Ups n Downs of a car-free life

I drove a car yesterday for the first time in three weeks. I was helping out some neighbors on a yard project in exchange for some firewood, and needed to make a run to the grocery store - so my neighbor let me borrow his car. At first, as I drove away I thought, ahh - I really do love driving. There is something so familiar about it, and so satisfying or soothing or I'm not sure what. Wait, I know - freeing.

The automobile provides the ultimate sense of freedom, that I can just drive away - go to a new place, get out of town, get away from the trials and tribulations of daily life by hopping in the car and heading out for an adventure. Yes, that's it. It's what I so enjoyed about renting my house this summer, the driving adventures, seeing new landscapes, new places or old familiar places. The freedom to go where I wanted when I wanted.

But as I continued to drive, this other sense came over me, of the hassles of owning a car. Of the feeling that maybe by 'getting out of town' we're actually avoiding deepening relationships right where we are.

Hmm. Plus, the single occupancy vehicle, as it's called in transportation planning land, is incredibly ineffecient. It's far more efficient to share a ride, whether by carpooling or bus. And, biking - as I've come to know, is actually almost as fast as driving (at least in this town), and far better exercise.

So, I was happy to have borrowed my neighbors car, as it allowed me to pickup a few bigger items that would be more difficult to carry on my bike. And, well, there is the hassle of trying to get to the recycling center and run some bigger errands. Oh, and as a time-challenged person, figuring out and remembering the bus schedules so I can coordinate taking the 473 in order to catch the 472, which only runs once an hour, etc etc etc.

Other than that, it's really pretty interesting to be without a car. On Satruday I ran all my errands on my bike - Farmer's Market, downtown Price Chopper, and finally home. I have these great fold-out metal baskets on the back that allow me to carry several full grocery bags, plus more on the fender. So, I was able to carry all my groceries and bags and keep warm at the stay time (except my fingers - warmer gloves are definitely in order.)

So, though it felt great the next day to hop in the car and go for that ride, I'm actually enjoying walking, biking and the bus - getting to know another little corner of the world right here in my neighborhood.

Some Upcoming Events of Interest

Hi there - Forwarding on this list of announcements of some upcoming events in Saratoga - from the Sustainable Saratoga folks:

Wednesday Nov. 17th - (that's today)
What: Community Discussion on Natural Gas Extraction in NY
Where: Saratoga Springs Library
When: 6 pm Potluck 7 pm Presentation
Cost: Free
Host: League of Women Voters of Saratoga County, cosponsored by Sustainable Saratoga
More Info: www.lwvsaratoga.org


Saturday Nov. 20th
What: Saratoga Walkability Survey
Where: Saratoga Public Library Susman Room 49 Henry St.
When: 11 am
Cost: Free - Volunteers needed to help walk/survey sections!
Host: Mayor's Advisory Committee on Senior Issues
More Info: Mary Zlotnik 366-8582


Sunday November 21
What: Community film, food and dialogue "What's on your plate?"
Where: Saratoga Arts Center 320 Broadway
When: 5 pm
Cost: $20 Adults, $10 children under 12
Host: Saratoga Film Forum
More Info: www.saratogafilmforum.org


Tuesday Nov. 30th
What: Sustainable Saratoga 2 year Anniversary Community Potluck and Presenter or Video.
Where: Empire State College 113th West Ave (rear entrance)
When: 6:30 pm
Cost: FREE
Host: Sustainable Saratoga
More Info: www.sustainablesaratoga.com

Lets All Ride the Bus!

Okay, don't mind my enthusiasm but my car has broken down and I'm car-less for a few weeks. Having no car is actually a relief. I live one block from a CDTA bus that goes downtown, and there's a second bus that goes to my office on the westside. So, I'm finally back taking the bus.

It's great. I am pleasantly surprised at the level of ridership. Many Skidmore students, but others as well. According to one of the drivers, bus fees are included in tuition for Skidmore Students - so they just swipe their student ID and can ride - all prepaid. The driver also told me CDTA has a prepaid arrangement with SUNY Albany students, faculty and staff too, and since Empire State College is part of SUNY I will be looking in to see if ESC is covered.

Busing, biking, walking: I feel like I'm back to more of the style of living I am accustomed. When I was in grad school in Olympia, WA, I lived about 8 blocks from downtown and the main bus station. My grad school friends and I all took the bus - we were mostly in evening classes. Most of us worked at places downtown, then took the bus up to school. It was a great time to catch up, make plans for the weekend, while letting someone else drive.

I'm also walking so much more. Funny how my sense of what's in 'walkable' distance has changed. I live a 30 minute walk from downtown, and it's 55 mins to my office on the west side. I used to live 5 blocks from downtown, so walking was pretty quick. Now, with a bit more planning, I can get downtown or home - while getting great exercise.

The bus is $1.50 for a one-way ride (no such things as transfers on Saratoga CDTA routes); $4.00/day; or there's a monthly pass for $55 or $65 per month (5 day or 7 day/wk).

At first the cost seemed high to me, but then the bus driver reminded me I must have been 'stuck in the 80's and 90's' when it came to bus prices. He was right, it's been quite a few years since I've regularly used public bus transportation. But it feels great to be back using it. I'm aiming to continue busing, walking, and biking (when decent weather) - it really is more sustainable and great for my health! Hope you'll join me - or already have.

Community Gardens in Detroit - A Lesson in Hope

A few weeks ago I was up in Racquette Lake, NY, teaching a course on the Environmental Issues of the Adirondacks as part of the Empire State College's Adirondack Residency. The theme for the residency was Food and the Environment. I was delighted to hear the first night's guest speaker, Phil Ackerman-Leist, Associate Professor at Green Mountain College in Vermont, speak about local food and sustainable agriculture. Phil recently published a book, titled Up Tunket Road, about his family's experience living off grid for 12 years, making a go of it growing their own food, etc.

What I found most interesting about his talk was the part in his presentation on the City of Detroit's vast network of community gardens (~1200) which cropped up in neighborhoods around the City after the last major supermarket pulled out of the city back in the early 1990s.

If you were paying attention to the news this summer, you may have heard about the fires which tore through parts of the city. I remember thinking how horrible & unfortunate, especially for a community which I know has been struggling for many years.

However, in terms of community and economic resiliency, Detroit may be in a good place of hope. According to Phil Ackerman, the community gardens started up in response to the lack of basic fresh foods in the community. About ten years ago, the last major grocery chain left the City - it was no longer economically viable nor was it "safe". That left residents with the only choice to buy groceries within the city limits at small convenience stores, which we know have higher prices and are extremely limited in the quality and quantity of fresh produce they carry.

So, drawing upon an older generation's knowledge of gardening within the African-American community, community gardens started to thrive. Phil said he recently visited the community and some of the gardens - after the fires this summer, and according to people he met they were mostly spared. That's good news.

Over the past few years I've heard and read about Detroit in snippets, 'an abundance of vacant buildings', 'outrageous unemployment rate', 'sky rocketing crime rate'. Learning about this network of community gardens and checking out their websites online, I'm left with hope. Hope that if we come together as communities, in neighborhood pockets and groups, we will find a way to create resiliency in this fast-changing world.

To think that Detroit has already started to create some resiliency to a vastly changing economy reassures me that when the oil wells go dry, we in other parts of America will figure it out too. Hopefully we'll start planning ahead. That's why supporting your own community gardens (like here in Saratoga Springs), farmer's markets, and other groups focused on building local economic resilience and local food security, are crucial.

Ok, next step - building a hoop house to grow some winter greens. More on that after the weekend.

Sustainable Saratoga Meeting 10/26 - Smart Growth & Housing affordability

Join Sustainable Saratoga for their next educational speaker event:
Smart Growth and Housing Affordability is focus of the Tuesday, Oct. 26 meeting, from 7-9pm at the 3rd floor of City Hall, Saratoga Springs (474 Broadway)

The city of Saratoga Springs has some of the highest home appreciation rates in the country, and is routinely listed in the top 10 percent nationally in real estate appreciation. While that can mean good things for longtime homeowners and investors, for those seeking affordable housing in the area, such high rates often mean a far less rosy outlook – and a more difficult time finding and sustaining residency in Saratoga Springs.

Sustainable Saratoga’s Housing and Urban Planning Committee will present a program on Smart Growth and Housing Affordability. The event is coordinated by Laura DiBetta, Sustainable Saratoga’s Housing and Urban Planning Committee chair and program manager at the National Land Trust Accreditation Commission.

The evening will feature Bob Radliffe, executive director of the Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region, and Peter Fleischer, executive director of Empire State Future, a statewide coalition of 39 member organizations which leads a citizens’ effort to improve New York’s economic and civic potential through smart growth.

“Bob is a lifelong Saratoga County resident and has been involved with local community and economic development issues for more than 20 years,” DiBetta said. “And Peter brings a statewide perspective with a focus on smart growth and economic development. Combined, our speakers should provide both an overview of community development and housing affordability issues, as well as specific ideas on how to address those issues locally, as they are at a critical stage in our area.”

The program is free of charge and open to the public. Anyone with concerns and/or questions about smart growth and housing affordability in our area is encouraged to attend.

Following the presentation, there will be brief meetings of Sustainable Saratoga’s committees, including: Energy Efficiency and Resources; Farming, Open Space and Natural Resources; Housing and Urban Planning; Media and Communications; Transportation and Mobility; and Waste, Composting and Recycling. Please join us!

Solar Panels on the White House, Making Your Voice Heard, and Global Work Party

A few months ago (I guess August is a few months already), I mentioned a talk I attended by Bill McKibben. It was hosted by the Adirondack Writers Institute up at Paul Smith's College in Saranace Lake. As Bill spoke about 350.org, the advocacy group he formed to encourage reduction of greenhouse gases, he talked about his and others plans this fall to deliver to President Obama the original solar panels Jimmy Carter put up on the White House. Their intention was to ask the President to install these (or other) solar panels on the White House, mostly as a symbolic gesture.

After his talk, I asked Bill if advocating for policy change was worth the effort since advocating for change at any political level (local, state, national) can be very consuming of time and energy (and slow going), and it seems to me our efforts can sometimes be better spent on just moving ahead with making changes in our own lives, or supporting other community members (like, raising chickens or installing solar hot water, or building a greenhouse so you can grow greens all winter long.)

His reply was, yes, it can be draining and slow. But, the reason spending time working on policy change IS important, is that those policy changes CAN make it a lot easier to implement the changes we want to make in our own communities and our personal lives.

For example, changes in funding for sustainable agriculture would significantly improve the viability of small-scale diversified farming, which supports the local economy in many ways, and contributes to local food security and resiliency. He also talked about how disappointed he felt after the Copenahgen Climate Talks last year when the U.S. (again) didn't sign onto an International Agreement. He spoke how about how hard it can be to do this kind of advocacy work and yet how important it is. So, he kept persisting.

After more than a year of a lot of effort working on Sustainability issues here locally, honestly, I felt burned out and disillusioned. However, I left that gathering re-invigorated and reinspired, knowing all levels of advocacy were important.

A month later, I read online that Bill McKibben and some of the 350.org folks had travelled down to the White House to deliver the original solar panels to the White House, and were basically given a 'thank you very much we are working on our own thing here considering what to do' message. I read that - remembering Bill's passion, committment and enthusiasm, and realized, how disappointed he and the others must have felt receiving what seemd a rather lackluster reception from the White House.

In response, I wrote an email to the White House. Well - did I think it might change anything? Not really, but maybe someone would read it and pass it along. What I did know for certain was that Bill McKibben has a passion and dedication for protecting this earth, our environment and livelihoods, and I was plain mad at the response this supposed progressive White House had delivered to this dedicated activist.

I'll admit, my email basically said, shame on you Obama for not embracing this idea. I hesitated writing the email- he is the President after all, AND, I didn't really think it would have much effect, but I was really mad and disappointed myself. And I suppose because I felt so reinvigorated by Bill's talk that night, I felt it important to express my feelings about the need to support his efforts, even if just symbolic in nature.

Well - today I just learned, the White House is in fact going to put solar panels on the White House! I know there were plenty of folks involved in moving this forward to make it known the White House perhaps ought to be the leader in these kind of 'greening of America' activities. I've worked enough on other policy-advocacy related issues to know that politicians make decisions like this for a variety of reasons which often have to do with winning reelection or financial backers. But, I am glad to know that I made my voice heard because I do know that also matters. Perhaps my voice was one in a million, but maybe it was that one extra email that was needed - kind of like Horton Hears a Who.

So, below I'm copying an email I recieved via a group here in Saratoga about the White House announcement and 350.org's Global Work Party effort this weekend, to celebrate 10/10/10. There are some local activities happening here in the Saratoga/Capital District area, which I hope some of you will get involved.

And, my hope is that you WILL participate in the political process while at the same time grow a garden. I do know it IS important to stand up for what we believe in, and sometimes, we might be surprised that there were enough of us doing it that someone out there listened!!!

Thanks - Amy

A few links for 350.org 10/10/10 Global Work Party

350.org Saratoga Events http://www.350.org/map#/map/43.0964412/-73.7242486/11

Capital NY Region Paddles for Climate Action


Subject: 4 Days Left--and Obama is going solar!
Dear Friends,

Just in time to give this weekend's Global Work Party a White House-sized boost, the Obama administration announced this morning that they are going to put solar panels on the First Family's living quarters, returning to a tradition begun by president Jimmy Carter and abandoned by Ronald Reagan.

It's a great win for your efforts over the last months--everyone who wrote letters, signed petitions for our"Put Solar On It" campaign, and turned out for the Solar Road Trip as we rolled down the east coast fromUnity College towing one of the original Carter panels. We were disappointed that day that the White House wasn't prepared to go solar, but are now very happy and honored that they took our suggestion to look into the matter seriously.

Solar panels on one house, even this house, won't save the climate, of course. But they're a powerful symbol to the whole nation about where the future lies. And President Obama will wake up every morning and make his toast by the power of the sun (do presidents make toast?), which will be a constant reminder to be pushing the U.S. Congress for the kind of comprehensive reform we need.

And remember, President Obama's not alone: tomorrow, Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed and a crew from Sungevity will be putting solar panels on the Muliaa'ge, the "White House of the Maldives". It's a trend!

Of course, both of these initiatives are perfectly timed to lead into this weekend's Global Work Party, when 6127 carbon-cutting events (and rising) will take place in 187 countries. If you haven't already gotten involved, now is most definitely the time to join an event near you--or register your own.

The first account of the news from the White House, from Associated Press reporter Dina Cappiello, noted the efforts of 350.org to make this happen. In particular, I'd like to salute Jean Altomare, Amanda Nelson, and Jamie Nemecek, the three young women from Unity College who brought the Carter solar panels to Washington DC, and made such an impression on the White House.

They remind all of us why we'll be working hard this weekend for the Global Work Party--and why, when the day is done, we'll be putting down our hammers and our shovels and picking up our cellphones to call our leaders.

You never know what will happen when you ask for change.

Onwards,

Bill McKibben for the 350.org Team

P.S. Victories like this should be shared. Click here to spread it on Facebook, and click here to post about it on Twitter.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


You should join 350.org on Facebook by becoming a fan of our page at facebook.com/350org and follow us on twitter by visiting twitter.com/350

To join our list (maybe a friend forwarded you this e-mail) visit www.350.org/signup

350.org needs your help! To support our work, donate securely online at 350.org/donate

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

350.org is an international grassroots campaign that aims to mobilize a global climate movement united by a common call to action. By spreading an understanding of the science and a shared vision for a fair policy, we will ensure that the world creates bold and equitable solutions to theclimate crisis. 350.org is an independent and not-for-profit project.

What is 350? 350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Scientists measure carbon dioxide in "parts per million" (ppm), so 350ppm is the number humanity needs to get below as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change. To get there, we need a different kind of PPM-a "people powered movement" that is made of people like you in every corner of the planet.

The Future is Riding a Bicycle - Skidmore Event Tonight 10/4/10

Tonight Skidmore College's Environmental Studies Program hosts a talk by Jeff Olson titled, 'The Future Is Riding a Bicycle.' Jeff has worked nationally and internationally helping communities design access for bicycles and pedestrians. A long time local advocate for bicycle and pedestrian access, he will talk about real on the ground solutions to make our community more amenable to bicycles.

Check out this link for more details. The talk is from 7-8pm at the Gannett Auditorium, followed by a reception hosted by the Environmental Studies Program.