We have been checking Craigslist and Ebay for a bike for Noah but haven't had any luck. So today we peaked into a local bike shop to check prices.....I was surprised that most were over $200. which is not in our budget right now.

Then I remembered about Santa Rosa's Community Bikes store.

We found a great 20" Trek bike in perfect condition that they will tune up and add training wheels to, for $60. In addition to the great deal, we are also keeping a bike out of the landfill and not adding to the waste of more new raw materials that would be used to make a new bike.

I would recommend anyone in the market for an adult bike, kid's bike (they even had princess and Ariel bikes for little girls), unicycles, tandem bikes (yes.... they had it all) to check out Community Bikes in Santa Rosa.

Noah is very happy with his "new to him" bike and we are even more happy for the green choice Community Bikes gave us the opportunity to make.

ALSO, if you have a bike that you would like to donate, they will take it, fix it up and sell to someone else. The money made from the sale will go to their great cause of keeping bikes out of the landfill and encouraging biking more and driving less. 

NEED A NEW-TO-YOU BIKE?

Community Bikes is a non-profit collaborative that promotes driving less, biking, repair and reuse. We support these programs by refurbishing and selling good quality bikes and parts donated by individuals and local agencies. Our inventory varies week to week - road bikes, mountain bikes and everything in between. Please come by or visit us on Craigslist! Volunteers and donations welcome. COMMUNITY BIKES 4009 Sebastopol Rd, Santa Rosa One block south of Highway 12 and one block east of Wright/Fulton Rd & Joe Rodota Trail; Halfway between Sebastopol and downtown Santa Rosa Sunday, 1-5pm and Thursday, 5-9pm A project of LITE Initiatives www.liteinit.org, 707 579-5811 

Last week, we stayed at Treebones in Big Sur for half of our vacation and San Francisco for the second half. Enjoying  both the peacefulness and beauty of the remote coastal area as well as the rattle and hum of the big city, I would say it was an ideal vacation.

Here's a little information on Treebones: 

Treebones is the name affectionately coined for this wonderful place back  in the '60's by Big Sur locals. This unusual triangular piece of land is surrounded by the Los Padres National Forest and the Pacific Ocean. It was then a  crude recycling wood mill. A local character by the name of Patrick Cassidy leased the land and struck a deal with US Forestry whereby he was permitted to haul dead wood from the surrounding coastal mountains onto the site. Once on the land the wood was milled into usable lumber and sold.. The old sun-baked silvery tree-bones lying around conjured the name "Treebones" in the minds of those enjoying the local scene. Today, Treebones Resort tries to employ the concept of re-use & re-cycle . We are making attempts to recycle even when it is at great personal cost. On our site, the extremely hot heat exhaust created from our clean burning, energy-producing turbines is used to heat the pool, hot tub and radiant flooring in the lodge, restrooms and shower area. And there's more to come!

We stayed in a Yurt which overlooked the Pacific ocean and it was wonderful! Big Sur is really a magical place as everyone says it is. It took me a day to get used to the remoteness of it: no cell service, no TV, no radio stations....but after I settled into the quiet, calm of Big Sur, I started to really appreciate the peacefulness of the place. Cameron and I took beautiful hikes everyday through places like  Limekiln State Park and  Julia Pfeiffer State Park and McWay Falls.
Later in the week we drove north toward Monterey and hiked through Point Lobos State Reserve and the next day hiked in the South end of Point Reyes.

I was reminded during the last week of all the absolute beauty we live in and live near and how lucky I feel to live in California. 

When we originally began planning our trip 6 months ago, we thought we had to go far away to make it a "real" vacation but because of economic and other unforeseen issues that came up, we decided to stay in California and I am SO glad we did. We had the added bonus of getting to use my mom's Prius last week, so we averaged 50 mpg (twice the gas mileage we would have gotten in our car).

With gas prices as high as they are and considering the carbon footprint issues of traveling by airplane, I think our family will start to focus most of our vacation time close to home. And this trip reminded me of just HOW MUCH California has to offer. I fell like we have just scratched the surface of all there is to see here. 

Solage Calistoga.  We got to stay there Sunday night.  They are a "green" resort and spa. We had the couples Mudslide treatment. That was nice. I want a facial the next time I go though.

Each cottage has 2 bicycle's for the guests to use. They encourage the guests to save gas and the environment and use the bike's to tour Calistoga. 

In the cottage, the first thing I noticed is they don't use the individual small soap's, shampoo's, hand cream's, etc.... All they have is a small container of q-tips and cotton balls, and then they have refillable bottles of hand soap and lotion for the bathroom sink, and refillable bottles in the shower with conditioner, lotion, and body wash. All made by Sumbody.  

You know how some hotels and resorts have alot of  "stuff" to fill space and make it look decorative??? Well, this resort doesn't do that. Which I think is great! If it's not going to be used, why buy it. Pictures are a different story. The reception area, where you check in was very plain and simple. I found that to be very earth friendly. There was no "extra stuff" to distract you from the reason why you went there in the first place.

Dinner was great! But I think there needs to be more Vegetarian choices. Although, I guess you could order the dish with out the meat or fish.  Loved the dessert too! Next time I go, I'm going to order the donut's. I got to try one, and it was delicious!!!

For the turn down service they left a bottle of water and a glass by the bed side. It was Calistoga water. I mean they are located right next to the Calistoga water company. If your going to drink bottled water, might as well be local! 

Room service was excellent!!!! I had the French toast and hash browns, which was awesome!  I also had hot chocolate.   They brought the hot chocolate in these eco-friendly containers.  Oh! I also had left-overs from dinner. That was put in a box that is made of recycled post-consumer paper.

Here is a pic of the water bottle and hot chocolate cups.

The cleaning agents used by the resort is Method.

I know they also use geo-thermal water heating. But, I need to get more info on that.

If you would like to see more pictures that I took, just e-mail me a request.

Yesterday the boys and I did something I've been wanting to do for a long time, we took the bus! 

It was fun!  We stayed out of our car!  We helped the environment!  It was cheep!  We can't wait to ride the bus again! 

Have you ridden the bus?  Why or why not? 

If you are looking to buy a bike or have an old one you don't use any more or have one that needs a little repair, then here is a great web site for you......

Community Bikes is a volunteer run bike shop that refurbishes used bikes to keep them out of landfills and encourages to people to get on their bikes and out of their cars.

They are looking for volunteers at any skill level, bicycle donations, and people who want to purchase a bike.

 LOCATION:

4009 Sebastopol Rd,
Santa Rosa, Ca.
707 579-5811

HOURS: 

Thursdays 5:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Sundays 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm
and by appointment
 

Cameron and I took the kids camping over the weekend and I think overall it went really well. The best part about it was that there was no distractions such as the TV, radio, toys, etc. I think there were many benefits I saw taking the kids camping. We actually sat around a lot and talked (what a concept!), showed N and R how many things there are to be interested in in nature such as observing the birds and other wildlife, taking nature walks, collecting sticks for the fire, and showing them what real darkness looks and feels like. 

We were in fact very close to civilization (Anadel State Park) but they didn't know that. The nice thing to see was that they didn't seem to get bored once (unlike at home where they seem to need constant entertainment). In a place where on the surface there appears to be nothing to do, there was actually so much to do and see and learn. 

My parents were not campers  (in fact I remember my dad had a T shirt that said "My idea of camping is when room service is late") but thankfully I had an aunt and uncle who were and introduced me to the world of "roughing it".  I think the earlier we introduce our kids to the beauty  and appreciation of nature, the more they will have that love for nature ":in their bones".

 With rising fuel costs and the economic troubles many are facing, camping is also a great way to have a really wonderful time with family, without spending a lot of money.

For information on local camping spots, click here. 

Our family just returned home from our first (probably of many to come) train ride vacation!  We took Amtrak from Santa Rosa, CA to Tacoma, WA and for the most part it was a wonderful experience.  Traveling with little ones is always a challenge, but the boys got quite a kick out out riding on the choo choo, and we thought it was great to be "making time" while sleeping and eating!  The views were spectacular (they really were- a very different experience from driving or flying), the people were friendly (very chatty actually- different from air travel), and the food was mediocre (well maybe a tad bit better than plane food).   

I think that rail travel will be part of the solution to greening our travel in the future.  

There's really a lot of great articles on the internet about people who have chosen to "give up planes" and such, as part of their commitment to the earth.  You can do a web search on "green train travel" (warning- you might get sucked into the internet for an hour or so...).  Here's just one of the stories I found interesting.    

 Here's some stats about train travel from the Amtrak website:

Traveling by rail contributes less per passenger mile to greenhouse gas emissions than either cars or airplanes. According to U.S. Department of Energy data, Amtrak is 17 percent more efficient than domestic airline travel and 21 percent more efficient than auto travel on a per-passenger-mile basis.

I know at least 2 of the "green daddies" biked to work today!  Kudos to you if you did.  Calvin said it was fun ride.  There were stations set up throughout Sonoma County and he said he took some pictures.  I'll post them when he gets home. 

I know many of you have husbands who carpool, bike and bus to work. I found out today that Santa Rosa has a free trip reduction incentive program. Anyone who works for any company within the Santa Rosa city limits is eligible. This incentive program aims to reduce single occupant vehicle trips. The goal is to decrease motor vehicle emissions, traffic congestion, parking challenges and improve air quality in Santa Rosa.

To participate in this program, businesses in the Santa Rosa city limits must designate a Transportation Coordinator who, through this Web site can register their company and sign-up employees who want to participate. Registered employees can receive great incentives by reducing the trips made in their car by carpooling with other registered participants, walking, riding a bike or taking the bus to work.

Some of the incentives include discounted monthly bus passes. CityBus monthly passes and Sonoma County Transit passes are discounted to $10 each for registered participants. Movie tickets are awarded to registered participants who walk, ride a bike or carpool to work at least 8 round-trips or 16 one-way trips during the month.

FAQ's 

What are the incentives?

CityBus and Sonoma County Transit monthly bus passes are only $10 per month. People who walk, ride a bike or carpool at least 8 round-trips or 16 one-way trips during the month receive a movie ticket to the Rialto on Summerfield Road.

How many times a month do I have to walk to work to get an award?

You need to walk, ride your bike or carpool at least 8 round-trips or 16 one-way trips each month. That is only 2 times a week and, if everyone did it, could reduce emissions up to 40%!

Which companies can participate?

Any company that is within the Santa Rosa city limits.

How does a company register?

First designate a Transportation Coordinator within the company. The Coordinator then registers the company and receives a login and password to access the site and sign-up employees.

What if my carpool partner gets sick and needs to go home?

The Free Ride program includes a Guaranteed Ride Home in a taxi. Of course, there are rules and restrictions. The company’s Transportation Coordinator authorizes and issues GRH vouchers as appropriate.

I live in Cloverdale and work in Santa Rosa, how can I participate?

Any enrolled participant who works in Santa Rosa is eligible to buy a monthly Sonoma County Transit pass and/or a CityBus pass for only $10 each per month! Or look into putting together a carpool with others who live and work near you.

I have been thinking of some green goals for myself and the family for 2008.

One of the main  ones is to reduce the amount of driving I do. I would like to have one car-free day a week as a goal. As I would think of the environment, simplicity, frugality, and waste reduction, I quickly distilled out how much of an impact driving has.

I thought that when I drive I am consuming gas ($ & ethics), polluting ,  sometimes going somewhere that involves consumption like the store ($) or entertainment/food (more $), then the resources involved in packaging or getting goods home, and time involved.  I know I have missed something, but the simple act of driving really does impact a whole bunch of things. I think it would be nice to have a low-key day, to just be with family instead of doing with family, like a 'Sabbath for the soul'. I think that might be the title of the next Chicken Soup book. :)

So...now it's your turn...any green goals for 2008? 

a hotel glass.

Watch this video. It's pretty disgusting. I just hope Dan's previous hotel didn't do this, and I hope the new one doesn't do this.

I spent last week in a hotel  for 4 nights and discovered there were little things I could do to make my stay more eco -friendly. I kept the "do not disturb" sign on our door the entire stay so that housekeeping would not come in and change towels, use chemicals to clean, use the vacuum and do other things that require energy and/or pollute. 

I also realized that there was no recycling at the hotel. I was pretty surprised when I called the front desk and asked them where I could recycle and they said there was no recycling at the hotel. So, I ended up bring all the plastic bottles, cans, and mixed paper back home in my suitcase. Then I thought, maybe by having my suitcase heavier, the airplane will get worse gas mileage so I am actually doing more harm than good.....but since I really didn't have a way to figure all that out, I just brought the recycling home (about half a suitcase worth) and felt good about that ,even though I may have ended up polluting more (it gets complicated doesn't it?). 

We also avoided using the little sample -sized lotions, shampoos etc. they provide to cut down on extra plastic waste. We did use the hand soap but I brought the rest of the bar home to use (since I think they just throw those away after you leave the hotel). 

Does anyone have any other hotel eco-tips? 

As the consumer consequences test pointed out, the biggest area I have for improvement is transportation.  

As much as we'd like to trade in our cars for hybrids, that's not going to happen any time soon.  It may be best to wait until you're really in the market anyway since all new cars have a big carbon foot print just in the manufacturing process.  Besides maybe by waiting a few years we'll be able to buy the 100% electric car we really want.  

For now I'm just trying to be very aware of how much I'm driving.  I'm trying to get into the habit of setting the trip when I get in the car to get an idea of just how much I drive each day.  I've realized that sometimes we hop in the car out of boredom.  I'm trying to use the car only when I really "have to" and I'm getting a lot better about clustering errands.  Today I walked with the boys in the double stroller to two stores.  It felt good to avoid using the car and get some exercise too.

Next, time to brave the bus...!   

I just saw this documentary, it was recommended by Netflix when I put The WalMart Documentary on my queue. I had also heard about it in some of the reading I have done. It was SO good, seriously so well done. I enjoyed it even more that the WalMart one because I actually learned a lot more from it.

It chronicled the life and untimely death of the EV1, GM's electric car that was released in the mid-90's. I vaguely remember when these Electric vehicles were on the roads (other companies released there own versions of an electric car), but was to young to even drive then.

Anyway, check it out if you can, I HIGHLY recommend it!