Rank.

The garbage in my city (and surrounding towns) has not been picked up for going on three weeks. There has been a lock out of 500 garbage truck drivers since July 2, as Waste Management and Teamsters Union continue talks to preserve the contract that expired last month.

While my liberal self is all for Unions (and I encourage a strike until the contract is renewed) things are getting mighty stinky in these parts. The neighbor’s three week old dirty diapers greet me everytime I walk into my apartment, and it is not pleasant.  It has really got me thinking about the luxuries (like waste disposal, roads, sanitation) that I take for granted.

There is also this new thing that East Bay is ALL about, and that is composting. There are these “Green Bins” that the city has really encouraged it’s residents to use to dispose of not only yard clippings, but food scraps.

Now, as you can imagine, some really raunchy things start to happen after old fruit, meat and bread sits for three weeks in a plastic container in the sun. I have fully supported attempts to go green by ridding plastic bags and bottles out of cities… but urban composting… I just don’t know. I think one of the things about living in a city is that you don’t share the lifestyle of those in the country… like, you cannot ride your horse to the grocery store, you cannot get somewhere without passing through 45 million stop lights, and you cannot compost.

Rotting food in parking lots doesn’t just produce nasty smells, but it attracts maggots, flies and rats. It just ain’t right.

another check and check for SF.

The mayor of San Francisco has been making interesting moves in the fight for environmental sustainability, as he tries to make his city stand out from the rest. A few months ago, he announced a ban on plastic bags at SF grocery and drug stores. Now, he is banning the sale of plastic water bottles in the golden West coast city.

Not only does it take about 40 million gallons of oil to make the plastic bottles, but more than a billion water bottles make it to the state’s landfills per year. The city’s state and local offices will start dispensing municpal tap water in July.

Now all SF needs is public restrooms that you don’t have to pay to use.

The wows of bus.

I have always loved public transportation. I remember the first time I was allowed to ride the bus by myself: I was ten and excited beyond belief about the town of possibilities that was suddenly open to my scared self. The invigorating sense of self-starting, resourcefulness and action has never left me.

I understand that public transportation is the wrongs of society enclosed into a tube moving at incredible speeds down the road, track, wire. I understand that the bus attracts children whose school district is too corrupt to supply yellow buses, adults who do not have cars for financial  constraints (a symptom of a racist, classist society), and elderly people who have simply been left behind. I do think, though, that this is changing. With the environment now on the minds of many, the prices of gasoline and the stress of driving, public transport seems to make sense to a lot more people. I think this is good.

I have always wanted to be a part of the public transporation club. Appropriation? I don’t know. I think a lot of it has to do with the link between city and bus/train/subway/trolley. Riding public transport is very much a feature of urban life – which I am fascinated by and love. I always try to look like I belong on the bus, like it’s not exciting to me anymore, it’s mundane. I’m sure I don’t hide the look of shear excited-stupidity as well as I think I do when I take Metro, for example.

I don’t know how I feel about these feelings I have for public transportation. I suppose my love of bus is an itch to remove myself from the middle-class life I led as a child. The one where the comfort of a mini-van was never really that comfortable. It also probably has something to do with being anonymous and without the responcibility of having to pay attention. I’m not sure.

What I do know is this: IKEA’s new campaign entitled Pimp My Bus Stop is pretty great:

Never have I been prouder of my astrological sign.

Today, scientists announced that a planet resembling Earth was found in the constellation Libra.

 

The planet has a similar make-up (water, temperature) to Earth and scientists are calling it the “X” on the planetary treasure map. For the time being it’s called Gliese 581c and it is 20.5 light years away (about 120 trillion miles).

It’s evidence that life like us could exist out there. WHOA!

Where all them bees at?

I’ve been hearing about this for quite some time, because I listen to Coast to Coast every night on the radio. But, apparently, it’s kind of a big story now.

No one knows what’s happening to the bees.

Apparently, the West coast has lost 60 percent of it’s bee population, the East coast, 70 percent and now, the bee dying phenomena has reached parts of Europe.

Scientists have said that cell phones could be to blame. The radiation given off of cell phones interferes with the bees’ navigation system, making them un-able to return to their home hive. This is one of several theories.

I have something to contribute to the study, though.  My apartment building is covered in morning glories, a flower I suspect would attract a lot of bees. However, I have yet to see a bee on the premises. Coincidentally, (or not so coincidentally, because I don’t believe in coincidences) there is a  cell phone tower on the roof of my apartment complex. I don’t think I need to say more.

I think it would be sad if all the bees died off, not just for crops and the whole way nature functions, but for kid art as well.

green is the new pink.

San Francisco took a big, giant green step today by approving a city-wide ban on plastic bags. Supermarkets and pharmacies will be required to provide their customers with recycled paper, compostable or cloth bags within six months!

Given that Australia is way more “green” than the states,  I purchased a common-place green bag as a souvenier. It’s not only wonderful for groceries, but it is a unique fashion statement as well.

  

the whoa-est form of whoa!

I’m am constantly amazed by people’s ingenuity. Just when you thought all the ideas in the world had run out, a new one.

These kids took a garbage truck:

And turned it into this:

Images from this design site.

a ranch can be a good thing. who knew?

When I hear the world “ranch,” I tend to think of a conglomeration of decaying buildings that house cows, chickens, dust and Republicans.

 

This is simply not true… I learned that this weekend. Take for example, that quaint little neighborhood tucked in the forest, on the Western edge of California, “Sea Ranch.” This place is simply beautiful.

 

Progressive and environmentally friendly, slow and serene, quiet and cool, this conglomeration of homes is stunning on several levels.

This is what ALL of the houses look like in this community:

Not only are they architecturally amazing, but they are environmentally sound… and they do not obstruct the natural landscape. In fact, if you are on the shore, looking back to the hill where these homes are located, you can barely see them. 

So, not only did I have a serious vacation and a chillaxing weekend, but I learned something. Democrats live on ranches too, and theirs are better.