# 16 Where is the new world...
..some people had imagined during the SARS-CoV2 crisis ? Remember, it was the time of the remote working, the time of leaving the cities for the countryside or the beach, the time of avoiding cars and travelling in cities where wild animals had returned...A time to rethink and renew our way of living, of working. Did you believe that ? Really ? Of course not, we are humans and we love our habits. I didn't believe to that new world. But this period has changed a lot of things for me...(as has my illness this year).
I'm totally convinced of remote working. I have managed to keep 3 days in a week for remote working and have organized myself and my team to be more efficient. I have the opportunity that our tools in the company where I work, are powerful...or were powerful because Microsoft has been integrated in our IT System ! What a mess with Office365 and two systems to share, to discuss, to write, show...Despite all this, it's more efficient for me to create and develop tools at home for me and my colleagues because I'm comfortably installed. My new world at home is fine and I only have the things that I can't do at home in the two days spent in the company.
That's also a reason not to use my car and public transport. Do I need a car ? It could be the next idea but there are other issues for that. In my medium-sized city, I have enough convenient stores and health services close to my home. I also like to walk and 20 to 30 minutes to get where I need to go is another option. My mother, who lives in a much bigger city, has not any good convenience store near home. She must take a bus or walk more than 30 minutes… Some will say that using convenient store may cost more. Are you sure ? If you are counting the cost of using a car, buying fuel, tires and paying insurance, you'll see your situation in a different light. OK, I'll keep my car for the moment, and I use Internet when I need something I can't find around me.
Before SARS CoV2, I used to go to shops near Paris for vegan food, Asian food, etc... Now the same shops have developed online services to order what you need. Sometimes it's much more expensive but It's a gain of time and ...maybe for the planet ? It's difficult to say. The more gain for the planet is to use and buy what is just around you. But, as a vegan, I can't find alternatives that are produced close to my home. No mushrooms, no mock meats, not seasonal vegetables are available. I always buy seasonal vegetables and fruits from the nearest producer/farm. It's often not organic... France is late in organic agriculture. I can't find Asian noodles made in France. I can only find Vietnamese food cooked in a pagoda when it's near the Asian new year. I'm not good enough in the kitchen to make my own noodles as I see in my favorite Chinese noodle restaurant in Paris. The new world is still a global world when I can order the best instant noodles from Japan or the best Pakora Mix from India.
With all this, my use of a car has been reduced by two and maybe three compared to the years when I traveled more. But I haven't traveled much in France in recent months. I had to make a pause… Nothing changed for the railroad. They have cut train services for years and it's not going to change. The last time I went by train to Normandy is about 25 years ago. The bus services that has been set up in the last ten years are not good, compared with what I saw in Canada. And why buses when you have trains? The cost of a train ticket is more expensive than car, and even plane, because the train services must be upgraded after years of neglect. My new world could be made up of cycling and walking, of course but it's still a dangerous world. Last year, the number of cyclists killed rose by 30%.....the exact growth of cyclists in the country.
And speaking of growth, where is the promise of less growth in industry, in consumption. At least a more reasonable growth because we need jobs. Everything is the same as before. Remote working was just a new idea to reduce the number of rooms and offices in companies, to gain more money. Annual targets are the same or more in this world of global competition. «Ecological Transition» is the new excuse to buy new things but where are our old «toys» going ? I know where....Far from our eyes, in underdeveloped and emerging countries, southern countries. It's so easy not having to change. In the next 10 years, I will have to change my gas boiler. I have decrease my emission by 20% in the last years but with a heat pump, the promise is only on the use of hydrocarbon, not to decrease energy consumption if you're not working on the insulation. It can be worse sometimes. Wood ? Every winter I inhale a neighbour's burnt wood particles and it's not pleasant. So my goal is to change my way of living and heating, no
t only to change the boiler. Not easy, and I can't imagine those who don't have the money for that. Imagine the poor countries that use coal and wood because they don't have a choice, even though they have solar and wind energy. The new world had to show solidarity.
And in the same time, some billionaires are thinking about conquering new planets. We haven't even conquered our new world here on earth.
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