Good being green

From my inbox to you:

Transit:  Is Wake County ready for it?
A community forum on transit

Thursday, June 26, 2008
7 pm – 9:30 pm
NCSU McKimmon Center, 1101 Gorman Street, Raleigh, NC

Community Partner Host Groups:
Downtown Housing Improvement Corp., North Carolina Conservation Network, Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association, Sierra Club Capital Group, Society for Women Environmental Professionals, WakeUP Wake County, WTS NC Triangle Chapter

Forum Sponsors:
Community Leaders: City of Raleigh, Dean Debnam, Falcon Engineering, Triangle Community Foundation

Community Builders: Capitol Broadcasting Company, Carolina Asphalt Pavement Association, Carolina Cottage Company, Cherokee, NC Go!, PBS&J, Stewart Engineering

Community Supporters: Community United Church of Christ – Justice in a Changing Climate, Greg and Anita Sawhney Flynn, Anne S. Franklin, Kimley-Horn & Associates, The Louis Berger Group, Inc., North Carolina League of Municipalities, Stan Norwalk, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Mack Paul, Ralph Urban Development I, LLC, Josh and Anna Stein, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh Social Action Committee, Carter Worthy, York Properties

We also would like to extend a special thanks to RTN and WRAL for taping and airing the forum.
 
Forum Agenda

Welcome and Overview     7 -7:10 pm
Karen Rindge, Chair, WakeUP Wake County
Joe Bryan, Chair, Wake Board of Commissioners

Keynote Address    7:10 – 7: 45 pm
“By Choice or by chance:  How can transit help us plan for a future of growth?”
Carol Coletta, CEO, CEO’s for Cities
Q&A: 7:45 – 8:00 pm

The Charlotte Transit Story    8:00 – 8:15 pm
Keith Parker, CEO, Charlotte Area Transit System
Introduction by Jonathan Parker, Sierra Club Capital Group
Q&A: 8:15 – 8:25 pm

SHORT BREAK  8:25 – 8:30 pm

Panel Discussion on Local Perspectives on Transit    8:30 – 9:25 pm
Community leaders respond with their perspective to questions related to the future of transit in the Triangle.

Moderator and introductory remarks:
Nina Szlosberg, board member, NCDOT, and NC 21st Century Transportation Commission

STAC overview:
John Hodges-Copple, Triangle J Council of Governments

Panel Participants:
Mary Ann Baldwin, Raleigh City Council
Matt Christensen, Division Vice President, KB Home
Courtney Crowder, SE Raleigh Assembly
Sig Hutchinson, Board Chair, Triangle Transit
Smedes York, Co-chair, Special Transit Advisory Commission
Kirsten Weeks, Cisco Systems

Closing Remarks    9:25 – 9:30 pm

Presenter Biographies
Carol Coletta is president and CEO of CEOs for Cities and host and producer of the nationally syndicated public radio show Smart City. Before moving to Chicago to head CEOs for Cities, she served as president of Coletta & Company in Memphis. In addition, she served as executive director of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, U.S. Conference of Mayors and American Architectural Foundation. Carol is a passionate advocate for cities, and she has devoted her life to answering the question: What makes cities succeed?

Keith Parker is the Director of Public Transit for the City of Charlotte and the Chief Executive Officer of the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS). As one of the fastest growing transit systems in the country, CATS provides bus, paratransit, and light rail service to Charlotte area residents and visitors. Mr. Parker’s prior positions include Assistant City Manager for the City of Charlotte, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Director of CATS, Chief Executive Officer for the Clark County Transit Authority in Vancouver, Washington, and Assistant General Manager for the Greater Richmond Transit Company in Richmond, Virginia. In 2004, Keith was recognized as a “40 Under 40” award winner by the Charlotte Business Journal as one of the region’s most promising young leaders.
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I very much wish I were going, but instead I’ll be in Chapel Hill at the MyNC.com launch party!

Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue

Kiddies, it is again time to pull that bike out and get to Wooly the Bull in downtown Durham by 530 tomorrow night (first Thursday) for Critical Mass.

I can think of few better ways to engage in your community, engage your physical health and start the habit of biking where you can.

Check out this great youtube clip of one of last year’s Critical Mass rides in Durham.  This is awesome!

Sustainably yours,  Ashley Sue
BTW, This post was pre-produced due to the fact Green Grounded is vacationing a la mountain hiking this week.

Here in the Triangle, the housing market isn’t our biggest financial woe.  Energy costs is.

As the price of energy goes up incrementally every day, we are less concerned with foreclosures (though some do face this nightmare, we are significantly lower in foreclosures than the national average) and far more concerned with the cost of going to work.

My own commute, as hypocritical as it may seem, is often over 60 miles a day. Nope, I’m not willing to bike that. That’s a price I pay to live where is convenient to Marc’s work (Raleigh) and me work in the city that I love and dream of (Durham). The extra kicker is that Marc drives for a living sometimes (UPS).

My sister and I were on the phone last week and joked how we’re tag-teaming to kick the Ozone’s butt, letting it know we will all do our part to destroy it a quickly as possible. Joking is all we can do to rid ourselves of some of our guilt in an action so contrary to the lives we *want* to lead and the values our hearts carry.

Then we lightened up and agreed we do our part in other areas. We try to shop and eat responsibly. We try to keep the lights off, and to use CFL or LED lights where they make sense (don’t use them in closets… that doesn’t make sense). We wash dishes only in a full dishwasher and laundry in cold water most of the time.

We are big proponents of alternative energy ~ smart research and application of alternative energies ~ here at Green Grounded. Wind is one of our faves, so far, along with solar, and even switchgrass. And there are no definitive answers right now, but by God, the current situation is bleak and getting bleaker. At the current rate, some Triangle residents will have to choose between gas to get to work and healthy food for their families, or their rent, or Read the rest of this entry »

Get biking!! Especially Wednesday and Friday of this week!!

Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue!

A couple listservs and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) of Durham are publicizing this coming week is National Bike to Work Week. 

Monday, 12 May through Friday, 16 May, get your fanny on a bike to get where you have to go.  More info is at www.bikewalkdurham.org.  Also know that you can stop at Mad Hatter’s on Friday the 16th from 7 am - 9 am and get free food, coffee and prizes for cyclists!  REI will be there too handing out water bottles and 15% off coupons as well as giving free bike inspections! 

Do any of you bike to work?  My Grandma just brought me my AutoBike last week (I have a chronic phobia of changing gears), which I have never ridden despite having it for nine years.  I guess Marc and I will put some brakes and new tires on it and see how that goes.  But I will not be biking from Raleigh to Durham, I can say that now.

If only I had the ability to bike to work!

Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue

Tomorrow, the Triangle has a plethora of events regarding sustainability, nature and biking.  Check out the Annual Footprints Conference in Durham, the Comprehensive Bike Plan meeting in Raleigh or Eleni’s (amazing) documentary, Seeing Through the Fence (second screening, by popular demand) at Duke.  Details are (from my inbox to yours): 

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2008 Annual Fuqua Footprints Conference: “Market-Based Approaches to Global Challenges”
When:  Wednesday, April 2, 9:30am - 5:00pm
Where:  Fuqua School of Business (driving directions)

Audience: Duke students, faculty, staff, and the public
Footprints 2008 examines the ways we can harness market forces to achieve positive, sustainable change as well as exposes the dangers inherent when a new set of players enter spaces formerly inhabited primarily by NGOs and nonprofits. What will change now that institutional investors can make significant returns on green investments, global financial institutions see opportunity in banking the world’s poor and multinational corporations are marketing their “causes” to achieve competitive differentiation?

This will be a day of interactive workshops, thought-provoking debates, engaging speakers, and panel discussions on how to integrate professionals – no matter their field – into the social fabric of our society, both professionally and personally. Afternoon keynote address: Gary Hirshberg, CEO Stonyfield Farm and author of Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World.

More information and registration at: www.footprintsconference.com

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The City of Raleigh is developing a Comprehensive Bicycle Plan that will guide future bicycle improvements in 

The plan is intended to reflect the needs and wishes of the community;  therefore, the City is asking for your input:  the first public workshop will be held on April 2nd, 2008 at the

In addition, please take a few minutes to fill out an online comment form for the project. 

Online Comment Form Link: (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=xyxe0TrdbunTnFsUR7hp8w_3d_3d)

Please pass the word along to any and all cyclists in the Raleigh Area!

Thank you for your time.  Happy and safe bicycling!

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Seeing Through the Fence screening!

For those who were not able to make the original Durham premiere, I wanted to let you know about another screening taking place at Duke University on 4/2!

Here are the details:

Where: White Lecture Hall (room 107), East Duke Building, East Campus at Duke University
When: Wednesday, April 2, 7:30pm
FREE!  Open to the public. Copies now available!

Also, for folks who were interested in purchasing a copy of the movie, copies are now available for sale here:
www.porchlifeproductions.com/yourporch.html.  We set up a Paypal account to make ordering easy. I’ll also have copies available at the above event.

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I’ll be at the Fuqua Conference, and until then…

Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue

In an effort to get people outta their cars and onto bikes as transportation (not merely exercise), (1) check out whoisbike and (2) know that Cary is offering classes to boost your road and biking confidence (convenient Cary ~ to both Durham and Raleigh ~ SO REGISTER!) :)  Here’s the email I got (below my pic):

Know someone who is nervous about road bicycling?
Do you think they would feel better about it if they felt more comfortable in traffic?
Well, the Street Cycling course can help them learn how to worry less and enjoy road cycling more. During the course participants will learn how to travel more safely and confidently in traffic, improve their bike handling skills and learn to fix flat tires and other minor repairs.

Location: Middle Creek Community Center, Cary
Saturdays, Apr 12, 19 & 26, 1-4 p.m. (3 classes)
Fees: $30 (Cary Resident), $39 (Non-resident)

For more information about this course, please browse
http://brucewr.home.mindspring.com/ec/StreetCFrame.html

For registration information for this course (#34462),
please visit the Town of Cary’s website http://classweb.townofcary.org/

Bruce Rosar
www.bikeleague.org/cogs/programs/education/instructor_detail/376

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So pull out your bike and get where you gotta go!

Meanwhile, get a little inspired by Donald Jones, NBC 17 Morning Anchor by day, rebel speed-demon on two wheels by night… well, he probably bikes by day too, but whatever.

After having quite a debate in a recent post (see comments) about the importance of third-party testing of products, we can all conclude that companies must be accountable for their products and actions. 

Green Daily (a while back) shared The Six Sins of Greenwashing… and in my opinion, it works two ways.  The comments section is pretty alive with one poster on a more than self-righteous ground, feeling that if you don’t move into use only a bus, stop buying anything at all and make your own food, cleaner and clothing, then you can’t make a difference.  She says some relevant stuff but then follows it by saying that only a select few actually care about the environment. 

That, to me, is greenwashing ~ the type that SCARES off people from making any difference in altering things along the way in their everyday lives; the type that teaches people that no matter what they do, they are irrelevant in the big picture ~ unless they foresake everything they know, as they have known it. 

I, inspired by those that lead in this movement of social and environmental responsibility, believe that positive encouragement leads to great change.  On the flip, gloom and doom motivates very few.

Mark Twain said (and I’m not the only one who LOVES this quote): 

Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.

The sin she (the aforementioned commenter) commits is as bad as driving a 1985 Suburban and throwing your cigarette butts and Mickey D wrappers out of your window ~ she implies ‘You are not good enough and your difference Read the rest of this entry »

To go along with the yuck and lack of bicycle friendly roads here in the Triangle, Phillip recently blogged about the concrete islands and general attitude during critical mass and biking in Durham.  This post really shows a more accurate perspective and testimony to my earlier post on bicycling in the Triangle.

Join Phillip in Durham’s Critical Mass~

By the way, did you know NBC 17’s own Donald Jones is quite the cyclist?  Check out Donald’s blog about his passion for the road if you dig cycling too.

In a  progressive city, like those here in the Triangle, Julia Vail points out how interesting it is that the rickety old bicycle exists as the primary choice of fuel-friendly transportation for the area progressives (imagine the cats at the coffeehouse who work for IBM, SAS and Lulu, text-messenging and carrying messenger bags, laptops and ipods).  Mike Dayton even shows all that you can enjoy while riding in the area.

I see a decent number of cyclers in Raleigh, and even more in Durham, but we’re no Boulder, CO.  Just take a look at the use my own bike gets (though I’ve never been good at changing gears).

The Triangle is so spread out, it sounds ludicrous to many of us to bike to work and back (much less walk).  Then again, I had a great chemistry professor as NCSU, Dr. Sandberg, who I believe biked to work every day from somewhere crazy-far-away like Chapel Hill.

Biking is great for the environment and rockstar for your health (and body), so why not?

A big reason is because the Triangle is NOT bicycle friendly.  Road rage prevails, cyclers get yelled and honked at, and very few roads exist here with actual bicycle lanes. 

Worse yet, as for the roads that have bicycle lanes, I usually see jerks in cars use the bicycle lane for passing (for the record, yes I’m scolding you, but if you’re on a two-lane road and the guy in front of you needs to turn left, you CANNOT pass on the right or through a bike lane.  That’s called ILLEGAL, not to mention DANGEROUS for anyone not in a car).

Does anyone know of progressive strides being made in favor or bicycle and foot traffic, or is business our primary area of progress?  Let me know of any great pockets of bicycle/foot friendly traffic in the Triangle.