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 

I'm so excited about this! We are getting a wine barrel to collect rain water.  There is a gutter that leaks water onto the path to our kitchen door, so were going to fix that by collecting the water instead.

As for planting, right now just flowers and hopfully anything that deers and other animals won't eat.  We have no grass on the property. So nice cause then we don't have to use the electric lawn mower which we are letting my parents borrow for now.

We have natural A/C - TREES!!!!!  When we were having that heat wave a few weeks ago it was 104 outside and a cool 84 inside.

There is also lots of windows so no need to turn any lights on during the day.

We don't have a garbage disposal. Well, unless you count the cat that lives outside.  I hope to compost, but have to figure out where and keep it animal safe.

We are on well water and have a septic system. The well water is yellow. We have a filter, but the water still tastes gross. I know it's not green, but we are buying water for now.  When we moved in the owners had the well inspected and it needs to be fixed/replaced.  So for now we are drinking bottled water to stay safe until it gets fixed.  With the septic system, we really have to watch what goes down the drain now.  I'm using organic soap for the dishes and clothes.

I'm so proud of myself. The other day when I went food shopping, I brought all 10 of my reusable bags and used them.  Now I just need to remember to bring them all again.

And since today is "Bike to work day" Dan road his bike to work today! Woo Hoo!!!  We also have some nice walking trails, so I don't have to drive somewhere to go walking.

Since this is public, if you want to know where we are now, please e-mail me. Thank you!

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.

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
 

Looks like it was another successful Bike to Work Day!  Here's a couple pics Calvin snapped this morning...

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.