Green Options

Yes, it seems the Republicans will do almost anything to keep voters away from the polls. Of course, they aren’t the only ones.

There is an interesting explanation about how our five day, forty hour work week standard almost wasn’t in the book Affluenza: The All Consuming Epidemic. It seems that in 1933, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would make thirty hours the official work week for Americans. Anything past that would have been overtime. It was  voted down by a few votes in the House in favor of President Roosevelt’s New Deal Program. The thirty hour work week would have allowed for more job sharing, something that was sorely needed in the years following 1929’s Black Friday. The five day, forty hour work week, however, became the U.S. standard.

Of course, in many cases, that forty hour work week has gotten stretched to 45, 46 or more hours. When workers add their commute to and from work to their working hours, it begins to add up to a lot of time away from home and family.

Things are beginning to change, however, and many companies, local government work places, and even some schools are beginning to change to a four day work week, many tacking an extra two hours on to the remaining four days to make up the time.

What’s bringing about these changes? The economy, the rise in energy and fuel prices, and a concern for the environment can all be cited as reasons for the change to the four day work week.

The environmental advantages of this trend are many.

How about riding a tandem bike, and being able to look your companion straight in the eye? This might be dangerous, but a Taiwanese inventor has created a face-to-face tandem bicycle.

Chen Yugang seems to think it will be a big hit, and is courting manufacturers. He says,

“On a traditional two-person bicycle, the rider in the rear seat can only see the back of the one in front. So I started wondering how I could get them sitting face-to-face”.