Freecycling Rocks!

I'm addicted to freecycling.

OK, maybe "addicted" is a strong word, but my affinity towards this untapped weapon in the war on planned obsolescence just keeps growing by the day.

After the debacle with Freecycle Tiverton/Little Compton, Sara stumbled upon its much-better-off cousin, Freecycle Newport (RI, of course) on Yahoo!. Since then, we've been up and running -- getting stuff we need and giving stuff we don't need a new home. The site boasts over 2,000 members and depending on your preferences when you "join" the group, you can get regular emails with all the new listings. Folks post for things they want, as well as for what they want to give away.

It's been fantastic, having scored a few things for the baby as well as some old greenhouse panels I plan to use building new cold frames in the spring. On the flip side, we've given away everything from an old stairway railing to a weight bench that I'm sorry to say has seen more action from the dust in the basement than me and the dumbbells.

All this freecycling has me thinking on a couple different levels: On the home front, I wonder to what extent we could supply what we need around the house with freecycled goods from others. How's that for a budget-saving strategy?

Much more broadly, imagine what would happen if manufacturing (and all that other supply chain activity) as we know it were to suddenly stop, eliminating any "new" stuff from being produced. Is there enough good "stuff" already out there to provide the masses here in the U.S. with what they need? Maybe -- if folks could reach beyond deep-rooted consumption-laden behaviors and seize back the concept of "need" versus "want". Tack on some fleeting know-how for fixing what's broken (instead of reaching for the garbage barrel) and you might just have a recipe for success.

Of course, that's a bit of hyperbole, but you get the picture.

In any case, the fact still remains that freecycling works, especially when empowered by this lovely thing called the Internet. It's a virtual camaraderie in the fight against the behemoth engine of consumption. And coming off the holiday season, I'm sure we all have a thing or two (or three) that we could pass on in this way.

Saving Suburbia (Part III): Ditching the Car

Over the last few weeks I've been giving a lot of thought to another one of those big(ger) ideas for saving suburbia: alternative transportation options. Or put more simply: Ditching your car/truck in favor of a less-impactful way of getting around town.

"No way," I'm sure you'll say. "Can't be done."

I admit, the idea of a suburban lifestyle sans the car is a tough one to sell. The inherent layout and design of your typical suburban town is self-limiting: Disconnected neighborhoods spread out over a large land area; roads built primarily for four wheels and little else; small pockets of limited economic and business activity that cause consumers to drive long distances to get what they need, when they need it; a general car-centric mentality that's so engrained it's tough to buck.

All that aside, a few things have happened recently around town that do provide a glimmer of hope:

• News that Stafford and Crandall Roads will be receiving new "Share the Road" signage courtesy of of the RI DOT that aim to raise awareness of and promote bicycle traffic. This is in addition to new signage that was a part of the Main Road corridor improvement work that happened over the summer.
• Last week's passing of new business zoning regulations that will set the stage for transforming the north end and Bliss Four Corners parts of town into more pedestrian-friendly and inviting community-scapes.
• Continued development of the new artists' community at Sandy Woods that showcases the effectiveness of mixed-use neighborhood and community design.

Clearly, this will not enable all of us to leave the cars at home and still get things done. But what else do we need? Here are my two-cents:

• Continued partnering between Town Planning and Economic Development entities that look to shape other pockets of value-added business development in town. Basically, cut down on the distances that people have to travel to secure the necessities of living while promoting local businesses. Start with basics such as food, then go from there with a preference for small, mom-and-pop style endeavors. This could be at the macro, multi-neighborhood level, or in the case of the Sandy Woods project, at the micro, single neighborhood level.
• Partner with local businesses and/or the town to install bike racks to encourage car-less travel
• Continue to repair/install sidewalks
• Renewed enforcement of speed limits and other safe driving behaviors to create a safe environment for walking, biking, etc.
• Exploration of in-town public transportation (e.g., small-scale bus or shuttle services) to get people to these new town centers
  
• Take additional cues from other urban-based transportation planning playbooks

This problem won't be solved overnight and I'm firmly grounded in the reality that we're not going to wake up one morning and not need our cars, but improved suburban transit could benefit us on so many levels: environmental, health, economic and so on.

What about you? Would you ditch your car once or twice a week if the infrastructure was in place?

November Poll Results; December Poll Launches

Once again, I seem to be about a week behind on the new monthly poll. So it goes...

November's poll tapped into your interest/willingness to go at a really local food diet. While only five people chimed in, 60 percent said they would with the balance split between "maybe" and "no". That's still positive in my book. Looking at all the stuff we picked up at the Pawtucket Farmers' Market yesterday, I'm still convinced that even now, a good part of our diet can come from local producers. I've started compiling listings for a local food guide and hope to be able to share an early version in the coming weeks.

Now for December's poll: Last week's Sakonnet Times reported on the passing of new zoning codes for business in Tiverton. These new codes aim to transform sections of town such as North Tiverton and Bliss Four Corners into replicas of downtown Bristol or Warren (my comparison, not the paper's), with their walkable, more community-friendly approach to integrating store fronts, roadways, sidewalks, and parking. What do you think?

Old Buildings. New Lives.

Tomorrow night, the Tiverton Town Council will be holding a special workshop to discuss future plans for the old Nonquit and Ranger schools. The meeting, which starts at 7:00 at Town Hall (Highland Road), is open to all.

Now, I don't know the details of what it costs to maintain/operate these buildings, but it would be a shame to lose them to a knee-jerk decision that only sees the short-term gain and not the long-term value to the community.

In a previous post I've mentioned that Nonquit would make a wonderful home for a community arts center. As for the old Ranger (where I went to elementary school), perhaps it could recycle itself into a new, bigger, and better town hall? With all the development happening in the Bliss Four Corners area (library, recreation center, etc.), relocating Town Hall to this neck of the woods could go a long way in redefining this (sort of) center of town.

The bottom line: With all the history and character that these buildings exude, to lose them for the wrong reasons would be a shame. Please lend you support. Can't make it to the meeting? Drop a note to Town Clerk, Nancy Mello ahead of the session at town_clerk@tiverton.ri.gov.

[Images Source: Town of Tiverton website]

Happy Thanksgiving

From our family to yours: Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy and safe Thanksgiving! Be well.

Green Building Boost from New State Law

Good news for green building coming out of the State House. According to the press release:

The Green Buildings Act (2009-S 0232B), passed by the General Assembly in October and signed into law by Governor Carcieri this week, requires that all new major public facility projects and major building renovations in Rhode Island, including schools, be designed and constructed in conformance with high performance green building standards.

The new law applies to new construction of more than 5,000 square feet and renovation of spaces greater than 10,000 square feet if such projects receive any funding from the state. The law takes effect immediately but will apply only to buildings entering the design phase after Jan. 1, 2010.

Under the law, building design must conform to the internationally recognized United States Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system or an equivalent high-performance green building standard, including the Northeast Collaborative for High-Performance Schools Protocol.

What makes this legislation even better is that it was written by our own State Senator Louis DiPalma (District 12 // Little Compton, Middletown, Newport, Tiverton). Thank you, Senator DiPalma!

Naysayers aside, this is a bold move that is long overdue. It focuses on the long-term, not the knee-jerk short-term. Analysis of green building ROI (return on investment) has shown that the impact on upfront building costs continues to be minimal if integrated at the start of a project. The small volume of municipal green building projects is probably due more to a lack of fact-based knowledge about the how-to's and ROI than a blatant aversion to project costs. With the launch of the Rhode Island chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, this information void should begin to shrink.

This legislation is timely for another reason: Our own efforts to build a new library in Tiverton are focused on providing the most long-term value for the town through the integration of energy-efficient and other green building elements into the design. It's not just about the lowest bid anymore. It's about responsibility -- to the community, to the environment, AND to the bottom line. Green building achieves all three.

Two final comments: Too bad we didn't have this legislation when our elementary schools were going through the re-hab process; AND when will this type of legislation make its way down to the residential level through zoning and building codes?

Let Thy Laundry Fly

"If my husband has a right to have guns in the house, I have a right to hang laundry."

So says Carin Froehlich of Perkasie, Pennsylvania, the focal point of this article about the growing tensions between folks who want to save a dime with line-dried laundry and communities who are not so hot-to-trot about seeing their neighbors garb flapping in the breeze.

Give me a break. Can the powers that be find something else much more worthwhile to spend their time on?

We've been line drying for over a year now and I just LOVE it. Call me crazy, but I look forward to getting out there for a few minutes -- often by myself -- and just putting up the wet stuff piece by piece. It's almost meditative for me, especially early in the morning when the sun is just starting to peek through the trees and the bird songs are being carried on the tip of that slight breeze blowing by.

But beyond the psychological benefit (for me anyway), line drying does save money. No doubt about it. Less carbon in the air, more cash in your pocket. Works for me.

Project Laundry List, a non-profit promoting line drying and line drying rights, is quoted in the article with the statement that up to six percent of a home's annual energy usage is tied to the clothes dryer. If your monthly National Grid bill averages about $100, that six percent works out to $72 per year. I can sure find something else to spend that on. I bet you can too.

Here's to exercising our collective "right to hang"!

[Photo Credit: Sallster via Flikr]