Today I witnessed a reality of biking in commuter city.
This morning as I was getting ready to go to class I decided to forgo riding my bike as it has had a perpetual flat tire problem; I decided to walk instead. As I walked down Comm. Ave past the BU Bridge and into BU Central area, I saw a horrifying sight– a bicyclist on the ground near the T-tracks, shoes in the middle of the street, broken glass strewn about and a crowd of people. I knew instantly this biker had been hit by car and I immediately felt sick to my stomach.. that could have been me, I thought.
I stupidly have been riding my bike without a helmet since the summer and I know it is a risky and dangerous game. Helmets are essential to bike safety. I know recently a recent Boston metro-area city instituted a helmet law for cyclists. I am unaware if this particular biker was in fact wearing a helmet.
Bicycle safety is a serious issue in Boston and other cities. This summer I blogged a bit more about this in reference to Mayor Menino’s biking accident. I know Boston is making strides to increase bike safety by installing new bike lanes on Comm. Ave but more needs to be done.
Drives must be aware that they are sharing the rode and at the same time, cyclists need to carry the same amount of attentiveness and alertness while on city streets, which include following traffic laws.
As a bike rider myself, I feel that this is a serious issue and my concern goes out to that person involved in that accident this morning
Maybe I am suffering from green fatigue or maybe just actual fatigue as my lack of posting exhibits this…
Lately I have been working non-stop, watching the Olympics, intern searching, job research (for when i graduate in january eek!), being sick (wah wah) and getting ready for the fall.
I find it hard to believe that it is the middle of August. My roommate is moving out which is sad so the search for a new roommate is underway…
Speaking of the apartment, we seem to have a mysterious mouse friend. I have not seen said mouse but we are taking precautions..
Anywho, I haven’t been able to bring myself to blog even though I have ideas in my head.. maybe once I go home for a few days and then get into the swing of scholl i will get back in blogger mode… I do have an actual post about green fatigue in th works.. I just have to write it..
The Princeton Review now offers green ratings for colleges. Topping the list for the greenest school.. Arizona State University. ASU has a School of Sustainability. Crazy, I had no idea that existed anywhere. The school also stared a lecture requirement for freshman that contains a sustainability component.
I think that’s awesome. I mean, I wish i even had the option to take a course like that. Wonder if any school offers Green Communications or Green PR?
I went ahead and read some of the guidelines for the rankings and they include expected eco-friendly measures of use of organic food and fossil fuels alternatives and also more abstract ideas as professors ability to integrate eco-friendly concepts into instruction.
This article really struck a chord with me being a PR student and having just taken a class in new media. While I feel that we might not be at the point to have New Media Departments, I do believe that this is valuable and useful information (especially in COM) but also in business development, marketing, etc…
The good thing is that this generation has grown up using computers and thus, we are aware of many of the new, social media tools but maybe not in terms of how to effectively utilize them within designed business goals.
One key challenge with this is just being able to keep up with change trends and the fast-paced nature that is the web, new ethical dilemmas, etc…
Any thoughts?
Nonetheless, two really interesting things to ponder….
I thought this was a new endeavor for Beck’s but apparently they have been doing these artists bottles for the past 20 years! Click here to check out previous designs. This year Beck got some help from students at London’s Royal College of Art.
The bottles displayed above are from the following artists: Tom Price, Charlotte Bracegirdle, Riitta Ikonen, and Simon Cunningham.
These bottles will be available starting August 1st but only for a limited time!
With such contemporary designs, maybe these bottles will have people thinking twice before they just throw them away!
So I have a few must-watch tv shows like the office, how i met your mother, pushing daisies.. etc.. BUT summer hiatus is usually just a sad sad period of crappy, mindless television.
For example, the beginning of the summer had me sucked into Legally Blonde: The Search for the Next Elle Woods. That was some pretty crappy yet fantastic tv which I could talk about for this entire post but I will spare you. If anything just watch Seth Rudetsky’s video blogs about it.. HIlarious.
Anywho a few shows I am so happy are here for the summer: Weeds and Project Runway! And, not to deny my environmental motives, I have green comments about both!
First, i have been catching up with this season of Weeds with the help of Surfthechannel– woo! loves it. In a recent episode, Captain till notes drug dealer Guillermo as “environmentally sensitive” as Celia has a picture of him in Nancy’s Prius. Toyota gets pretty good product placement with the Prius– I mean its no GM and Transformers deal but hey, it’s green and I appreciate it… and check out this clever video using Weeds as a Toyota Prius Commerical
It surprises me though, that as many celebs that drive hybrids and support the environmental cause that more eco-friendly product placements do not make the cut. I know back in November NBC did a whole green programming week but that is kind of nothing in the scope of things…
Needless to say I love weeds… and PR! (Project Runway, obvs)
The most recent episode of PR also feature a green element as models chose green, sustainable fabrics for their designers to engineer a cocktail dress from and let’s just say some were FIERCE and some were FLOPS.
Examples:
So, Loved Suade’s dress and not a fan of Wesley’s. most people used that stupid bronze fabric and it did not look good… I also like Daniel’s design in this episode! But it goes to show you can be eco-chic!
I absolutely loved this movie. Such a cute and well-executed concept with a meaningful storyline (all set to a great score by the fabulously talented Thomas Newman).
Coming out of the theater, I noticed that a lot of adults went to see this movie and many were sans children. just because this is a g-rated animated movie, does not mean that it is a “kiddy” flick by any means. The story resonates deeply with societal issues, especially in regards to our health and environment.
The first thing I found really clever was the name of the corporate giant, Buy N Large. Wow, talk about irony. I thought that was a great touch. But, It was the ecological implications presented in the movie I found most intriguing.
In the movie, earth has basically become a vast wasteland. Meanwhile the humans have been shipped off to outerspace to their cushy cruiser liner, where they have become large masses of consumption– much to the comparison of screen captivated masses of today. The visual, digital and advertising overload is questioned, even criticized here. Individuals care for one thing, themselves; human contact is no longer needed or desired– or so one thinks. The stark comparison to the infinitely beautiful gallery is quite a mouthfull.
All the while, attempts to save earth have basically failed until a little bit of green brings a little bit of hope….
I could really ramble on about how I loved the minimal dialogue and Wall-E’s collection of Americana, but really I just suggest you go see it yourself! The movie offers a great message about love and human (or not so human) affection in addition to asking people to take a look at the world we inhabit and the practices that are shaping our future.
AUSTIN, Tex. — Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, was asked a question here at a bloggers conference about energy. She glanced at her BlackBerry, noting that she had an e-mail message from a friend on that very subject.
With that, the voice of former Vice President Al Gore boomed over the public address system, leaving a sea of quizzical looks and then gasps, cheers and a standing ovation as he strode onto the stage.
It produced the first electric moment at the conference, the Netroots Nation, an ever-widening group of progressive bloggers whose major interests — the war in Iraq, the environment and technology — mesh well with Mr. Gore’s current pursuits. Indeed, many in the crowd — who are supporting Senator Barack Obama, the likely Democratic presidential nominee — were overheard saying they wished he were running for president.
As waves of cheers washed over the cavernous convention center, Mr. Gore said to Ms. Pelosi, “We ought to take that act on the road.”
I think grassroots is a place to go on this issue as so many people are passionate about environmental issues, specifically climate change. However, I am doubtful of the call to action and how th words will fit the action…
First, I apologize for my my not so great attempts to keep posting regularly. Last week was a bit insane as family was visiting but I did bookmark an article from the NY Times that I wanted to comment on.
On June 30, an article ran about a new eco-friendly milk bottle that Walmart and Costco rolled out. This bottle is great because it eliminates plastic waste and the use of crates, drastically reduces the amount of water need to keep the cartons and crates clean. It also allows for the milk to be sold at a cheaper price while keeping it fresher longer.
However many consumers complain that it is more awkward and cumbersome, creating more spills especially for children.
You know what I say, suck it up. Pour your own children’s milk and look at the real benefits from this bottle. This design is new and sure, could probably use some tweaking but hopefully more companies will take the initiative to find solutions to growing environmental concerns.
Read the entire article here and see for yourself.
My alerts brought this BBC article to my attention so I thought I would share…
Nintendo ‘least green tech firm’
By Jonathan Fildes
Science and technology reporter, BBC News
Games firm Nintendo has come bottom of a ranking of the world’s most eco-friendly electronics firms.
The quarterly Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics ranks 18 electronics firms by how green their production processes and products are.
In the latest guide most firms have seen their ranking plummet as the charity introduced new, stricter guidelines for evaluating companies.
Nintendo said its scored low because it had not provided data for the survey.
“Greenpeace chose to conduct a survey and produce a report, which graded companies upon the voluntary submission of information,” the firm said in a statement.
“Nintendo decided not to take part in the survey and were therefore ‘ungraded’ in the resulting report..[more]
I think it’s great that they are crack down on companies to follow stricter environmental guidelines but let’s be honest… I love the Wii and I will continue to play it…. and I don’t think that hypocritical.
While in London, I really became interested in the reusable bags trend. I had used them for shopping before but London really takes this eco-friendly trend to the fashion level.
The grocer Sainsburys always had fun bags such as the “Plastic Ain’t My Bag” Bag that I have also use as a purse, obviously. However the most famous has to be the Anya Hindmarch “I am not a plastic bag,” pictured below.
This bag became so popular, selling out within hours once hitting the US. Celebs are spotted carrying these bags around as handbags and countless numbers of knock-offs have been reproduced.
I do love the BYOB (bring your own bag) trend and its an hot topic in and out of the blogosphere. Check out this entry on Daytime Talk, which features a clip from GMA.
So, here’s my suggestion…
Take you reusable bags and maybe splurge on some organic and locally grown food. Buying foods that are sustainable are better for the environment and help reduce your carbon footprint! It may be a little more expensive for the organic strawberries but seriously, they do taste better. And you can tote your berries home in a berry cute bag!
