Carbon Offsets, Me & Your Money

Hey Copenhagen! Car bombings in Iraq/Paki/Afghanistan, melting glaciers in the Arctic, and ice on the roof tops of this sunny little beach town I live in. Crazy times, eh? You know, there's been a lot of talk about carbon trading, carbon offsets, carbon credits, and whatnot. Some folks don't believe that planting a few trees in downtown L.A. makes up for all the diesel jet fuel burned by fat first world tourists traversing the globe to take pictures of places that their countries used to look like before they "developed" it; some folks are skeptical that investing in a wind turbine farm in Oregon can make up for the blowing up of an entire mountain in West Virginia just for some lousy, dirty coal, and a few hundred jobs. Some folks say it's too late to turn back the tide and industrial societies will simply keep burning fossil fuels until there's none left to burn. I say screw all that.

You CAN make a difference in slowing down climate change and the way to do that is to pay me. If you're tired of those pesky impersonal carbon offset front groups supported by the likes of Al Gore, and wanna help out a real flesh and blood human being attempting to reduce his carbon footprint, pay me. If you're sick of those generic letters boasting about how your money can go to support Greenpeace banner drops at climate summits or Peruvian basket weavers, and just wanna help a guy afford some decent panniers, start sending your money my way asap.

I sold my car years ago and ride a bike daily, even on cold ass days like this where anyone in their right mind would never leave the house. I tend a garden, chickens, own a rain water barrel, and a tuning fork for my instruments as I don't wanna purchase batteries for an electric tuner cuz' batteries have lithium and mercury in them or something. I've stopped using paper towels and dry my hands on my hair/clothes/or just wave them around in the air. I worm compost practically everything, thereby preventing landfill overuse. I even go so far as to pocket compostable materials and/or recyclable materials when proper disposable facilities are not available. I try to pee outside whenever possible. Yeah, I do a lot of utterly ridiculous things to try and "make a difference" and it's high time my efforts got subsidized.

So send me money. I tend to eat more food than my co-workers who drive and it gets expensive. I also wear out shoes a lot more often as I tend to go on nature walks, ride a bike, and do other outdoor activities whenever possible. It's freakin' cold outside these days and I need some wool sweaters, shirts, or gloves. I also need a haircut, bike tubes, a massage, and an accordion that works. You may be asking - what about other tools for sustainable living like a wheel barrel or solar panels? I'm one step ahead of ya. Because sustainable living isn't just about the reduction in energy consumption but also about owning less material possessions, when it comes to wheel barrels and the like, I simply "borrow" from my neighbors when they're not home. As for solar panels - yeah, I could definitely use a whole bunch of those.

Who knows? If enough of ya'll start sending me dollars (I'd prefer Euros), I might be able to go full time w/ this sustainable living gig and stop working for the man all together. In return, I'll do my part to not shop for frivolous things, grow my own food, brew my own beer, organize fruit tree picking expeditions, and generally spit in the face of every greedy capitalist swine whenever possible. No time to waste! The earth is in dire straits! Pay me!

Crappy Trader Joe's Parking

*sigh*

If you ride a bike and occasionally shop at Trader Joe's in downtown, then I don't need to tell you their bike parking sucks. It was only during a recent interaction though that it fully dawned on me how crappy bike parking equals conflict with cars.

For those unfamiliar, the downtown TJ's main entrance faces a HUGE car parking lot, with I'd estimate at least 200 spaces, bordered by Mobo Sushis, Longs, and El Pollo Loco - The facade of the former building has 2 bike racks. Yeah, you heard that right - approximately 200 cars spaces and 2 bike racks. These racks hold at the most 4 bicycles, and as you might imagine, are often taken, which puts folks like me in the difficult position of locking up to grocery cart racks and...handicap signs.

The latter of which I found myself standing at last week as a middleaged woman with a blue placard kept edging her white compact closer and closer to me. She looked wealthy and annoyed by my presence even though I was a good 2 feet away from the concrete parking buffer. I tried to make the best of the situation by signaling that she could come much closer but she barely budged. Finally, I ignored her, finished suiting up and left...feeling a tad guilty and like her, annoyed.

I'd only locked up to the handicap sign because two other bikes already were latched to the grocery cart stands and it looked crowded. But why this vying for space to begin with?

I bring this up with a friend while riding. He says in a better world, the property company that houses Trader Joe's would take out 2 car parking spaces and install a covered bike corral or pavilion which could house upwards of 30 bicycles. I say, from a business perspective, this makes perfect sense - the average car parking space houses one customer, while the same amount of space could house 10 on bikes. So why the crappy bike parking situation?

My friend shrugs, says people would worry about homeless folks or whatnot, usual Santa Cruz boogeyman factor. I laugh and point out that as it stands, the new Southern California looking ugly ass shrine-to-over-consumption Safeway building off Almar and Mission has more bike parking out front that Trader Joe's. In fact, the schmucks have actually put up a sign boasting how dedicated Safeway is to saving the earth. Sheeeeit. Earth to Trader Joe's, you gonna let Safeway out eco you?

Random Ride Report

Yesterday morning heading south on Murray I pass two people sleeping across the railroad tracks in sleeping bags. One has his/her arm over the other in a tender manner that juxtaposes nicely against the scattered bits of trash and newspapers.

Tuesday night by Soquel and Frederick, some douche in a big black SUV with his cell phone up his ass, coming in the opposite direction, makes a left right in front of me. I brake enough in time and he speeds up to get out of my way. I get home and recharge the batteries for my lights.

Saturday morning by Broadway and Ocean, in the bike lane (as usual), no helmet (not as usual), bright beautiful day - white compact on my left slows to turn into driveway, i assume he sees me, he doesn't. I brake and fumble for my bell, i miss the bell, and end up yelling the first thing my brain can come up with: "Whoah, whoah! WHOAH!" He slows down just in time for me to pass - maybe a foot away.

Whomever said separate bike paths (i.e. away from car dominated roads) aren't necessary is clueless.

Give me good bike parking...or else

I meant to take this pick months ago when I first noticed that the Mission Street strip mall which houses Coffeetopia, La Mission Mexican Restaurant, and Ristorante Avanti, had taken out a single car parking space and replaced it with 5 bike parking rings. This can house at least 10 bicycles - though a better rack could probably fit in at least 5 more. No complaints though, whomever made this happen deserves much props....

Poetically enough, the day I took the former picture was right after that powerful (global warming induced?) storm about two weeks ago. The latter picture here is what really peaked my interest.

I've seen a lot of local gas stations close down over the years - the site of Fin's Coffee on Ocean St, the empty lot on the corner of Water and Ocean that used to house a Shell, the one near Almar and Mission that keeps opening and closing, the former corporate station gone "Bio-Diesel" on Ocean/Soquel that never really seems to have any business - But from what I can tell, these have all been due to crappy economic times. The station above was only temporarily shut down after the storm caused the roof to collapse - still, I always like it when mother nature strikes back.

Bike Parking In the SC Boondocks

Conversation w/ Barista @ People's Coffee:

Do you want a receipt?
yes, please. So, you the owner?
I'm the manager. The owner will be in tomorrow.
Any chance we could get some better bike parking out there?
Yeah, well, a rack wouldn't fit on the patio and the cars need access right around there...
Yeah, but I had to lock up on the railing, i don't wanna block foot traffic or anything...
There are racks across the parking lot behind the market
Hmmmm...that's still kinda far, why not take out one of the car parking spaces and put a bike rack there?
*stares at me blankly. shakes his head*
i take my coffee and go

Balloon boy b.s.

Over the weekend the headline reports on CNN radio where all about the balloon boy.

I think it's safe to say issues like global warming and peak oil and resource wars are never gonna be dealt with in a serious manner by the media. At least not the U.S. media - It's completely defined by triviality and commercial interests. What passes for mainstream "news" in the United States these days is basically a corporate-version of Pravda - well produced, entertaining, grade A bullshit.

Pity the rest of the country isn't watching any serious material like this:

Longer lines at New York food banks - Al Jazeera English
Food security in the US has been steadily worsening, with millions of Americans having to rely on charities and aid organisations for their next meal.

http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/10/20091016214442454900.html

Transitions & Harbingers

Got a dehydrator over the weekend.

This means that all those extra the tomatoes we've been growing won't go into the worm bin.

I consider it another small step in the so-called "transition period" my generation is going through - getting ready for the post-peak oil world, global-warming disaster preparedness, simple living, self-reliance, DIY homesteading, yada yada.

To date, I've sold my car, acquired a bike trailer that's been used to haul many heavy things it shouldn't have, use two worm composting bins, learned to identify a ton of edible and medicinal wild plants and herbs, learned how to fix up a bike pretty well, acquired a rain water barrel, learned how to grow a decent garden, and the list goes on.

In retaliation, the capitalist system, vis a vis things like inflation, stagnant wages, and free trade agreements has pretty much stopped me from participating in things I used to enjoy like: sushi, record stores, concerts, eating out, movies, and buying the occasional t-shirt. Honestly though, I only really miss sushi.

I guess this is my way of saying for every little step forward, there's a lot of things, a former middle class rat like me leaves behind. I know I'm not alone in this predicament - All my friends who're still employed have had their hours cut back or furloughed - and at least half these folks are professionals.

Thankfully, there's a growing movement of people who seem to be cognizant enough to read the writing on the wall, check this out:

Reskilling Expo
Sat. Oct 17th
10-4pm
United Methodist Church in Santa Cruz
http://transitionsc.org/

Of course, my acquaintances at Transitions SC still aren't grappling w/ some of the bigger issues we're all going to have to address sooner or later. For instance - How does one reconcile working 40 hours a week and raising a sizeable edible garden? I know in my instance, the biggest issue is labor time - harvesting the greens, washing them, and then prepping them for eating.

What happens if you wanna kick it up a notch and start raising chickens too?

The other ugly thing to consider is the fact that if certain appliances (think refrigerators, microwaves) we've come to rely on become too energy intensive/expensive, what simpler options do we have? Can you still even purchase an ice box anymore? Can you even buy ice by the block?

There has to be a point where people working on transitioning into what will undoubtedly be a slower, more austere way of living will have to face the contradiction of coming home in office attire then quickly changing into gardening, or bicycle repairing clothes. Imagine this happening day after day, for years on end. I'd say it's a strain many of us are already feeling right now. Something's gotta give.