November arrived with a bang in the Northeast! Just in case you aren't aware of what happened, here is the spark notes version. Saturday, Ocotober 29, a freakishly early snow storm hit us. Although that may not seem that abnormal for the Northeast (we should be able to handle the snow by now!), it is abnormal to have snow in October. But here was the real problem. Since the fall was so late this year, the majority of the trees still had their leaves. Deciduous trees do not have the flexibility that conifers have and with heavy snow collecting on their leaves and branches, this little "Noreastaaaa" created chaos.
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| picture from http://news.yahoo.com/photos/snapshots |
What does this show us? Well, having been one of those people without power for three days, sitting around the table of tea candles, I got to thinking.
First, about how unfortunate it is to have to rely on a national utility company. Norwood, one of the local towns in MA, has its own electric company and was able to get power back to the whole town within a couple of hours. How nice and convenient would it be to have your town or city run the utilities? Pretty nice in my opinion after experiencing what I did.
Second, how much I would like to live "off the grid". Solar, wind, geothermal... lots of options.
There are certain areas of our lives that communities can control, like transportation options. Neighborhoods in LA are experimenting with neighborhood electric cars (NEVs).
"South Bay communities are auto-oriented, but almost 80 percent of all their trips are less than three miles — an ideal distance for NEVs. The South Bay has learned that for test households, who drove NEVs for two months or more, an average of 22 percent of all travel is in the NEV. The South Bay is expanding the experiment to a waiting list of 200 families," Marlon Boarnet explained in October in his Transportation Planning: LA off the Grid blog post.
Long Beach, CA, has implemented another very promising COMPLETELY off the grid transportation initiative - they have pledged and are making great strides to be the most bike friendly city in America. Long Beach has a website full of safety tips, biking tips, and articles that is a great resource if you live in the area and want to start biking.
http://www.bikelongbeach.org/Planning/Default.aspx
Another great biking website is ThisBigCity
Southern California is the perfect place to set up roads for alternative transportation because of the climate. Places like Burlington, Vermont, however, are also firm believers and advocates for biking and alternative modes of transportation. The hospital, Fletcher Allen, gives benefits to workers who keep the environment in mind on their daily commute. Closer parking spots for carpools, electric car charging stations, gift cards to local restaurants or grocery stores for bikers, and other perks are just some of the ways Fletcher Allen Hospital is trying to keep their carbon footprint in mind.
Not everyone can live in a small town, but they can still
avoid driving solo long distances to work. Staff at
Fletcher Allen Health Care facilities are encouraged to
find ways to get to work other than by driving single occupant
vehicles. In addition to subsidized passes for
public transportation, employees can get coupons for
perks if they promise to walk or bike to work a number
of days per week. “People really take advantage of that,”
says LeBaron. “They know they’re helping the environment,
but they’re also saving money" (Hergstad,2011).Could your company give benefits for alternative transportation? What impact would that have? Think of the huge positive impact your company's adoption of this little idea could make.....
