Green Options

Nude pole dancing on the New York subway and pole dancing on a pedicab (bike)! Two more reasons to ditch your car…

See the video here.

image credit: Wikimedia Commons–Creative Commons Public Domain

Innovative artist Joshua Allen Harris has created a menagerie of inflatable monsters that are ephemeral, whimsical and utterly delightful. All of his different creatures are made from old plastic bags, and magically come to life from the air generated by New York city subway vent exhaust.

Steven Psyllos interviewed Harris recently for New York magazine to discuss his inspiration, artistic process,  and to unveil a new animated plastic bag beast; the video was shot by Jonah Green.

The New York MTA is considering a green MetroCard program where riders can donate towards environmentally sustainable operations. The proposal also included that new construction should comply with LEED Silver guidelines. Riders will get to choose.

Shibuya Station is one of Japan’s busiest transit hubs. Its futuristic “spaceship” design, by environmentalist and architect Tadao Ando, boasts a number of green features.

Shibuya Station is a vital hub in Tokyo’s transit network, linking trains and subways with bicycles (the station provides a bicycle parking space), buses and the always heavy Tokyo pedestrian traffic. On the average weekday, the station sees over two million passengers, making it one of the busiest rail stations in Japan.

With the holidays continuing their slow march up the calendar, I know that many of you will be hitting the road to visit friends and family. This shouldn’t mean that you have to leave your craft behind. Here are some tips to make your travels more craft friendly.

Pack it to go - Grab one of your tote bags and start adding all your crafting accessories needed for your current project. For my knitting projects, I keep a small zippered pouch stocked with small scissors, a tape measure, darning needle and stitch marker. I throw that in along with my yarn, needles and my pattern.

In the air - Knitting needles, small scissors under 4 inches, and sewing needles are permitted in carry on luggage. TSA recommends that your knitting needles be made of plastic or wood/bamboo, but metal needles are permitted. They urge caution if for some reason your supplies could be constituted as weapons, and suggest you bring a self addressed stamped envelope in case your items need to be shipped, but I’ve never had an issue.

Subway follows Taco Bell, Burger King, and McDonald’s by pledging to pay one cent more per tomato in order to give workers a living wage. However, the fight now turns to the growers themselves, who have objected to the campaign and refuse to pass the money on to the workers.

”We’re hopeful that the growers will stop resisting this change and help us to get the money to the workers, rather than setting up barriers,” said Julia Perkins, a Coalition of Immokalee Workers spokesperson. “With every new company that signs on, it provides a lot of incentive for a forward-thinking grower to be willing to pass on the penny per pound.”

The 2008 election was an historic one – no doubt about that. Regardless of your political leanings, things are gonna change. For Southern California, one of these things may just be traffic.

Two measures passed on Tuesday will lay the groundwork for improved transportation, reducing our reliance on cars. The first was State measure 1A, a bond to pay for a high-speed train from Los Angeles to Sacramento and then on to San Francisco. Is it expensive? Of course it is. Estimated costs are $19.4 billion, though it will likely be considerably more than that. But having ridden Japan’s bullet trains, I can say that once it’s finished it will be a much better mode of transport than driving or flying to SFO - with drastically reduced carbon emissions to boot!

Come out Monday, March 10 at 7 pm to the Green Renter lecture series held at the Solar One house on the East River. This week’s lecture will feature Charles Komanoff, a renowned energy-policy analyst and environmental activist, speaking about Ted Kheel’s policy approach to NYC’s congestion problem: 100% free mass transportation.

I’ll admit—sheepishly—some days when I’m extremely tired from a long day at work, head bouncing to some tune on my ipod, I often walk into the subway and without thinking, try to walk through the turnstile without swiping my card. After I’m jolted out of my stupor by the immovable metal bar at my crouch, I realize I’m entering, not exiting the station and I must pay. I often dream about free subway rides—my dream could come true if New York City adopted Ted Kheel’s plan.