In honor of Earth Day, I figure I should share a completely beautiful and inspiring video of David Gottfried and Van Jones discussing what we are working toward and how this transformation is happening.

You could certainly say I am drinking the Van Jones kool-aid.  After all, he’s beautiful, he’s a humanitarian, he’s intelligent, he’s positive, he’s insistent.  Why would I fight that?

Truly, take a few minutes to fall captive to the video on urban renewal and environmental progress for a new world.

And take a minute to smile.  Take a deep, rejuvenating breath, exhale, and smile.

Happy Earth Day!

Sustainably yours ~ Ashley Sue

After my quick post questioning Costco as being a blessing or a blight to the communities it serves, I intended to write on more general levels for follow-up posts.  Which will happen…

Then, however, Jo commented regarding a Costco proposal for New Brunswick.  The Costco in question could be destroying wetlands in order to bring forth their mega-store.  Many residents are rallying to defeat the giant from entering their community.  On the other side, some citizens support the expansion.  From the previously linked articles to a Facebook group regarding the controversy, comments show support both for and against Costco.  Philip Lee is chronicling the advances and debate within the community (like here, here and here).  The comments section from the Daily Gleaner article chronicles those that simply hate Costco, those that blindly love it, and those that think it will be good for their community, but not at that location.  Anywhich way, this is certainly of major concern for environmentalists.

It is hard to label a company as leading corporate America in sustainability if they build a gasoline bar in a wetlands lot.  On the contrary, perhaps that is a sign of corporate America… not perfect, but progressing.

Turns out, Costco alone seems to deserve a thorough look-over on Green Grounded.

To be fair, I am starting with support of Costco because I feel like positive is the natural start in a compare and contrast.  Maybe that is just me, but I am not apologizing for it.

The Good of Costco (through my perspective):

~ Rwanda’s President recently thanked Starbucks for using Rwandan coffee and boosting the farm community there.  Starbucks became involved with Rwandan coffee farms upon suggestion and coordination from Costco’s CEO Jim Sinegal.

~ Costco is a big fan of solar energy, both using and selling.

~ Costco CEO Jim Sinegal works to put transparency in his company.  Huge.  Pays their employees well with great benefits. Some stakeholders aren’t impressed.  Yet, Costco, unlike one of their major competitors, is known for taking good care of their staff, even encouraging “van pools” to reduce gas use and price-effect for employees.

~ Though most produce and florals are not local, many are still supporting great environmental causes.

~ Costco takes your unwanted electronics, and even pays for some, for recycling.

~ My personal joys:  they have many biodegradable soaps and products from great Triple-Bottom Line companies, they carry a large variety of hormone-and-antibiotic-free meats for Marc, they have organic juices and fairtrade chocolates I can get for gifts or for our home, and, yes, I like things being cheaper there… meaning…

~ Many people in the lower-rung of the middle-class are upon very difficult times.  People are out of jobs, people who have jobs are taking pay and benefit cuts, yet we still have to pay all of our bills and buy groceries and buy gas to get to work.  These are real issues, right now, for a growing sector of our society.

Now with the bad of Costco:

~ Mega-box chains do perpetuate suburban sprawl.  Lots of people still do not mind sprawl, but it is inherently bad for a community.  The chain is always more concerned with making money than protecting that individual community, meaning location choice can be quite damaging.  Such as with the Fredericton, New Brunswick case.

~ For every item Costco sells that is eco-friendly and sustainably-oriented, they also continue to sell “a totally unnecessary product with extraordinarily bad consequences”, such as air-in-a-can convenience office-cleaning product.

~ As with today’s greenwashing trends, Costco, like many other retailers, does carry some products that market themselves as “green” but are highly skeptic, if not disproved, by the environmental community.

~ Costco carries plastic bottled water.  I get it, people like their plastic-bottled water.  Regardless, it bites.

~ Costco carries a large number of “individually packaged” products.  Drinks bottles, cheezy poofella pouches, etc. for easy lunch-box packing or for mass crowds.  These items have their use, but that does not make them environmentally sound.

~ Even buying a major national pharmaceutical product there (like we do ~ as it is much cheaper) hurts a local business owner who you could be buying from.

Costco shopping round up:

Buying from the local coop, or even the local Earthfare / Wholefoods just is not a realistic option for many Americans right now.  I blew through money buying local organic fairtrade in 2008.  Some of those products came from Costco.  Now, Marc and I are really having to decide where and what we can buy.  Basically, we are having to decide on a case-by-case basis, every day, what our priorities are in accordance to what we can afford.  That is unfortunate and true.

I am not advocating throwing one’s hands up at spending more for local / organic / fairtrade, but we each have to find the balance we (individually) can afford with the reality of today.

Today, I heard a coworker saying he does not support Wholefoods because they carry produce from Chile.  While that environmentally is a valid energy concern, I feel we cannot hang Wholefoods’ Chilean produce as hypocritical to the green movement if we consumers are drinking coffee or tea in our daily routine.  Or consuming chocolate.  Those products are grown down the road.

I argue the answer lies in finding the balance.

If you can afford to buy only local / organic / fairtrade, kudos.  Further, advocating conscientious buying habits amidst your peers is always Rockstar.  Questioning corporations and demanding transparency, promoting progressive goals, and striving for triple bottom line standards is necessary.

Whether or not you can afford to buy only local /organic / fairtrade, considering our fellow humans, both those working on farms, and those living two blocks over, is the most important part of community.  My organic coffee helps workers not be exposed to poisons and gives them a decent wage to live on.  The fact that my in-laws (both jobless due to unavoidable circumstances) cannot afford to indulge in such things as $10 lb. coffee is also something I refuse to hold against them.  I do what I can, and they do what they can. 

…and what I “can do” is becoming increasingly less during this time of my life.

I, for one, will continue my Costco love/hate membership for a third year.

I will do my best with what they offer and what I can afford to buy elsewhere.

Sustainably yours,  Ashley Sue

Clean Coal: is it the answer to foreign fuel dependency, or yet another gigantic delusion leading to further land and life destruction in an ongoing tirade of political agenda?  Either side you take, “clean coal” is a hot topic.

We need off to ween ourselves from the drying teat providing us with oil.  Several months ago when prices of gas where $5 a gallon, Americans desperately yearned to end our addiction to oil.  A little complacency set in with gas once again hitting $2 or less a gallon, but prices will inevitably rise again, and soon.  So until we have fantastic solar-powered cars of the future, and our homes are heated in renewably-resourced ways, what are the answers in the interim?

During election season, “clean coal” was a major buzzword among democrats arguing its superiority against domestic offshore oil drilling.  And I bought it.  Again, until solar, wind, hydrogen, etc. are more accessible and affordable, we must look for answers in the interim.  Those answers may not be perfect, but if they are progress away from the current standards and toward those “loftier” alternative energies, I say cheers!  And if Obama and team say coal can be made a cleaner resource, I’m sure it can be, right?

A while back, The Washington Post wrote regarding the dirty and deadly truth on “clean coal”.a  The article focuses on mining and what it does to the workers and communities involved, including the Appalachian communities that have

“become the poster child for strip mining’s worst depravations, which come in the form of mountaintop removal. An estimated 750,000 to 1 million acres of hardwood forests, a thousand miles of waterways and more than 470 mountains and their surrounding communities — an area the size of Delaware – have been erased from the southeastern mountain range in the last two decades. Thousands of tons of explosives — the equivalent of several Hiroshima atomic bombs — are set off in Appalachian communities every year. ”.  

Green Pepper’s piece on Give Coal the Boot! campaign a gave insights into activism against the ideas of “clean coal”.  The Good Human also recently posted a MUST-SEE video dispelling the myths of clean coal.  

But the government seems so intent that coal can be clean energy… what’s with the polar views of this energy?

Unfortunately, in December, a coal ash spill in Kingston, Tennessee revived the argument with evidence that coal is not clean.  In fact, the situation has only worsened as a second coal pond has erupted in Alabama, and due to a lack of regulations regarding coal ash ponds, states like North Carolina can soon expect to face such tragedies too.  According to an AP story, 

Without federal guidelines, regulations of the ash ponds vary by state. Most lack liners and have no monitors to ensure that ash and its contents don’t seep into underground aquifers…  

Despite improvements in state programs, many states have little regulation other than requiring permits for discharging into waterways — as required by the federal Clean Water Act.

In North Carolina, where 14 power plants disposed of 1.3 million tons in ponds in 2005, state officials do not require operators to line their ponds or monitor groundwater, safety measures that help protect water supplies from contamination.

Similar safety measures are not required in Kentucky, Alabama, and Indiana.

And while other states like Ohio have regulations to protect groundwater, those often don’t apply to many of the older dumps built before the state rules were imposed.

Dorothy Griffith of Banner Elk, NC provided aerial views of the TN disaster, appearing on Freakonomics.

Residents in Tennessee are now facing illnesses and potential long-term health consequences for this tragedy, and immediate testing of metals in their bodies is vital.  And the Tennessee Valley Authority, whom should be paying for these $700 per person tests, naturally, like Exxon, will do what they can to minimize their costs, deny impact, and cover their own tails.  

TVA Coal is Killing Tennessee is a blog covering the TVA dirty coal and spill disaster, as well as working with the United Mountain Defense to raise funds to help victims of the spill.  Their coverage is EXCELLENT and where you need to head for all the information you could need.  

The true tragedy to this is that it was all avoidable, we won’t know the long-term devastation to these communities and the land for potentially decades to come, and more of these spills are inevitable despite them being avoidable as well.

So, besides the question of how are we going to clean up this mess and stop future disasters from happening, the next big question is:

When will we stop kidding ourselves that coal can be a clean and safe solution?

Yes, now I understand why “clean” coal is a myth… and hopefully other previous supporters do too.

2009 is the year of change,

Ashley Sue

Recently I had to purchase a new car (new to me, at least) due to an accident back in September. I had been driving a 2006 Impala with combined 30 mpg, and I knew that this unfortunate event had the silver lining of allowing me to talk with my money about environmental issues that matter to me.

Needless to say, I have ZERO interest or use for an SUV.  Truly, most people who have an SUV have no excuse to have one except they think it looks big and cool.

Hybrids, frankly, were no option.  I had $13K to work with, and I refuse to have a car payment.  I’m lucky that I don’t have to make monthly payments to that, and I refuse to start by choice.  Cash, up-front, and done.  It’s mine.

With hybrids being not affordable (including pre-owned 2004 models, which were still fetching $15K), I looked into the Smart Cars.  Affordable, but as stated in a previous post, I also refuse to drive a small, fragile vehicle that cannot ultimately protect Marc, myself, and our passengers in the event of an accident.  We got incredibly lucky with the first in that the driver at fault was not driving an SUV when she t-boned us.

This week, I saw a flurry of articles online supporting my fears.  Had I gotten a smaller hybrid or such, I would have been paying out the wazoo for insuring it!  Turns out these cars do not stand up well in accidents, resulting in insurance premiums to cover the high personal-injury claims that such accidents cause.

Other costs leading to high insurance, as sited in the article, are maintenance and repair costs of alternative-fuel vehicles, street racing incidences, and theft rates of compact cars.

Cost is not the end-all-be-all for me, and I believe that efficient vehicles are the long-term cost-effective solution.  We all still inhabit a world, however, where we can only do what our wallets allow.  Still yet, the biggest point for me is safety.  I actually feel like I NEED a mid-sized car just to have a CHANCE in surviving a serious impact.

Thankfully, driving smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles is becoming cool and will eventually become more affordable.  Unfortunately, driving demolition monster-trucks and SUVs is also still “cool” in our culture.  And in an odd world where people think it is OK to text, talk, email, and jam while driving (totally ignoring our culture’s tendency to drink and drive), we each have a lot of considerations when choosing a vehicle.

In case you hadn’t heard, I chose an almost exact replacement.  Gina is salvaging other Impalas, and Lelee, a 2007 Impala, is taking care of me now.

Safe driving and sustainably yours,  Ashley Sue Allen

The film here was filmed in mid-September, as Green Grounded and the Triangle were suffering from $5 a gallon gasoline.  “Drill Baby Drill!” was a popular chant (or source of criticism), and I was still driving Gina.  I planned on airing it before registration deadline, but life (and car accidents) got in the way.

I waited to put the video up for a while, but now, one day from Decision 2008, those of us who are waiting until actual Election Day to cast our votes still have time to weigh out all of the issues that matter most to us.

The economy.

Health care.

Employment.

Our parents.

Our children.

Life.

Education.

Poverty.

Terrorism.

Energy for today and tomorrow.

In this video, I urge you to consider how you feel about the realities and possibilities of drilling, “clean coal”, ethanol, biodiesel, wind, solar, hydro, nuclear, and all other alternative energy fuels.  The Green Revolution is one for our generation to shape the future, better or worse.

I also ask for you to consider the unexpected.  I’ve said before and will continue to say… gas prices may seem reasonable again now, but can we hinge our complacency on that?  We need to account for the unexpected… no one expected 9/11… Katrina… Ike… hanging chads… mortgage crises… and these were pivotal moments that effected every other aspect of our lives that matter.  These crises will continue to occur:  right when you need to find health care, or plan to buy a house, or have to find childcare but were laid off, or want to celebrate an election outcome, or have to drive to work.  So please take it all into consideration, as it all fits together.

Sustainably yours,  Ashley Sue Allen

The debates rage on for all the reasons to commute in town on bicycles (and motorcycles), as well as why they should stay off the road.  We all know bicycling reduces pollution, slows our dependency on oil, and keeps us much healthier.  Regardless of the benefits, here is a list of the reasons I won’t ride a bike on main roads ~ even to work, which is a straight four-mile ride on a main road in Raleigh.

1.  Frankly, I’m scared.  Drivers are crazy and dangerous around here.  Many of them seem to hate each other, the stoplights, the medians, pedestrians, and even themselves.  Everyone, it seems, is on a personal path to self-destruction and general public annihilation along the way to their jobs.

1b.  The Triangle is NOT very bicycle or pedestrian friendly.  The Triangle has almost no bike lanes navigating the city.  Further, even where bike lanes exist (for instance, the beautiful stretch of Ridge Road in Raleigh near Wholefoods), I see drivers most frequently use it as a passing-on-the-right-side trick to avoid pausing for cars that are turning left into driveways.

1c.  I also fear how much drivers forget to look out for people on bikes and motorcycles.  Seriously.  If the vehicle driver doesn’t check their blind spot or even see the car in the intersection, how are they going to pay enough attention for someone on a two-wheeled vehicle?

1d.  Many vehicle drivers are hostile toward bicycle and motorcycle riders.  I have been on a local bicycle listserv where I have heard many horror stories from bicyclers who have had people throw objects at them from vehicles and been jeered at for taking up road space ~ a general “you deserve it if you get hit because you’re asking for it” commentary.  I’ve even heard one of my friends say a motorcycler should get hit because he changed into her lane (and for the record, he used his motorcycle signal, a hand signal, and changed lanes at least four car-lengths ahead of us).

1e.  Couple all of the above list with this new text-while-I’m-driving phenomenon…  Bah!  All the trimmings for a tragedy.

2.  Law-abiding bicyclists must ride on the road and follow the rules of the NCDOT.  But, just like with vehicle drivers, many bicyclists do not follow NC vehicle laws.

2b.  Instead of riding on the road, many ride on sidewalks, as Marc says they should.  I disagree… the law is that bicyclers should ride on the road… granted, sidewalks are less dangerous for bicyclers to ride on, but what happens when you ride your bicycle and encounter those moms strolling their children in those SUV-version strollers?  Or several bicyclers come at each other on the same sidewalk?  Or the track team is jogging along the sidewalk?  This can be impending doom for everyone involved as well.

2c.  Some bicyclers feel that because they are small and on an open vehicle that they are not on a vehicle at all… hence feeling like it is OK to ignore stop signs, or shooting through red lights and crosswalks after a quick glance to the left and right.  (By the way, if you are a bicycler and do that, you only perpetuate drivers’ philosophy that you’re asking for whatever perile you put yourself in.)

Ultimately, I have no conclusion here.  Bicyclers, bikers, and drivers have some tensions that need worked out.  While I am not one for general conformity, however, I do think if we could all stay calm and pay attention to (not to mention follow) the rules of the road, we could all find order in our local transportation infrastructure.  This, in turn, could make us a more bike-friendly society, which would only benefit us all.

Any feedback on the dangers you face as a bicycler or motorcycler… or on why you take issue with bicycles on the roadway?

Until I live somewhere more bicycle-friendly, Marc and I will keep our bicycles to trails, parks, and parking lots (…or relegated on our porch).

Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue

So, here I am driving a rental Chevrolet Cobalt (who told me to call her Tina…) for another couple days until I get a check for Gina and find another car.  This accident has me not only looking for another car-friend in my life, but has me asking questions regarding how eco-friendly I can get in my search.

I can feel decent that Gina, being the organ donor she is, will be reused in various other vehicles needing parts and body work.  But what will my new purchase be made of?  What workers will be paid for the manufacturing of my vehicle?  How will my car be with gas efficiency?

These are a few of the many questions I have to ask as I explore a new car.

My options aren’t unlimited, however.  I do have a budget to work within.  I am choosing to pay cash for whatever vehicle I buy, so a new hybrid or alternative fuel vehicle will not likely be an option, even if it were the greenest option.

According to The Daily Green, I could afford the 2008 Smart, but I have to be honest in that I like the size and space offered in my previous 2006 Impala.  Frankly, I am also not sure the Smart would have much to offer in terms of protection when t-boned.  I already shudder at how lucky we were the Impala wasn’t hit by an SUV or mega-truck.

A simple Google search on “eco car” lands me all kinds of sites on hybrids, primarily ~ and particularly sites in the UK (and here too).  The more research I do on hybrids and AFV, the more I realize I will certainly have to stick to more conventional transportation.

Really, though, my Impala had quality mpg.  I know firsthand how well she held up on gasoline, and unfortunately, for my job, I put quite a few miles on her.  And she had ethanol/biodiesel/diesel potential I just hadn’t tapped into.

So, I Google “green” “used” “car” and find a few useful websites.  I even found a Wired article declaring that buying a used car can be greener than buying the uber-efficient hybrids.

As Matt Power notes in this month’s issue of Wired,

hybrids get great gas mileage but it takes 113 million BTUs of energy to make a Toyota Prius. Because there are about 113,000 BTUs of energy in a gallon of gasoline, the Prius has consumed the equivalent of 1,000 gallons of gasoline before it reaches the showroom. Think of it as a carbon debt — one you won’t pay off until the Prius has turned over 46,000 miles or so.

That’s good, I feel.  I don’t have to feel like a shlub for buying a conventional car.  In fact, Power chronicles several car models from the ’90s and even the mid-’80s that beat the Prius on mpg efficiency!  That, I would have never guessed!

Of course, it can be tough finding a car that old that hasn’t been beaten like a drum, and Robyn Eckard of Kelley Blue Book tells us most used car buyers prefer something no more than 5 to 7 years old and with fewer than 100K on the odometer. No problem.  [Several models are mentioned specifically here]

We’ve undoubtedly left some off the list. But the point is, you don’t need to buy a Prius — or any other hybrid, for that matter — to get great fuel economy and minimize your carbon footprint. You might feel better driving a hybrid, but you won’t necessarily be greener.

On that note, judge me if you wish, but I am focusing my new car hunt on replacing my 2006 Impala with a used 2007 or 2008 Impala.

Until I have more news on the car-front~

Safe driving.

Sustainably yours ~ Ashley Sue

Not because our nation has figured out the mastery of green technology and alternative fuels, but for various other reasons a Yahoo news article claims that gas prices could be $3 or less a gallon in time for the holidays!

The article states

On Friday, fears of a global recession helped drive down U.S. crude oil futures prices more than 10 percent to the lowest settlement since September 2007.

The Lundberg Survey this article is based on says

Gasoline demand will continue to shrink in our weak economic condition, and retailers, who have been receiving deep buying price cuts, will be anxious to pass through any further price cuts they receive quickly. They need the sales.

To be honest, I have no idea.  I’m no economist, but I am convinced that we will not again have economic stability until we devote our time, resources, and capitol toward alternative energy investments… meaning it’s time we STOP wishing for and relying on gas prices dropping.  That logic will only going to keep us on the same roller coaster currently nauseating us.

Think about it.  Hurricanes.  Volatile housing market.  Crumbling bank institutions.  A very important election season within days of us.

And we can never discount the unexpected.  No one saw 9/11 coming.  No one saw hanging chads coming.  No one saw Katrina coming.  No one saw our WaMu/AIG/etc fiasco coming (at least not like this).

Do we want to assume anything about what we think we know?  Or should we move toward change?

I, for one, will move toward change.  Would you like to join me?

Sustainably yours ~ Ashley Sue

In case you didn’t see the N&O article yesterday, Green Grounded and friends saw that a group is conducting a study to look into taxing each mile you drive instead of continuing with the state’s highway tax on each gallon of gasoline you purchase.

Fourteen states besides North Carolina are included in this study, where volunteers will have GPS devices installed in their car to gauge the miles the accrue.  Further, volunteers will share their feelings on the fake federal and state tax bills they will receive based on their commuting.

New energy is one reason for this study.  The article does address the need for this measure by saying,

Gas tax collections are slowing as cars get more miles on each gallon, and as $4 pump prices force Americans to reduce their driving. A few years from now, many Americans might be driving plug-in electric and fuel-cell cars that don’t use gas at all.

That’s true, and N.C. State economist Michael Walden agrees that our current gas tax simply cannot support our transportation infrastructure.  And in a state and region growing as rapidly as Durham, Wake, Chatham and Orange Counties, I fully agree.

They start looking for volunteers next week, and if you are interested, you can check out (by phone, toll-free) 866-363-1975 or www.roaduserstudy.org.

Ultimately, I am not sure how well this will go.  I have no doubt that SUV owners and teamsters will fare far better with a tax measure such as this, but how will drivers of electric, hybrid, or alternative fuel vehicles feel about being taxed per mile?  And if they have issues, should they?  After all, if we are all taxed the same per mile we drive, then we all pay our fair amount for utilizing our roadways.

If we are all paying per mile taxes to our fed and state governments, wouldn’t that be another great reminder to think twice about how you get where you want to go, and which method of fuel you are using?

But when we drive out of state, will our own state still tax us for the miles driven?  Or will we receive tax bills from the federal government and various state governments for that period?

By the way, if the government is watching us drive to and fro in order to collect taxes on us, won’t that be a huge expense out of tax-payer pockets ~ just to make the project work?  Where will those tax dollars come from, and at the expense of what else?

Will driving with government installed GPS in our vehicles remind us a bit that “Big Brother is Watching”?

And here come the questions…

I, for one, will be contacting them about volunteering.  I think it would be great to find out more on the project… not to mention could make some great material for Green Grounded…

Stay tuned.

Sustainably yours ~  Ashley Sue

It’s National Car-Free Day. Unfortunately I’ve already driven. I work, and as most American cities are not very walkable, I drove to a location to get some work done.

I hear, though, that Durham is allowing all riders to get on for free today. And in Raleigh, of course, the NC State Wolfline is always free (though very limited in its routes).

How are you getting around today? Do you think it’s realistic to have a “Car-Free Day”?  I would love your feedback.

Meanwhile, I am having to drive to the station and run some errands… perhaps I will enforce an honorary car-free day sometime soon…  when my bikes are ready to go.