Spring is definitely here now. The eyes open up and we suddenly see things clearer again, and most cities turn a bit green. And tires are started to be pumped. Helmets sold.
Copenhagen bicyle shops use their street space for messages too. Here are some of them:
The text means: watch out for nature, use the bicycle.
Another shop is even more radical. The window text means Fuck the car, take the bicycle
I know that many of you reading and appreciating Ruth Anianssons blog posts, and me too. Ruth is living in Copenhagen, Denmark, and except blogging for us Ruth also works as journalist, stage poet and conferencier.
This Saturday Ruth was engaged in the inauguration of the exhibition “Make a difference” (in Swedish) at the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg, Sweden. Ruth did a stage poetry about being an observer. Thank you Ruth for your great performance and finally I also met you!
Main focus in this exhibition is the role of the observer, and the consequences and responsibility for taking no-actions, with examples from the history but also from today’s violence. And I will say also relevant in our decisions about taking actions or no-actions to contribute to sustainable environment, or?
Yesterday I took the bike to work, again, my bike was not in good shape, rusty after the winter…but yes I did it, I made a difference, I was not an observer, I was taking an action. Why? Because I was touched, thank you Ruth!
(By the way, Dadongwo is the Chinese expression of “I am touched” and also the name of our coming Facebook app, included in the Commute Greener concept, that soon will be released. The purpose with the app is to have fun, get touched and motivate you take actions to commute smarter in your daily life. )
A funny picture spreading on facebook this month, from India throughout the world.
Maybe this could be the conclusion of the difference between last century and this?
Leaving the car one day or two, taking the bike and fresh air instead, won’t hurt anyone. It can only benefit you, your body shape and your surroundings!
And after all Volvo means “I roll”. No one said it had to be on four wheels forever. Maybe Volvo will start producing bicycles, the safest in the world of course, before my un-born children will learn how to ride a bike?
Qui vivra, verra!
(This last guess was my most private thought, one of Ruth Aniansson, and is not at all a promise from Volvo about their future. Nothing official. At all. (just a dream))
One often speaks of three different kinds of sustainability: ecological, economic and social.
Commute greener is both an economical and ecological project in this field. But also social when people start enjoying their new transportation routines and see that it might enrich their lives, with new commuter friends or better family relations.
Another seed of creating social sustainability came from the Middle East a couple of weeks ago. After all, there is little comfort that the bus is maybe environmental friendly, if there is a war going on outside it.
The seed was en example of what mankind can do when just believing in himself and the values at our hearts. Thanks to the transportation system you are now reading this through, we can increase the communication efficiently on earth. Through the lines someone spread a word of peace. People commuted words about a future of hope.
I guess there were a couple on tens of thousands or more that had the privilige to change the streets and wheels of ordinary life, to white snow and skies during the past holiday.
Skiing is actually one of the oldest ways to transport oneself in Northern Europe. Through centuries people have used wooden tools underneath their feet to transport themselves. How Sweden got its first modern time king, Gustav Vasa in the 16th century, include skiing – a trip that has become the famous race Vasaloppet of 90 km. And Finland is said to have been able to defend itself successfully against the Soviet union in 1939, partly thanks to good Finnish skiers during that hard winter. Not to mention that slalom is a Norwegian word for technique to go downhill, developed in region Telemark which also has given its name to a skiing technique.
I keep remembering the time when my family heading back after winter holiday in Norway in the 90s, in a snow blizz missed the road to Sweden and surprisingly ended up in Oslo in the middle of the night, the city all covered with a white layer. The next day people were skiing in the central parks of Oslo and because so much snow had fallen, the city was paralyzed and people skied to work, quite happily.
Ski to work. That is definitely a green way to transport oneself.
Making her very first blog entry just a year ago we now welcome back Marie-Louise Holmqvist and more sharing:
I do want to share 'What a Wonderful World with David Attenborough'
One more thing to share, The Daffodils, a poem by William Wordsworth.
I think it describes the wonder of spring and the beauty of nature better than anything else.
.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
And twinkle on the milky way,
Continuous as the stars that shine
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed – and gazed – but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
.
Finally, I want to thank everyone who Commute Greener!
Your dedicated and positive work for a sustainable world.
It helps to give us,
and succeeding generations,
the possibilities to go on wondering at and be enchanted by the beauty of nature.
Marie-Louise Holmqvist
Good news, spring is approaching! At least in the parts of the world where I’m. Even though winter is great in many ways I, and many Swedes with me, look forward to more daylight hours per day. I also welcome the better opportunities to bicycle. So what should you consider before you take the bike out for a ride after a long winter?
I consulted my friend Sebastian Dahlström, a bicycle mechanic since several years, for some tips. To ensure your bike is in full working order after winter storage you may:
1. Check for safety
The first thing you really need to do is to make sure everything is still attached and tightened. Make sure you check all the screws and bolts while paying extra attention to the more important ones – such as the wheel nuts and the screws that attach the handlebar to the rest of the bike. Also check the brakes to make sure that they are still working properly. If you have rim brakes the brake pads
can become dry resulting in a decreased brake performance.
2. Air pressure
Even though tubes are not supposed to let air out they still do. So to prevent those ever annoying flats that so often arise when the bike is coming out again after winter storage, make sure to check the air pressure and the tyre wall for cracks. Tires dry a lot faster when the bike is stored for an extended period of time. For correct air pressure refer to the tyre wall. A good generalisation is that you need to have at least 2.5 bars, but preferably more than 3 bars.
3. Lubricants
A bike needs lubricants just like any other mechanical product that has got moving parts. The chain is especially important since there might be personal injury if it breaks. Clean it with warm water and a mild detergent. Be very careful not to use a high pressure water hose against any hubs as it may flush out the lube inside the hub. After cleaning the chain, apply lubricant. Make sure it is a Teflon based
lubricant and not some oil that has been sitting in the garage for decades. The nemesis of a bike chain is WD-40 or 5-56, using such a product severely shortens the life length of the bike’s drive train.
Last but not least: If there are any uncertainties at all, consult a technician! A bike is a great way of getting around, but if it is not properly maintained it can be dangerous. So make sure that your bike is thoroughly checked and enjoy riding!
Have you heard the line before? I do agree with Joni Mitchell in her line that “You don’t know what you have got till it’s gone…”. Today, marks WWF Earth Hour, and time pass quickly, you can never regain a lost hour so do the best you can with focus on sustainable results…
For me this hour is planned with some friends to climb a small mountain and in a picnic reflect upon on how Goteborg will turn off the lights for an hour. At the same time it marks a start to turn on WWF.commutegreener.com
We encourage everyone to take one step more, get measurable feedback and contribute to positive change. Let’s not come to discover that “They paved paradise to put up a parking lot”.
I hope it is ok to share this video for a good cause and maybe you like to share a favorite as well? Enclose a link into a comment or place at the Facebook page which, by the way, just got the timeline
We transport ourselves long distances in our outside, social lives. But what about inner transportation? How often do we consider where we go and what we experience on the inside of ourselves, our minds and bodies?
Because after all, we all spend our whole lives living in our minds and consciousness. If we want to change our habits – if we commute or not, how we treat this planet or our family or friends etc – then the first place where the change needs to take place, is in the mind. When the mind gets focused, changes can come quickly.
This is a short story of a cool inner transportation tool that definitely makes the mind “greener” – fresher, cleaner, purer!
A couple of weeks ago I spent ten days in silence, without contact with the outside world, to learn to focus my mind and slowly clear it of unnecessary burdens. The course took place in Sweden but exists all over the world (www.dhamma.org). The technique of vipassana meditation, which this is called, is teaching self-observation and is simple, scientific and non-sectarian. One only works with one’s own physical reality and learn to focus the mind and develop an equanimous mind towards what one experience.
Simple I say, in retrospective, but when learning to focus the mind on one’s own physical reality the first time, it was crazy. Many people realise how unfocused they are, when internet, mobile phone, work, social life etc is taken away. Me too. And it is sometimes tough to meet oneself, truely. But it is like the earth. If we want it to be greener and our travelling so, we have to do the work. There is no short cut to paradise, anywhere.
After ten days of meditation I came out much lighter. Sorrows, irritation, stress, anger, crazy desires or fear, were gone or diminished. And I continue to sit and meditate in daily life, as I find it helping my “mental immune system”. This was my forth course, I did my first summer 2010. Having three university degrees and a couple of more diplomas, I consider this the best tool I have ever learnt. A tool for life and health. I am more present, more conscious about my actions, feelings and choices, and less stressed. I feel more empowered. And a purer mind has made greener actions more important.
And the best thing (from a social point of view) is that it is taught for free. Old meditation students pay for new students, and so it is given further. The profit is better life quality for everyone concerned.
If this sounds interesting, you find more information at www.dhamma.org. Courses are given all over the world in the same way.
Hundreds of millions of people, businesses and governments around the world unite these years to support the largest environmental event in history – Earth Hour. More than 5,200 cities and towns in 135 countries worldwide switched off their lights for Earth Hour 2011 alone, sending a powerful message for action on climate change. We asked ourself, what happens if we engage for more than one hour? Is it possible to get measurable change? Can joy and pleasure increase during everyday travels?
YES must be the answer. Today we are extra happy to enable WWF in Sweden to take one step more by introducing activities that will keep going even after the Earth Hour day. Everyone that signs up for the Earth Hour will get a free invitation to use a dedicated version of Commute Greener!
“Commute Greener fits perfectly as an extension to Earth Hour. Commute Greener addresses the climate issues in a positive way during everyday travel. Direct feedback is given to each individual in order to encourage more environmentally sustainable ways of living,” says Torbjörn Hegedüs, Communication Director at WWF Sweden, and continues: “We hope a large number of people will sign up on the WWF site for Commute Greener! It’s possible to start directly and challenge yourself, as well as friends and colleagues, in an exciting climate campaign.”
It is time to get going for a better environment, gain money, time, health and have fun, now also with Facebook login. Set the target on sustainable transport solutions while on the way we will provide even further gamification aspects. We support the WWF encouragement to take on challenges. “I will IF you will” #IWIYW so to say, what will you?
I hope you enjoy your spring and journeys!
