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

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