Back from sabbatical

I feel like I've taken a sabbatical from this blog. Having jaw surgery this summer really took me away from my daily routine. And honestly, I've felt like I haven't had much to say recently. Of course, once I recovered from surgery, I was back to the grind: riding my bike, recycling, composting food scraps and pet waste. But there wasn't really anything new in my life to report, so I kept quiet and listened to others discuss their personal triumphs (congratulations, Beth!) and woes.

But I finally have good news to share with you. My paper about BagFest was accepted into the Journal for Civic Commitment. I'm working on the final revisions right now, but as soon as it's published, I'll post the paper for anyone to read.

And the BagFest documentary is officially complete!!! Thanks to Kate Reynolds, a documentarian out in Seattle, who graciously edited the film out of the goodness of her heart. I still need to figure out how to make copies of the documentary, but as soon I do that, I'll have it available to anyone who wants a copy of it (free of course, excluding any potential shipping costs).

So that's it for now. Boy do I feel rusty getting back to this blog. Let's see if I can shake off these virtual cobwebs and get back to the blogging routine!

An Innovative Way to Reuse Plastic Bags?

Luann
My friend Len sent me this comic. Humorous, isn't it? On a serious note, this comic reminds me of the time my friend and mathematics guru Amanda Serenevy once calculated how many plastic bags could be used as fuel. Based on her calculations, she estimated that it would take 14 plastic bags to power a vehicle for 1 mile. Not bad, right? Another estimate projects that each year, the US allocates 12 million barrels of oil for making plastic bags. Many of my students have expressed surprise when they've recalled that plastic bags are made of oil. Sometimes it's good to be reminded of these things, even if it's from reading a comic.

UK's Not My Bag

I chuckled to myself when I read about Chis Jeavans' mission to refuse consuming any plastic for one month. I instantly thought that she's the British version of Beth's Fake Plastic Fish. Although Beth hasn't outright banned the use of plastic, her consumption is so darn minimal that it seems nearly non-existent. Plus, Beth has been doing her best to give up plastic for over a year. I think Chris has some catching up to do, but it will be interesting to track her progress on the BBC.

Watch Chris discuss the mound of plastic she is trying to forgo this month: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7535500.stm.

Who Gains From Your Pain?

This past year has been met with several changes in the marketplace, which affect the price of gas, food, energy, travel, and so on. It's gotten to the point where people have taken "staycations" this year, a new term to describe forgoing a proper vacation to stay at home and do local activities.

I personally think many of these changes are positive, like frequenting farmers' markets and driving less, but many people aren't happy about the increased cost of just about everything. (Why everything? Well, because it seems like everything is somehow connected to oil.)

But not everyone's complaining. On the contrary, there's much to be gained from your pain: money. This morning, Exxon Mobile posted their second quarter earnings. They made $11.68 billion this quarter - that's the most amount of profit ever reported in US history. Impressive, right? Well, this $$$ figure was lower than investors expected (I know, get the kleenex out and shed a tear!). But who knows? Maybe this year they'll beat last year's annual profit of $40 billion. That's something to look forward to.

Reading this news makes me grateful for riding my bike. I haven't bought any gas since May, which has saved me some much needed cash. And perhaps this goes without saying, but biking doesn't pollute and it's good for the body. You just have to be careful. And that goes for drivers, too!!!

Biking In Memoriam

Yesterday about 300 bicyclists got together in Granger to bike in memoriam of Patrick Sawyer. My friend Matt Mooney helped organize this event. He also picked me up so we could carpool together. Along the way, he gave me more details about Patrick and his family. They were good friends, that much is true. He wasn't sure how his wife was doing and we both asked many questions about their children. How is she going to raise four kids on her own? I don't think they came from wealthy families. The good news is that many people in our community have pitched in to help the Sawyer family. Matt also said they hope to make this an annual event so that Pat's kids will have the things they need as they continue to grow and live their lives.

It was a stunning to see so many people bike in Pat's honor. I'm glad I was able to pay my respects in this way.

RIP: Patrick Sawyer

I received terrible news yesterday - Patrick Sawyer, an IUSB student, was struck by a car on Monday while riding his bike on Cleveland Avenue. Sadly, he ultimately did not survive the accident.

A few of my friends have organized a charity ride in honor of Patrick and to help his family. Patrick leaves behind a wife and four young children. It will take place next Tuesday, beginning at North Point School in Granger. Folks will be arriving around 5:30pm and the race will kick-off at 6pm. People are welcome to ride multiple distances and all are welcome. Yours truly will be there.

If you can't ride, but would like to make a donation, you can drop it off at the local bike shops (Outpost Sports, Spin Zone, and Pro Form). Key Bank is also hosting a trust fund for the family (it's called Benefit of Patrick Sawyer).

Rest in peace, Patrick. I know you are missed.

Thank you, Al Gore!

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing." Those words have stuck with me for several months now. It boggled my mind why the need for solar energy wasn't receiving greater, positive attention - instead, it seemed like most folks talked in circles about our dependence on oil and the limitations regarding renewable energies. For me, such negative talk about solar and wind energy produced "green fatigue." I was getting weary of hearing the same tired arguments. I think I've grown tired of hearing many people talk - I want to see action.

So perhaps it's ironic that I felt encouraged by Al Gore's speech yesterday.* It is, after all, more words to listen to. But this time I heard optimism and conviction resonate in his voice. To invoke Emerson, I believe that Al Gore sees the sun.

Gore said, "Scientists have confirmed that enough solar energy falls on the surface of the earth every 40 minutes to meet 100 percent of the entire world's energy needs for a full year. Tapping just a small portion of this solar energy could provide all of the electricity America uses. And enough wind power blows through the Midwest corridor every day to also meet 100 percent of US electricity demand. Geothermal energy, similarly, is capable of providing enormous supplies of electricity for America."

Gore clearly sees that our current status quo must end by embracing renewable energy within 10 years. I really do think we're at a tipping point and that sweeping, innovative changes will be made in the near future. So thank you, Al Gore, for speaking on behalf of so many individuals who are craving genuine leadership in this front. I for one sincerely appreciate his efforts.

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*Above is an annotated version of Gore's speech. To watch the speech in its entirety, click here.

The Story of Stuff

Apparently, over 3 million people have already seen Annie Leonard's The Story of Stuff on the internet. I just got the memo, but it's certainly not to0 late to watch this 20-minute film. Dr. Leonard does a brilliant job outlining the relationship among the processes of extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal. She integrates social justice issues and our perceptions regarding how much value we place onto other people (basically, the more stuff you have, the more valuable you are perceived).

Ok, I don't want to give too much of the film away, so I hope you get a chance to watch this. And afterwards, go check out her blog. Dr. Leonard has additional resources and information about the work she's done for over 20 years. Amazing!

Wall-E

Yesterday, my friend Deb and I went to the movies and saw Wall-E. I hadn't heard much about this movie - I checked online at rottentomatoes.com to see its ratings and it scored a 97%. So I figured it must be good!

This was a clever film about a robot whose job is to clean the all the junk and debris left behind by us humans. The humans have long since abandoned the planet, living far in the galaxy on a luxurious spacecraft. For the most part, Wall-E the robot lives a humdrum existence cleaning up trash. But he finds himself in a romantic and life-preserving adventure, which is fun, entertaining, and thought-provoking. If you feel in the mood to go to the movies, I encourage you to watch this film!

Deb also surprised me by giving me a Preserve toothbrush. It's the same toothbrush made by Recycline, the company that uses recycled yogurt cups. So cool! They really thought of everything, right down to the packaging, which I can use as a reusable travel case. The toothbrush was also made in the USA, which is refreshing (what? It's not made in China?!?). And instead of throwing the toothbrush away when it's old, Recycline has a postage-paid mailer that I can use for recycling. Three cheers for Recycline's commitment to be environmentally friendly. Now I can feel good when I brush my teeth three times a day!

Why We Don't Use Plastic Bags

Sometimes it's good to be reminded why we don't use plastic bags. At least that was my thought when I received an email from my friend David today. He sent everyone a pdf regarding the environmental hazards of using plastic bags. I think this document provides a brief, yet thorough overview of this issue. If you have a couple of minutes, I encourage you to take a look at it.

He also wrote about his and his wife's change to using reusable bags:

Annette and I have recently finally gotten in the habit of bringing our own bags to the grocery store. It took a while to get in this habit; not only did we need to i) acquire a sufficient number of cloth and sturdy re-usable bags, we needed to ii)  keep them in the car, and of course then iii) remember to bring them into the store. However, now that we're fully into the routine, we remember our bags all the time and perhaps we are now in the category of people that use 12 less bags/week = 48 bags/month = 576 bags/year.

That's so awesome! I must also thank Dave and Annette for giving me their composting bin a year ago. Thanks to them, I no longer throw my food waste into the garbage. This has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the frequency and amount of trash that I generate at home. No more stinky trash! And I would say that I use 2 trash bags a month to handle my waste. That's down about 50%. Sweet!