Sustainable Substitutes for Fossil Fuelled Fun...?

i drove with my flatmates to Oreti beach the other day. it was a splendidly sunny, still day and we took the soccer ball for some kickin'...

naturally, being such a nice day, everyone else had the same idea and the beach was covered with cars and people. now, there aren't that many parts of New Zealand that i am aware of where you are not only allowed to drive a car onto the beach, you apparently have a sacred, god-given right to do so - there is even a speed limit (30km/h).

i am of course living in the land of burt munro, so i shouldn't be too surprised.

we took off to a nearby park to kick the ball. in the same park was a guy with three kids - they had driven there in a monstrous-looking four-wheel drive vehicle (it was absurdly large) and the kids were taking turns hooning round the park in a noisy small four-wheeled motorbike.

funnily enough, from the other side of the road came the hysterical scream of engines - it was opening day for Teretonga Park (the local speedway)... earlier that morning i had been woken by our 'boy racer' neighbours revving it up.

i started to wonder, are we going to be able to change our sporting and entertainment habits in the face of fuel shortages and climate change...?

you don't have to watch telly for long to see some form of motorsport - jet-skis, motorcross, formula one etc. and it is obvious that people are really into this stuff. now, don't get me wrong - i am not interested in telling people what to do or what sports to be involved with, however i can't help but wonder if the people who are into these things realise that they cannot last - that they are unsustainable...?

fuel prices are increasing, as stocks become depleted. food prices are increasing for the same reason, as well as climate change, and now we are using food to produce biofuels... are we so sure that we want to prioritise fossil-fuelled fun over feeding our families?

by raising our kids to admire and adore cars and the associated culture, we are doing them a great disservice, as by the time they are able to drive fuel will be such a precious commodity and the cost of emitting carbon will be so high that they will be unable to afford to do it.

so can we change this culture? can we decide to encourage non-fossil fun, sports that are people-powered like cycling, running, swimming, kayaking... and wean ourselves off the motorsport addiction? i for one am keen to try.

naturally, all organisms will preferentially choose the way of gaining the most energy with the least energy expenditure, so it is neither surprising nor 'wrong' that humans embraced oil (just as a possum will prefer a kiwi egg to a beech leaf), however we are now in a position to see that the results of people consuming so much energy and expending so little are that most 'westernised' of illnesses - obesity, and that most international of issues - climate change.

let's make a conscious decision to encourage young people to see through this fossil-fuelled facade and instead choose sustainable systems for social success and sporting stimulation - "two legs good, four wheels bad"?!