Hi friends,
Greetings from Kalamazoo, Michigan! We just spent the last few days in Chicago for our Green City Spotlights and saw some great things in the Windy City.
We came into Chicago on Saturday night and stayed with hosts in the city, then visited the 2nd UU Church in Chicago on Sunday morning and gave a presentation there afterwards. We spent the afternoon in the city then drove up north to Deerfield and gave another presentation at the North Shore UU Church there. Both were great crowds, and now the only presentation we have left on our cross-country journey is in Toronto next Sunday. If anyone is wondering why I am mentioning Unitarian Universalism in these posts it’s because most of our hosts are UU’s and most of the presentations we’ve been giving along the way have been at UU churches. Staying with the many generous folks who have hosted us on our travels has been a tremendous help in making our two months more affordable and we are very grateful. It’s also made traveling much more interesting, meeting folks everywhere we go instead of staying in one boring hotel after the next!
We had a chance to see Chicago’s green offerings yesterday and today – there has been a strong push recently to make Chicago the #1 green city in the U.S. and they’ve made great strides. Having been to the #1 green city, Portland, Oregon, I have to say they’ve got a ways to go but a big tip of the hat to Chicago for their efforts. We were pleasantly surprised to see just how much green space there is in Chicago, especially along the lakefront. There are miles of bike paths and walking paths, beaches along the coast, etc. They are putting in many new bikes paths throughout the city, which seems a great place for riding since the city is pretty flat. The elevated train (or just the ‘L’) runs all over the city and makes public transportation easy, plus a number of commuter trains coming into the city from the suburbs. Chicago has one of the strictest green building requirements in the country for all new construction, and City Hall proudly boasts a green roof with gardens on top. We found Chicago to be a fun place to visit!
Here’s a random thing we’ve learned while driving around the country: oil refineries smell really, really badly. We’ve seen the iconic oil pumps moving up and down as we drove through Texas and in different spots since then, and it was a foul smell coming just from those, but the big refineries just smell terrible and look like huge industrial behemoths – a real eyesore. We just passed one on the drive out of Chicago in Gary, Indiana and couldn’t imagine how people who live there put up with the awful smell, with the refinery on one side of the highway and the houses on the other.
We are heading to Detroit tomorrow for more filming that we almost didn’t get. I’ve been trying to line up these interviews for some time now and didn’t know if they were going to happen for certain until, oh, 7:00pm tonight. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Be well,
Colin McCullough
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Monday, June 22, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
On the Way East
Hi friends,
Since we left Montana we’ve been driving for several days on the way back east, and until we reach Chicago we won’t be doing any filming. Actually we only have a handful of interviews left before we get back home in 2 weeks, then another 15 videos/interviews to film back in New England. We’ve been to some interesting places since Missoula so even if we didn’t film much I thought they’re worth mentioning.
Saturday night we stayed outside of Missoula and got to meet Priscilla the blogging goat (http://www.pricillaspeaks.blogspot.com/) I knew kids were computer savvy but this was something else…(pun intentional)
Sunday and Monday we stayed in Burlington, Wyoming, which is about 2 hours outside of Yellowstone National Park. We stayed at the Wayfaring Traveler Llama Ranch which has a vegetarian bed and breakfast, enjoying the hospitality of our hosts Mike and BJ Carlson and the 35 llamas they have. One llama, Pudley, wrote their last Christmas letter. First a blogging goat then a letter-writing llama, go figure. We visited what we could of Yellowstone, but the park is so big as to need several days to see everything! We saw Old Faithful, the most popular geyser in the world (not the biggest but the most popular because of it’s regularity, about every hour give or take). I did film the spouting of Old Faithful to use in a video about geothermal energy, since we weren’t able to get an interview with a company in California that is developing deep-geothermal energy production for electricity. We saw bison, a moose, and outside the park we saw a few hundred (yes, we counted) pronghorn antelope.
Tuesday we drove to Cheyenne and stopped in Thermopolis to visit the Wyoming Dinosaur Museum, which has 60 active dig-sites in within the 500-mile area. On the way out of Thermopolis we drove down into a canyon aside the Wind River, and saw the most amazing natural optical illusion ever! The river was flowing in the wrong direction! We drove down….and the river was flowing….up? We checked the GPS and we were actually ASCENDING even though it looked like we were driving DOWN into the canyon. It was totally bizarre. I kept checking with Jen reading the GPS but our elevation kept going up, and the river was indeed flowing down even though it looked like it was flowing up. Very strange.
We got into Cheyenne, Wyoming after dark and suffered the consequences – the entire front end of the Beetle and the cargo carrier on the roof was COATED in bug splatter. The next morning we saw the carnage and it was really disgusting. There were actually flies buzzing around the front of the car. I didn’t even want to touch the roof rack to get the luggage out.
We drove most of the day yesterday to get to Lincoln, Nebraska for a presentation at the UU Church in the evening, and enjoyed talking with the folks there. One of our hosts works for the Nebraska Forestry Service and is working with the University of Nebraska to develop a new crop to grow in the state for biodiesel: hazel nuts (also called filberts). Hazel nuts have double the yield of vegetable oil as one of the most popular crops here, soybeans. They have many environmental benefits including no irrigation or pesticides required, they sequester carbon, they are perennial so they don’t need to be replanted every year, and they are harvested using current equipment. They’ve been working on developing a hybrid variety that will grow well in the Nebraska climate. Yesterday afternoon we heard tornado warnings on the radio for southern Nebraska – the kids looked worried and I was excited – great video! Fortunately for us, no tornados.
So that brings us up to speed on our way east – we’re in Des Moines, Iowa then to Chicago where we’ll spend several days and get some video for our Green City Spotlight series.
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Since we left Montana we’ve been driving for several days on the way back east, and until we reach Chicago we won’t be doing any filming. Actually we only have a handful of interviews left before we get back home in 2 weeks, then another 15 videos/interviews to film back in New England. We’ve been to some interesting places since Missoula so even if we didn’t film much I thought they’re worth mentioning.
Saturday night we stayed outside of Missoula and got to meet Priscilla the blogging goat (http://www.pricillaspeaks.blogspot.com/) I knew kids were computer savvy but this was something else…(pun intentional)
Sunday and Monday we stayed in Burlington, Wyoming, which is about 2 hours outside of Yellowstone National Park. We stayed at the Wayfaring Traveler Llama Ranch which has a vegetarian bed and breakfast, enjoying the hospitality of our hosts Mike and BJ Carlson and the 35 llamas they have. One llama, Pudley, wrote their last Christmas letter. First a blogging goat then a letter-writing llama, go figure. We visited what we could of Yellowstone, but the park is so big as to need several days to see everything! We saw Old Faithful, the most popular geyser in the world (not the biggest but the most popular because of it’s regularity, about every hour give or take). I did film the spouting of Old Faithful to use in a video about geothermal energy, since we weren’t able to get an interview with a company in California that is developing deep-geothermal energy production for electricity. We saw bison, a moose, and outside the park we saw a few hundred (yes, we counted) pronghorn antelope.
Tuesday we drove to Cheyenne and stopped in Thermopolis to visit the Wyoming Dinosaur Museum, which has 60 active dig-sites in within the 500-mile area. On the way out of Thermopolis we drove down into a canyon aside the Wind River, and saw the most amazing natural optical illusion ever! The river was flowing in the wrong direction! We drove down….and the river was flowing….up? We checked the GPS and we were actually ASCENDING even though it looked like we were driving DOWN into the canyon. It was totally bizarre. I kept checking with Jen reading the GPS but our elevation kept going up, and the river was indeed flowing down even though it looked like it was flowing up. Very strange.
We got into Cheyenne, Wyoming after dark and suffered the consequences – the entire front end of the Beetle and the cargo carrier on the roof was COATED in bug splatter. The next morning we saw the carnage and it was really disgusting. There were actually flies buzzing around the front of the car. I didn’t even want to touch the roof rack to get the luggage out.
We drove most of the day yesterday to get to Lincoln, Nebraska for a presentation at the UU Church in the evening, and enjoyed talking with the folks there. One of our hosts works for the Nebraska Forestry Service and is working with the University of Nebraska to develop a new crop to grow in the state for biodiesel: hazel nuts (also called filberts). Hazel nuts have double the yield of vegetable oil as one of the most popular crops here, soybeans. They have many environmental benefits including no irrigation or pesticides required, they sequester carbon, they are perennial so they don’t need to be replanted every year, and they are harvested using current equipment. They’ve been working on developing a hybrid variety that will grow well in the Nebraska climate. Yesterday afternoon we heard tornado warnings on the radio for southern Nebraska – the kids looked worried and I was excited – great video! Fortunately for us, no tornados.
So that brings us up to speed on our way east – we’re in Des Moines, Iowa then to Chicago where we’ll spend several days and get some video for our Green City Spotlight series.
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Biomimicry in Montana
Hi friends,
We continue our return trip back east, stopping in Missoula, Montana to visit the Biomimicry Institute.
Biomimicry is "the process of learning from and then emulating Nature's genius to create more sustainable designs. It's studying a leaf to invent a better solar cell or an electric eel to make a better battery." The Biomimicry Institute works to educate designers and inventors to ask nature first - before trying to reinvent the wheel, look to nature first for solutions for design ideas, because whatever the design challenge nature has already done it somewhere!
You may remember back before we left for our cross-country journey in May we interviewed Janine Benyus, who founded the Biomimicry Institute, has written several books, and travels for conferences, training, etc. Janine wasn't going to be in Missoula while we came through so we were able to get some time with her while she was stopping in Boston. Unfortunately for us, five minutes into the interview our video camera completely 'spazzed out' and we had to cut the interview short. I felt that biomimicry was such an important topic for our video series that I asked to interview someone at the Institute in Missoula to complete the video. They were gracious enough to give us some more time and this time the camera cooperated!
Carrick interviewed Bryony Schwan, the Executive Director of the Biomimicry Institute, and it was a great visit. Bryony showed us several examples of biomimicry, really fascinating stuff. One fabric company wanted to make a waterproof and self-cleaning fabric without chemicals, and they found a great solution in biomimicry. When water falls on a lotus leaf it beads up and runs off, and any dirt that collects on the leaf washes right off. The secret is in the surface structure of the leaf itself, with many small bumps we can't see. Bryony showed us two swatches of cloth identical in appearance. The first she held under the tap and it absorbed water as you would expect. The second cloth was using the same material but when it was sewn it was given the same surface structure as the leaf and when held under the tap the water just rolled right off. From our eyes and touch both cloths were the same. Imagine the applications for something like that - building surfaces, car paint, etc.
She also showed us a few other examples that were fascinating: Carrick's watch is coated with a film that makes it glow in the sunlight, without using any power. The film was developed by Qualcomm for cell phones and was created with biomimicry. Both abalone shells and butterfly wings have that same iridescent glow and they were both analyzed to find out what compound makes them reflect light that way. They used the same coating on cell phone displays, since backlighting the displays uses a lot of battery power. From there other companies have used the coating and it turned out that the watch Carrick got has that same coating. We also saw a new design for fans and water mixers - think of the spiral shape of a conch shell and other seashells, or that of fiddlehead ferns. The new design reduces energy consumption by 35-70% and noise up to 75%.
There are many amazing examples of biomimicry at www.biomimicryinstitute.org.
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
We continue our return trip back east, stopping in Missoula, Montana to visit the Biomimicry Institute.
Biomimicry is "the process of learning from and then emulating Nature's genius to create more sustainable designs. It's studying a leaf to invent a better solar cell or an electric eel to make a better battery." The Biomimicry Institute works to educate designers and inventors to ask nature first - before trying to reinvent the wheel, look to nature first for solutions for design ideas, because whatever the design challenge nature has already done it somewhere!
You may remember back before we left for our cross-country journey in May we interviewed Janine Benyus, who founded the Biomimicry Institute, has written several books, and travels for conferences, training, etc. Janine wasn't going to be in Missoula while we came through so we were able to get some time with her while she was stopping in Boston. Unfortunately for us, five minutes into the interview our video camera completely 'spazzed out' and we had to cut the interview short. I felt that biomimicry was such an important topic for our video series that I asked to interview someone at the Institute in Missoula to complete the video. They were gracious enough to give us some more time and this time the camera cooperated!
Carrick interviewed Bryony Schwan, the Executive Director of the Biomimicry Institute, and it was a great visit. Bryony showed us several examples of biomimicry, really fascinating stuff. One fabric company wanted to make a waterproof and self-cleaning fabric without chemicals, and they found a great solution in biomimicry. When water falls on a lotus leaf it beads up and runs off, and any dirt that collects on the leaf washes right off. The secret is in the surface structure of the leaf itself, with many small bumps we can't see. Bryony showed us two swatches of cloth identical in appearance. The first she held under the tap and it absorbed water as you would expect. The second cloth was using the same material but when it was sewn it was given the same surface structure as the leaf and when held under the tap the water just rolled right off. From our eyes and touch both cloths were the same. Imagine the applications for something like that - building surfaces, car paint, etc.
She also showed us a few other examples that were fascinating: Carrick's watch is coated with a film that makes it glow in the sunlight, without using any power. The film was developed by Qualcomm for cell phones and was created with biomimicry. Both abalone shells and butterfly wings have that same iridescent glow and they were both analyzed to find out what compound makes them reflect light that way. They used the same coating on cell phone displays, since backlighting the displays uses a lot of battery power. From there other companies have used the coating and it turned out that the watch Carrick got has that same coating. We also saw a new design for fans and water mixers - think of the spiral shape of a conch shell and other seashells, or that of fiddlehead ferns. The new design reduces energy consumption by 35-70% and noise up to 75%.
There are many amazing examples of biomimicry at www.biomimicryinstitute.org.
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Monday, June 15, 2009
Fun & Games in Seattle
Hi friends,
We recently spent a few days in Seattle, with some unexpected surprises (good ones).
Our first stop was to Xeko, a company that makes trading cards for kids (think Pokemon) but Xeko features hotspots of endangered animals around the globe instead. Carrick interviewed Amy Tucker, inventor and president of Xeko, about why she started the company and the line of trading cards. She also played a few games of Xeko with Carrick and Gareth, and they got some hints from the master herself. Here is the official description of Xeko from the website: "Xeko is the eco-adventure game for kids, by kids, making a difference in the world. Join the Xeko online adventure, play the
Xeko trading card game or collect Xeko Pals earth-friendly toys, and help save endangered animals. Be a force of nature!"
You can check out Xeko at www.xeko.com.
Once our interview was over, Amy brought us over to meet her friends at Theo Chocolates, the only organic, 100% fair-trade bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the U.S. Theo imports the cacao beans directly from farmers who are paid a fair wage and have good labor practices (much of the chocolate we're used to seeing at the store is made using slave-labor conditions, often by children). We got a tour of the chocolate-making at Theo and sampled...and sampled...a number of their dark chocolate bars they had out to try. Unfortunately I didn't have the video camera with me for the tour so we didn't get that on film. Their website is www.theochocolate.com - they started 3 years ago and have been doing very well, selling at Whole Foods and other natural food stores.
We were going to make a video about Seattle for our green city spotlights, but I changed my mind at the last minute and did something different instead. In researching the green city attributes for Seattle (Seattle is one of the Top 10 Greenest Cities in the U.S.) I found that most of the green things are similar to Portland, OR including great public transportation, parks and open space, high percentage of renewable electricity in the grid, etc. I decided it would be somewhat redundant to make a similar video about Seattle, so I took a different approach.
We stayed several days with our hosts right outside of Seattle in Issaquah in a newly-built model green community. The development is called a Rural Cluster Development (RCD) and it's a controversial development model that I thought would be interesting to explore, as one example of a green community. The houses are built close together, rating high in green building practices, and schools, shops, and public transportation are all nearby, with 70% of the land left as public open space and forest. Many environmentalists are up in arms because some of the homes are large (4,000-5,000 square feet) and it can be hard to consider such houses green. Also, in order to construct the thousands of homes many acres of land were completely torn apart and built upon. While the houses are more energy-efficient than a standard house, they don't incorporate any renewables and they are far away from a self-sustaining design like the earthships we visited in New Mexico. We toured the development to make a video and it should turn out to be a great debate issue for classrooms, about what a green, sustainable community should look like.
At this point in our cross-country journey, we headed east for the first time, beginning the way home. We still have some more interviews and videos to shoot and presentations to give, but the bulk of the filming is behind us at this point until we get home.
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
We recently spent a few days in Seattle, with some unexpected surprises (good ones).
Our first stop was to Xeko, a company that makes trading cards for kids (think Pokemon) but Xeko features hotspots of endangered animals around the globe instead. Carrick interviewed Amy Tucker, inventor and president of Xeko, about why she started the company and the line of trading cards. She also played a few games of Xeko with Carrick and Gareth, and they got some hints from the master herself. Here is the official description of Xeko from the website: "Xeko is the eco-adventure game for kids, by kids, making a difference in the world. Join the Xeko online adventure, play the
Xeko trading card game or collect Xeko Pals earth-friendly toys, and help save endangered animals. Be a force of nature!"
You can check out Xeko at www.xeko.com.
Once our interview was over, Amy brought us over to meet her friends at Theo Chocolates, the only organic, 100% fair-trade bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the U.S. Theo imports the cacao beans directly from farmers who are paid a fair wage and have good labor practices (much of the chocolate we're used to seeing at the store is made using slave-labor conditions, often by children). We got a tour of the chocolate-making at Theo and sampled...and sampled...a number of their dark chocolate bars they had out to try. Unfortunately I didn't have the video camera with me for the tour so we didn't get that on film. Their website is www.theochocolate.com - they started 3 years ago and have been doing very well, selling at Whole Foods and other natural food stores.
We were going to make a video about Seattle for our green city spotlights, but I changed my mind at the last minute and did something different instead. In researching the green city attributes for Seattle (Seattle is one of the Top 10 Greenest Cities in the U.S.) I found that most of the green things are similar to Portland, OR including great public transportation, parks and open space, high percentage of renewable electricity in the grid, etc. I decided it would be somewhat redundant to make a similar video about Seattle, so I took a different approach.
We stayed several days with our hosts right outside of Seattle in Issaquah in a newly-built model green community. The development is called a Rural Cluster Development (RCD) and it's a controversial development model that I thought would be interesting to explore, as one example of a green community. The houses are built close together, rating high in green building practices, and schools, shops, and public transportation are all nearby, with 70% of the land left as public open space and forest. Many environmentalists are up in arms because some of the homes are large (4,000-5,000 square feet) and it can be hard to consider such houses green. Also, in order to construct the thousands of homes many acres of land were completely torn apart and built upon. While the houses are more energy-efficient than a standard house, they don't incorporate any renewables and they are far away from a self-sustaining design like the earthships we visited in New Mexico. We toured the development to make a video and it should turn out to be a great debate issue for classrooms, about what a green, sustainable community should look like.
At this point in our cross-country journey, we headed east for the first time, beginning the way home. We still have some more interviews and videos to shoot and presentations to give, but the bulk of the filming is behind us at this point until we get home.
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Friday, June 12, 2009
Green City Portland, OR
Hi friends,
We just spent a few days visiting Portland, Oregon, which is ranked #1 in several lists of Top 10 Green Cities in America.
Here is what SustainLane wrote about why Portland gets top honors:
"Portland's support of local farmers and farmers' markets; its explosion of green buildings and commitment to renewable energy, and its emphasis on mass transportation, including light rail and bicycles, shows that a city can not only be kind to the earth, but also flourish economically and grow by being green.
America’s top green city has it all: Half its power comes from renewable sources, a quarter of the workforce commutes by bike, carpool or public transportation, and it has 35 buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council."
One of the things that was most evident in driving through Portland is the bike lanes everywhere and the separate bus and train lanes throughout the streets. According to the city's sustainable development director, Portland aims to be a "20 Minute City" -- where residents spend 20 or less minutes traveling from home to work, shop or play. Portland also ranks as the #1 best biking and #1 best walking city in the U.S.
Portland also has many, many parks throughout the city. Our host in Portland told us an apt quote "New York is a city with a park in the middle, and Portland is a park with a city in the middle". We visited Forest Park on the west side of Portland, with 5,156 acres, one of the largest urban forests in the U.S. On the other end of the size spectrum we visited Mill Ends Park, which is the smallest park in the world measuring just 24 inches in diameter. It was created as a park for leprechauns and snail races!
It was great to see such a vibrant, green city!
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
We just spent a few days visiting Portland, Oregon, which is ranked #1 in several lists of Top 10 Green Cities in America.
Here is what SustainLane wrote about why Portland gets top honors:
"Portland's support of local farmers and farmers' markets; its explosion of green buildings and commitment to renewable energy, and its emphasis on mass transportation, including light rail and bicycles, shows that a city can not only be kind to the earth, but also flourish economically and grow by being green.
America’s top green city has it all: Half its power comes from renewable sources, a quarter of the workforce commutes by bike, carpool or public transportation, and it has 35 buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council."
One of the things that was most evident in driving through Portland is the bike lanes everywhere and the separate bus and train lanes throughout the streets. According to the city's sustainable development director, Portland aims to be a "20 Minute City" -- where residents spend 20 or less minutes traveling from home to work, shop or play. Portland also ranks as the #1 best biking and #1 best walking city in the U.S.
Portland also has many, many parks throughout the city. Our host in Portland told us an apt quote "New York is a city with a park in the middle, and Portland is a park with a city in the middle". We visited Forest Park on the west side of Portland, with 5,156 acres, one of the largest urban forests in the U.S. On the other end of the size spectrum we visited Mill Ends Park, which is the smallest park in the world measuring just 24 inches in diameter. It was created as a park for leprechauns and snail races!
It was great to see such a vibrant, green city!
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Beauty on the Road
Hi friends,
Since we left Chico, CA several days ago we've been traveling northward into Oregon. We haven't had any interviews since then but I wanted to check in and describe some of the beautiful scenes we've been through on our travels.
On Saturday we left Chico and traveled west on Highway 299 out to the coast, and incredible drive through the mountains. Jen and I agree it was the most beautiful drive of the trip so far, plus it was fun driving such a twisting road through the mountains. We wanted to see the coast and drive through the Redwood National Forest before going into Oregon, but it was getting dark as we went into the forest. We first came upon a herd of elk crossing the highway, with a little baby in the mix! It was eerie driving through the redwood forest at night because it's completely dark and we were driving past these MASSIVE tree trunks. We arrived late in Grants Pass, Oregon to stay at the Motel Del Rogue on the bank of the Rogue River.
Sunday morning we visited the UU Church in Grants Pass where I gave the sermon about sustainability and had a great time visiting with the folks there. The owners of the motel are UUs and generously offered to host us for two nights while we were in Grants Pass! In the afternoon we drove back to the redwood forest so we could see them in the daylight and actually stand among them. So amazing to stand next to these trees that have been alive for 800 years, and of course they are quite humbling in size... We enjoyed dinner that night with the two ministers from Grants Pass UU.
Monday we traveled from Grants Pass to Crater Lake to take in another natural wonder. Formed thousands of years ago by a volcanic explosion, the crater that was left filled with water and is now the deepest lake in the U.S. One big surprise was how much snow there was - it snows so much there that it takes until late summer to melt. Carrick and Gareth were running over fields of snow ten feet high with shorts and T-shirts having a great time throwing snowballs at each other. From Crater Lake we drove past a 275-foot waterfall and stopped to stretch our legs and take some pictures. We stayed the night in Roseburg.
I've included some pictures here for you to enjoy!
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Since we left Chico, CA several days ago we've been traveling northward into Oregon. We haven't had any interviews since then but I wanted to check in and describe some of the beautiful scenes we've been through on our travels.
On Saturday we left Chico and traveled west on Highway 299 out to the coast, and incredible drive through the mountains. Jen and I agree it was the most beautiful drive of the trip so far, plus it was fun driving such a twisting road through the mountains. We wanted to see the coast and drive through the Redwood National Forest before going into Oregon, but it was getting dark as we went into the forest. We first came upon a herd of elk crossing the highway, with a little baby in the mix! It was eerie driving through the redwood forest at night because it's completely dark and we were driving past these MASSIVE tree trunks. We arrived late in Grants Pass, Oregon to stay at the Motel Del Rogue on the bank of the Rogue River.
Sunday morning we visited the UU Church in Grants Pass where I gave the sermon about sustainability and had a great time visiting with the folks there. The owners of the motel are UUs and generously offered to host us for two nights while we were in Grants Pass! In the afternoon we drove back to the redwood forest so we could see them in the daylight and actually stand among them. So amazing to stand next to these trees that have been alive for 800 years, and of course they are quite humbling in size... We enjoyed dinner that night with the two ministers from Grants Pass UU.
Monday we traveled from Grants Pass to Crater Lake to take in another natural wonder. Formed thousands of years ago by a volcanic explosion, the crater that was left filled with water and is now the deepest lake in the U.S. One big surprise was how much snow there was - it snows so much there that it takes until late summer to melt. Carrick and Gareth were running over fields of snow ten feet high with shorts and T-shirts having a great time throwing snowballs at each other. From Crater Lake we drove past a 275-foot waterfall and stopped to stretch our legs and take some pictures. We stayed the night in Roseburg.
I've included some pictures here for you to enjoy!
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Flat Tires & Video Perspectives
Hi friends,
We got another chance to talk with our good friends at AAA today! We were driving through Salem, Oregon on the highway to Portland when small pieces of tire came flying off and our left rear tire was smoking. The two rear tires were getting warn but the mechanic at home thought they'd be fine for the trip. I've had flat tires but have never disintegrated and destroyed a tire before! AAA was fast and got us to Firestone for two new tires, and we got back on the road.
I've been thinking about how much to include our own personal story in our video series. There's a series on Planet Green about a road trip to visit different eco-places (hey, great idea!) but their shows are as much about the three travelers and their misadventures than the topics themselves. Personally I find that really annoying and distracting. I don't think we need to go that way to make the videos entertaining. Still, one of our recent hosts suggested having some "extras" of a few additional videos about our family's experience on the road. We are very fortunate to have this opportunity to spend two months traveling the country and we're getting many questions about how it's working out. Just how do four people fit into a VW Beetle for two months without killing each other, and the trials of driving a car coast to coast on vegetable oil.
I'll plan on putting a few things together to add our own personal perspectives in this project. First, I'll be putting together a bunch of funny video clips of us plus video of our favorite destinations, both project people and places and all the other places we loved. Plus the tow truck and flat tire pics, of course! We'll make a video collection of all these for the song 'Tin Can' which our friend Greg Hare wrote and recorded about our family, our Beetle, and our cross-county adventure.
I'm also planning for Carrick to interview Jennifer, Gareth and me when we get back home. I'll interview Carrick and we can all have a chance to talk about our favorite places, things we've learned, experiences on the road, and how we look at things differently now that we've seen so much in person.
Safe and sound in Portland Oregon,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
We got another chance to talk with our good friends at AAA today! We were driving through Salem, Oregon on the highway to Portland when small pieces of tire came flying off and our left rear tire was smoking. The two rear tires were getting warn but the mechanic at home thought they'd be fine for the trip. I've had flat tires but have never disintegrated and destroyed a tire before! AAA was fast and got us to Firestone for two new tires, and we got back on the road.
I've been thinking about how much to include our own personal story in our video series. There's a series on Planet Green about a road trip to visit different eco-places (hey, great idea!) but their shows are as much about the three travelers and their misadventures than the topics themselves. Personally I find that really annoying and distracting. I don't think we need to go that way to make the videos entertaining. Still, one of our recent hosts suggested having some "extras" of a few additional videos about our family's experience on the road. We are very fortunate to have this opportunity to spend two months traveling the country and we're getting many questions about how it's working out. Just how do four people fit into a VW Beetle for two months without killing each other, and the trials of driving a car coast to coast on vegetable oil.
I'll plan on putting a few things together to add our own personal perspectives in this project. First, I'll be putting together a bunch of funny video clips of us plus video of our favorite destinations, both project people and places and all the other places we loved. Plus the tow truck and flat tire pics, of course! We'll make a video collection of all these for the song 'Tin Can' which our friend Greg Hare wrote and recorded about our family, our Beetle, and our cross-county adventure.
I'm also planning for Carrick to interview Jennifer, Gareth and me when we get back home. I'll interview Carrick and we can all have a chance to talk about our favorite places, things we've learned, experiences on the road, and how we look at things differently now that we've seen so much in person.
Safe and sound in Portland Oregon,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Monday, June 8, 2009
A Busy Day in Chico
Hi friends,
Our day in Chico, CA was one packed day! We filmed four interviews and were interviewed as well, plus our hosts threw a great party with friends from the green community in Chico.
Our first stop for the day was at Chico Bag, a company that makes reusable shopping bags. Their unique twist is to make durable bags that stuff down into a tiny pouch that is easy to carry, making them very convenient. Carrick interviewed Andy Keller, president and inventor of Chico Bag - Andy was inspired to create the Chico Bag after a visit to the landfill, where he saw disposable plastic bags everywhere. Part of the Chico Bag fun is the Plastic Bag Monster, a crazy costume of 500 plastic bags, which is the amount of plastic bags an American uses each year on average. The Plastic Bag Monster made an appearance in our video, in a face-off with the world debut of the Paper Bag Monster! We got the exclusive!
Carrick and I then went over to visit Dori and Val of the podcast 'More Hip Than Hippie', which is a great weekly eco-funny show. I've been listening to their podcast for the last 3 years and have always had fun listening to their interviews and green discussions - they have a great time and are two funny ladies! They always encourage listeners to do what they can, making baby steps to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle. They invited us to be on their fourth anniversary show, which was a big honor! Once our interview was done we turned the tables and interviewed them for our project. You can visit their website at www.MoreHipThanHippie.com, or look for them on ITunes.
Val is also the founder and president of Greenfeet, an online green retailer that was recently voted in the Top 10 green businesses in the U.S. Val and her husband Rob started Greenfeet 10 years ago and they've built a model green business from the products they sell to all the info on their website, and their packaging and shipping. We interviewed Val about running a green business and about some of the products they sell. Greenfeet is one of the sponsors for our eco-video series, and we appreciate their support for our work! Check out Greenfeet's website at www.Greenfeet.com.
From Greenfeet we went over to visit Klean Kanteen, a company in Chico that makes stainless steel water bottles. Billions of plastic water bottles are thrown out every year and only a small number of those are recycled. We've been using Klean Kanteens for the last 2 years, filling them up at home and taking them with us wherever we go (including cross-country). Klean Kanteens were originally created as an alternative to reusable plastic water bottles on the market, many of which were found to have dangerous chemicals in the plastic. Stainless steel bottles like Klean Kanteens are safe and durable, a great alternative! We visited Klean Kanteen HQ, to find out about how the company got started and get some stats on disposable plastic water bottles. Check them out at www.KleanKanteen.com.
After all-day interviews, we had a great time at a party put on by our hosts, who invited some of Chico's green notables. Dori and Val were there, plus other friends! It was a fun way to end a busy day!
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Our day in Chico, CA was one packed day! We filmed four interviews and were interviewed as well, plus our hosts threw a great party with friends from the green community in Chico.
Our first stop for the day was at Chico Bag, a company that makes reusable shopping bags. Their unique twist is to make durable bags that stuff down into a tiny pouch that is easy to carry, making them very convenient. Carrick interviewed Andy Keller, president and inventor of Chico Bag - Andy was inspired to create the Chico Bag after a visit to the landfill, where he saw disposable plastic bags everywhere. Part of the Chico Bag fun is the Plastic Bag Monster, a crazy costume of 500 plastic bags, which is the amount of plastic bags an American uses each year on average. The Plastic Bag Monster made an appearance in our video, in a face-off with the world debut of the Paper Bag Monster! We got the exclusive!
Carrick and I then went over to visit Dori and Val of the podcast 'More Hip Than Hippie', which is a great weekly eco-funny show. I've been listening to their podcast for the last 3 years and have always had fun listening to their interviews and green discussions - they have a great time and are two funny ladies! They always encourage listeners to do what they can, making baby steps to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle. They invited us to be on their fourth anniversary show, which was a big honor! Once our interview was done we turned the tables and interviewed them for our project. You can visit their website at www.MoreHipThanHippie.com, or look for them on ITunes.
Val is also the founder and president of Greenfeet, an online green retailer that was recently voted in the Top 10 green businesses in the U.S. Val and her husband Rob started Greenfeet 10 years ago and they've built a model green business from the products they sell to all the info on their website, and their packaging and shipping. We interviewed Val about running a green business and about some of the products they sell. Greenfeet is one of the sponsors for our eco-video series, and we appreciate their support for our work! Check out Greenfeet's website at www.Greenfeet.com.
From Greenfeet we went over to visit Klean Kanteen, a company in Chico that makes stainless steel water bottles. Billions of plastic water bottles are thrown out every year and only a small number of those are recycled. We've been using Klean Kanteens for the last 2 years, filling them up at home and taking them with us wherever we go (including cross-country). Klean Kanteens were originally created as an alternative to reusable plastic water bottles on the market, many of which were found to have dangerous chemicals in the plastic. Stainless steel bottles like Klean Kanteens are safe and durable, a great alternative! We visited Klean Kanteen HQ, to find out about how the company got started and get some stats on disposable plastic water bottles. Check them out at www.KleanKanteen.com.
After all-day interviews, we had a great time at a party put on by our hosts, who invited some of Chico's green notables. Dori and Val were there, plus other friends! It was a fun way to end a busy day!
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Sunday, June 7, 2009
San Francisco!
Hi friends,
We escaped...er....finished our sightseeing adventures in Bakersfield to move onto San Francisco with the newly-improved Beetle ready for action. Many thanks to the donations that were sent to us by our friends and supporters to help us with that unexpected hit to the project budget!!! Your generosity was just amazing and lifted our spirits while feeling down in Bakersfield! I was trying to stay positive as you could see in my last post but it was frustrating nonetheless.
The drive north to San Francisco took several hours was an interesting drive through the central valley of California, where much of our produce comes from. As we drove through the reservoir we saw a large windfarm on the ridge line. We actually stayed overnight in Redwood City which is just south of San Francisco. The most frustrating part of our down time in Bakersfield was that we had to compact our planned stay in San Francisco over several days down to an overnight and then an afternoon in the city the next day. We had so many video interviews planned for the rest of the week that I just couldn't push everything forward a few days.
The next morning started with a visit to Google in Mountain View, where we had a personal tour of their solar array. GooglePlex, as the Google campus is called, has one of the largest solar panel installations by a company in the U.S. (it was the largest when it was built). Google is one cool place! They made a great website that has lots of info about their solar installation - check it out:
http://www.google.com/corporate/solarpanels/home
We drove up into San Francisco for the afternoon and saw all that we could see in that small amount of time, filming for our Green City Spotlights. San Francisco pretty much tops every list of Top 10 Greenest Cities in the U.S., and for good reason. The city has an extensive public transportation system with light-rail, buses, streetcars, etc. Parking is VERY expensive (I put 45 cents in the parking meter and got 10 minutes, I'm not kidding). Recycling is big - one big blue bin for recycling, a big green bin for compost, and a little black bin for trash. The city is also a big proponent on solar, with the largest solar array by a city in the U.S., and they also offer big incentives for residents to go solar.
We took an excursion to drive the Beetle down Lombard Street, which is the steep, curvy street that is iconic in San Francisco. We also stopped in the Haight-Ashbury district, famous for being hippie central in the 60's. That was fun trying to explain THAT one to the kids.
We drove after dinner several hours up to Chico for a full schedule of interviews the next day, but at the risk of writing an endless post I'll stop it here.
Many thanks again to everyone who has supported us on this cross-country adventure - we've seen so many amazing things through the camera lens and met many inspiring people along the way. While we've met a few famous people, most of them are everyday folks who found a passion and made great things happen, with the support of many around them. For Carrick to meet these people, interview them and get their stories to share, is such an experience. Thank you all for helping make that possible.
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
We escaped...er....finished our sightseeing adventures in Bakersfield to move onto San Francisco with the newly-improved Beetle ready for action. Many thanks to the donations that were sent to us by our friends and supporters to help us with that unexpected hit to the project budget!!! Your generosity was just amazing and lifted our spirits while feeling down in Bakersfield! I was trying to stay positive as you could see in my last post but it was frustrating nonetheless.
The drive north to San Francisco took several hours was an interesting drive through the central valley of California, where much of our produce comes from. As we drove through the reservoir we saw a large windfarm on the ridge line. We actually stayed overnight in Redwood City which is just south of San Francisco. The most frustrating part of our down time in Bakersfield was that we had to compact our planned stay in San Francisco over several days down to an overnight and then an afternoon in the city the next day. We had so many video interviews planned for the rest of the week that I just couldn't push everything forward a few days.
The next morning started with a visit to Google in Mountain View, where we had a personal tour of their solar array. GooglePlex, as the Google campus is called, has one of the largest solar panel installations by a company in the U.S. (it was the largest when it was built). Google is one cool place! They made a great website that has lots of info about their solar installation - check it out:
http://www.google.com/corporate/solarpanels/home
We drove up into San Francisco for the afternoon and saw all that we could see in that small amount of time, filming for our Green City Spotlights. San Francisco pretty much tops every list of Top 10 Greenest Cities in the U.S., and for good reason. The city has an extensive public transportation system with light-rail, buses, streetcars, etc. Parking is VERY expensive (I put 45 cents in the parking meter and got 10 minutes, I'm not kidding). Recycling is big - one big blue bin for recycling, a big green bin for compost, and a little black bin for trash. The city is also a big proponent on solar, with the largest solar array by a city in the U.S., and they also offer big incentives for residents to go solar.
We took an excursion to drive the Beetle down Lombard Street, which is the steep, curvy street that is iconic in San Francisco. We also stopped in the Haight-Ashbury district, famous for being hippie central in the 60's. That was fun trying to explain THAT one to the kids.
We drove after dinner several hours up to Chico for a full schedule of interviews the next day, but at the risk of writing an endless post I'll stop it here.
Many thanks again to everyone who has supported us on this cross-country adventure - we've seen so many amazing things through the camera lens and met many inspiring people along the way. While we've met a few famous people, most of them are everyday folks who found a passion and made great things happen, with the support of many around them. For Carrick to meet these people, interview them and get their stories to share, is such an experience. Thank you all for helping make that possible.
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Down and Out in Bakersfield
Hi friends,
We've had to make an unplanned visit to see the great sights of...Bakersfield, CA. We left yesterday from Los Angeles to drive up to San Francisco and stopped in a rest area along the way, when the clutch gave out on the Beetle. It was feeling a little weak for the last several days (I was hoping it was just my imagination) but it was done. We had it towed to Bakersfield, as we weren't too far away from there, to the VW dealership. The dealership was closed already so we left the car there and got a hotel room for the night (at least they have a pool!). I called the VW dealership this morning for the bad news and it was bad indeed - new clutch and flywheel have to be overnighted and they will have the car done by the end of tomorrow. We're looking at a repair bill of $2,100, making a grand total of $3,000 we've spent on car repair bills in the last 2 weeks. Needless to say we are frustrated and disappointed.
Still, there are things to be grateful for. When the clutch went we weren't far from Bakersfield, the VW dealership, and a decent hotel. We could have been in the desert, and we have certainly seen plenty of desert. I took the kids to a family fun place this afternoon that had minigolf and arcade games, all you can play for $10, so they had a blast there. I was able to reschedule most of our San Francisco video appointments for Thursday so our video schedule shouldn't be too badly affected. Jen and I are just disappointed because we had 3 full days planned in San Francisco and we were really looking forward to spending time in what so many people have described as a truly amazing city. To extend the stay there would be to completely torpedo everything for the next week and we have too many hard-earned appointments to move everything.
Here's a pic of the Beetle getting great mileage - 30 miles and we didn't burn a drop of fuel! he he he at least I can laugh about it...
Tomorrow's my birthday and hey, I get a new clutch for my birthday!!! Well, hopefully the car will be ready to roll tomorrow afternoon and we can be on our way to San Francisco.
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
We've had to make an unplanned visit to see the great sights of...Bakersfield, CA. We left yesterday from Los Angeles to drive up to San Francisco and stopped in a rest area along the way, when the clutch gave out on the Beetle. It was feeling a little weak for the last several days (I was hoping it was just my imagination) but it was done. We had it towed to Bakersfield, as we weren't too far away from there, to the VW dealership. The dealership was closed already so we left the car there and got a hotel room for the night (at least they have a pool!). I called the VW dealership this morning for the bad news and it was bad indeed - new clutch and flywheel have to be overnighted and they will have the car done by the end of tomorrow. We're looking at a repair bill of $2,100, making a grand total of $3,000 we've spent on car repair bills in the last 2 weeks. Needless to say we are frustrated and disappointed.
Still, there are things to be grateful for. When the clutch went we weren't far from Bakersfield, the VW dealership, and a decent hotel. We could have been in the desert, and we have certainly seen plenty of desert. I took the kids to a family fun place this afternoon that had minigolf and arcade games, all you can play for $10, so they had a blast there. I was able to reschedule most of our San Francisco video appointments for Thursday so our video schedule shouldn't be too badly affected. Jen and I are just disappointed because we had 3 full days planned in San Francisco and we were really looking forward to spending time in what so many people have described as a truly amazing city. To extend the stay there would be to completely torpedo everything for the next week and we have too many hard-earned appointments to move everything.
Here's a pic of the Beetle getting great mileage - 30 miles and we didn't burn a drop of fuel! he he he at least I can laugh about it...
Tomorrow's my birthday and hey, I get a new clutch for my birthday!!! Well, hopefully the car will be ready to roll tomorrow afternoon and we can be on our way to San Francisco.
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
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