Motorcycles Can Save the World

I spent most of my life in the Seattle area before moving to California, and one of my first impressions when moving here was that most people didn’t seem to give the environment/sustainability any thought, whereas in Seattle there was a definite consciousness about your environmental footprint.  I’m a guy that takes the toilet paper tubes and puts them in the recycle bin, even when I’m at someone else’s house, and have been told ‘what, are you trying to save the world?’ (as if that would be such a bad thing, right?) more than once.  I think in the bay area you’re either the Berkeley hippy that gets shown on the news each night camping in trees and having patchouli scented drum circles, or you’re the BMW driving, striped Banana Republic shirt wearing metro with 2.3 kids at home.  However, I bathe, get haircuts and eat burgers like the rest of the world, and oh yeah make changes where I can to hopefully preserve the outdoors for the next generation.  I came across the below that felt like something that would have come right out of my own mouth.

I’m probably a lot like you.  I keep an eye on environmental issues – as long as they don’t involve Leonardo DiCaprio.  I tithe my share to groups like the Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, and Audubon.  I volunteer with local enviro and trail groups.  I carry a backpack and a Sigg bottle, but I don’t wear a rasta hat or tofu shoes, or have tangled armpits that smell like hummus.  I own a couple of suits and enjoy the occasional steak.  I live in a conventional house, not a yurt made from empty yogurt containers.  Yes – here’s a radical idea – I’m an environmentalist who, nonetheless, still wants to engage with the rest of society and the rest of the world.”

-Jason Daley

That really described how I feel quite often, and where I want to take this blog.  Still keep the focus on alternative commuting methods as I feel like that’s the BIGGEST change one can make to help this spinning mass of water and soil, but also throw in other green tips/thoughts as I myself try to reduce my impact.  “Average guy goes green”, or attempts to, should be the subtitle to the blog.