An Interesting Post on Driving Behavior

(article courtesy of Waste News)

The late great comedian George Carlin said that we all think everyone who drives faster than us is a maniac, and everyone who drives slower than us is an idiot. It´s funny and it´s true.

A new book out examines how different cultures help determine different driving habits. The book, "Traffic," by Tom Vanderbilt, states, for example, that drivers honk their horns all the time in Mexico but they don´t in Los Angeles. Countries like France and Belgium have more accidents than other European nations because they issue fewer traffic tickets.

The psychology of driving is such that it tends to make us anonymous, and that permits many people to behave more rudely with their cars than they ever would in face-to-face contact. But conversely, a broken traffic light generally returns us to polite social behavior as we take turns going through the intersection.

One theory presented that I´ll heartily agree with is that improvements in car safety have prompted people to drive more aggressively, resulting in more accidents. I would add that the explosion of SUVs on the road has added greatly to that tendency.

What does this have to do with the environment? Driving fast, accelerating and stopping, idling in congested traffic -- these are all great and largely underrated gas guzzling causes, which of course contributes hugely to carbon dioxide entering the air, resulting in pollution and global warming.

One interesting suggestion is congestion pricing, which would charge people to drive into high traffic areas. Such a fee might reduce traffic congestion -- and would help the environment as well.

Much of Vanderbilt´s book focused on the correlation between aggressive driving and safety, which involves environmental management as well. Safety and garbage trucks is a huge ongoing issue, and one of the problems is how the trucks affect the traffic around it. Aggressive driving to go around a waste truck leads to increased accidents.

If we really want to reduce our fuel consumption, we have to change behavior that´s ingrained in the American fabric. And driving fast will be one hard habit to break.

Living Green Expo - St. Paul, MN

http://www.livinggreen.org/

What an awesome event!  I volunteered there during my last two years at the U of MN.  They were able to recycle or compost 95% of the waste generated at the event; over 25,000 people were in attendance.  If you didn't make it out there this year, I would highly recommend attending next year.  If you can't wait until then, jump on their website to learn more about what sustainable organizations exist in your area and how you can help live a healthier, more self-sustaining lifestyle.

Link to Track Where Your Food Comes From

If you were curious about where your food travels from:

http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/resources/fruitveg/fruitveg.php

I have quite a few co-workers and friends that have committed themselves to the 100-mile diet.  I couldn't do it; I like rice.  Although, there is "local" rice grown in South Carolina, I cannot afford the $9 per pound rockstar price for a grain that is a large part of my diet.  

Once we have our own home, we will be able to grow and preserve a lot of what we eat.  I am even going to make Joseph's soy milk that he drinks every day.  Oh what fun!  We are both excited to get back to the earth, become homesteaders and learn to be self-sustaining.  There seems to be a push in my generation to regenerate our roots and connect back with nature.  What a great time in the world to be (re) learning how to provide for our own well-being.

Support Your Local Farmers!

Pre-reading instructions:  This post contains interactive links to some websites.  Please feel free to click and discover!  This will be a common occurrence in future blogs as well, for how do we learn if we do not share ? 

On a weekly basis I get an email summary from the Climate Crisis Coalition (I know, a lot of doom and gloom business, but how are we going to change the world if we are ignorant?)

This posting below really rang true with mine and Joseph's passions right now. It should be a focus for all of us. The only way to make change is to support local foods, local farms, buy organic when possible, and plant your own garden. One of the most patriotic things you can do is to have your own garden and provide some of your own food. Eating from your own garden also lessens the crunch on your bank account. You also know exactly what sort of chemicals or additives you use on your produce (I recommend not using any, just some manure, vermicompost(the website isn't mine, although it's coming!), and a good organic leaf mulch). Count how many fruits, vegetables, and other daily staples (and unnecessary calories added to our bodies) are from a different country. Herbicides, pesticides and fungicides that have been banned for decades (remember DDT?) are still being used in these countries. Join a Community Supported Agriculture program/farm in your area. They will deliver a box of fruits and veggies that are in season to your doorstep. Join the Slow Food Movement. Shop at your local farmer's market. Eat in season and eat a diverse range of foods and food groups. Your body is a temple. Eat to Live, not Live to Eat.

Take Note, Rome: Loss of Biodiversity and Sustainable Farming Practices Are Big Contributors to Hunger. Commentary by Gonzalo Oviedo, BBC News, June 2, 2008.

"We have a global food crisis... Unsustainable agricultural policies and technologies, inequitable trade rules, agricultural subsidies that distort the markets, and the systematic marginalization of small producers lie at the heart of [it]... [along with] chronic under-investment in agriculture in developing countries, and a real neglect of the basic premise that ecosystems have to be in good shape... The... massive expansion of agriculture [over the past 50 years]... has left us with 60% of all ecosystem services degraded, accelerated species extinction, and huge loss in genetic diversity. Currently, four plant species -- wheat, maize, rice and potato -- provide more than half of the plant-based calories in the human diet, while about a dozen animal species provide 90% of animal protein consumed globally. We have already lost three-quarters of the genetic diversity of agricultural crops. As the agricultural frontier has expanded, those farmers previously dependent on [more diverse crops] have converted to cash crops. As traditional varieties and breeds die out, so too do the traditional knowledge and practices of local farmers. Those same practices could now be critical in adapting to climate change." Gonzalo Oviedo is senior advisor on social policy with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (formerly the World Conservation Union).

My boss has just published his second book and it talks about just this concept. It is called "Small is Possible: Life in a Local Economy." Check it out here. Amazing. Inspiring.

We live the way we want to, in hopes that someone else will notice and ask why we are so happy. It is, then, that we will tell them.