Green Halloween

Halloween's always been one of my favorite holidays. Little did I know that you can also go green with this holiday by doing some simple things, such as:

• Buying fair-trade candy that uses little packaging
• Using a pillow case or cloth bag to collect candy
• Creating a costume from clothing found at thrift stores
• Using beeswax or soy candles instead of petroleum-based paraffin
• Composting your old jack-o-lanterns

You can find these tips and more by going to both The Sierra Club and The Green Guide websites.

I thought about going green this year and giving out healthy vegan bran muffins to all the kids coming to my door. But I don't think kids are ready for that, and I'm really not ready to have my car egged by hundreds of pissed-off Trick-or-Treaters. So I just kept the compact fluorescent porch bulb turned off this year, thus saving on energy consumption. I guess it was a green Halloween after all.

Adventures in Composting

For the past month, I've been getting frustrated about the amount of food scraps that I've been throwing away in the garbage. I've been cooking at home a lot lately, and the amount of fruit and vegetable scraps I've been contributing to the trash has been significant. So this week, I finally decided to get off my hams and do something about it—I built my very own compost pile in the backyard.

When I first thought about making my own compost weeks ago, I figured it couldn't be that difficult. You just throw your food scraps in a container out back and let it decompose. How hard can that be? But after doing research online at several sites, such as Compostguide.com, I started realizing that making dirt was a much more daunting task than I had originally imagined. All of a sudden, I had to be an expert at chemistry and know all about carbon and nitrogen. And I had to put the right combination of "browns" (carbon-rich materials) and "greens" (nitrogen-rich materials) into compost, or else bad things would happen...like having a compost pile that reeks like garbage. Or having a compost pile that doesn't decompose. And then I'm supposed to do all these additional things to the compost—like stirring it up regularly with a hoe, and adding special compost-eating worms to it (now where the heck am I supposed to get worms?)—so it will decompose properly. For just creating a bunch of dirt, this seemed like a lot more effort than I was willing to commit.

So I spent many a sleepless night thinking about this, until I finally gave in this past Monday and found myself digging a hole in the backyard to make way for my compost's new high-rise apartment building. For the high-rise, I took an old plastic garbage can we had sitting in the back and cut out the bottom. You want your compost container to be open on the bottom so bugs and bacteria can come up through the soil and into your compost to help it decompose. I dug the hole way in the back of the yard, so if there was a smell, my roommates wouldn't kill me in the middle of the night. Digging the hole was the most complicted part. I spent 2 hours digging up all these strange egg-like rocks, which makes me wonder if I just desecrated an ancient Indian burial mound in my backyard and have now released evil spirits upon the entire block. There goes the neighborhood.

On Tuesday, I inserted the garbage can into the ground, filled in the dirt around it, and then started populating the compost compound with shredded dry leaves. The website advises you to use a lawnmower to shred the leaves, but since ours is a gas-powered mower and I'm trying to cut down on unnecessary emissions, I just tore up all the leaves by hand like it was confetti. After adding my "browns," I then went inside to gather my "greens"...from the kitchen garbage can. Let me assure you, I did not find much pleasure in this. Technically, you're supposed to place your kitchen scraps in a "compost pail" and cover it with a lid, and every few days, add it to the compost pile. But I hadn't planned that far in advance, so I had to resort to dumpster diving in my own kitchen. Digging through your personal garbage really brings to light what you're consuming. I didn't realize how many bananas I had been eating, or how much coffee my roommates had been drinking.

So, after tearing up banana peels, egg shells, lettuce leaves, coffee filters, and other scraps into tiny bits (which helps the compost decompose faster), I added them to Hotel Compost, threw another layer of shredded leaves on top, and then sealed the trash can with a lid. I suddenly noticed that there was a swarm of little gnats hovering all around the compost container. I don't know where in the world they all came from and how they managed to get there so fast, but it was pretty freaky. Back inside the kitchen, I found an empty ice cream tub to use as a makeshift compost pail until something better arises. These first couple of weeks might be a challenge in getting my roommates switched over to using the compost pail, so I might have to play the role of "Garbage Police" for a while. I'm sure my roommates will just love me as I go around, snooping through the garbage and blowing my Barney Fife whistle on them. I'll keep you updated in future postings about the Compost Saga and let you know whether or not I still have roommates.

Green Cleaning

While doing laundry a few days ago, I took a page out of my travel playbook from this summer and decided to air-dry my clothes. In Europe, it wasn't much of a big deal. I only had about four shirts and a few pairs of boxers to dry out, and I could easily get that accomplished by just wearing the damp clothes into town and letting the sun do its magic. This time, however, I had two full loads of laundry to dry. Trying to wear all those clothes at once would turn me into a pretty pathetic-looking Michelin Man. So I resorted to the old-school technique of using a clothesline.

In my backyard, there was already a clothesline set up, but after putting a few towels and shirts on it, it was already filled to maximum capacity. So I jerryrigged a nylon rope stretching from one end of the existing clothes line to a nearby telephone pole. It stretched about 50 feet in length and seemed pretty taut, but after putting on bed sheets and more shirts, the rope sagged down to the ground. I had to tighten the rope several times to prevent my clothes from smelling like wet grass. Each load of laundry filled both clotheslines, so I had to dry my clothes in shifts. The first shift worked like a charm and within hours, all my clothes were dry. But I didn't time my Laundry Day appropriately, for when I started the second shift, the sun was already beginning to set. Let's just say that it was a pretty damp night sleeping in those sheets.

Drying your clothes outside is a great alternative to using a clothes dryer. It saves electricity and will cost you less in the long run. On the downside, though, it does take a lot more time and effort to hang your clothes to dry, and I also noticed that you don't get that warm, Snuggle-soft feeling you're accustomed to when you pull a towel right out of the dryer and rub your face in it. It feels more along the lines of taking a piece of sandpaper to your face and turning it into a pile of raw meat. Air-drying your clothes is definitely something that takes getting used to. If you choose to do it, I highly recommend starting early in the morning, so if you decide to wear your clothes later on that day, people won't think you just got back from riding on Splash Mountain.

Ducks Unlimited

It's amazing how my opinion of Chico has changed over the years. When I moved here for graduate school in 2005, I just loved the quaintness and the beauty of the land surrounding this town. I spent my first few weeks jumping on my bike and exploring the canyons, the creeks and the swimming holes up and along Bidwell Park. It was a magical place to be. But then the students started returning...and graduate school started kicking in...and my joy for all things Chico disappeared in a heartbeat.

Besides grad school, one of the main factors that drew me to Chico was the fact that it was considered a "bicycle city." Back in 1997, it won the designation of "Most Bicycle Friendly City" from Bicycling magazine, and a lot of Chicoans took pride in this fact. From 2005 to 2007, however, I really couldn't figure out how it had ever received that honor. With all the biking I did back and forth between home and campus...on streets with no shoulders or bicycle paths to ride on...and a lack of bicycle racks around town to lock up your bike...this was not the "bicycle city" that had been promised to me. I was not a happy biker.

But now that my studies have finally ended, I've had the time to take a second look at Chico and its surrounding communities. Every week for the past two months, I've been taking my road bike on long excursions around Chico and surrounding Butte County, and I must say, I can see now why Chico is considered a "bicycle city." Hands down, Chico has some of the best places to go biking that you'll find anywhere. There's terrains that will fit all levels of bikers: from the great river valleys of the west, to the flatlands of the south, to the rocky canyons of the east, all the way to the climbing forests of the north. And the scenery that greets you along the way makes you really appreciate what Mother Nature has to offer. If that doesn't turn you into a tree-hugging, Earth-loving environmentalist, then nothing will.

Today I rode my bike along a new route that I hadn't done before. Southwest of Chico, there's a system of roads that takes you through almond and citrus orchards, along the Sacramento River, and then beside cow pastures until you finally intersect with an east-west road heading toward Dayton (California, not Ohio). After a few more miles down farming roads, you'll finally arrive at the Llano Seco Unit of the Sacramento Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Created back in 1991 by a joint partnership between the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy and the California Department of Fish & Game, Llano Seco is but one of series of protected areas up and down the Sacramento River that provides areas for fish and waterfowl to live. The ponds and grasslands around me were just filled with squawking ducks, as far as the eye could see.

As I walked the 1/3 mile path along irrigation canals to finally arrive at the wooden viewing platform, the clomping noise from my biking shoes sent a flock of ducks flying away in a panic. So much for bird watching. But I did manage to watch the sun setting in the west, casting a warm orange glow across the valley. I would have stayed longer if it weren't for the mosquitoes turning me into a bedtime snack, so I hightailed it back to my bike and bid Llano Seco adieu. The areas along the Sacramento River, as well as all around Butte County, are definitely worth checking out if you have the time. I'll continue to share with you more of these hidden treasures in future postings.

My Love Affair with Farmers Markets

One of the best parts about living in a community like Chico is the easy access that you have to locally-grown produce. Every Saturday morning, farmers will gather in the parking lot beside City Hall to sell their fruits, vegetables and honey, while local vendors will sell anything from handmade clothing to fresh bread. It attracts a wide variety of folks: from the young professionals pushing their children around in strollers...to students still waking up from a late night of partying...to aging hippies still fighting for peace and justice. It's one of the best places to reconnect with people you haven't seen in a while, and it's always a fun place to do some people watching.

I rode my bike over to the Farmers Market this afternoon and caught it right as they were starting to shut down. As usual, I bought some fresh green beans and tomatoes, but this time I brought my own plastic grocery bags for the vendors to fill. Over the past few months, I noticed that I was accumulating quite a few plastic bags from my previous trips to the Farmers Market, so today I finally decided to break that habit. There's no better feeling than knowing that I placed absolutely no harmful impact on the environment today, and at the same time I helped support local farmers. And nothing in this world beats the taste of a homegrown tomato! Mmmm boy! Now that's a good tomato!

Critical Mass Hysteria in Chico

Always eager to check out what's happening in town, I rode my bike over to the city plaza today to be a part of Chico's very own Critical Mass. For those of you not familiar with this group, Critical Mass is a gathering of bikers to protest the unnecessary daily use of cars. The demonstration is held in cities all across America, usually on the last Friday of the month. By riding together as one massive group through the city streets, Critical Mass creates a scene that is impossible to ignore.

Having lived in Chicago, IL for 7 years before moving to Chico, I've known about Critical Mass for some time. Every last Friday of the month, I would find a long parade of bicycles riding past my apartment complex, with bells ringing and riders cheering. It was an impressive sight to see, but at the same time, I always had mixed opinions about the group. Even though I'm an avid biker and have participated in similar group rides before, the Critical Mass in Chicago always angered me for the fact that they always disobeyed traffic laws. They'd constantly run red lights and breeze through stop signs to try to keep the group together as one massive unit, and it would literally piss off all the people in their cars. I've heard stories before where some drivers have been so angered by the bikers' recklessness that they've jumped out of their cars and threatened bikers with violence, sometimes going as far as pulling out guns on them. It's not exactly the type of reaction that bikers are looking for.

So today as I was biking downtown to meet Chico's Critical Mass, I had some reservations about doing this ride. At the city plaza, there were about 80 bikers gathered, most of them college students. As we waited a half hour for stragglers to show up, one student started passing out pieces of cloth emblazoned with the group's logo: an angry fist coming out of a bicycle. My fears about drivers with guns suddenly started to return.

Finally at about 5:30 pm, our procession of activist bikers began the ride. Like a miniature version of the final stage of Le Tour de France, we circled the water fountain about 20 times, confusing the hell out of the homeless men in the plaza, and then took off up Main Street, filling all 3 lanes of traffic. We slowly proceeded up the Esplanade as passing cars started honking wildly as us. But these weren't angry honks...these were celebratory ones. It felt like we were all in a bicycle parade, with some riders dressed in crazy Halloween costumes (or maybe this was how they regularly dressed themselves. Always hard to tell with these students here in Chico). As we rode past the student houses off campus, half drunk frat guys with their shirts ripped off were lifting up their beers to us, while plastered sorority girls were stumbling out of their 2nd story windows onto roofs to get a better glimpse of us. Even though our group of bikers was highly chaotic with minimal leadership, it somehow managed to stay together as a single group, and to my surprise, everyone obeyed the traffic lights and signs.

Once we hit campus—a "No Biking Zone"—we figured that our "strength in numbers" would allow us to bike through it without the police stopping us. We didn't stop to consider, however, that the police would show up in a car, suddenly block our path, and then warn us to get off of campus. I wonder if this was what Tiananmen Square felt like. So instead, we rode the extra block or two over to the parking garage, and then like crazed idiots, went up and up the ramps to the top of the garage, hooted and hollered, and then went right back down. The ride ended back at city plaza, circling the water fountain once again and confusing the homeless even more.

Overall, Chico's Critical Mass was a huge success. There were no confrontations with motorists, no dead bikers, and no guns. Plus, we even had bystanders on bikes join in our procession around town, which is always a positive sign. Critical Mass is a fun, relaxing way to spend your last Friday of the month. Check to see if there's one in your area, or start one yourself. Just remember not to piss off any police officers. I hear they carry guns.

Green Beer (And It's Not Even St. Patty's Day)

I had the real honor today of attending the Sacramento Valley Forum, an annual conference put on by the Great Valley Center. This year's forum was titled "50 People in a Room...The Power of Collaboration" and addressed how concerned citizens like you and me can work within our communities to help make them more sustainable. I learned that although change begins with us as individuals, we must find ways to engage others within the community...and gain their support...before change can finally occur. And with environmental issues such as urban growth, farmland protection and energy consumption, change towards more sustainable practices can take years, if not decades before the fruits of our labors are finally realized. Patience is definitely a key virtue in any grassroots movement.

After the forum was concluded, I got the added bonus of taking a sustainability tour of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, where the forum was held. Sierra Nevada is one of the leading breweries in America to incorporate sustainable practices into their manufacturing process. Our guide began the tour at the power source running the entire brewery: 4 hydrogen fuel cell generators that were installed back in 2005. Both natural gas and methane (a biproduct created from the bacteria cleaning their recycled wastewater) are pumped into the fuel cells, which extract hydrogen from the gases. The hydrogen is then combined with oxygen to produce electricity, heat and water. The electricity supplies power throughout the plant while the generated heat is used to heat the water for brewing. By converting over to fuel cell technology, Sierra Nevada is saving money on electricity, but on the downside, it is now spending money on natural gas. It will take about 7 years before the brewery can recover the costs of investing in fuel cell technology.

Inside the bottling facility, Sierra Nevada has added natural sky lights to reduce the amount of energy used. And about 3 weeks ago, the brewery added solar panel arrays above the adjacent parking lot to supply additional electricity. Sierra Nevada also collects CO2 gases that are generated during the fermentation process to power the plant's bottling machinery. It also takes the spent trub (grain, hops and yeast) and recycles it into the feed for the dairy and beef cows at the California State University–Chico farm. The manure from the cows is then used to fertilize the 3 acre experimental hops garden (soon to be expanded to 9 acres in 2008) located beside the brewery. Overall, Sierra Nevada has about a 97% diversion rate, which is the percentage of total waste that the brewery recycles.

Sierra Nevada is also helping to reduce carbon emissions by focusing on how it distributes its beer and supplies. It uses freight trains to transport its wheat and barley down from Canada and its hops from Washington state. Then trailer trucks will pick up the supplies and drive the 20 miles to Chico to deliver them. Sierra Nevada is currently looking into cheaper, cleaner biofuels to help power its local fleet of semi-trailer trucks.

Slow Food Nation

Today was Campus Sustainability Day at Chico State. Keeping in the spirit of sustainability, I rode my bike the the three or so miles to campus to check out the festivities. It was a low-key event, with campus groups such as Net Impact, Adventure Outings, and Associated Students Recycling Program handing out information at tables on sustainability. Several tables held displays from various universities across the United States that showcased what they were doing to make their campuses greener. There was also a tall pile of garbage bags stuffed with empty water bottles to give students an example of how much trash per person can be generated over a year's time. Thank goodness I've been drinking my water straight from the tap (filtered through a Brita filter, of course).

After picking up my complimentary compact fluorescent lightbulb from the Pacific Gas and Electric table, I happened to talk to a student who was starting up a group on campus I had never heard of: Slow Food. Their logo is a snail, so I naturally assumed that this must be a group that enjoyed eating escargot. As I was about to creep away in disgust, the student explained to me what his group was all about. His chapter of Slow Food is part of Slow Food USA movement, which, according to their brochure, seeks to "catalyze a broad cultural shift away from the destructive effects of an industrial food system and fast life; toward the regenerative cultural, social, social, ecological and economic benefits of a sustainable food system, regional food traditions, the pleasures of the table, and a slower and more harmonious rhythm of life." Or put simply, Slow Food encourages people to buy food locally at farmers markets and get together with others to enjoy it.

The Slow Food movement started in Italy in 1986 in response to the opening of a McDonald's in Piazza Spagna in Rome. Since then, it has spread to over 50 countries and includes more than 83,000 members. In the United States, there are 14,000 members organized into 160 chapters, also known as conviva. To learn more about Slow Food, visit their website at www.slowfoodusa.org.

California Up in Flames

Southern California is going up in flames right now. At first, I didn't think much of this, considering that Southern California always seems to be going up in flames due to the harsh Santa Ana winds. However, after watching the "60 Minutes" episode from this past Sunday in regards to the recent fires ravaging our country, I've come to realize that these insane fires, which they are now calling "megafires," are a direct result of climate change occurring.

It's hard to see the connection at first. It doesn't seem likely that these massive fires could be result of the rising temperatures, especially since it's only risen about 1 degree over here in the Western United States over the past few decades. And since our forest service now practices controlled burning and removes a lot of the dead fuel in forest undergrowth, you would think we wouldn't be having problems with out-of-control fires. What is happening, though, is that the fire season has been extended by 78 days over the past 15 to 20 years due to the slight increase in temperature. The snowpacks on mountains are melting earlier in the year, giving trees a longer window of exposure to the elements. The extra two months without snow are causing trees to dry up towards the end of the season, making them more susceptible to fire. That is why you're now seeing fires traveling all the way up mountain sides, something that wasn't common in the past.

As I type this, about 1 million Californians have been displaced from their homes and are evacuating to San Diego and the surrounding areas. The UN predicts that this is something we'll be seeing more of by mid-century, where 45 million or so people will be displaced due to rising temperatures. As these fires occur, our ecosystems are starting to change. The Southwest has lost over 2 million acres of forests due to recent fires, and many of these forests will never return. This is the unfortunate reality of what awaits us in the future, and it only stresses the importance of taking action now to help lessen our impact on the environment.

Time to Walk the Walk

Let me be the first to admit it:

I've been an environmental wallflower.

For years, I've been claiming that I'm a true environmentalist who cares passionately about the natural world. Just being here in Northern California within easy access of mountains, redwoods and beaches makes me feel as if I'm, by default, a tree-hugging, Earth-loving, granola-crunching hippie. My occasional weekend trips to the outdoors to do some hiking or camping would further justify in my mind that I really cared about the environment. If I was spending the time to enjoy the beauty of our national parks and forests, then surely I was being a good steward for our planet.

At least I thought I was.

Lately, with a lot of the recent media attention being placed on climate change and the slowly deteriorating state of our planet, I started realizing that, despite my love for romping through the outdoors, I wasn't really doing anything to help fix the problem.

I was a part of it.

The tipping point came yesterday with a letter I received from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. regarding his work with Waterkeeper Alliance, an organization that is fighting to protect our nation's freshwater resources. I had seen RFK, Jr. speak in Chico last year, and was quite impressed with his passion for saving our environment. I was so impressed, that the very next day, I sent in money to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) which he serves on. But that was pretty much it. Occasionally, I'd get their newsletter sent to me regarding the plight of the polar bear or their fight against the government, and I'd throw it away in the trash without giving it an afterthought, thinking I had done my part for the environment. Heck...I gave one of the biggest environmental activist groups money. What more could you expect from me?

But now, a year has passed and after reading RFK, Jr.'s recent Waterkeeper Alliance letter, I realize that there's a lot more that I could be doing to help our environment. RFK, Jr.'s letter is just filled with one horrible statistic after another on the current state of our freshwater resources, with the government doing little to help solve the problem. I realize that this letter was written with a persuasive, angry tone that presented the facts in a manipulative way to get me to donate money to their cause (and it obviously worked, because I gave them $20 in a heartbeat). But even though I gave money to help, this time around I felt like I personally needed to do more to fix the problem. I needed to fix myself.

If the folks from Waterkeeper Alliance can take matters into their own hands and make our world a better place, then I should be able to do so, too. So that's why I decided to finally get off the fence and do something about it. This blog (and possibly a future website) will serve as a way to keep me accountable for my actions and help me continue on a path towards sustainable living. Yes, what I'm doing here isn't a new concept...there are a lot of people who are also blogging about their experiences in going green and reducing their impact on the environment. I don't claim this to be an original undertaking, and I'm not claiming to be an expert on green living, either. But this is my personal journey where I'll share with you along the way how I'm learning to be a better steward for our planet. And feel free to share your thoughts and feelings, too, as we continue on this journey together.

Welcome to A Greener Path!