So, I’ve just got back from nine weeks in East Africa which is a bit far away so not there, but whilst in Africa I read George Monbiot’s Heat – How to Stop the Planet Burning, upon reading said book I began to feel that environmental guilt thing all middle-class adults do, which has caused me to go vegan, buy locally and reCYCLE things, all nice little tokens to ease the conscience and according to Monbiot make no difference really.

I had to find a new way to momentarily ease my guilt.

But the guilt really set in when I realised that flying from Edinburgh to London to Nairobi and back again was actually really naughty and that the pretty trails in the sky planes leave are nothing but grim reminders of our inability to act, and then I met Americans who were taking internal flights within Tanzania! (At least Edinburgh and London are in different countries) So, I tried to map an overland journey home, which obviously would require much more money than I had. Failing that, I had to find a new way to momentarily ease my guilt upon arrival into the swanky airport and allow me to say : ‘I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem’ in a smarmy Green-Peace-but-not-a-hippie way. So, I got a BIKE! Oh aren’t they great? You get to shout at car drivers, everywhere is ten minutes away and you can get a cool basket to put your locally purchased veg in. Wonderful. In fact to make it even easier for you none-bike owners, here’s a link to cheap Edinburgh bike joy and on top of that, an inspired website that tells you where you can take your newly discovered sense of environmental soundness. What else could anyone ever want: smugness and toned thighs…it’s perfect. And for you smart-arses, the carbon footprint of the bike being made is off-set within 60 days of use. So until next week when a less arduous place/object is advised: get on those bikes!

Competition Time:

Take a picture of you on your bike in a funny/interesting/tvbomb related way by October 12th

Send your entry to ana@tvbomb.co.uk with ‘Competition Sep’ as the subject.

Your picture will be put in the gallery for this article for everyone to see and you could be the lucky winner of a meal for two (worth £20) plus 2 cocktails (worth £10) at The Borough!