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Easy Doesn’t Always Mean Simple

My wife and I were out and about today and visited Bed Bath & Beyond. As we wandered through the store we came upon one of those product demos for a Krups Nescafe Dolce Gusto Piccolo 15 Bar Single Serve Beverage Maker (whew!) in Titanium/Black. I had been talking about doing some product reviews and had some thoughts mulling around on different products I could comment on.

But this one tipped the scale for me. As we listened to the demo, we saw how you could take individually-wrapped “capsules”, insert them into the machine, flip the lever and, viola! have an espresso or cappuccino in just minutes. For regular espresso, only one capsule is needed, but for a cappuccino, it takes two. And, of course, the pods are disposable.

By now, you may have sensed where I’m going with this. To enjoy the easy brewing of an eight ounce cappuccino, I will throw away, two capsule containers (plastic, I think, but not recyclable since they are contaminated with food waste) and for every eight cups, will consume a small cardboard box (which at least is recyclable). And the cappuccinos will cost me about $1.13 each (for just the capsules).

There are many ways to brew coffee and espresso without disposing and filling landfills. I have an espresso machine that has a metal reusable portafilter. Nothing disposable in it. And my coffee grounds make a great addition to the compost bin (if you’re so inclined).

For regular coffee, there are the cone filters that are washable and reusable. Single cup and for the brewers. And at $1.25 per cup for the Krups Nescafe Dolce Gusto Capsules, you’ll pay for the cost of a $10 reusable filter in a few days and even a fancy, durable $300 espresso machine in several months. I’ve had mine for two years and it’s still going strong.

Does this take more time? A little. Is it less money? A lot. Is it better all-around? Absolutely.

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Mary S. and the Egan Warming Center

The other day, I saw a post on my Facebook News Feed about the Egan Warming Center. I’ve lived here in Eugene for most of my life and had never heard of the Warming Center. Administered by St. Vincent dePaul, the Egan Warming Center’s mission is to provide homeless people in Lane County a place to sleep indoors when temperatures drop to 28º or below between November 15 and March 31. Several churches in our area open their facilities for people to sleep when it gets cold. So I reposted the link on my Facebook and said, “this is worth getting the word out.” Then I went about the rest of my day.

Little did I know that on my way home that night (I had a late meeting downtown and was catching the late bus), a lady who appeared to be homeless got on the bus wanting to know where a particular church was. It happened to be one of the churches that host the homeless on cold nights.

I told her it was a couple of stops after my stop, and a young couple on the bus also said they were headed there, too. She was grateful for the help and caring and we struck up a conversation. Actually, it was more I got to listen to her story for the 15 minutes until my stop. About halfway into the conversation I said, “My name’s Bill, what’s yours?” and she said “I’m Mary S.” and we shook hands.

It’s interesting how it’s easy to judge someone by their looks yet when you talk to them (I did get a few words in), you find they have a lot on the ball. Mary S. had thin hair, deep furrows on her perfectly-round face and meticulously-applied pink lipstick. Yet her lipstick wasn’t gaudy; it was tastefully applied.

I listened as she talked about the atrocities of shooting gray wolves, the slaughter of seals, global warming and the awfulness of animal farming and how selfishness was really at the root of it all. It was a fascinating time. She had some very deep insights into this world and life in general. It looked like she had most, if not all, of her possessions in the two plastic grocery bags she carried with her.

And it made me realize just how fortunate I am. As I came home to my warm house, hot mocha and electric blanket, I thought of Mary S. and the wonderful volunteers who will spend all night giving her, the other young couple on the bus and who knows how many others the ability to have a warm, dry place to sleep.

And it made me think how the simple act of riding the bus goes way deeper than just reducing my carbon footprint and living a simpler, sustainable lifestyle; it’s an opportunity to meet people you wouldn’t normally talk with. And that can open up some amazing conversations and friendships.

By reducing my carbon footprint, I think I just increased my heart footprint.

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Empty Buses and Mass Transit – Part 3

Social Equity and Culture

I briefly talked in my last post about the free-market and bus fares of $15 and $10-a-gallon gas. I wanted to expand that some more here.

Even though we are in a culture where most people own cars, there are still those who do not. So what about them? How can or should they get around? And even if everyone DID have a car, how would that affect our street and road system? To answer that, if you live in or visit the Eugene-Springfield area, just drive out West 11th most any time of day or Beltline Road any weekday afternoon after about 3:30 pm.

Building and widening roads is not the answer. You can find all sorts of evidence that transportation options (cars, buses, bikes, walkability) all contribute to a more livable community and greater social equity. When people have options, are able to walk or bus or bike or drive, then the financial impact in their life becomes more of a choice than a burden. And I hear people complaining that LTD is cutting routes and services while wanting to spend money on the EmX route. The problem with that is the monies come from different sources: regular routes are largely payroll taxes and constructing the EmX is largely Federal funding. If we don’t spend the Federal money on the EmX, the Feds will spend it somewhere else. It can’t be used for regular service; plus Bus Rapid Transit such as the EmX is much more efficient.

I’m fortunate enough that I could afford to drive my car every day to and from work. It’s a nice car and gets relatively decent mileage. I can afford to pay the regular service on it and all that. But when I discovered my transportation choices, it has done several things in my psyche.

First, when I ride my bike, I get exercise and fresh air and my metal attitude when I arrive at work is much calmer. Multiple benefits.

Second, when I ride the bus, I can read a book or strike up a conversation with a new acquaintance and broaden my circle of friends. Multiple benefits.

Third, when I drive, I can have the option of not having to plan my day quite as tight. Multiple benefits.

But some people don’t have all three choices. And the most expensive of those three options is the car. While there may be many who ride the bus because they want to (and I think there are; after all, I’m one of those), there is also a segment of our society who need the option of mass transit in order to make their monthly budgets work.

Do we really care about our neighbors?

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Empty Buses and Mass Transit – Part 2

Money and Subsidies

It often really gets down to money. Seems like that’s always the case, doesn’t it? Just for the record, some facts from Lane Transit District (LTD) on the most recent costs and expenses…

LTD has, as of May 2010, an annual ridership of over 11 million boardings. For perspective, my daily ride to and from work alone would be considered 4 boardings. After all, there are only about 250,000 people in the Eugene-Springfield area. The average passenger fare is $0.62 of the actual expense of $2.91 (about 21%). The remainder is made up from payroll taxes. An all-day pass costs a passenger $3 and a monthly pass is now $48.

I am an employer so I know full-well about the payroll tax. I think there is part of the rub. Bottom line is none of us really like paying taxes. Doesn’t matter if it’s payroll, income, sales; if it’s a tax, we don’t like it. Now that we’ve got that on the table, taxes are necessary in our culture. And we can debate taxes and subsidies and name things whatever we want and probably reach no concrete solutions.

But the argument I often hear is for the bus system to be self-supporting. That we shouldn’t subsidize it and it should run just like a business. I understand that view, but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), virtually all forms of transportation are subsidized (maybe with the exception of bicycling, but let’s talk bike paths and bike lanes…).

Most of the argument is centered around cars when people talk subsidies for the bus. I really think that’s because those arguing that point only drive cars and don’t ride the bus. If it doesn’t affect me, it doesn’t matter as much. It’s much easier to support a tax on cigarettes when you don’t smoke.

But where this argument breaks down is in the oil subsidies that exist. Many people don’t realize that the oil and gasoline industry (even while raking in billions in profits), is one of the most heavily-subsidized industries out there. And I’m going to make you Google that yourself; do some searching and see what you come up with.

So my first thought was “let’s just get rid of ALL the subsidies; oil, gas, bus, etc” and let the free market rule it all. But then I got to thinking that would probably mean a bus trip would cost $15, a gallon of gas would cost $10 or more and what about the person making minimum wage trying to get to and from work? I think you can quickly see the vicious cycle we are in. As I am wont to say: Everything is connected.

I really think the answer is balance. And perspective. If you complain about the bus, do you ride the bus? If you complain about the new bike bridge over Delta Highway, do you walk or bike? If the answer to either of those questions is “no” or “no, but…” go back and read my Transportation Options post. Then walk, bike or ride the bus one day.

It can change your perspective.

Next Post: Social Equity and Culture

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Empty Buses and Mass Transit – Part 1

As you’ve probably read and figured out by now, I’m a proponent of mass transit. Even here in sleepy little Eugene, Oregon (well, maybe “sleepy” isn’t the right term, but I think you get my point). We are currently having a community “discussion” about extending the West Eugene EmX line. In many places, there are “No Build” signs from people and businesses who don’t want the extension of our BRT (bus rapid transit) EmX system.

One of the arguments against the BRT (and, I think the bus system in general) is the comment about “empty buses”. I hear people (generally non-bus-riders) often comment, “the buses are running empty most of the time, why am I paying subsidies to run empty buses?” or “we should charge riders what it actually costs to run the bus and not tax employers” and “LTD (Lane Transit District) is cutting routes, why are they spending money on extending the EmX?”

Over the next few posts, I’d like to comment on each of these.

Empty Buses
I’ve been riding now for about a year. Not every day, but often; probably about 35-50% of my commuting is now by bus. I won’t go into my philosophy on this (but I would encourage you to read some of my previous posts). But I do want to respond to the “empty bus” comments. As I ride to work, I catch the 36 at my Park and Ride in West Eugene, head to Eugene Station (our “hub”), then transfer to the 66 to my office. When the 36 arrives at my Park and Ride, there are probably 4 or 5 people on board. As we approach downtown, we end up with probably 20+. From downtown (on the 66), we start with 10-15 people. As we approach the midpoint of the “loop”, we drop people off at work and at Valley River Center (about the halfway mark), we’re often down to 1 or 2 people. And this continues for maybe one or two stops, then we start picking up people again as the 66 loops back into town.

And here’s my point: at any time if a person looks at a bus, it may have 20 or more people or it may have 1 or 2. At the times you see 1 or 2 people, I would bet the bus is at the midpoint of its loop, having dropped off a bunch of folks and is now starting to pick people up. A better observation would be to see how many are on the bus into and out of Eugene Station; that would be a better test of true ridership.

And I can tell you at those points, the buses are often standing-room only.

Next Post: Money and Subsidies

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The Philosophy of Sustainable Design

The Philosophy of Sustainable Design, by Jason McLennan is unique in “green” books about architecture and building design in that it really gets to the philosophy behind sustainable practices, and not just a list of “dos” or “don’ts.” I appreciate that. McLennan is teaching us to fish.

With sixteen chapters and five appendices, the book is very complete. It is also very readable. Sometimes books like this are, frankly, a bit dry and technical. They can tend to be “thick”, as I call them, meaning you need to read a paragraph, stop and reread it again to really comprehend what the author is trying to say. But not so with The Philosophy of Sustainable Design. This book is extremely comprehensive in its approach and its way of thinking.

From the philosophy to the evolution through the principles of sustainable design, McLennan talks about biomimicry (how learning from natural systems and processes can benefit our lives) and the cycle of life (the seven generations principle) and how these all fit together into a whole. All are viewed in a context of respect. Respect for nature, respect for place, respect for people, respect for our grandkids.

“Sustainability deals with all aspects of society,” McLennan writes. If there is one principle in this book that comes through loud and clear, it’s that everything is connected. No one action or process can be done in a vacuum. It WILL affect something, somewhere. “We are not exempt in any way from this overarching interconnectedness principle. And yet, curiously and arrogantly, we act like we are.”

While McLennan talks in depth (and in an interesting style) about sustainable principles, he briefly touches on the concept of how we are disconnected from place. The idea that we have air-conditioned homes and offices that we commute to and from in air-conditioned cars, shows how we have lost our sense of place; we have increasingly relied on science and technology to solve all our problems. In relating this to global warming, he posits that our culture says, “what does it matter how hot it gets if you have an air conditioner?” For me, this is evident in our loss of the front porch and resulting demise of neighborhoods (see my “The Front Porch and the Garden” post). There are some simple principles we need to return to.

All told, this is a great read. It’s not thick, but it is substantial. The Philosophy of Sustainable Design is a “must read” book for anyone wanting to walk the talk.

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Transportation Options

Lately I’ve been exploring transportation options. I’ve largely been a car driver for most of my life and a recreational bicyclist. But almost a year ago, I took the Business Commute Challenge held annually here in Eugene and last month took the Bike Commute Challenge. The first challenge, I “discovered” our local bus system; the second one I did something I’ve done for a while: biked.

But this all really started last fall in my Sustainable Building Advisor class I took through the NEEI. One speaker, a transportation specialist from Portland, Oregon, said something that resonated with me and stuck. You know how it is when a phrase or idea hits you right between the eyes and you have one of those “aha” moments? That’s what happened to me.

He stressed the issue of having two or more transportation options wherever we live or work. And that’s not to say the automobile is a bad option. It seems many times when we talk about transportation, the car is the evil method and everything else is better. Not necessarily.

CARS
Cars have been around for quite a while. And I think they’ll be around for quite a while more. It is true that the automobile has created a lot of the problems we have today (suburban sprawl, air pollution, CO2, etc), but I think the biggest thing the car has caused is complacency. It’s easy for us, we don’t really have to think or plan and for most of the developed world, it’s within our budgets.

But what my class speaker pointed out and what really stuck with me was how some people say when we advocate alternative forms of transportation, we’re trying to “legislate lifestyle”. How many of you have heard that? If we try to encourage bus transportation, we are accused of legislating lifestyle. When we push for more bike lanes or paths, we are trying to legislate lifestyle. But what he said gets to the heart of this: when we only provide one viable method of transportation (cars), we are by default, legislating a lifestyle.

If the option of taking the bus isn’t viable, I’ll drive. If biking isn’t safe, I’ll drive. So with planning policies and transportation policies that ONLY favor cars, we are legislating lifestyle by removing options.

THE BUS
So back to the Business Commute Challenge. I made a conscious decision to try the bus. I had preconceived ideas that it was much slower, inconvenient and was populated primarily by that “shady element” of our society. I wrote about that earlier.

Our local bus system, Lane Transit District, works quite well, is almost as fast as driving (especially when you factor in finding a place to park), is populated by very normal people and often full (my ride home the other day was standing room only).

I have a park and ride near my house (not within walking distance, unfortunately) and I get dropped off just a short walk from my office. Total bus time: 36 minutes; driving is about 15 to 20 minutes. Bus cost: $3 for a one-day pass; driving: $5 (assuming a 50¢ cost per mile). Plus I can meet people on the bus or have time to read a book. (I don’t recommend reading a book while driving).

MY BIKE
I’ve been a bike rider for a while. We have a wonderful bike lane/path system in Eugene, Oregon, my home town (NOTE: Eugene has the highest bike commuting percentage of any city our size or larger at 11%. Woo Hoo!). I’ve commuted to work often over the last couple of years, logging about 1,700 miles to date.

I’ll have to confess, I’ve been to date a fair weather cyclist. But now I have rain gear and rode home in the rain the other day. And it wasn’t that bad. What I do like about riding in Eugene is I can ride from the same park and ride (I live on a steep hill, whole other story) to my office in 30 minutes. Bike cost: virtually nothing. Added benefit: exercise, fresh air and my mental attitude when I arrive at work.

Part of the mental attitude is probably due to the fact the last half of my 6.5 mile ride is along the beautiful Willamette River on part of our amazing bike path system in Eugene. Riding in the cool, morning air, sunshine (sometimes), greeting people along the path with a “good morning” — all contribute to better mental health and fosters community. And it’s good physical exercise (I drop about 10 pounds each summer season when I ride).

OPTIONS
Which brings me back to options. I have three viable options to get to and from work. Sometimes I drive my car (I had a meeting in Salem the other day, so bike or bus weren’t good options). Sometimes I ride the bus. Sometimes I ride my bike. But I’ve found that now I have “discovered” some options, I take advantage of those choices.

My commuting tally for September 2010: Car: 8 days, Bus: 3 days and Bike 9 days.

Sounds pretty balanced to me. It was a good month.

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Just Take a Deep Breath – Part 2

So now you may be wondering about how I went from an LTD bus to a coffee cup? Well, aside from wanting to put in a shameless plug for my favorite coffee shop (Full City, thanks Michael for a great cup of coffee), there are two things I wanted to build on from my last post. Those are Margins and Perspective.

MARGINS
We don’t tend to build margins into our lives. We leave ourselves no margin for getting stuck behind that slow driver, no margin for a task taking a little longer than we had planned. And in doing so, we pressurize our lives.

thesimpleHOUSE is about “living a simple, sustainable lifestyle.” Pressurizing our lives makes things more complex. We rush here and there, often running late, blood pressure rising. The American Heart Association estimates about one third of the US adult population has high blood pressure. They say the cause in 90-95% of the cases isn’t known. I would submit it might be the lack of margins in our lives.

Slow down. Give yourself a little more time. Walk, ride the bus or a bike. I’m amazed at how much calmer I am when I bike or bus to my destination. And there are fringe benefits to all this.

When I walk or bike, I get exercise, which in turn, increases my healthiness. The Mayo Clinic has tips on walking for exercise. (I’m actually a little disturbed that we need instruction in walking…). When I ride the bus, I make new friends, have the opportunity to read a book (remember books?) and save $$ on gas and maintenance on my car. ALL reduce my carbon footprint.

PERSPECTIVE
The coffee cup actually is an example a friend of mine, Van Clements, uses. And I have reused this example many times.

We are seeing one side of the cup in this picture. Someone on the other side of that cup will see something else. There is no logo on the other side of the cup. How do I know? They shared that observation with me; and I listened. You see, that’s where perspective comes in. We have to be willing to listen to another’s perspective and realize they’re still looking at the same cup. We’re just getting a different perspective of that cup. It’s still the same cup for both of us and neither one of our perspectives is right or wrong; just different.

Right now, in our country, we are tearing ourselves apart because we are’t willing to listen to one another’s perspective. And I mean listen. We ultimately don’t have to agree (although I believe if we listened more, we’d find out we agree on more than we disagree on), but we absolutely need to listen. For our society and our culture to survive, this is critical.

If we truly listen to each other, find our common goals and start there, we can repair our society and our culture. I would submit most all of us want clean air, clean water, good health care, and the like. And there may be very different perspectives of getting there. And you know, either or both paths might actually work.

But until we are willing to see the “other side of the cup”, we won’t get anywhere except into a life without margins, with high blood pressure, disintegrating as a culture. I don’t want that, and I don’t think any of you do, either. For a truly simple, sustainable lifestyle, lets step back, take a deep breath, commit to giving ourselves some margin and be willing to hear one another’s view of that coffee cup.

For only then will we see the entire cup.

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Just Take a Deep Breath – Part 1

You may be wondering why I have a picture of a Eugene, Oregon EMX bus in a post about taking a deep breath? “Is Bill going to talk about air pollution, greenhouse gases, or our car-dependence?” Actually, none of the above.

I’ve talked before about how so many things are interconnected. Today I want to talk about how we over-schedule our lives and simply try and squeeze too much stuff into a day. Not the stuff like consumer stuff: shirts, tvs, cars. Stuff like: I need to deposit that check on my way to my whatever appointment and do that before my whatever appointment because I’m coming from another appointment across town. But in doing so, I don’t REALLY have enough time (and frankly, it could wait until afterwards anyway), so it makes me five minutes late.

Now most of us probably wouldn’t typically think five minutes late is a big deal. And, while I personally think it is (it’s disrespectful, for starters), there’s a bigger picture here I want to talk about. And that is our busy-ness in our lives. Which brings me back to the bus.

I was privileged to attend the Oregon Planning Institute’s 2010 conference this week in Eugene at the University of Oregon. I didn’t want to drive my car (parking sucks at the UO, plus it’s $8 a day if you can find a spot), I’m still more of a fair weather bicyclist (that’s changing), so I rode the bus ($3 for an all-day pass, about the same as the gallon of gas I’d burn going to and from).

About a year ago, I “discovered” the bus during the Business Commute Challenge. I realized it broke down ALL my misconceptions (no one rides the bus except hooligans, it’s inconvenient, takes along time, etc). Our local bus system (Lane Transit District) actually works quite well, a lot of “normal” people ride (and both buses yesterday were almost full), and it’s quite convenient from a time perspective.

And that’s my point: perspective. When I ride to work (and I do at times), it takes me about 30 minutes. If I drive, depending on traffic, it takes me 15 to 20 minutes. And here’s where we all need to take a deep breath. I can say “the bus doesn’t work for me because it takes TWICE as long as driving.” OR, I can say “the bus only take about an extra 10 to 15 minutes; and I can read a book. Or meet someone.” I choose the latter.

And I choose that largely because of the realization I had riding to the planning conference. First session started at 8 am. The way my schedule and transfer worked, I could arrive at about 7:30 or about 7:50. If I arrived at 7:50, I could get off the bus, walk briskly to my session, sit down and probably be ready to go by 8:00. BUT I chose to arrive at 7:30, walk calmly to my session (observing a dog barking at a squirrel he had treed), get a cup of coffee, and make a new friend with another person who had arrived early, too.

This is also something that is WAY bigger than just riding the bus and reducing my carbon footprint. I think so much of our current culture wars and political wrangling come from us simply not building enough “margin” into our lives. I have a LOT of thoughts on that and it’s those areas of margin I want to talk about in my next post.