joined up do-goodery again

Today is Walk To Work Day, which is a marvellous initiative. I am a big fan of getting to work - or anywhere else - under my own power. Walking, running or on my bike, I don't care. I think a better name would be "Leave The Car at Hone day", but maybe the marketeers are smarter than me and figured that a positive "do walk" is more appealing than the negative "don't drive".

Anyway, the idea with Walk To Work day is to make people aware of both the environmental and health benefits of walking. How successful today is remains to be seen. Although a lovely morning, it is bastard hot and my relatively short 2km walk over the Bridge (I got the bus for the first few km) had me sweating like a race horse. Some people, especially those carrying a few extra kilos, may find their faith in automotive air-conditioning strengthened by their walking experience.

However, the success or otherwise of the day is not my main reason for this entry. Joined-up do-goodery is my main reason. A lot of people seem to compartmentalise their do-goodery; you may find yourself at a dinner party discussing donations to the Orangutan Foundation while sitting around a hardwood table. Think about it, think about it...

A couple of classic examples this morning, one a thing of sublime irony I wish I had captured a picture of.

Walk To Work Day T-shirts. Great that you're helping the environment by walking to work, not so hot that you have a new T-shirt you almost certainly do not need. Unfortunately you've wiped out your goodness with a bit of thoughtlessness. You've exported your carbon from your car to a factory in China. I could go on about cotton crops and water but I won't. But you've taken a step in the right direction and you just need to think a bit more. Do the right thing, don't do the unecessary thing.

This one is a beaut though. The aforementioned T-shirt has a large logo under which is printed the inspiring words BETTER HEALTH CLEANER AIR. If only I had got a picture of the woman standing on the deck of the bridge. She was standing in her t-shirt while tapping away at her mobile phone. The phone was in a hand she held just under the words BETTER HEALTH CLEANER AIR. The hand had a cigarette clamped between two of its fingers, smoke coiling from its end into the could-be-cleaner air.

Priceless.