Green Options

I have lived in Europe on two occasions now — for five months in the Netherlands (two years ago) and for ten months in Poland (currently). I have been green-minded since I was a young child, and knew that Europe did better on many green issues. Nonetheless, to come here and live here has given me more insight on the perspectives of the people and more of a practical understanding of why Europe fairs so much better than the US on many environmental issues.

Recently, I came up with a list of seven things that really stand out to me as good environmental practices in Europe that could be transferred to the US. These could all be adopted in the US, but some are more personal in nature and some are more systematic. Furthermore, some of the personal ones regard large, life decisions, and some are much simpler in nature and easier to implement into your life now.

Of course, Europe is not one country and things vary from country to country. Nonetheless, there are also several similarities across borders. I have friends in other countries and have traveled a bit as well, so I hope to be sharing the best of the best.

Here’s the list!

Nike has a financial investment in getting people to live more active lifestyles, but it is broadening its agenda a bit with a new campaign to encourage people to “Beat Gasoline” and use more muscle power for their transportation needs. In partnership with Youth Noise, the initiative is sending this video to athletically minded kids, informing them that “air pollution causes 2 million premature deaths in cities around the world” and encouraging them to create and enter a video, and vote on vidoes, for it’s Beat Gasoline challenge. The initiative is distributing strong anti-car information through it’s campaign videos, such as: “DRIVING A CAR IS THE MOST POLLUTING ACT THE AVERAGE CITIZENS COMMITS.” Good criminalistic language there.

The competition has weekly winners and a grand prize winner.

Five Beat Gasoline campaign videos are here:

Want to put solar panels on the house? Start saving… solar power is a great investment, but it is an investment… often a hefty one. If you’d like to get started with something a little less ambitious (but more affordable), you’ll find a number of good sources out there for a whole range of solar DIY projects. Voltaic, best known for its solar backpack, has joined more well-known sites such as Gary Reysa’s Build It Solar and Mother Earth News with its own collection of do-it-yourself projects.

So far, the collection is small… but there are already some really cool projects available:

You hear so much about people striving to live a greener, more sustainable life. You may at times wonder, who else is doing it, and is all that happy talk translating into real world results?

Three friends decided to find out. As they put it,

Mandy, Ryan and Brady are ‘bikepacking’ 12,000 miles to the East Coast and back to California, using solar-powered electronics and leg-powered bicycles. The result is a feature-length documentary film that will present [...]

Biking. For most American adults, it’s just not on the radar as a transportation option for more then casual use. B Cycle hopes to change that. And with the intersection of three powerful allies, an economy in trouble, and a population ready for and open to something different, now may be just the time for such an endeavor.

Today Alex Bogusky, Chairman of Crispin Porter + Bogusky is set to speak at SXSW on the topic of bike sharing. CPB is one of the three founding partners of B-cycle, a concept which has been quietly gaining support in cities around the U.S. and which has been launched, under another company, to a degree of success in Paris. The question is, can it succeed here?

What do you get when you’re in a town where bike riders rack up 8 times the US national average for bike commuting? An opportunity. Ads On Bikes is a Portland, Oregon based company that may have hit on a phenomenal way to make companies, bikers, and the environment all happy.

The police officer who seemingly randomly picked a bicyclist out of a critical mass crowd to tackle has been indicted for falsifying records and could also soon be charged with misdemeanor assault. The YouTube video [below], which went viral soon after the incident, was instrumental in the indictment.

Pensacola’s not a big city, population-wise, but it’s spread out over a large area that’s more car- than pedestrian-friendly. So it’s nice to see that visitors now have a more eco-friendly option for exploring the historic “City of Five Flags”: pedicabs.

The Pensacola News-Journal reports this week that the city welcomed its first pedal-powered taxi service this fall with the launch of Foot Taxi. The business offers eight pedicabs in a service area that encompasses most of the old downtown area, including many of the city’s popular nightspots and restaurants.

Yesterday, I did something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time: pick up my son from school using a bike and trailer instead of a car. It was exhausting (the last block home was the hardest), but I’m hoping to keep it up (even if my son complains, “We could be home already” — even though he’s the one who lobbied to ride in the trailer in the first place!)

With a gas-guzzling Blazer on its last legs, the only thing that’s been holding me back till now was the lack of an alternative. Stroke of luck number one came a few weeks ago, when I passed a house with an 18-speed women’s bike in the front yard with a sign that said “Free: Please take.” So I did.

For many of us who take environmental protection into our own hands daily, a bicycle is an indispensible part of the dream.  Throw off those winter blues… bicycling can make your winter green!

Bicycles are an efficient way to transport yourself daily for a number of reasons.  To me, the most important benefit to using a bicycle is that it improves my health and fitness.  Probably the next most important to me is a bike’s economy.  You pay for occasional maintenance throughout the year, but on the whole, it is far cheaper than using a car, or even travelling by public transportation!

On the environmental front: unlike motor vehicles, bicycles produce no greenhouse gases from their use.  Their parts can often be manufactured from recycled materials.  Overall, while not perfect, bikes make for a significantly smaller footprint than any other existing mode of efficient, long-travel transportation out there.

The distance from my home to my work is 1.8 miles.  (Another good way to think green: move close to your essentials!)  Walking, that might take me 40 minutes!  But on my bike, I am there in 9-12 minutes.  As the nights get longer and the air gets crisper, however, I am reminded that unless I take certain measures, I will soon be prevented from using my bike to get to work by the “elements.”  Common enemies to the bicycle include: snow, slush, ice, gravel, and salt.

But if you’re like me, you strive to think green in all seasons… not just the warm and sunny ones.  Surely, winter is the least popular time to ride bikes–it’s cold and difficult, and just plain inconvenient!  However, who doesn’t need to keep fit in the winter months?  And with a few quick steps and some basic knowledge, you can equip yourself and your bike with the necessities to keep it sturdy and rideable throughout the winter months.