Here is a cool little video urging President-elect Obama to convert the White House lawn into a vegetable garden, complete with time-lapse photography on what the author Roger Doiron did.
(http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009021.html)
This raises a good point about our fascination with green manicured lawns. Most of this precious land would be better served growing something useful, like stuff we can actually eat. Victory Gardens were popular once, it's time to bring them back!
Instead of buying vegetables that have most likely traveled thousands of miles to your door, why not grow them in your own garden? Don't have your own yard? Then see if you can go in on a community garden.
There is no reason why everyone cannot grow their own.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Exurbs and Transportation Woes
NOW on PBS video called "Driven to Despair". This video looks at the life of a family living in the exurbs and compares it to the living in the city. It focuses on how the high cost of gasoline has affected those with long commutes. It also shows how more public transportation has the ability to make a difference, if given the chance. Great video to watch!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The Change Has Begun.
The rising cost of oil has already set in motion some interesting trends. Driving is down and public transit use it up.
Sales of larger vehicles are declining, which is putting American auto manufacturers in trouble. For years, they have relied on larger vehicles (SUVs) to make most of their profits. With slipping sales, they now have to focus their energy on smaller fuel efficient cars. Even scooter sales are on the rise.
Mass transit is enjoying an increase in riders, but many cities are now experiencing growing pains. They are having trouble keeping up with the demand, and funding is not able to keep up.
We are now trying to catch up to cope with a problem that began many years ago. Unfortunately, we did not heed the warnings until it hit us where it counts - the bottom line. Now that we are beginning to realize the real cost of energy, there is scrambling to figure out how to deal with it. We have been building sprawled out subdivisions for the past 50 years, assuming there would always be cheap oil to allow everyone to drive anywhere they pleased. As a result, we will now have a difficult task ahead if we want to offer alternatives to everyone driving their own vehicle everywhere. Some people will choose to move closer to where they work, or closer to the central part of a city. But, what about the millions of families who are stuck out in suburbia? How do we undo 50 years of sprawling development? It would take years to get good public transit out into the suburbs. Not everyone will be able to move into the city.
Perhaps shopping more locally will start to make sense. Instead of driving 30 miles to Wally World, we might do our shopping at the local grocery, drug, and hardware stores (if you are lucky enough to even still have them). Maybe you will choose to visit the local sites on your vacation instead of driving 500 miles to visit something out of state. Maybe you will dust off that old bike setting in the garage and see if you can use it to visit the local grocery or convenience store.
Even some outsourced jobs may start coming back to America, as transporting goods across the world may become cost inhibited. We may see more locally grown food instead of having our lettuce shipped 3000 miles. We may even have to buy more seasonal fruits and vegetables, since we may not be able to afford produce grown and shipped from countries around the world.
It's probably too late for America to make a smooth transition into living with high energy costs, but hopefully enough people have the common sense to start making adjustments on their own.
Sales of larger vehicles are declining, which is putting American auto manufacturers in trouble. For years, they have relied on larger vehicles (SUVs) to make most of their profits. With slipping sales, they now have to focus their energy on smaller fuel efficient cars. Even scooter sales are on the rise.
Mass transit is enjoying an increase in riders, but many cities are now experiencing growing pains. They are having trouble keeping up with the demand, and funding is not able to keep up.
We are now trying to catch up to cope with a problem that began many years ago. Unfortunately, we did not heed the warnings until it hit us where it counts - the bottom line. Now that we are beginning to realize the real cost of energy, there is scrambling to figure out how to deal with it. We have been building sprawled out subdivisions for the past 50 years, assuming there would always be cheap oil to allow everyone to drive anywhere they pleased. As a result, we will now have a difficult task ahead if we want to offer alternatives to everyone driving their own vehicle everywhere. Some people will choose to move closer to where they work, or closer to the central part of a city. But, what about the millions of families who are stuck out in suburbia? How do we undo 50 years of sprawling development? It would take years to get good public transit out into the suburbs. Not everyone will be able to move into the city.
Perhaps shopping more locally will start to make sense. Instead of driving 30 miles to Wally World, we might do our shopping at the local grocery, drug, and hardware stores (if you are lucky enough to even still have them). Maybe you will choose to visit the local sites on your vacation instead of driving 500 miles to visit something out of state. Maybe you will dust off that old bike setting in the garage and see if you can use it to visit the local grocery or convenience store.
Even some outsourced jobs may start coming back to America, as transporting goods across the world may become cost inhibited. We may see more locally grown food instead of having our lettuce shipped 3000 miles. We may even have to buy more seasonal fruits and vegetables, since we may not be able to afford produce grown and shipped from countries around the world.
It's probably too late for America to make a smooth transition into living with high energy costs, but hopefully enough people have the common sense to start making adjustments on their own.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
3 Years Ago
3 years ago today my grandfather passed away. I still think of him often. Thinking of his life has caused me to reflect a bit on some current stuff going on in our country.
I just read an article in the paper about a push for more urban areas to allow residents to raise chickens. Several cities had previously banned residents from keeping chickens, but there has been a growing effort to get those bans lifted. Many cities now allow up to 6 chickens to be raised on a residential property, usually with the consent of neighbors. The owners get the obvious benefit of fresh eggs, but the chickens also help to control weeds and bugs, and they fertilize the ground. This is just one of the latest parts of a growing trend of people wanting to raise their food closer to home. Many are returning to growing a vegetable garden in their back (or even front) yard. More are making a conscience effort to seek out locally grown food and locally raised animals for diary and meat. With the ever increasing cost of gas and diesel, transporting food long distances is making less economical sense. Locally grown food also is usually fresher and better tasting. There is also a lesser chance of an outbreak of a deadly disease from locally grown or raised food. Even if there is an outbreak, the number of consumers affected is much, much less than food grown or raised on large factory farm environments.
If you cannot raise or grow the food yourself, at least try to get the know the people who do. These people are certainly not in this business to make a lot of money, they want to see people eating fresh, healthy food. Go out and visit a farmer's market the next chance you get. Maybe you can even find tomatoes there!
I just read an article in the paper about a push for more urban areas to allow residents to raise chickens. Several cities had previously banned residents from keeping chickens, but there has been a growing effort to get those bans lifted. Many cities now allow up to 6 chickens to be raised on a residential property, usually with the consent of neighbors. The owners get the obvious benefit of fresh eggs, but the chickens also help to control weeds and bugs, and they fertilize the ground. This is just one of the latest parts of a growing trend of people wanting to raise their food closer to home. Many are returning to growing a vegetable garden in their back (or even front) yard. More are making a conscience effort to seek out locally grown food and locally raised animals for diary and meat. With the ever increasing cost of gas and diesel, transporting food long distances is making less economical sense. Locally grown food also is usually fresher and better tasting. There is also a lesser chance of an outbreak of a deadly disease from locally grown or raised food. Even if there is an outbreak, the number of consumers affected is much, much less than food grown or raised on large factory farm environments.
If you cannot raise or grow the food yourself, at least try to get the know the people who do. These people are certainly not in this business to make a lot of money, they want to see people eating fresh, healthy food. Go out and visit a farmer's market the next chance you get. Maybe you can even find tomatoes there!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Memorial Day
Last Memorial Day, I was pondering how to really honor the day. This year, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to at least, in some small way, pay tribute. My wife and I joined the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts at Rosecrans National Cemetery for a ceremony in which the boys and girls place flags on each of the grave sites there. For one thing, it was quite an experience to be among so many people there to honor the fallen. Secondly, it was rather spectacular to see how quickly thousands of flags get placed so quickly on all the graves.It was a time to pause and give a quick "Thank you" to those who fought for our freedom and especially to those who gave their lives trying. It doesn't matter whether you are pro or anti war, what political affiliation you have, this is a day to pay tribute to those who gave up their tomorrows so that you could have yours.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Mid-life Crisis
I'm approaching that age when some men go through a mid-life crisis. I was reflecting on my situation, and wondering if I am going through one. However, I think mine is a little different than a typical man's mid-life crisis. For example, usually the guy will go out and buy a $50,000 sports car. I want to buy a $400 Xtracycle so I can do away with a car. During this time, men usually want to do away with their family obligations - leave the wife and kids, maybe hook up with a younger female, or whatever. I am planning and looking forward to doing more things with my wife and kids. My kids are getting to the age where things like going camping, hiking, and biking would be real fun. Both me and my wife are getting more involved with the kids in Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts. I could not imagine walking out on them now (or anytime). So, maybe I am going through some sort of crisis. Maybe a reverse mid-life crisis?
Monday, April 07, 2008
Organized Charity Bike Rides
This will probably be a bit of rambling here, but I am rethinking my perception of organized/charity bike rides after participating on one this weekend. I rode in the Fallbrook Avenue of the Oaks Metric Century charity ride Saturday. As for the ride itself, it was challenging. There were many, many hills. In a way, I was glad it was over. I have ridden a few organized rides over the last few years, but this was my first in over a year. In that time, I think my attitude towards rides like this has changed somewhat. I used to get psyched up for these types of rides. Although they are not races, it was still fun to see how many riders you could pass, see how quickly you could finish. This time, I did not really care about who I passed. I passed several, and several passed me, too. I was not concerned about how quickly I could finish. I was also more aware of the types of riders among the group. Most seemed to be men ranging from their late 20's to mid 50's or so, most had nice, fairly new, sleek, expensive road bikes. I might be wrong, but I would guess that most of these men (and a few ladies) only ride in group rides or training rides. They probably do not do much, if any, cycling with a destination as a purpose (such as commuting or shopping), or just simply cruising around by bike for fun. I guess I might classify them as "wanna be racers". I'm not really knocking that, it can be a lot of fun. For many people, organized rides are the closest they will get to riding a race, kinda like riding in the Tour de France if you will. There is a certain thrill in that. I guess where I am coming from is that my take on riding has morphed from riding for the thrill of riding in a big loop as fast as you can to riding with a purpose (as in a destination), or just to get out and cruise around a bit, preferably with the family when possible. I do still like to get out by myself on long training rides when I can, since those types of rides do help build endurance and give me a chance to unwind in a way. However, I try to makes these rides not an act of punishment, but as a way to see some of the local sites in a way that you cannot by any other method. Bikes do not only need to be recreational, they can be everyday transportation vehicles as well. If every one of the riders in this last organized ride were to commute by bike or run errands once in a while by bike, wow what a difference that would make. There is definitely not a lack of cyclists in this country, it is just their purpose for cycling that, if modified to include practical uses, could really make a huge difference in the world.
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