California State Parks Avoid Most Cuts

California State Parks Mostly Saved From Budget Cuts

     At one time more than 70 state parks were on the list to be closed due to budget cuts in the State of California. As everyone knows California is in a continual budget crisis and must do what is can to find money and state parks is just another thing to close to save that much needed cash. When the list of 70 parks was put out there were many favorites of many people around the state. California is an outdoor state. I grew up in California and I remember backpacking and camping in many of California's state parks and boating on the lakes and kayaking on the creeks in many of these parks. So when you talk of closing 70 parks trust me many people will speak up and ask what they can do to help.

Private Donors and Foundations Support State Parks

     So what has come out of all of this is support for many of California's state parks from many many individuals and Foundations and even some companies. Because let's face it if you always take your family camping in a certain park every summer what do you tell the kids hey we let the park close. No, there are many talented people in California that can use their skills to raise money and secure funds for individual parks or even groups of parks in certain geographical areas. Or for some businesses if you are the local business that state park down the road just might make your whole summer or your whole year with the increased traffic from boaters and RV's and families going camping. So, it would be in your best interest to make a donation to keep that park open.

Take Your Kids To a State Park

     Take your kids to a state park and maybe go camping or fishing or even a hike. After all it's easier to live a green life and appreciate what you are trying to help save when you can look around and see it for yourself. It's one thing to say I'm trying to protect the environment but it's another to go hiking on a trial and see that environment for yourself. Not to mention it instills those memories in your children that hey this is what we are doing this for not just because mom says so.

Where do California Parks Stand Now

     Currently there are only five California parks that have failed to find enough outside support and donors willing to support them. The five that could use your help are Benicia State Recreation Area, The California Mining and Mineral Museum, Gray Whale Cove State Beach, Zmudowski State Beach, and Providence Mountains State Recreation Area. So if you want to support California state parks either support one near you or support one of the five on the chopping block.
No Better Cause, a photo by ingridtaylar on Flickr.

Be Green Borrow From Your Neighbors

Get To Know Your Neighbors

     I know in this day and age it seems that no one I mean no one actually knows the people they live around or the lady that lives at the end of the block. I wonder why that it? I think maybe it has to do with how busy everyone is now and the fact that in a couple, both people have to work just to support the family. So consequently you don't get to know the people around your home and down your street. Remember when you were a kid your family knew everyone on the street and around the block and since that was the case as a kid you actually had a lot more freedom. So why should you get to know the neighbors? Well, if you think of the three R's of living a greener life Reduce, Reuse, Recycle knowing your neighbors will go a long way to help you in accomplishing that greener lifestyle you want. Not to mention saving you a ton of green dollars in your pocket and a lot of space in your garage. 

Live Green By Borrowing From The Neighbors

     So like above your family knew everyone on the block. But what they also knew was who on the block had a rototiller, or a bike rack, or a kayak that sat in their garage all year waiting for that one or two times a year when they actually took that item out and used it. So, if your dad needed to use a rototiller chances are he would walk down the street and knock on the door of the rototiller owner and ask to borrow it. The owner would agree saying that as long as your dad repaired any damage etc. Now why would this guy loan your dad something that could cost up to $400.00 at the time which was a lot of money? Well, this guy always borrowed your dads roof rack every year when his family went camping so what goes around comes around. So in this neighborhood not everyone has to own a rototiller or a bike rack or all those things that we all use a few times a year. Just someone in the neighborhood has to own it. That way our garages don't get filled up with stuff that we never use and the money that we save can stay in our bank accounts. 

Peer To Peer Borrowing

     Now in this modern time this would be called peer to peer borrowing and I'm sure if I was a Java Developer I could write some nifty code with the Google maps API and you could put in your neighborhood and it would show who had what and what they were willing to lend out etc. Or on the other hand you could just get to know your neighbors and when they ask to borrow your good pruning shears let them because you never know when you might want to borrow that extra bike that their daughter grew out of. Besides it's nice to know your neighbors.

Living Building Challenge Beyond LEED Certification

Living Building Challenge

     The Living Building Challenge is a new green rating system for buildings that was developed by Jason F. McClennon. It creates a building that is not only a green building in initial design and construction but what actually happens down the road in everyday use of the building. How is that accomplished? Every Living Building Challenge Building is judged not during the design or construction, like a LEED building but twelve to sixteen months after the building has been in day to day use to see if the grand green ideas have panned out. 

LEED Was The First Step

So where LEED was a great first step in the designing green buildings and really bringing about this whole green building industry the LBC is about taking the next step to see which of these designers ideas really work in your day to day life. Because let's face it when you are designing something, how you think something will work out versus how it really does can change dramatically. Not to mention the fact that when a lot of these so called green buildings were built a lot of this technology was just someones idea on a drawing board. That hadn't really been tried out yet. So now with the Living Building Challenge and the new standards in place those buildings that are LEED certified can be tested to see if they meet the new standards and the ones with the best technology and best ideas can be replicated. 

One Car Family

One Car Family

     Have you considered changing your lifestyle and becoming a one car family? If so what do you think that would look like? What do you think the trade offs would be and do you think they would be manageable? A lot of it depends on what type of lifestyle you have and how flexible you are in that lifestyle. But, it does open up some possibilities for you and your family.

What does giving up one car do for you?

     If you only have one car you will walk and ride your bike more than you do now. What is that worth? I don't really know but I have a feeling your family will be closer and in better shape for the long haul. Do you drive your kids to school even though it's only a mile? I bet they could walk faster than you can drive them there or if that is unsafe you could walk them to school. How about shopping? Well, if you only have one car then when you need to really stock up you take that car or even better yet get yourself a cargo bike. They will carry all of your kids plus all of your groceries trust me this is doable.

What About My Commute?

     Your commute can be offset a couple of different ways. Either by carpooling if your commute is just too far to ride or you could bike commute. If your commute is a reasonable distance. Better yet if your employer provides bike lockers or some type of indoor bike storage for employees.

Let's Talk About Money

     Okay above are all the little things in life where you need that extra car or feel that you do. What are you getting out of all this extra pedaling and walking. Money is a big thing you will save a lot of money by having only one car. Let's break it down. Gas how much do you spend on each car and how much do you spend on the car that you will get rid of? I'm betting about $300.00 a month or so. Some of that will be added to the other cars monthly gas bill but I bet not half of it. License and insurance, you probably spend about $300.00 to $400.00 a year on license and about $100.00 a month on insurance. So add all that up. When I add all that up I see a savings of $4500.00 a year. Not bad right. But wait there's more. If your car is like mine occasionally it breaks down so you need to add in a little bit for a mechanic and a biannual smog certificate. I know what your thinking hey the bike will break down as well. Yes that's true but most simple bike repairs you can do yourself. Not to mention that most bike repairs cost under $50.00 whereas most car repairs are over $100 - 200.00.

Health Effects

     The heath effects of riding your bike more are well known. You will simply be in better shape than you are now. Don't believe me ask your doctor. So on top of saving money on gas you will be healthier and not have to go to the doctor as much. Not to mention you will be in better shape and have killer quads, and your wife or husband will start to look a lot better in shorts or skirts than they do now. Hey that is a plus right. Not to mention that, that long ride you do now that's so hard will become a lot easier because you do so many more short rides your heart rate and blood pressure will go down.

What About The Kids

     Trust me the kids will be okay. They will still get to all of their activities because you still have one car for the really far out things and the close in things they can ride their bikes or walk or you can put them on your cargo bike and take them if they are too small to ride or walk on their own. So you will definitely be spending more time with your kids. For them this change will probably be the easiest. Kids seem to just roll with the punches and go with the flow. Not to mention they love riding bikes.

I Want To Try Out Being a One Car Family

     If you want to try out this lifestyle I say go for it. What I would do is pick the car that you would keep if you did give up a car and then park the other one in the garage for a week. Let everyone in the family know about the project and get their input. There may be some people in your family who disagree but just tell them we are trying this for a week. Then do it. Simply ride your bike or walk or take the other car wherever you go for a week at the end of the week talk to the other family members about how much you don't or did need the other car. Don't forget to tally up how much you saved in gas that week and how much you would have saved had you actually not had the car, meaning you wouldn't have the payment or insurance or license etc. If this week is successful then continue another week. If you do this successfully for a month congratulations it's time to give up your car.

 DSCN1319.JPG, a photo by cleverchimp on Flickr.

Environmentally Friendly Cars Are They Worth The Cost?

Environmentally Friendly Cars

     Consumer reports recently did an article on several cars that are greener than their regular counterparts. In other words they save gas by using low rolling resistance tires and spoilers on the back and in one case there is a flap in the radiator area that reduces air resistance at highway speeds. The premise of the article and video is that you don't really save enough gas to make it worth your extra money that these environmentally friendly cars cost. The environmentally friendly vehicle usually costs a few hundred dollars more than the normal version of the same vehicle. So Consumer Reports sees it simply as it's not worth it when in one case they say it will pay off in three years. To me three years is not too long. Some people will buy these cars just because they are Eco friendly vehicles and they want to do something to help they environment. Not to mention to stop sending all of our cash to the Middle East.
Green Cars For Comparison
     The green cars that they compared were the following, the Chevrolet Cruze Eco, the Ford Focus SFE, and the Honda Civic HF. The Honda Civic HF and the Ford Focus SFE each got three miles per gallon more than it's regular counterpart. the Chevrolet Cruze Eco on the other hand only got one mile per gallon more than the typical model. So Consumer Reports is correct it will take a few years to pay back.
How To Really Save Gas
     I don't believe the true comparison should be between the Eco friendly car model and the normal model but it should really be between what you are driving today and the Eco friendly model. What do you think? So, say you are driving a Ford Explorer that only gets 20 mpg and you move to the Honda Civic HF that gets 33 mpg. That's 13 mpg better. So at the end of a normal 15,000 mile year, what would you save? Well, when you do the math for a year it looks like this 15,000 divided by 20 equals 750 gallons of fuel. Wow, more than I thought. So 750 times $4.00 equals $3,000.00 for one year of gas in your Ford Explorer. Now for that same year in the Honda Civic HF with 33 MPG the math looks like this. 15,000 divided by 33 equals 454.54 gallons of fuel for the year. So 454.54 gallons of fuel times $4.00 equals $1,818.00. Wow That's $1,182 less in gas costs per year. So, it doesn't have to be these cars in particular but pick the car that gets at least ten miles per gallon better than your current one and let people tell you it's not worth it. You can laugh all the way to the bank or just know that you are driving a greener car than you were. Whether that's green for the environment or for your pocket the reason doesn't really matter just the outcome does that we all use less energy to go the same distance. That's how you really save gas.

Bike Parking in Downtown Areas

Bike Parking in Downtown Areas

     I lost the picture and don't know where I saw this at but I will find it. But, have you seen this phenomenon in your city where in the downtown areas the city leaders with cooperation from bicycle groups are placing bike racks in random areas in the downtown areas. Usually in front of local coffee shops or other businesses. The bike racks usually take up the space of about two parking spaces so it removes the availablility of the two parking spaces for cars but frees it up for up to fourteen bikes or so. They are moving these racks around the city to see where they are getting the most bang for their buck so to speak or the most use anyway from the biking public. Would you like to see this in your city and if you city did something like this would it encourage you to ride your bike more? It seems like at first the business owners are the first to complain about the loss of parking in front of their shops but within a couple of days of the install of the bike racks most of them seem to be pretty happy about the whole deal.