"Biking for life" written by Libertad on estrip.org

05/22/10 10:17 - 65ºF - ID#51712

Biking for life

I liked this article about making biking a part of your life. Hopefully I can keep biking until the very end. I hope that I can continue to live and work in the same area. It sucks to have to drive to go to work.

Published on Saturday, May 22, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
Biking for Life

by Susan Van Haitsma

It's National Bike Month, and I'm thinking about my dad. He's 82 and still riding. In fact, he's still riding the same 3-speed Schwinn bicycle that he purchased, used, from a student soon after he began his teaching career at a small college in Wisconsin about 50 years ago. We lived just 6 blocks from his office on campus, so he walked to work if there was snow or rain, but otherwise, he preferred to bike because it was faster and easier to carry his satchel of books and files in his big wire baskets. In the years since he retired, he's continued to bike all around town to do his local business, becoming a loved and familiar figure on that classic Schwinn.

I realized with some surprise that my dad has never locked his bike. Parked almost daily along a busy road near his office for 35 years, his faithful steed remained untethered and unstolen. The frame is rusty, perhaps acting as a theft deterrent, but he's kept the gears oiled and the tires filled. Over the years, he's replaced the tires a few times, the brake pads and the pedals, but most other parts are original. When it comes to carbon footprint, I figure that the resources used to manufacture, maintain and operate his bike have been amortized over 50 years to zero. Meanwhile, the benefits to the planet have accumulated to produce a rather elegant history of one man taking seriously the promise of a sturdy, green machine to last a lifetime.

My dad hasn't thought of himself as a bicycle activist. He owns and drives a car and is not keen on the idea of giving that up someday. He has considered his bike use mainly a practical measure to save money, move relatively quickly around a compact downtown and work out the kinks from grading papers. But, as the years have gone by and the earth has suffered its oil wounds, I've come to see my dad's example as a green beacon of possibility.

When we are urged by local and national governments to take whatever steps we can in our daily lives to reduce our use of fossil fuels, I picture my dad cruising down the driveway on his 3-speed, headed to a Kiwanis meeting. If he can do this at age 82, the possibilities for most people to make at least some of their local trips by bicycle are endless. Bike to Work Day could be, as it was for my father, an ordinary day.

While my dad has ridden a single bike through five decades of bicycle design transformation, the evolution from cruiser to racer to mountain to hybrid to cruiser turned a perfect revolution as his 1950s-style model came back into fashion. Without meaning to, my dad became cool.

Actually, he was cool all along. Teaching is best done by example, and his quiet daily practice was an environmental lesson on the leading edge of green living. Chugging up and down hills helped preserve his health and the health of those hills. I'm proud of my cool dad. Happy Bike Half-Century to everyone who has rolled along with him!
Susan Van Haitsma lives, bikes and blogs in Austin, Texas at www.makingpeace-in-austin.blogspot.com

metalpeter writes at 05:29:08 05/26/10 - Comment #56423: I My Self don't ride, but it is nice to know that there is kinda a rental place for them.

libertad writes at 01:55:08 05/26/10 - Comment #56421: Buffalo Blue Bikes rents them. It is a $25 membership and it is more like a sharing system then rental. You should check it out (e:metalpeter). I might see if my Mom wants to do it when she comes for a visit soon.

metalpeter writes at 08:56:21 05/23/10 - Comment #56388: I forgot to mention My other point. Would Bike Rentals like car share work. Say you catch a train to like some place and you don't to travel underground then get on the bike there. Or maybe (not that it will ever happen cause you have to live over there to see it) If this country ever gets on the high speed train (better then planes) they could have a place to put your bike, I have heard they make bikes that kinda fold down not that I would trust to ride one.

metalpeter writes at 08:43:52 05/23/10 - Comment #56386: You hear all these green activists and even Barrack talk about the energy problems and getting off foreign oil. They talk about lets go green and get green Jobs here! But they all ways act like cars are the answer. Yes for many people they have to use them, hey when you are going to buy food for the family or Taking the kids to Their Lacrosse game, yeah you kinda still need the car. But why not bike when ever you can. I have never been to NYC or LA but look at all the congestion of cars. What if you could make all those single car loads Bikes they take up a lot less room. Maybe there should be a push towards bikes, not sure the right way to do it, it happened in China (again never been just seen the pictures) on its own (lets not sell them cars anymore they had the right idea in bikes). I know there are a bunch of bike companies, maybe encourage buying American Made bikes or some kind of small incentive for use somehow..........

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05/22/10 05:57 - 67ºF - ID#51708

Train wreck

Yesterday I was riding my bike down by the river and I saw the rescue trucks who responded to the woman who was hit by the Amtrak train. I didn't know what it was at the time but I saw the police combing through the area she was hit. I called Mike and told him to check the news because I thought it was a murder. The news articles aren't saying much but there seems to be some suspicion that she was already dead when the train hit her.

This appeared in the Buffalo News-

Police identify victim of train-pedestrian accident
Updated: May 22, 2010, 4:31 pm / 1 comment
Published: May 22, 2010, 4:31 pm

The woman killed Friday afternoon in train-pedestrian accident in Buffalo has been identified as Sandra M. Abrams, 37, who had addresses in both Buffalo and Salamanca, Buffalo police said today.

Homicide detectives continue to investigate the accident, which occurred just before 4 p.m. Friday, on tracks near Niagara and Albany streets, where an outbound Amtrak train struck Abrams. She was declared dead at the scene.

I'm surprised the Buffalo News didn't find this themselves. Don't they do any investigating at all? This woman had a warrant out for her arrest for stealing purses in a church.

Warrant issued for woman who stole purses in church
Updated: March 27, 2010, 6:36 am /
Published: March 27, 2010, 12:30 am

An arrest warrant was issued Friday for Sandra M. Abrams, who became notorious for stealing purses during Buffalo church services last fall, after she walked away from an inpatient drug treatment program Monday, authorities said.

Abrams, 36, of North Street, had pleaded guilty Feb. 1 to grand larceny and was sent to the state's Madonna House treatment facility in Lockport. Abrams' lawyer, Andrew C. LoTempio, told State Supreme Court Justice Christopher J. Burns that he has "no knowledge of her whereabouts."

Abrams is scheduled to be sentenced Monday on her guilty plea to felony grand larceny for stealing purses, containing a total of about $22 in cash and credit cards from four Buffalo churches in November. She had been in custody until entering the drug program March 1.

I wonder what happened between her leaving the drug treatment facility and yesterday afternoon. Poor thing is now literally a train wreck. I feel bad for her family.

UPDATE 5/23--Here is the follow up to the story. I'm surprised that they are now thinking it was an accident. It really makes you wonder if rehab places should force people to quit smoking cigarettes at the same time as other drugs. They kicked her out for smoking a freaking cigarette?!

Train accident ends life of troubled woman
By Robert J. McCarthy
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: May 22, 2010, 10:42 pm / 18 comments
Published: May 22, 2010, 4:31 pm

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Sandra M. Abrams' life of drug abuse and petty crime ended just as sadly Friday afternoon on railroad tracks along Niagara Street after she was struck by an Amtrak train bound for Toronto.

Police today identified Abrams as the same woman they arrested last November for stealing purses and credit cards from worshippers at several Buffalo churches.

Abrams was 37 and had addresses on North Street and the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation.

Buffalo Police spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge said that police still do not know how she was hit by the passenger train but added that they consider her death accidental.

And in a bizarre twist, the same train that killed Abrams near Niagara and Albany streets about 4 p.m. was later involved in another fatal accident in Toronto. CTV in Toronto reported that a 30-year-old man was struck about 12:40 a.m. Saturday, as the train was backing into a cleaning facility shortly after dropping off passengers at Union Station in downtown Toronto.

Toronto Police Sgt. Tim Burrows told CTV the unidentified man may have been wearing headphones at the time.

Abrams' attorney, Andrew C. LoTempio, said her problems stemmed from a lifetime of drug addiction.

"She started in her mid-teens," he said Saturday. "Her mother struggled for years trying to help her. But she just started getting into petty crimes to support her drug habit."

After she was arrested Nov. 24 for a series of purse thefts Nov. 15 in the Buffalo churches, she was charged with three counts of grand larceny and one count of petit larceny and jailed. On Feb. 1, she pleaded guilty to felony grand larceny for stealing the purses with credit cards and cash.

State Supreme Court Justice Christopher J. Burns had granted LoTempio's request for treatment instead of jail during a March court appearance.

But LoTempio said Saturday that Abrams lasted only about two weeks at Madonna House in Lockport before she was kicked out for smoking ... a violation of the rules. Her whereabouts were unknown until she was hit by the train Friday, though her attorney suspects she had spent time on the Cattaraugus Reservation.

citydesk@buffnews.com

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05/20/10 01:48 - 66ºF - ID#51688

Fishy burps

I made the mistake of buying fish oil that doesn't have the protective coating to prevent fishy burps. Nothing is nastier than having a fishy burp. I got the ones at the Co-Op because they were molecularly distilled to remove heavy metals. It seems I can either have fishy burps or no fishy burps ,but if I want the no fishy burps I have to take the mercury that comes with the fish oil?

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05/17/10 09:28 - ID#51672

I don't want the friggin bag

I can't take it anymore. Why do I have to be forced to take a plastic bag when I go to a store? Time after time, regardless of the store, I have these bags shoved down my throat. I try as hard as I can to yell out that I have a bag before they grab my items and toss it in the fresh plastic but often I am too slow and they are too fast. Very nicely I apologize and tell them I have a bag and I ask them to please use it for the next customer but most times I see them crumple it up and throw it out. I see this almost everywhere with the exception of most people who work at the Co-Op. I have been told that by law I must take a single beer out of the store in a plastic bag despite just putting it in the cloth bag that I have with me. Sometimes I have resorted to begging them to not give me a bag and even that doesn't work. I think if I ever snap it is going to be because of this issue.

How did this culture get started? It just makes no sense at all. It costs the company money to make these bags. I'm not saying that I don't think bags should be offered. I really am not an extremist, I actually am quite reasonable. Sometimes I like to have bags available because we all find ourselves needing them for unexpected purchases one time or another. I just don't get what is wrong with these cashiers that just toss a bag in the trash after I ask them to use it for another customer. Do they hate the earth and want to see it destroyed? is their bagging speed so greatly increased by throwing away the bag I rejected instead of taking the extra second it might take to use that same bag for someone else? I don't think that there really is any reasonable answer for why we do things the way we do.

Since logic and reason does not motivate us, then I believe the answer is to tax the bags. I'm not sure exactly how the logistics of it would work out but I'm thinking .10 to .25 a bag (paper included). The tax would put the burden on the customer not the business. The funds from the tax should be used for cleaning trash from our waterways. Maybe some of the money could be returned to the customer if they bring the bags back for recycling (again logistics)?

This tax I think is different from other taxes including the cigarette tax because the customer really has a choice and can very easily change their ways to avoid the tax. My proposed tax would also benefit us all without being a huge financial burden for our government or even the people who choose to pay the bag tax by opting not to use re-usable bags. If there was a bag tax everyone would win except the plastic bag workers. I know some people want to live in anarchy and don't want the government taxing things but I really think that this would be a good move on the federal level. I think, as evidenced by the oil spill in the gulf, that what we are doing is not working and we are all going to suffer for it. One person's right to throw away a plastic bag is infringing on another person's right to live in a clean and healthy environment.

jenks writes at 10:05:16 05/18/10 - Comment #56326: i know, I know.

I am a horrible planet destroying monster.

libertad writes at 09:53:15 05/18/10 - Comment #56325: Thank you so much (e:uncut) for the info. The absurd thing about giving a bag to someone who is buying a single beer is that it is probably the most likely to become litter. How many of these bags enter the waterways causing extensive damage?

I am absolutely certain that even the poorest of the poor would not be burdened by this bag tax. They simply will not take a bag. Poor people know how to live without spending a dime. A re-usable bag costs .99 and often is given away. If you want to help the most poor the best way is to give them an incentive to pick up plastic bags they find carelessly tossed into the wind. Paying them per bag or per pound of plastic they retrieve will motivate them to return to be recycled.

Banning plastic bags all together has some disadvantages. First, people would not be able to consume as much being bad for the economy. I will use a disposable bag when I do not anticipate that I will be shopping. If I had no way of carrying home any of my impulse buys I would not be able to make the purchase. Much of our economy is based on such impulse purchases. Second, we would have the inconvenience of not being able to bring home our impulse buys. Some of my best purchases are of these kind. Third, you would have an immediate lay off of the entire bag industry. They need to be found jobs elsewhere first.

The other reason this tax will help the poor is that they will find that many of the re-usable bags available to us make it much easier to carry what we are consuming. Poor people walk, bike and use public transport. There biggest benefit of the tax is surely being enticed to find out how much easier it is for you to carry your items in a re-usable bag. With a reusable bag you utilize your shoulders, where as the plastic and paper force you to use many more muscles to carry the same items.

Mike carries re-usable bags in his car. I almost always have a back pack and sometimes I keep a cloth bag inside of it.

(e:jenks), you would have helped the environment more if you didn't obtain your re-usable bags and then not use them. Most of those bags are often made of plastics and synthetics anyways. By not using them you are doing twice the damage.

heidi writes at 09:35:33 05/18/10 - Comment #56323: I have about four reusable bags in my truck. I use them pretty consistently and only occasionally end up with a plastic bag, which I use to line the bathroom trash can. As soon as I'm done emptying them, I put them all on the door knob so I remember to take them out next time I leave. I love how much stuff you can stuff in one - instead of 8-10 plastic bags to deal with, I have four reusables. The handles are also much more comfortable to haul heavy loads up the stairs than plastic bag handles. (I posted pix of my community org's reusable bag project back in '08 :::link::: )

metalpeter writes at 07:22:27 05/18/10 - Comment #56315: I can remember that at one time all you could get where Paper bags, and then many places moved into Plastic. Then place had both and the combo (paper inside the plastic bag). If what I remember is correct during the early days and maybe even now if you wanted the non perfered bag of the place you had to ask for it and often wouldn't get it. I'm not saying it is ok, but from what I understand Cashiers (not all of them) are trained to bag a certain way and to go for quickness. I'm guessing that other kind of bag throws them off. I also wonder if it as an automatic thing, you do something over and over again and someone hands you a differnt option and you just do it your way. I don't know if they still do this or not. But when I was a kid they had bagging contests. You bagged stuff and then they ripped the papper bag and everything was supposed to stay in place and nothing would be crushed. The Point I'm aiming at is if you went into a store where everyone used canvas and you where the one person who wanted Plastic cause you recylce it or use it as a poper scoper or what ever I think the same reaction would happen a lot.

In Terms of taxing bags, I think that is a bad idea. I think that it is up to the consumer to pick what kind of bag they want. Often times taxs just wind up being a tax on the poor. Let take the sterotypical poor family or single mother with multiple kids. Is she really going to go buy a bunch of nice bags (so her kids can destory them and mess them up at home) that she doesn't have the extra cash for. So that tax gets put on her and the people with more money buy the nice bags. My other problem with the tax is would it be on both plastic and paper, if you have heavy stuff would you then have to ask for double bags and get taxed more. Also what about places like price rite where you pay for the bags how much would those go up.

I'm not sure what the best way to do it is. I think plasstic and Paper bags should have incentives to recycle them. I have heard that you can do it at tops and Wegman's but not sure how many people know about it. Maybe all stores should do that. Or maybe they should just have a cart system where you push a button and it says put Items back into cart then you take it out to your car (if you drive) and put it in that way. Or maybe there is some law that says all check out isles have a button you push and it tells the cashier who in most places is the bagger now, those used to be 2 different jobs, what way you want it bagged.

uncutsaniflush writes at 06:12:44 05/18/10 - Comment #56309: In case anyone cares, there is no law in New York State that forces a store to put your beer, wine or booze in a bag according to Leslie W. Trebby, an associate attorney in the SLAâ€™s Office of Counsel who said "I have reviewed the New York Alcoholic Beverage Control Law and the Rules of the New York State Liquor Authority and have found no provision that requires a grocery store licensed to sell beer (or a retail package liquor store) to place a purchased alcoholic beverage item into a bag

In the absence of a provision in the ABC Law or in the Authorityâ€™s rules specifically addressing this issue, I am of the view that the seller is under no legal obligation to place the purchased item into a bag." :::link:::

(e:jason) - to answer your question (e:leetee) and I keep reusable bags in our cars. I start out with 4 or 5 Wegmans bags and end up with zero. Since I rarely remember to put them back in the car until they are all gone.

jenks writes at 05:02:44 05/18/10 - Comment #56307: I keep my bags (4) in my car, but often forget to take them inside. :(

I am one of the evil monsters that uses plastic bags. Sorry everyone.

(but I don't throw them away... they get stashed in the kitchen cabinet and reused as lunch bags, etc.)

And along the 'bag tax' lines- some places offer refunds for every bag of your own you bring in- but it's only 5c. So if I brought in 20 bags, I'd only save a dollar? I'm sorry, but that kind of money is not going to motivate anyone.

At first I thought "25c per bag?! that's a ton!" But then I realized that even on a 'big' grocery shop, say 8-10 bags, it's still only a couple bucks... Not unreasonable.

jason writes at 04:28:22 05/18/10 - Comment #56305: How many of you keep reusable bags in your car, etc? If so, how many bags?

james writes at 10:02:13 05/18/10 - Comment #56304: It isn't so much that people are unwilling to spend 25 cents a bag, it is that a reusable bag would cost a dollar. That sort of math makes sense to people.

ladycroft writes at 09:05:01 05/18/10 - Comment #56299: i hear ya. looking at the way they waste bags here would make your skin crawl. i only hope that by pushing education on the subject will slowly start to change things.

jason writes at 09:02:28 05/18/10 - Comment #56298: I would rather Wegman's have the money than the government, who inevitably squanders every penny. Although it's not as aggravating as a gas tax or a cigarette tax, it would still be regressive and the poorer among us would still be punished for not making the green choice.

I'm not sure if it's legit, or for that matter a federal bag tax, but the gov't could compel stores to charge for the bags. Maybe the government could take a piece. Honestly I don't think 0.25 per bag is really going to change the behavior of most people anyway, regardless of who gets the money. You would have to make it really punitive, like a buck a piece or more.

If someone put a gun to my head and told me to make a choice, I would prefer an all out ban on plastic bags to a tax. It's more honest, and it doesn't cause government to become dependent in some way on that tax. If the government is making free money on plastic bags will they want those bags to go away? I'm not so sure about that.

Good, constructive thought Libertad. In the end I would rather see the plastic bags go away as well but I don't have any good ideas.

uncutsaniflush writes at 08:02:43 05/18/10 - Comment #56297: Yes, (e:libertad), I got that meant you meant single beers which is why I specifically talked of six-packs.

I share your frustration on the amount of plastic we get when shopping. Even though, we recycle the bags, it would be better not to have them to recycle in the first place.

The reason that I mentioned complaining to the Wegmans management food chain is because I have learned talking to cashiers at Wegmans over the years that they are trained to put certain items into plastic before placing the item in another bag. If a cashier is still under probation, the cashier could get into trouble for not doing it. The newer the cashier the more likely he or she is to follow the rules.

I'll end by quoting Neil Young, "Take my advice, don't listen to me." <g>

libertad writes at 12:23:39 05/18/10 - Comment #56296: sorry i didn't finish what I was saying. I am not looking for advice on how to avoid getting a bag. I do the things you both have recommended. The problem is much deeper than just my desire to reduce my bag usage. (e:uncut), what I was said about Wegmans cashiers is that they often will wrap my items in plastic before they put it in my cloth bag. I also said my trouble with beer was with a single beer and that was at another store not Wegmans.

libertad writes at 12:15:43 05/18/10 - Comment #56295: Ok, I'm tonot looking for advice on how

uncutsaniflush writes at 11:22:51 05/17/10 - Comment #56294: (e:libertad) - I've had no problems buying a 6 pack and having it packed in my reusable "wegmans" bag at Wegmans and Rite-aid.

To avoid problems, I place my reusable bags at on top of my first item or at the beginning of my stuff depending on how much I am buying. Sometimes the cashiers have a hissy fit but my stuff always ends up in the bags I brought.

If you have problems with cashiers at Wegmans ask to speak to the front end manager. If that doesn't work ask to speak to the Manager on Duty. If that doesn't work, call Wegman's corporate. Keep your receipt. Try to remember or write down who you spoke with. They will eventually listen if you have documentation.

libertad writes at 10:58:32 05/17/10 - Comment #56293: That is exactly my point (e:tinypliny). We shouldn't have to have strategies in order to avoid being given a bag. I can't believe I forgot to mention how great Guercio's is when it comes to plastic bag avoidance. The funny thing is that I always secretly want their plastic bags because they are the best around. They are smooth and don't make noise and are thicker than usual. I will try the P-BAR the next time I am out while I'm waiting for the bag tax. I do try to be really nice when I go to a cashier, next time I will kill them with my kindness and make eye contact asap.

(e:james) that is awesome that you are doing what you can. Good to know about the county. Maybe we can convince our "government should be run like a business" Executive, Chris Collins, that this would be good for business and the county? Thanks for the link to the article about the sucess of Ireland's bag tax.

Sometimes at Wegman's I give them my cloth bags right away but they still wrap my items in plastic before they put it in the bag. This includes non toxic cleaners, stuff as harmless as baking soda.

paul writes at 10:47:28 05/17/10 - Comment #56291: In germany we had to pay like 5 or 10 cents per plastic bag. It usually made us bring our cloth ones.

tinypliny writes at 10:05:47 05/17/10 - Comment #56290: Aren't they illegal in San Francisco? (There's a legal precedent.)

james writes at 10:03:22 05/17/10 - Comment #56289: Ireland has a small tax on plastic bags that has been dramatic in reducing consumption, by a whopping 90%! :::link:::

This is something I have been trying to implement in the city, but it seems we don't quite have the authority to do it without the county on board.

tinypliny writes at 09:48:01 05/17/10 - Comment #56286: Hmm... I have managed to not get a single unrequested bag from grocery stores for the past two years. However, I will admit that I do make mistakes. Sometimes, I forget to take my own bag or buy more things than I can fit in the bag I have (always an ominous sign anyway).

I shop a lot in Pricerite and at Guercios. Pricerite doesn't give anyone any bags unless they request it and at Guercios, they listen to me, smile and then help load stuff in my bag! :-)

I think there is a trick to getting your request across in other stores (eg. walgreens, weggers etc.). You need to make eye contact with the checkout clerk way before your turn comes. That way, the clerk looks at your before automatically tossing the first thing into the waiting plastic bag.

I don't wait for them to start the "how's it going" checkout small talk. I start it while the customer before me is swiping their credit card or in the process of paying. It works every time without fail. You smile a great big smile and they have to look at you and smile back (I expect it will be really easy for you, since you are a natural headturner. ;^)) And then you say something pleasant - anything, so they can place your voice when you give them another huge smile and say "Please, no bags for me!" next.

Seriously, try it! I call it the P-BAR (Plastic-Bag-Avoidance-Routine).

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05/15/10 06:29 - 53ºF - ID#51634

Illusions grand opening~4 REAL~

Mike and I think we will be going. Anyone else want to join us?

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04/24/10 10:20 - 65ºF - ID#51448

The Plastic Crisis

I call this the Plastic Crisis. You might think this doesn't matter to you, but this is where we get our drinking water from. This is the beginning of the Niagara river. Our drinking water is pulled from the Niagara downstream from where these photos are taken, downstream from the sewage treatment facility, downstream from a waterway plagued by a history of industry. Plastic does break down. While it slowly degrades, it releases chemicals into the water. It breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces becoming greater and greater threats to our ecosystem. Every single piece of plastic counts and contributes to a huge environmental disaster. Again, as evident by the plastic tampon applicators, what you put down your drains will end up in our drinking water.

This isn't exactly plastic but oil which is what plastic is anyways. There is some type of fish, maybe salmon, which are spawning here. People will eat these fish.

I plan on alerting you all to the next river clean ups which really do a great deal to combat this crisis. They clean up the nation's waterways twice a year but the amount of trash being added outmatch the amount of volunteers needed to clean it all up. The worst thing about all of this is that most of this could be prevented. So much of this trash is from ignorance and complacency. We all need to wake up.

ladycroft writes at 06:56:18 04/29/10 - Comment #55969: we just had a 'day without plastic' campaign on our campus! we did a beach clean-up, gave away reusable grocery bags, and talked about these issues!!

libertad writes at 08:59:07 04/27/10 - Comment #55956: It is nice to see all the comments, it shows people do care. Reduce, reuse, recycle is so key (e:theecarey). It seems that so many of us forget the importance of implementing all three. This has got to become part of our being. We can't think that after we die we won't have to deal with it anymore or that it won't matter.

I have been deeply mourning what has happened to our water, our earth and our air. We are in serious trouble and it is time that drastic action be taken to lessen the effects of our causes.

(e:metalpeter), your thoughts are very insightful. Those energy bulbs you speak of are very dangerous. They are not the answer in themselves. When they break the toxic mercury is immediately released into the environment.

I will bring you a recycle bin if you want to start recycling metalpeter. If you put it out they will have to come and pick it up. If they don't I will call and let them know that they aren't. Everyone in this city can recycle. You can influence your neighbors by your actions.

theecarey writes at 02:45:01 04/27/10 - Comment #55954: Sadly, these are some of the same images I remember being confused by as a kid in the 80s. I couldn't understand why there was so much debris, and more specifically, plastic tucked away among rocks and drift wood along the river edge. Oy.

So..Yes! Reduce-->Reuse--Recycle!! The amount of excess is overwhelming. As you have pointed out, although recycling is an option, the primary focus needs to be on reducing our need and use of products. Recycling is a strain in resources but at least much less so than tossing into a trash heap. I'm with you in trying to do so much more, and quite frankly, I think my life will be greatly redefined by these modifications-- how can it not! What I have done, is simply not enough! It can be hard when people think I'm nuts, but I really don't care. I've been learning a lot more about the life cycle of a product (and all of the resources it takes to create the product, or support the process of getting to the end result, through to the end of using the product and all that is involved in either tossing it out or recycling it, etc), and it is worrisome to say the least.

So I am always down for some collective discussion on these matters-for support, for knowledge, for inspiration and so on! :)

metalpeter writes at 05:52:02 04/26/10 - Comment #55944: I'm not saying I'm mister green at all, and there is an entire being green to be cool movement that makes me sick. Often what is being green isn't as simple as it looks. For example lets say an entire block or area of the city or even maybe a city changed to those funny looking light bulbs that in some lamps and lights stick past the shades. Well most people think that is a good thing and that they last so much longer. Well what happens when you have all this Mercury (since it is in the bulbs) and what do you do with it? I know put it in a land fill and taint the water. See that would be worse then just using the old lights. So it isn't really simple.

I admit I don't do as much as I should. Where I live we don't have bins. What I think would be great is those things up on elmwood or the things they have in Toronto (Yes it would be costly at first) On every block or maybe every other block or maybe just in front of apartment buildings what ever would fit the Buffalo Population and have them all over town and there would be special trucks that would go around and collect the recycle stuff.

(e:tinypliny) the thing about the fruits I have an idea about why they are that way, well more of a theory.
1. Fruit is sold by weight so this enclosed thing means the store doesn't need scales or anyone to way stuff in that department (big Cost Saver). Plus that way you don't have to have things weighed when you check out.
2. Sanitary things.
A. Closed no one touches them or spit or sweets or any thing like that
b. No Bugs landing on the fruit.
????? It used to be that some fruit came in a little basket with a handle. I wonder if those wooden basket (trees cut down in some form) are better or worse then the plastic cause how could you reuse those?

jenks writes at 07:07:17 04/25/10 - Comment #55928: ugh. that is really horrifying and depressing.

(but mildly amusing: that at the top of this post, it said "like tires in a polluted river, these are the blogs of our lives" hahaha

libertad writes at 05:31:05 04/25/10 - Comment #55926: Whoa (e:tinypliny), don't become so unhinged ;) I don't want to reuse the plastic I have. It gets bacteria in it and it is hard to clean. The cloth bags can be washed whenever and I will buy them new because I can't sew.

tinypliny writes at 05:18:55 04/25/10 - Comment #55925: Better yet, you could reuse the plastic produce bags you already have or make cloth ones from old cotton clothes you might throw away.

tinypliny writes at 05:16:17 04/25/10 - Comment #55924: Man, I feel like I could go on and on about my endless guilt at not doing enough...

Thanks for making this post!! I feel like I am getting more determined to make the more difficult changes in my life to cut down consumption even more. Just looking at all that trash is strengthening my resolve.

I promise not to drink out of plastic cups ANYWHERE anymore. I will take my water bottle everywhere. Also, I promise that I will 100% remember to take an empty lunch box with me when I go out to eat - so that I don't bring home containers to throw away. I also will have a plastic fork, knife and spoon in my bag all the time so that I am NEVER tempted to take any more new plastic flatware from ANYWHERE.

libertad writes at 05:14:06 04/25/10 - Comment #55923: There really shouldn't be any need to sell things in this manner. It would be CHEAPER to sell them naked like they come. I'm going to buy some cotton produce bags which should significantly reduce my plastic misuse. I need to get this filthy plastic out of my life!

tinypliny writes at 05:06:16 04/25/10 - Comment #55921: Oh and shampoo, soap, conditioner - how awesome would it be were it all sold from dispensers instead of millions and millions of plastic bottles and packs and whatnots... Looking at my recycling pile gives me a heartache everytime. And all those bales and bales of "coupon newspapers". WHY do they have to send them to every household in bulk??!

tinypliny writes at 05:03:56 04/25/10 - Comment #55919: An example of small plastic things that are so annoying are those berry containers! WHY do they have to sell them in plastic? And of course, all those dried fruits - also in plastic. As if that weren't enough, they package veggies (especially chillies and beans) in plastic AND styrofoam trays. Aarrgh.

tinypliny writes at 05:01:32 04/25/10 - Comment #55918: I agree with you. I feel guilty ALL the time I am grocery shopping because I feel I am not doing enough to reduce waste. I get milk and that is in plastic or cartons. I have cut down plastics by a LOT but still end up with plastic bags for small things. I just hate all the excess packaging in everything. An alternative is to shop at the Coop for bulk stuff - but the Coop has really unreasonable prices. For someone trying to live within a budget, it's not very financially responsible to be shopping at the Coop.

libertad writes at 04:35:41 04/25/10 - Comment #55915: I would like to add that I feel that I am just as much to blame as most anyone else to contributing to this problem. While I feel like I have done a lot to change my own ways, I am guilty of not doing enough.

We really need to be aware of our everyday choices that contribute to this problem. Starting immediately I am pledging to reduce my consumption, particularly of plastics that can't be recycled. It seems that just about all of the changes I have already made are easy and sometimes much more logical than what I was used to. For example, the cloth shopping bags are so much easier to get groceries into the house than the plastic bags I used to use. I have also found that the changes I have made in my cleaning are not only greener but work better and more efficiently than the way I used to do it. I found using a cotton shower curtain in place of plastic reduces the amount of scrubbing I have to do because I can just throw it in the washer. It is cheaper than the plastic because it ironically lasts much longer at least in terms of it's usability. Recycling does take some effort but I have found that I enjoy doing it and making sure that it is done properly. Quitting smoking definitely reduced my footprint but also made me feel healthier and saved me a lot of money.

I don't think that glass is necessarily the answer (e:metalpeter). Honestly, I am not an authority on the environment. It seems that the basics will serve us well...reduce, reuse and recycle. At the present time, in this culture and lifestyle, it is a very difficult thing to accomplish on a widespread scale. The hardest part in terms of achieving it is certainly education.

The amount of damage we have done to the earth just by the use of plastics alone is already irreversible. Our best bet is that in some way the value of this litter will become so great that we will be compelled to start retrieving it. This may be possible through technological advancement and through supply and demand law.

I'm sure that we all can continue to be innovate in the ways in which we can begin to reverse what has been done. As great as plastic can be, I am afraid that it is much more a curse than a blessing.

janelle writes at 03:38:47 04/25/10 - Comment #55914: I tend to have a live and let live attitude towards cigarettes and smokers, but after spending Saturday morning on Elmwood ave. with the clean up project, I was feeling pretty disgusted with cigarettes. There was very little litter other than cigarette butts.

metalpeter writes at 02:40:07 04/25/10 - Comment #55913: I know it shatters and is heavy but maybe all these pop and water people need to go back to glass? what do you think?

tinypliny writes at 10:31:34 04/25/10 - Comment #55906: The downstream effects of our "disposable" lifestyle. Nice way to "dispose" of all our inconvenient trash. :/

A majority seems to be from water/cola/milk containers and personal hygiene products. How can we change our lifestyle and pollute and consume less?!

Indians recycle a LOT at home. They don't buy what they don't consume. However, they come here and somehow a cultural switch turns off and they are rank among the most rapacious consumers and polluters. Most don't realize the value of recycling and conserving anymore. I was talking to a group of Indians recently about my 100 things challenge and I overheard some of them remarking about how I was odd and maybe borderline unhinged. *sigh*

paul writes at 11:35:08 04/24/10 - Comment #55904: That is so freakin gross.

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04/24/10 03:22 - 66ºF - ID#51446

Try not to look so illegal

This is for (e:lilho) and (e:jacob)

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04/20/10 09:36 - 50ºF - ID#51432

420 Bike

I got a new bike today! I didn't even realize this until after, but buying a bike today is significant because my last bike was a Technium 420 and today is April 20th! It made me feel like I made the right decision. My first ride was to the river where I got to see how the fisherman have already filled the pier with trash and it has only been three days since we cleaned it up. I like the new bike a lot and am excited to break it in. Right now ass is pretty sore because it hasn't been broken in yet.

Here it is, a Jamis Satellite...

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04/17/10 11:55 - 40ºF - ID#51410

Buffalo Niagara River Keepers

(e:mike) and I just got back from cleaning up trash along the river. This is part of a nation wide effort to clean up America's waterways. We only worked for 2 hrs and 15 minutes but between us got 6-7 bags of trash and a lawn chair. At first we thought that we wouldn't even make a dent in the amount of trash but when we were done we could clearly see a difference.

It is hard for me not to hate the fisherman. I got to remember that not all of them litter but so many do. So much of the trash is clearly from them, mostly Styrofoam containers for their night crawlers. There are also tons of plastic and glass bottles, plastic bags, balloons, plastic combs, take out containers, shoes and fishing line.

I didn't pick up too many of the plastic tampon applicators that girls flush away. These end up all over the shore line. We really need some public service announcements. The amount of trash thrown about is so overwhelming. I definitely want to do it again. They do this bi-annually and now I'm on the mailing list so I will let you all know when the next one is. It is actually kind of fun and a great workout.