Skip to main content

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go!

Well, it's the night before my #climateride

I am super nervous and excited. A combination of those and stress from just regular old grad school gave me a migraine last night and I was asleep by like 8:30.

Today, I'm feeling tired and ready to get going. After work I will head home to do my last minutes, and load up the car for a ride into Brooklyn! I wanted to use public transportation but with my bike, a huge duffel, and rush hour traffic, I'm figuring it's safer and less stressful to drive and drop things off and have my Boyfriend take my car home for me.

I realized, while I review this a bit on my fundraising page- I didn't share my reasons for doing the ride.

1) A selfish goal. I am always thinking of new ways to physically challenge and push myself. Once I received my first donation- thanks mom!- I knew I had to go through with it. So all summer I was riding a few days a week. Even though not the distances I probably should have, this summer had some sweltering temperatures. I did 2 organized rides and through the sweat and sore butt, I saw I could do it. But these 300 miles are certainly going to be a challenge.

2) To raise awareness through a larger movement. If you're driving down the road- any road, there's no way to ignore 200 bicyclists. 20 draw a lot of attention but 200 are going to be mind blowing! Everyone will see our jerseys and be like, oh when I go home I need to find out what that's all about! I see Climate Ride as a positive way to educate and raise public awareness.

3) To support ethical organizations. While there is a lot of polarized response to Climate Change and sustainability, I tried to pick organizations that supported ethical causes. Ethics are things that all people can agree on- rights to clean air in cities, people who bike and walk have a right to do so safely, etc. Whereas items like ending climate change don't necessarily have one solution, and still have people (though I just think they are blinded by ignorance and unwillingness to change) saying climate change isn't real. So, I chose to support:

Bike New York - Working with the New York City Department of Transportation and other City agencies, Bike New York provides access to cycling for New Yorkers by providing free bicycle education classes in all five boroughs. Providing safety courses and structures to New York bicyclists who want it- who can argue that's bad??

Environmental Defense Fund Environmental Defense Fund’s mission is to preserve the natural systems on which all life depends. Guided by science and economics, we find practical and lasting solutions to the most serious environmental problems. Since the 1960s, EDF has been responsible for lobbying and upholding laws like the Clean Air Act, and conserving national parks- things here for ALL of us to enjoy the benefits of in perpetuity!

Institute for Sustainable Communities- "We believe in the power of communities—and their ability to help themselves grow stronger, healthier, more stable, more prosperous and more peaceful. We know that every community has within it the ability to find creative solutions to complex problems, and we help people realize this potential. We build capacity and infrastructure from the top-down and the bottom-up leaving a legacy of leadership as well as enduring results. Bringing together best practices from the public and private sector, ISC uses creative, flexible training and mentoring to help communities produce breakthrough results."  I had a chance to learn about and understand the vital work of this organization as an undergraduate student at the University of vermont. Planning and organization at a community level can have such an incredible impact and truly catalyze meaningful change.

New Jersey Bike and Walk Coalition-  Is dedicated to: PROTECTING the rights and safety of New Jersey bicyclists and walkers, PROMOTING bicycling and walking for fun, fitness, and transportation, EDUCATING bicyclists, walkers, and drivers about our rights and responsibilities, and CONNECTING our communities with a smarter transportation system.  Same ideals as Bike New York, but widens it's reach to pedestrians as well! NJ Bike and Walk will be present at Climate Ride, and is a silent supporter for all NJ residents who benefit from their work. I thought it was about time I thanked them!

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy- based in Washington, D.C., whose mission it is to create a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors to build healthier places for healthier people. Making something abandoned into something beautiful and useful- who's going to tell me that is not a vital part of revitalizing urban areas??





Here's some press I received in the Suburban News





So, in honor of these organizations, I ride. For those who don't "believe" in climate change, I ride. Because I am being the change I want to see in the world, I ride. because more than 50 of my friends and peers believe in me and have donated to this cause, I ride. 


Check in here for updates, struggles, tears, and funny moments along the way!


Peace, love, ride.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Eating Garbage

Garbage is Beautiful. And let me tell you why. In 2010, the EPA estimated the US produced over 240 million tons of municipal solid waste. That is over four pounds of garbage, per person, per day. We travel through our day throwing things ‘away’. But where do they go? Does your trash go to a landfill, incinerator, or Waste to Energy Plant? Currently in NJ, thirteen counties have solid waste landfills and five counties have resource recovery facilities (incinerators). Of the five counties with resource recovery facilities, three also have landfills to receive waste that cannot be burnt. Eight counties have awarded waste disposal contracts and require that all waste be sent to one facility for disposal. The remaining thirteen counties have a free market system and transporters may send waste out of the county or state. The majority of us don’t know information like this, and don’t care as long as we don’t have to look at it. But if we were forced to look at the garb...

Covid, baby

Working in the sustainability field has been turned on its head during the Coronavirus pandemic. I went on a short hiatus to become a Mom (Elliott was born in March of 2020 only a few days before lockdown in NJ), and when I resurfaced, our approach needed to be different, here are some examples: Typically, the balance between ample fresh air within a building and energy use would result in driving the building toward lower energy use. Now, the ability to increase the outdoor air is desirable and is carrying more importance as a design consideration. We almost always pursued green cleaning operations and maintenance plans with our projects, however the Green Seal certified (or other healthy for people) cleaning products do not disinfect to the level desired for Covid- forcing teams to decide between abandoning their healthy cleaning policies and safety. Everything is packaged and sealed, and wrapped again. Cafes stopped allowing refillable coffee cups, towns that had plastic ba...

Breaking News- Renewable Energy can STILL power our planet!

Yesterday, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released an exciting report about the potential of Renewables and the world energy market. Over 120 world experts produced a scientific document over 1,000 pages long that provides a solution to 'business as usual' carbon emissions. They believe that we could meet the globe's energy needs with 80% renewable energies by mid-century . This would be a socially, politically, and physically strenuous task. If we eliminate all the complications and shift our paradigm, we still have issues like that which Ramon Pichs, Co-Chair of the Working Group III, added: “The report shows that it is not the availability of the resource, but the public policies that will either expand or constrain renewable energy development over the coming decades. Developing countries have an important stake in this future—this is where most of the 1.4 billion people without access to electricity live yet also where some of the best conditi...