My husband is a bit of an environmental zealot, so ages ago we made choices that mitigate our need for a car. We have one. We have ONE, which is pretty unusual. We both ride our bikes to work a lot of the time. I do wimp out in the winter, though. We live where we can walk to shopping and dining, such as it is in DeKalb. We recycle.
Aren't we just darling? (sarcasm there, in case you missed it.)
Here's what I'm musing about, though. I know people can't just sell their houses and move closer to work -especially not as a short-term solution. I know people are busy and over-committed and a little crazed already. But what can we do, without just boatloads of trouble, that will reduce our individual and collective need for fossil fuels? And maybe we can do a little good for real-live humans while we're at it.
Drink fair trade coffee. It won't be at Starbucks. I like their coffee, but not a drop of it is fair trade, as far as I can tell. The corporate website says that they will make you a cup of fair trade coffee if you ask. I asked. Nothing in the store was fair trade. The barrista was very nice and helpful, but honestly we couldn't find anything in the store that worked. You can find Fair Trade coffee at the little coffee stand on the corner of 2nd and Lincoln Highway. The way I read the website for Intelligentsia Coffee not all their coffee is fair trade but a lot of it is. Ask Matthew (the owner of the coffee stand) for fair trade offerings and I bet he'll comply. And besides.. it's downtown. You might be able to walk there for your morning coffee.
And if the price is getting to you, or you just have to have coffee at home too (ummm... YEAH!), you can buy the coffee in bulk at Duck Soup Coop. I need to shop there more often. There's a commitment I can make this month.
And, speaking of coffee... Ben and Jerry's has switched to fair trade coffee for all their coffee-flavored ice cream. Clearly, now you HAVE to get some; it's almost a moral obligation.
Buy a bike. Go to North Central Cyclery at 6th and Lincoln Highway. I love these guys. They have NEVER laughed at me (where I could hear), even though I wanted the most resolutely uncool bicycle on the planet. They organize bike rallies that are free. They take good care of my maniacal bicycling husband, sometimes even when the store is closed. Ask for Toby or Marcus. I'm sure the others are nice, too. But I know that Toby and Marcus are great.
Now RIDE your bike.It's hard to go to the grocery store on your bike. But with a backpack, you could go to the library, church, work. With a light on your bike, you could add in those blasted evening meetings. Try it once this week. Just once. The next Ride to Work Day is not until July 19, 2006. Maybe you should start training for it now ;) My next commitment in this department is to ride to church. I don't dress up much for church. I usually don't have anything to carry. It's just a matter of leaving in time. Sigh.... I WILL make this change.
Get involved with local cycling interests. The only one I know of is DeKalb Greenways and Trails, which is focusing on linking the various bike trails to each other. The last I heard, they were also interested in getting bike paths to and around the local elementary schools so that children could ride to school. That idea doesn't help me much, but I totally support it. Honestly, I can't tell from the web if they are still meeting. The names I knew of people involved include Mike Stack, Julia Fauci, Ric Calderon.... Maybe if you run into one of these people, ask them how to get involved. And tell me. And let them know that they should beef up their internet presence, assuming they still want volunteers.
I have more ideas, and please feel free to add more in the comments field. I also have a somewhat longer list of things we should have and don't. There's a middlin' long list of things that probably do exist, but I don't know where to find them.
None of this gets hungry and despairing people out of the Superdome. I'm deeply aware of the irony of wanting to get on my bike and ride, when there are so many people suffering. But the fact is, we are all connected. It is not everyone's role to do direct service. And, while I know money is essential to all disaster operations -and this one is going to need a lot more than most- in a way, giving money is too easy. I'm still left with the question of how to change my life in ways that can be helpful to other people.
But this is me.... The changes I make, I want to be able to sustain. The behavioral changes have to be real rather than symbolic gestures, but they also can't be onerous or punitive. Come, let us reason together on this subject!
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