DC Bike Racks
reasons i like bike:
- it’s green
- it’s exercise
- it’s usually FASTER
- i feel freeeeeeeeeeeee
- the wind in my fact
- easy to park
it’s that last one that gets me. its damn near impossible to park my four-wheeler. i can’ drive around my neighborhood for 30 min on a bad day, park a 15 min walk from my house, and then get broken into. it sucks. now, i do have a car. i love my car. it gets me into the woods (or to costco) when i need it to. but mostly, it just stays parked in a coveted spot outside my building, gathering pollen.
today the prince of petworth reported on some awesome bike racks. i haven’t seen them yet, but i can’t wait to lock up on one soon!
i love riding my bike. and i think urban environments need to be better about catering to cyclist of all kinds. dc is pretty progressive when it comes to bike infrastructure, but the fact still remains that drivers who don’t know the freedom of the two-wheeler still turn our roads into battlefields. businesses and communities can get creative with bike racks and make them a standard part of culture without having something ugly out their front doors. artistic ideas like this earn 2 high fives in my book. i’m going to keep an eye out for more fun local bike racks….i’ll keep you posted!
DailyGREEN: Drink More (tap) Water
bottled water kills me.
i also drink water CONSTANTLY.
it’s obviously essential for survival. but i also think half the time when i’m hungry, i’m just bored. usually if i drink a glass of water, it solves the problem. before i have a soda or juice or a beer, i have a glass of water instead. if i still want the soda, juice or beer after the water, then i dive right in. more often than not though, i’m satisfied with good ole H2O.
in brief, it increases energy levels, improves overall health, aids in digestion, keeps moisture levels up in our skin and is essential for proper circulation in our bodies. i’m only just scratching the surface. so, drink more water, just make it tap water.
in the past few years i have eliminated disposable plastic bottles from my life almost entirely. the exceptions being the occasional race or some other rare time when i am unable to fill my reusable bottle with tap water or in a fountain. i’m not afraid of tap water in my town, but even if tap water is less than desirable, a filter is the solution, not bottled water. if you must use a disposable plastic bottle, make a special effort to get it in a recycling bin.
tip: if you like the quick access of a cold bottle of water, buy a weeks worth of reusable water bottles, fill them up and stick them in your fridge.
some facts on the horror that is disposable water bottles, check out greenupgrader.com,
- Plastic bottles take 700 years to begin composting
- 90% of the cost of bottled water is due to the bottle itself
- 80% of plastic bottles are not recycled
- 38 million plastic bottles go to the dump per year in America from bottled water (not including soda)
- 24 million gallons of oil are needed to produce a billion plastic bottles
- The average American consumes 167 bottles of water a year
- Bottling and shipping water is the least energy efficient method ever used to supply water
- Bottled water is the second most popular beverage in the United States
Skweet comes to Revolution Cycles
my new favorite local bike shop keeps getting better and better. revolution cycles (with locations all over the dc metro area) has started to carry skweet, an all natural, 100% biodegradable and non-toxic water bottle cleaner that works in hydration packs, stainless steal, aluminum and plastic water bottles. the beauty is that its safe, but also leaves behind not trace for you to taste!
i have to admit, i have never heard of skweet, but my love for revolution cycles is enough to get me to buy it and give it a go. as an avid cyclist, runner, hiker and skier, i possess ridiculous numbers of water bottles. one step in my apartment and you can see them everywhere: on my dinning room table, in my bike bottle cages, in cabinets, on the counter tops…everywhere.
i keep about half of them as ‘water only’ and the other half welcome electrolyte filled powders. but cleaning them is SO annoying because you can’t really get a sponge in there so you end up running a TON of water through them to get the soap and any buildup cleared out. especially the hydration packs (camelbacks). each and every time i with there was a better way.
apparently there is. well, so says revolution cycles. i’m going to grab a tub and give it a go. i’ll let you know how it goes and please let me know if you give it a try yourself!
bonus: super cute logo
DailyGREEN: Speak up!
‘i’m going to write a letter.’
my friends all make fun of me because i say that ALL. THE. TIME.
no, really, i do.
in jr. high, we spent a week in language arts class (that’s what they called it ‘back then’) writing letters to companies to both praise them and complain. and almost all of us heard back. it was a valuable lesson for me and to this day, i write letters all the time. i think people who do good work deserve a pat on the back and i know how good a few words of praise can feel. but i also think that a company can only improve if they know what the problem is. and i’m not going to lie, sometimes you get some free loot as a result; just a happy little bonus if you ask me.
last weekend i stayed at a hyatt summerfield suites outside of philly. it was an almost entirely excellent experience. clean, friendly, convenient. but something happened our second day there that really frustrated me: housekeeping came in to ‘clean’ and spent their 2 minutes in our suite putting two coffee mugs in the dishwasher (and nothing else) and turning it on. it was a complete waste of time, energy and water and an indication of poor training. either hyatt is not training their staff (or contractors) appropriately, or hyatt doesn’t really care about the same things i do. as a big corporation, i find that horribly irresponsible and frankly, a total turn off. one seemingly small thing essentially ruined an otherwise pleasant experience for me and will absolutely impact my decision to stay with them again in the future.
but just venting online or to my friends is silly. its unproductive. so, i let the front desk know (and got a rather predictable response), but i also submitted a written comment online. this might seem futile, but i’m telling you, they get read. as i said before, i almost always get a response. and hopefully they will take that feedback and make a change. i can’t blame hyatt for a housekeeping team’s single action, but i can let them know and help them solve the problem.
next time you are unsatisfied, or thrilled with your experience, speak up! its a hell of a lot more productive than ranting and raving all by your lonesome. choose to be a part of the solution.
Green Festival: DC Programming
the programming page of the Green Festival for 2010 is really coming together! Green Festival is an event put on by global exchange and green america to build community, exchange ideas on sustainability and learn about different people + businesses in the community.
it’s basically a huge exhibit hall filled with crafts, businesses, associations, food, people + workshops. lots of samples and ideas being thrown around and lots of opportunity to learn.
- Green Festival® is the largest sustainability event in the world and continues to grow year after year.
- Green Festival® is the only green event that screens exhibitors for their commitment to sustainability, ecological balance and social justice using Green America’s green business standards.
- Green Festival® offsets 100% of its electricity emissions with clean, renewable energy.
- Green Festival® walks its talk: each year it gets closer to being a zero-waste event.
Victory Garden of Tomorrow
i have two problems to discuss today.
first, i have a lot of opinions about how to live simply and greenly. sometimes its hard for me to stay true to what i know i want to stay true to (got that?). sometimes its easier to just go to the grocery store and buy a bag of greens than it is to make myself make that farmers market a priority. don’t get me wrong, i love the market. and we all know i love the mt. p farmers market, but if i’m going to be honest, i have to admit that sometimes the market gets skipped in favor of a long ride or run or any number of life’s little distractions. that’s in part, why i’m writing here. to help hold myself accountable.
secondly, as of august 9, i have owned my own place (a tiny little unit in a co-op) for two years. and there is not one piece of meaningful art on my walls. most of them, in fact, are totally bare. all i can say is thank goodness there was a little color on them when i bought it or i could easily be living in a tiny little white box. i have always put stuff up, but for some reason now that i own the walls, i’m totally paralyzed and unable to put holes in them. it just feels so…final. ridiculous – i know. a few years back, i made a rule for myself, thinking it would encourage me to actually hang art. art that i liked. art that i would be able to tell a story about or think fondly back on when i looked at it in the years to come. the rule was, ‘if you like it, buy it, no matter the cost. of course cost matters, but try hard not to let it stop you from buying it…’ that was the gist of it anyway. since then i have purchased a few pieces that i absolutely love. they have not, however, made it to the walls…or the frameshop.
today i purchased four posters that i hope help break both of those unfortunate points. i have a place in mind where i will place 3-4 of these framed. i hope they will serve as friendly reminders to practice what i preach + also spruce things up a bit.
eat local greens: i can’t begin to explain my love of greens. i go through a tub of lettuces and spinach (and if the season is right kale, chard, chard, kale and, um, kale. did i mention chard?). i love greens. i barely discriminate, but i do confess to thinking mustards are a cruel, cruel excuse for a green. but, as i said before, i can get lazy. i hope this little reminder helps me make more consistent decisions.
break new ground: this guy is there to remind me that i do have a community garden plot and despite the frustration that comes with getting to it and tending to the weeds through heat and bugs, the satisfaction of eating responsibly + having access to fresh flowers is not only good for the planet, but it’s good for me too. sometimes i just need to buck up and get out there!
compost: when i look in my garbage, i see mostly organic material. non-organics usually find themselves in the recycle bin. this is not the first time i have come to this conclusion. for 1.5 years, not so long ago, i maintained a compost bin filled with hungry little red worms that impacted me in more ways than i will get into this very second (i promise to in another post). but, it’s time for me to get back on the bandwagon and start turning my waste into garden fuel! so, new worms will be ordered shortly and this will hang as a reminder to keep on feeding the little guys. its honestly not any more work. in fact, maybe less work because it results in less trips down to the trash room.
recycling is reusing: i’m not horrible at this one, but i really liked the way it looked and firmly believe in more than recycling, but reusing. sometimes this means i save more things than i should, insisting a future use will present itself. and almost always shortly after i trash something thinking i’ll never find a way to reuse it, i think, ‘shoot! i wish i still had that what’s-it-called, it would be PERFECT this very instant. i acknowledge there is a line that needs to be drawn and things need to be recycled/disposed of, but a little creativity can go a long way!
check out Victory Garden of Tomorrow‘s etsy.com shop!
DailyGREEN: reuse your bags (and clean them too!)
reusable bags are nothing new. in fact, i think i probably have way too many. is it possible i’m actually wasting my reusable bags?
lots of people say they forget them at home. that’s totally fair. habits are tough to make (or break). the old ‘just leave them in your car’ trick only works once if you don’t forget to bring them back to your car after using them.
i have them in my car, but i also hang two on the door knob to my front door. i know this is not the most pleasing to the eye to some, but i never forget them. if the door knob is not the solution for you, try to think of a place that you touch or see before you leave your home no matter what: your shoe closet? a compact one like this might fit in your key bowl. what other places can you think of that would serve as a reminder before you leave the house?
tip: don’t forget to wash them! new reports are showing that our newest green accessory is actually a pretty gross source of potential health issues as people fill them and reuse them without ever putting them in the laundry. planet green suggests using specific bags for meat + fish, produce, dry goods, etc… to better manage the potential for molds and bacterias.
DC’s Plastic Bag Tax: Setting an Example?
since it’s very inception, i have been 100% supportive of the dc bag tax. it’s behavior changing. people hate it, but you know what? they are basically used to it now. wherever that money is going (i’d say the biggest argument against the tax) doesn’t really matter to me. what matters to me is that we are using (and wasting + littering) less plastic bags as a result. in march, the washington post reported that in january alone, the city raised $150,000 for river clean up. i can’t see a downside.
and other cities are taking note and putting it to a vote. statewide legislation is under consideration in california (examiner.com). i think it’s a great trend and love watching it pop up all over the country. its amazing we can be so far behind when other developed countries have been doing it all along.
The Green Carpet Affair
what? a night of music, art and message benefiting local non-profit, DC Greenworks. the event is hosted by the monument music and arts festival and bobby cato.
why? the mission of dc greenworks is to grow livable communities using living materials.
when? august 25, 6:30-9pm
where? eastern market‘s north hall
Line Dry
i have no idea why this thought never occurred to me. okay, maybe i do…i live in an apartment on the fourth floor and am lazy enough as it is about folding laundry. but the other day i was back home at my dad’s house in the burbs of chicago and had some time to kill on a beautiful, sunny day. i decided to do a load of laundry so i wouldn’t be bothered by a suitcase of dirty skivvies when i got back to dc. and for some reason my dad and i both got real excited at the idea of line drying the clothes. he mentioned that he constantly wants to line dry his sheets but never actually does it.
so while the washer was washing, we trotted over to the hardware store down the street and picked up some rope + clothes pins for under $10. the pops rigged a hook on either end of the yard making it easy for him to set up the line in a jiffy the next time he wanted to and hung the line for me to use all in about 20 minutes time.
i set to work hanging my workout clothes, vibrams, sheets and towels from that weeks visit and i have to say, i actually enjoyed doing laundry. it was so lovely to be outside + be productive knowing that i was cutting my laundry footprint in half that day.
plus, the other day i went to put a shirt on that was from that weekend and i swear i could actually smell the sunshine right there in the shirt.
LiveGreen DC 