Environmental Protection: Ten Commandments to help save our Planet

When it comes to environmental protection most people consider it impossible to make a diference being a single individual, but actually it is the other way around. Because that is what humanity is:

Many single individuals and the efforts of every single one added together are what makes the world change.

Everybody or at least the vast mayority of people would agree, if asked, that the ecology is one of their main concerns. We are slowly killing this planet, but while people seem to care it is only a small minority that actually tries to stop it or even reverse this process.

The problem is that most of us are not aware of how easily we can start being active regarding ecology, without too much effort. It might not be sufficient to save the planet, but it will slow the decay down, if we all do our share. It is just 10 points and trust me, if we all follow them we can start to make a difference:

1. Reduce the showering time per day to 10 minutes. No worries, this is more than sufficient time to be clean afterwards, it is better for your skin AND it will safe you money down the line.
2. If you are not in the room, turn off the light (unless it is a neon lamp; with those the energy waste might be higher if often turn on and off), also avoid leaving TVs and laptops on standby. This will safe a lot of energy and money!
3. Before taking the car consider public transportation or walking. Isn't it ironic we spend money and time in the gym to work out, while we use the car for a trip around the corner, instead of walking 5 minutes?
4. If you work in office consider carefully what you need to print. In case you have "fail prints" try to re-use them as note paper. Many offices already do this and even have a printer drawer filled with paper, that has been printed already on one side. Also here the saving for the ecology equals to a significant saving of money.
5. Recycle at least your paper and glass. Check in your town, what other options you have to recycle, as most middle sized towns (at least in Europe) offer the possibilities to also recycle stuff like batteries, tins, plastic etc. If you think this is just annoying and not worth it, consider what kind of world you want to leave your kids. A world full of trash, where breathing fresh air is a luxury or a world where you can still enjoy nature!                               
6. If you have a garden consider the possibility of a compost pile. This will take some extra work, but the soil is excellent and you have an ecological way of disposing swill.  
7. When you go to the grocery store take reusable shopping bags with you. You can get those made of cloth or you can even use the average plastic bag a few times or you can use a shopping a basket etc. No matter what you use, just try to avoid a bunch of new plastic bags every time you go shopping.
8. If you decide to buy a new car don't only consider looks, price and extras, but also things like milage and inform yourself about alternatives like hybrids, electric cars etc.
9. In Winter use the heating carefully. If you are leaving the house for several hours (e.g. when you go to work) turn it down, so the energy isn't wasted. Also if living in an old building make sure that the windows' sealing is good. An new one might costs some money in the beginning, but the savings in engery costs make it worth quickly.
10. This is probably the most important point: Try to teach other people more awareness of environmental protection!

I am very well aware, that we have all heard these or similar points and that although all of these are important, non will reverse the process that has already started. The important thing is to increase the awareness with people and to get them willing to do their part.

It is not about being perfect but about the attitude. Keep in mind, every piece of trash avoided is one piece less polluting our planet.

For those replying: It is none of my business. Just tell them this: As long as you live on the planet it concerns you too, because there is no escape.

So let's try to do our bit and keep your eyes open, then you will see lots of oportunities to help save earth!

Politics and critics

When it comes to politics there is an infinty of possibilities of how to deal with it and it seems to as many different types of people. But if you take a closer look you notice that it is only three kinds of people.

First we have the activists. Some of them simply carefully decide who to vote for or they work voluntarily for the party they believe to be best suited for the job in question. Others choose to run for an office themselves or maybe to go the unortodox way of protesting to make their voice heard. Although these people are often different in their approach to the matter, they all have something in common: They care about society and try to help it to move into the direction they think is the right one. It is them who make the world progress.

Then we have the passive folks. They are not interested in politics and have made peace with the fact that someone has to do take care of it. They don't constantly complain about politics and accept that sometimes they win and sometimes they loose. They appreciate that there are people who take care of things like public health systems, job creation, infrastructure, evironment protection and kindergardens just to name a few, so they don't have to deal with it.

Finally we have those, that are constantly complaining about politics but cannot even be bothered to vote. Their usual argument is "all parties just suck". These people behave like the annoying sport's fan that watches from the side line and believe he could do everything better, without ever daring to perform.

"The Diary" reposted and critics

Unfortunately that I can post "The Diary" again means that the short has not made it into the final of the competition, but this is ok, since I found the e-mail from the editor encouraging, as it basically said that they liked the story, but it is not what they were looking for.
The story is pretty dark and I am eager to know what you guys think of it. I am aware that this is most likely my most controversial work and I am aware that not everybody will like it.
So I am inviting all of you to give me a critic on the story (No worries, I can also take a harsh critic) by using the comment function. I will not delete any comments unless they are ofensive to other people. So let me have your thoughts!
To get to the story just get to the right side on the English writings section.

Home and "chronicles of the shadow wars"

As some of you are already aware of I grew up abroad. This lead to a very special connection to the concept of "home".
While to most people the concept is clear (e.g. "where you live", "where you are from") for people like me this has become a more complex issue. What is home?
When I am in Germany I am the "spanish chick" and when I am in Spain I am the "german chick". So the question is do I have two homes or none?
For me home has therefore a less literal meaning. It is not necessarily where you live or where your family is from, but where you feel safe and loved. It can be a place or the company of a person. A place where I can totally be myself and let down my guard. This is for me the definition of home. After all we say I FEEL at home. So down the line we all sense home rather as an e-motional state then an actual place.
Sometimes I find "home" in the least expected place and for me that is the beauty of it. On the other hand you sometimes don't feel at home in place you actually should or want to feel at home.

After this little philosophical excursion a little update on the "chronicles of the shadow wars". Since the concept is becoming very extense I have decided to break the stories down, so the new title reads:

The chronicles of the shadow wars - Part 1: Claudia

Despite the interruptions the book is developing nicely and my test readers are giving positive feedbacks. I have set myself the deadline of the 31st of March to finish the book, so I can sent it to potentional editors (Although I already have one that seems interested).

I will keep you posted.