So much body heat, that sometimes a bead of sweat will drop from my brow onto some exposed area of skin on the salsera I am dancing with. Usually her right arm or shoulder. Sometimes her face. If we accidentally rub cheeks, a whole swatch of sweat will transfer from my skin to hers. Thank goodness salsa clubs are air conditioned. And dark. And with all this dancing, I’m pretty sure I have less body fat than I did before I started salsa. Less body fat means more heat consumption at night, to stay warm.
Electricity: Ok, I watch a heck of a lot less tv now, than before. However, I do spend a lot more time on the computer, doing salsa-related YouTube watching, salsa-related Googling, and now even salsa-related blogging. I have a relatively energy-efficient computer that, by my calculation, uses less energy than a standard light bulb. Still, if I consider the energy used to prepare my extra meals, and the extra energy used to wash my more frequently dirty salsa clothes, I am likely using more electricity than before. Check-out Carbon Footprint » to learn more about your own household energy consumption.
I’ll end this list here, without going into the gigolo-related list of consummables. Overall, I consume more than before. On Blog Action Day, I think I’ll blog on changes I’ve made in my own consumption patterns. Or else, I’ll blog on a really good rationalization for my increase in consumption. Something along the lines of, “Salsera is Life”.
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