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m o r e (kids marching on monday)October is here! In many places, it's one of the most glorious months of the year, and it also happens to be Walk to School Month.
Walking or biking to school gets kids moving, creates cleaner air quality, and builds awareness about the need to look out for and have safe passageways for little learners.
About 10-25% of kids overall walk to their campuses.
Become part of the movement (pun intended) and get ideas of events and activities to create more pedestrians in your parts.
m o r e (mpg)Here's a way to see if the sticker on your car's window when it sat in the lot was accurate or not. Fuelly allows you to create an account, add a car, and track its mileage. Users see how much gas they're using and figure out how to cut back.
In the Olympic spirit, you can also track your friends' gas use and compete for first place in the sports of less frequent fill-ups and most gas saved.
less (plugging in)If you're already on the go as a cyclist (or motor or scooter type) around your town, then adding another step like using a solar charger for any gadgets you've got with you is a natural next step. And it may be something you've thought of doing already.
The solar rider allows you to do your thing, riding to work or errands or coffee dates, but also allows you to roll out a flexible panel, affix your cell phone and the like to it, and let the sun work as hard as you do.
With a minimal investment, you just might be able to eliminate all those charging cords and plugs and electricity burned. (I really want to take one of these for a spin!)
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And the winner? Another Toyota, the Yaris.
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And if you're still not on board, try this car cost calculator to see how much you spend on your car every year and how to put that money to good use elsewhere. After all, the average American spends 17% of his/her income on a car--that's the second highest percentage behind paying rent or a mortgage.
more (options)When we think hybrid, most of us still think of a Toyota Prius. Meanwhile, more and more companies are making hybrids, and many of those most fuel-inefficient vehicles, SUVs, come in a shade of greener. Now, Honda is planning on jumping into the game to make its mark on the hybrid market.
You can read more about Honda's plans to be part of the green personal vehicle game from USA Today here. It also includes its plans for "next generation" factories that will be more environmentally sound and its FCX Clarity, a hydrogen sedan that has zero emissions.
The IXI bike is well thought out as a comfortable but compact get you everywhere kind of bike. It's got a greaseless rubber belt drive so it won't stain your clothes (perfect for work commuting!), collapsable, and has really solid features that will last and last with little maintenance.It even has survival gear stored in the frame--a tire pump, repair kit, and get this, a rain poncho.
This seems to be a good choice for someone ready to get serious about ditching the car, but who also wants sleek convenience.
Bicycles are sustainable transportation for everybody. And while they can be life-changing for anyone's sense of mobility, they can be especially so for someone who doesn't have other options or the means to get one for him or herself.Enter World Bicycle Relief.
After the Indonesian Tsunami in 2004, they provided almost 25,000 bicycles to folks there who needed to get their livelihoods back.
Right now they're working on a project to deliver 23,000 bikes to folks who serve as HIV/AIDS prevention workers in Zambia--health care providers and educators--so they can reach people more easily and with more necessities in hand.
Here's the impact of the work they're doing (like that people with bikes have three more hours a day and can carry five times as much as when walking).
In a perfect world, we would all get rid of our cars. But if we can't, or aren't ready yet, there are some best practices when caring for your car to help conserve gas as you drive it.The biggest one is to make sure your engine's air filter is clean and if not, replace it. This small act can save up to 10% on your gas consumption. Maintaining tire pressure is a big saver as well.
And, if you poke around the site, you can make use of other services, like travel tips and choosing a more efficient car. I found out that the faster you drive (usually above 60mph, but it depends on your car's optimal fuel economy speed), the more gas you burn.
The website, Commuter Choice, gives you many of the resources you need to think outside of the one person in a car commuting to work box.
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Pick your city here and find commuter calculators to see how much money you can save, public transportation resources, and information on telecommuting.
Terrapass has a new air travel calculator and it takes into account the airline, route, connections and even which class you're flying when it calculates how much carbon your trip will generate.
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That way, you can choose to travel by the least offending airline and route (and of course buy offsets at TerraPass or elsewhere while you're at it).
This wicker basket is made by Fair Trade artisans in the Philippines who have been involved in a program that helps them off the streets, off drugs, and out of prostitution.
It's old school, not plastic (always a boon!), and is a huge help when you want to go for a bike ride and get some errands done while you're at it. It's got an easily removed and carried handle for toting as well.
At hybridcenter.org, a project of the Union of Concerned Scientists, you can get all the facts before plunging in and buying a hybrid. Which is great as the market goes way beyond the Prius nowadays.
It's the perfect place to visit if you're ready to trade in your current car for what is proving to be one of only good options we've got right now.
A month is many things to many people. One thing it is this month is National Bike Month.I loved hearing about The Copehagen Bike Culture blog from The Green Guide this morning. It does a body and soul good to see how integrated bike-friendliness is in some places.
In your own hometown, here are 50 things you can do to celebrate with cycling this month from the League of American Bicyclists.
And start planning for next week's Bike to Work Week (May 12-16, 2008).
With all the hoopla of Earth Day, National Tire Safety Week can get left in the dust. But, it is related to our efforts to care of the earth, if we have cars that is.By keeping your tires properly inflated and aligned, you can get better gas mileage on your car resulting in more efficient driving and less gas (that's on top of the safety hazards that worn, unmaintained tires cause).
Check your tire pressure with a gauge; refill as necessary according to your tires' optimum dpi.
Measure your tread depth (it should be more than 1.6 mm) and look for worn, bald spots.
Rotate your tires every 6,000 miles.
California alone ends up with 41 million used tires every year! 10 million of those never find their way to a recycling facility. What can you do? Buy long-life tires and when their number is up, make sure that you or your dealer gets them to a recycling facility.
According to First Global Xpress, when the other guys ship, they take the scenic route. With their New York-based shipping operation, they claim they can save you 10,000 pounds a year of carbon emissions by shipping from point A to point B, without all the stops in between.
In a high fuel price climate like this, how much gas your car guzzles per gallon is a matter of the environment and your pocketbook.
You can visit MPG Genie to calculate the MPG of a car you're considering buying (no matter what label or praise it's getting) or figure out how much your current car commute is going to cost you and how you may be able to work around it.
Thought the greenest car on the market was the Prius, hands-down. Not so, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Though it does get second place. In first, the Honda Civic GX for its excellent fuel economy. It gets 24 miles per gallon; 36 on the freeway.
And, the Smart Car comes in third. My vote would actually be for this one because beyond getting 33 MPG (41 on freeways), the Smart Car is truly compact (making a statement and making it easier to make left turns when across from one), less than $14,000, and goes the distance using environmentally-friendly materials and paints. (But this contest was only for energy efficiency).
Gas prices are higher than ever. The time is ripe for us all to problem-solve ways to avoid pumping gas and jumping in our cars. So, even if we "have" to drive, we can take steps to reduce our car's impact like maintaining it, combining errands, and as much as possible, ditching it for other options altogether.
A couple of weeks ago, I brainstormed an idea of a website that helps walkers navigate their neighborhoods to find hidden, walkable gems.
Since I'm not a web database designer, lucky for me somebody has already thought of this.
At Walk Score, you can type in your address or the address of a place to which you're considering moving. The site then tells you all the places within walking distance--theaters, grocery stores, restaurants, libraries, and the like.
It also gives a walking score, one determined by how feasible it would be to live there and not own a car.
It's a great tool to use when considering a move or when you're looking to get around more on your own two feet and may have missed a couple of subtle stores hiding right around the corner.
My neighborhood gets an 82. Once the library is finished this summer though, I think it will be rise at least 5 points.
Exercise equipment at the gym these days seems like such a waste to me -- in order to burn calories, we have to burn electricity as well. I do have a stationary bike at home, but it's the old fashioned kind that I bought from a sweet older lady for 20 bucks, no plugs necessary. But, I've always thought it would be even better to get the most out of my workout energy by using it to power appliances a la the Flinstones. Enter the blender bike.
The great thing about these Juice Peddler bikes is that you can get any configuration you want -- stationary or something you can also ride around town when you're not home making a smoothie. So, it's not just a gimmick, it's either a workout bike or an actual mode of transportation around town as well.
Nuride is a new carpooling service in parts of the East Coast and Texas for people who want to nix driving or drive less. In order to get around, sometimes a car is the easiest way to go. So why not share it.
I suggest shooting an email to Nuride to encourage expansion to other parts of the country.
For now, erideshare.com appears to have many more areas where it's already linking people up. Check out this service and search your own zip code here.
My favorite electric scooter company has come up with a model for those of us who want a Vespa for the way it looks but prefer an electric vehicle. The Condor is sort of the best of both worlds. It goes up to 30 mph, charges in only six hours, plugs into a home electrical outlet, and can fit two people. Skeuter is based in Los Angeles but ships to almost any place.
Now I'm looking for a solar scooter charger to go with it for a truly zero emissions way to get around.
If you'd like to start a new practice of riding your bike instead of driving to a neighborhood cafe and ditching the car to get to work more energy-efficiently more often, here is a European-inspired bike that's sleek, built to last, and folds up in a snap. Dahon is one of the best bike designers, led by laser physics scientist Dr. David Hon and winner of numerous awards. The Glide P8 is an eight-speed with Biologic comfort and folding technology along with accessories like a powerful Hella front light and hub guards. It is supposed to fold up in 15 seconds. 15 seconds.
Check the Glide out (840.00) here.
This new Website--healthycars.org--is a guide to the chemicals like lead, chlorine, and bromine found in our cars. You can search by make and model and find out what's lurking in your dashboard. The site provides a rating on a scale of 0 to 5 (low to high concern) based on what toxic substances are in your particular car.Even better, there's a guide to children's car seats. It may be wasteful and unwise to trade in our cars prematurely, but if you've got or are looking for a carseat for your little one, you can find out which ones make the grade here.
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