Ways to live green every day, by Continental

by Iva Skoch on

Paging through the Continental in-flight magazine last night, I stumbled upon a few “green living” tips.

For example, did you know that:

  • If Americans used one less package of non-recycled paper napkins, it would save one million trees?
  • Ninety percent of the energy used by your washing machine goes to hear the water? Using the cold cycle is much better.
  • Producing and disposing of all the junk mail distributed in the US each year releases as much CO2 as 2,8 million cars?

Continental gives the following easy tips to live green every day:

  1. When you are not traveling, get your morning coffee in a reusable cup. Americans throw away about 40 billion disposable coffee cups each year
  2. Unplug all chargers (cell phone, iPod, etc) when they are not charging their intended device. This reduces carbon emissions by about 100 pounds per year, per charger.
  3. Speed up your shower. Spending just two minutes less in the shower each day could prevent about 400 pounds of CO2 (in the form of energy used to heat and treat the water) from entering the atmosphere each year.
  4. Cut your air travel by half. Just kidding. These are, after all, tips from Continental Airlines.

DC launches a bike-sharing program

by Iva Skoch on

I am a big ZipCar fan. I can guarantee that I would like a similar service using bicycles instead of cars, as well.

DC is launching a first extensive bike-sharing initiative in the US. Registered participants can access 120 “smart bikes” at 10 different locations in the downtown area. Retrieving the bike is easy.

  • Go to any bike station (see photo)
  • Wave your SmartBike DC user card in front of the card reader
  • Follow instructions on screen
  • Retrieve assigned bike from rack

Bike-sharing has been popular throughout Europe, with cities like Paris, Barcelona or Stockholm using them. Will it work in car-infatuated America? That’s a good question.

There are problems with the idea translating into this market. The US is a litigious society. People will sue if something happens to them. Helmets are not provided, yet they are required in many states. There are other liability issues. If they bike gets stolen, the customer pays.

I sincerely hope they can figure out how to make it work. It’s a great idea.

Roads in Yellowstone National Park are beginning to open to car travel

by Jamie Rhein on

This winter has dumped several feet of snow on Yellowstone National Park’s roads. Getting them cleared for tourists is an undertaking that is not yet done. In the winter, snowmobiling takes over, but in March, the plows start getting the roads ready for car traffic.

If you think you might want to head to Yellowstone to check out the spring flowers and the thaw, find out which roads are open. Supposedly, Mammoth to Norris Junction to Madison Junction to Old Faithful; Madison Junction to West Entrance; and Norris Junction to Canyon are already open according to Yellowstone.net.

These are the road opening dates for others if all goes well. I would call the park office to make sure the section you want to see is one you can get to.

May 2, 2008: Canyon to Lake; Lake to East Entrance.

May 9, 2008: Tower to Tower Fall; Lake to West Thumb; West Thumb to Old Faithful; South to Old Faithful.

May 23, 2008: Tower Fall to Canyon via Dunraven Pass; Long Lake Gate to Red Lodge via Beartooth Pass.

Earth Day Kite Flying: 10 suggestions

by Jamie Rhein on

Every year when the temperature warms and the wind picks up, we buy a cheap kite to fly for a day or two before we get too busy to head to an open field. As an Earth Day Celebration, what could be more environmentally friendly than kite flying? Except, of course, for the gas to get to a place with wind and enough space.

Open fields are among the best places to fly a kite if you live in an urban area. Think the middle of a high school track for one option. Look out for power lines, though. Kites and power lines are not a good combo. If you live near a coast or a large lake, head to the beach. Other places to consider are fields in city parks.

One thing I like about kite flying, once you have a kite, it’s free. It’s also participatory. What a great way to join in with humanity in environmentally friendly fun. Here are suggestions–some based on personal experience, what people have told me, or in this article, “The Ten Best Places Around the World to Go Fly a Kite”:

1. Central Park in New York City. There is an Earth Day Celebration on April 20, this Sunday, at Rumsey Playfield. Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder are on the line up of entertainment. The park is also on the Holden Caufield tour of New York City.

2. Fano Island, Denmark. With Denmark being the happiest country in the world, flying a kite can only make some one happier than happiest. The family I lived with, when I was a student in undergraduate school, took me here as part of a weekend trip. It was gorgeous.

3. Great Wall of China, China. With China as the country credited for the invention of kites, the Great Wall is an interesting option for kite flying. Here’s an account of one family who found this to be the case. When I went to the Great Wall, it had just snowed. Then it was a place for building snowmen and sliding down the steps on ones bottom.

4. Jaipur, India. Even though the kite festival happened in January, this is a wonderful city to spend some time. A place to launch a kite is from the top of a roof. It’s not uncommon for hotels to have a roof-top terrace restaurant. I never tried it, but I bet roof-top kite flying would be a conversation starter. India is one of those places where everything and nothing is out of the ordinary.

5. Long Beach, Washington. I posted a video taken at the Washington International Kite Flying Festival. It’s not until August, but kite-flying is good anytime.

6. Mission Bay Park and Mission Beach, San Diego, California. When I was walking the boardwalk at Mission Beach last month, the kite fliers were braving chilly weather to send their massive kites sailing. By now, I bet the temperature is perfect.

7. Nan-Liao, Taiwan. This harbor town, a bus ride from Hsinchu, where I used to live, is a popular weekend spot for kite flying. We did fly kites here and ate squid-on-a-stick that we bought at the nearby market. Andrew Zimmern gushed about this popular street food on the last Bizarre Foods episode on China.

8. Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. One of my cousins and his son bought a kite to fly here. When they stopped some place for lunch, they tied the kite to a bike rack so it would stay airborne. They left it behind so someone else could have it. While they shopped they could see it dipping and weaving.

9. Venice Beach, Venice, California. Also a great place to see kite-flying or fly one yourself in the midst of the cacophony of humanity. Check out the drum circle Neil wrote about when you are there.

And a place I haven’t been, but it was recommended in a comment on the 10 great kite-flying places article.

10. El Morro National Park in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. There is a kite flying festival here in March, although, the commenter said it has great kite flying conditions most of the year. As a bonus, this is also a World Heritage Site.

Naked Nomad presumed dead; left multi-million dollar estate

by Iva Skoch on

Let’s set this straight. According to hard evidence I have gathered, Victor Flanagan, an Australian also known as “Naked Nomad,” didn’t walk around naked all the time. He wore a sarong when walking through towns and a pair of thongs for when there were too many prickles on the road. Sellout.

He spent at least the last decade living in Papua New Guinea, where he walked from Australia sometime in the 1990s. And, he was found dead lying in a canoe – without any clothing — in a PNG jungle, news.com.au reports.

Last week, more than a decade after he last spoke to his sister, the Supreme Court in Perth declared Naked Nomad “presumed dead”. This is a relevant piece of information because he left all his property–primarily the multi-million dollar beachfront property near Busselton–to his sister. Flanagan had inherited the property after their father’s death but didn’t have much use for it since he primarily just wanted to be in touch with nature and spend his life walking around naked.

Naked Nomad really isn’t that different from multimillionaires, after all. Multi-million beach front property is only fun if you can do nothing all day, but walk around naked.

###

The 10 Richest Cities in America


Did yours make the list?