I went to MEC today to buy a replacement snap connector for my Arcteryx backpack and see if there is any way to stop the worn inner heels of my shoes from cutting my feet when I walk (there isn’t). This definitely beats the record for the least amount of money spent during a trip to that store: $5.50, more than $5 of which was on a Bisphenol A-free HDPE Nalgene bottle.
It’s a sad reflection of how my gear to outdoor opportunities ratio is more skewed towards the former than ever before. I really miss the Oxford Walking Club.
Author: Milan
In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. In the fall of 2005, I began reading for an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford.
Outside school, I am very interested in photography, writing, and the outdoors. I am writing this blog to keep in touch with friends and family around the world, provide a more personal view of graduate student life in Oxford, and pass on some lessons I've learned here.
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HDPE? Pffffff, steel is real man!
Steel? For a water bottle?
Even my carabiners are made of aluminum.
A steel water bottle is the most excessive thing since the Hummer.
I would take that line of flight
I would take that line of flight
Which mountains would you choose? There are no decent ones on this side of the continent.
You could take up indoor rock climbing. It involves lots of neat gear, and would be a good winter activity.
It’s also great for upper body strength.
That’s a great idea.
There is a climbing place right between where I live and where I work.
There are mountains, just not of the standard we are used to. The appropriate thing to do in the absence of large mountains, I think, are things like the bruce trail, or perhaps something like it closer to ottawa?
Milan, if you find yourself in Vancouver this summer at a time when I am about, I can accompany you climbing / mountaineering / hiking on mountains. I recall our trip to Crown mountain being good fun & there are a plentitude of similar and more challenging trips locally.
Sarah,
That sounds excellent, though I think it very unlikely that I will be in Vancouver this summer.
I had never heard of Bisphenol A.
I’m never quite sure how I feel about media food scares. Generally when you go and read the literature, they often have dubious support, and yet it’s hard to shake off the niggling doubts. It gets to the point where you’d hardly eat anything.
Mark,
I generally share your skepticism and think that people worry more about environmental toxins than the risk justifies. I mostly got the new bottle because I do sometimes drink tea from mine and boiling water very significantly (50x) increases the bisphenol A leaching.
Hazard in a bottle
Aug 22nd 2008
From Economist.com
The plastics industry’s Pyrrhic victory
MONEY spoke louder than science in California’s legislature this week, as lawmakers decided between outlawing a chemical used in baby bottles, food containers and household products, and appeasing wealthy donors in the industry.
A bill in the California assembly, which passed the state senate in May, would have banned the use of bisphenol-A (BPA) in products used by children under the age of three. An avalanche of shameless lobbying killed it: the vote was 31 to 27 against, with 22 weaselly abstentions.
The brouhaha over BPA echoes the battle over smoking and cancer a generation ago. Sooner or later, health authorities in most developed countries will heed the scientific evidence and follow Canada’s lead in banning BPA—at least in baby bottles, if not in all household products.