Best Comments Roundup: May 2008

May 18th 2008

When I wrote seven reasons why you should ditch your PDA and switch to pen and paper it touched a nerve with a lot of you and I got a lot of very interesting remarks. A particular theme was how with the pen and paper approach you couldn’t search or backup your content. One suggestion was to use an index. As for backup…

Andy M: “Agree that lack of search is problem, as is lack of backup. Losing a paper appointment book can be a disaster. On the other hand, I’ve never lost a paper appointment book in all the years I’ve used them.”

Another very popular post recently has been regarding how we can stop wasting food and help save the earth. We waste on average over a third of our food which is a scary statistic. One suggestion I made was to do more, shorter trips to the market so you are more likely to buy only what you need for the next day or two. However one reader made a very good counter-point.

Adam Pieniazek: “The shopping more often tip might help you waste less food but depending on your mode of transportation could harm the environment just the same. Perhaps getting a supermarket carpool going with your neighbors where one person picks up the shopping for the other neighbors each day would help keep food waste low and ensure extra pollution isn’t released from constantly driving to and from the market.”

Jacinda: “Not eating out less is easier said than done. It’s really tough to want to cook a meal after a long day at work and it’s far easier to grab food a block away from home.”

What Jacinda says is very true. In fact for me it’s a constant struggle not to eat out, especially after a hard day at work. However I’m getting better at it and in the near future will write a post covering a few tips on how to overcome this.

Will: “I live in the US, and I don’t know exactly what percentage of our food goes to waste, but I’d guess it’s in the same proportion. I’m particularly sensitive to it because I was born and raised in Haiti, and I’ve seen poverty that people here can’t even begin to imagine.”