UC Santa Cruz Bike to Work & School Day Adventures

On a typical Thursday, I wake up around 9 AM and make my way by bike or leg power to work in the Sustainability Office on campus. But today was no typical Thursday morning. Today is Bike to Work & School Day, which meant that my day began at 6 AM when my phone alarm went a-buzzin'. I hopped out of bed around 6:15 AM, ready to zoom down the hill to the base of campus.

UC Santa Cruz is a pretty cool place to be a cyclist. You get a real challenge on the way up to campus and such a fantastically speedy and beautiful ride down after the day is done. Since I live on campus and I was volunteering at the base of campus to serve breakfast to cyclists, my morning began with that awesome ride, the bay in view and the flowery meadows in my peripheral vision.

The view from the UC Santa Cruz bike path on a typical afternoon. Glorious!

 

It was great to connect with fellow students and community members who were also helping out at the breakfast station. At UCSC today, there were three breakfast sites: base of campus, top of the bike path, and Quarry Plaza. Throughout Santa Cruz County, there were more than 60 sites for folks to grab free breakfast after their ride to work or school.

At the base of campus, I saw students, staff members, and most likely some of the folks who came by were faculty members. I also saw kids on their way to school who were stopping by our site before continuing to their school breakfast site. We cheered when groups arrived, gave out free helmets from Transportation & Parking Services to those who needed a new one, and enjoyed the morning with others who saw value to biking their way to destinations over driving or busing.

Each person who received breakfast was required to fill out a brief survey, and I cannot wait to see the results of all the surveys from UCSC. I'm hoping to participate in the Impact Designs: Engineering through Sustainability and Student Service (IDEASS) program next year and work on a bike-related project in Santa Cruz, so it'd be awesome to see some statistics from this year regarding how often people say they bike to campus and why they do so. I'm planning on helping Ecology Action, the local non-profit who hosts Bike to Work Day in Santa Cruz, enter some data from these surveys sometime next week. It will be an opportunity to begin building relationships with those in the organization so that I can find ways to collaborate with them next year.

I also want to give a shout out to People Power, who had one representative at our base of campus breakfast site, seeking signatures to show local city and county governments that residents are stoked and ready for the creation of the Coastal Rail Trail. To find out more and sign the petition, click here. (On a similar note, People Power's Tawn O Kennedy and Santa Cruz Bike Party organized a Bike Party that cycled around Santa Cruz and Capitola a couple Fridays ago. Check out the photos from that event here and here!)

After helping out at the base of campus, I rode up Hagar Drive to Quarry Plaza for some orange juice and to chat with some friends I've gotten to know through getting more involved with bicycling at UCSC this year. The Student Environmental Center's People's Bike Generator was hooked up to some speakers, bumping some tunes powered by student leg energy (a renewable resource when the student is fed coffee and bagels).

One of the Student Environmental Center Transportation Campaign interns asked me if I'd like to be interviewed for a video they're making, and I said sure. Sitting on a rock in the Quarry beside my Specialized "Dolce" road bike, wearing my "One Less Car" t-shirt and my bike necklace, I spoke about why I love cycling in Santa Cruz, about how more young girls should be out on their bikes and at the high school bike racks in their skirts and heels to show the world that the cycling world isn't just for guys, and about how new cyclists should talk to other cyclists to find safer and easier routes to get where they need to go. Once that video is made and ready for showing, I'll be sure to post it here!

Woah, it's only 10 AM and I've already had so many bike adventures this morning! Time to pedal on over to the Sustainability Office and then bike on over to class with my favorite professor, who though he's been around UCSC since its founding still rides his bike to campus some days.

How was your Bike to Work/School Day? What keeps you from biking as transportation to work, school, or errrands more often? Share in the comments!

Thanks for reading, and Happy Bike to Work Day!

My 21st B-Earth Day

　

Yesterday, Monday, April 22, was my 21st b-earth day, and at 6:30 AM my phone buzzed with a text message from my aunt and uncle wishing me a happy birthday. Normally, I would respond thank you and then fall back to sleep for another couple hours. But something about knowing that it was Earth Day and my birthday made me think twice about closing my eyes. Ultimately, the morning mystery of early sunlight that I could see through my window got me up and out of bed and out the door into the morning.

I walked to a garden near where I live and spent some time observing the little lettuces and other plants growing there. The view of the bay from the garden was stunning, and I felt so blessed and grateful for the morning and the place where I live.

As I walked back, I noticed a sqaushed plastic water bottle by the grass, so I picked it up to recycle it. I kept walking and saw cigarette butts on the ground near some benches, so I picked them up and put them into the little ash tray bucket next to the bench. Though UC Santa Cruz has to be "tobacco-free" by 2014 as per a declaration made by the UC President, smoking is really prevalent on campus. Unfortunately, many students not only smoke but also have no sense of responsibility for properly disposing of their cigarette butts, which are plastic and not biodegradable.

I realized after I put the first handful of cigarettes into the bucket that they were everywhere and that to make my cleanup effort have an extended impact, I began collecting all the cigarette butts and trash into a plastic baggy I had found on the ground. I collected for about twenty minutes and then laid out the results on a picnic table to photograph them.

　

When I finally made it back to my room, thew away the garbage, recycled the bottles, and washed my hands, I uploaded this photo to Facebook and shared some thoughts with my friends, many of whom live nearby:

"I picked up some trash & recycling this morning on the Knoll in celebration of Earth Day. Just wanted to remind those who visit our beautiful knoll overlook that cigarette butts, plastic water bottles, and plastic bags do not biodegrade. Considering you can see the Monterey Bay from the Knoll, please be conscious of what you leave on the Earth, especially since it may find its way to the ocean. At the very least, this is a reminder that as you enjoy the beauty of our campus and the views of the Bay to be considerate of the other visitors to our grassy, wildflowery hill and throw your butts and garbage in the trash and any recyclables in the recycling bins. Happy Earth Day!"

Since yesterday morning, I have become even more conscious of the trash I see around me, and I have made a commitment to pick it up when I see it. It's easy to walk over a wrapper on the ground when no one else around you seems to be picking up others' garbage, but eventually, someone has to pick those items up and place them somewhere less uncontrollable. I don't want to say somewhere better or the right place because there's really no such thing--ultimately, that stuff ends up in a landfill. But certainly it's true that putting trash in bins that are more controlled keeps that stuff out of the ocean and out of animals' bodies.

When it comes to waste, we really can all make a difference in what ends up in natural ecosystems and what ends up in those poor parts of the earth that we've relegated to collect our waste. We can also choose to consume fewer wasteful products and see the results in the reduction of trash in our own garbage cans and recycling bins. Waste is probably my favorite sustainability topic because of this tangibility. What can I say, I love talking trash.

In closing, I am grateful to my aunt for waking me up yesterday morning with her text message, and I am also incredibly blessed to have wonderful people in my life who celebrated my 21st with me yesterday, including my mom who visited me and took me out to breakfast, and my friends, who joined me for sushi and drinks downtown last night. I also received a countless number of birthday wishes, cards, hugs, and phone calls yesterday that made it all the more special. Finally, I am so thankful for and in awe of this remarkable planet we all call home.

Thank you for reading! How did you celebrate Earth Day?

Alviso Adobe Community Park: My Experiences

I have been visiting the Alviso Adobe Community Park in Pleasanton, CA, since it opened in 2008. This video documents my amazing journey of learning experiences there, and it also serves as a way to share about the park's history and beauty.

I have written a lot on this blog about my experiences at the park. Please click here to view those posts.

Hiking: A Social Cure for a Disconnected World

In addition to being great exercise and a way to get to really awesome places in the world, hiking is also one of my favorite social activities. Since the time I was old enough to hike around Pinecrest Lake, I was making the trek with my family, trying to keep up with uncles and cousins in my little hiking boots and sunhat. I've always been a hiker, and I continue to be one, especially since I live in a hilly forest off the coast of the Pacific Ocean. How can you not be a hiker when you live two minutes from hiking trails and views of the ocean?

Given this interest in hiking and the opportunities for social engagement and community building that it offers, this past fall, a fellow student sustainability leader at UC Santa Cruz and I organized a hike into the Upper Campus trails that meander through forest and meadow above our university home. The goal was to bring together students, staff, faculty, community members interested in sustainability at UC Santa Cruz for a day hike to explore the natural space where we live, learn, and work.

My fellow sustainability hike leader and I had met at the Harvest Festival at the campus farm at the beginning of the quarter, where he served me countless bike-pedal-generated smoothies that he had made himself as I sat tabling for the Sustainability Office in the sweltering September heat.

A few days later, we spoke during dinner at the Student Environmental Center's General Gathering, and we realized we both had an interest in getting students from sustainability orgs on campus to spend more time together outside of org events. We swapped numbers, met in the library a couple times to draft an email, and then sent it out to everyone involved with sustainability work on campus, using the list-servs and email addresses that I have access to as the Education & Outreach Coordinator for the Sustainability Office (not an abuse of power, given that these hikes serve to further the aims of my job, even if I don't count those hours toward work). We even made a Facebook event for the hike. We were stoked.

The day came to meet up in the North Remote Parking Lot. I showed up first with my hiking shorts and hiking boots and reusable water bottle. No sign of anyone.

A few minutes later, I got a text message from my co-leader, who is the Transportation Coordinator for the organzation who hosted the General Gathering. He was on his way, and walked up from his redwood-surrounded apartment a few minutes later.

We waited. And waited.

"Well, it's time to go. Should we just start hiking?" No one else had shown up, and I'd received at least one text message from a friend who wasn't coming after all.

"Yeah, let's go."

We hiked up into the forest, just the two of us, on what would become not only the first of many sustainability inter-organizational hikes, but our first hike together, our first date, and our first chance to get to know each other through awesome conversation on the trail.

Hiking is a great social activity with both people you don't know well and people you do know well. You're moving around, exercising and getting high on endorphins, immersed in wild places that feed your soul, and there aren't really awkward silences. You're hiking outdoors, and silence is never awkward in the outdoors--there is so much to hear and experience and learn from when you are silent in a natural space.

We ended up hiking through Wilder Ranch State Park and all the way to the Highway 1, crossing the asphalt to reach our destination: the coast of the Pacific Ocean. We settled into some cliffs by a little cove, where the water rushed in at every wave and then receded. The sounds were soothing, the sun was warm, and we ate our lunch, enjoying the day, kind of glad that no one else showed up on the hike because of the opportunity it gave us to spend time together.

"I heard that some study found that chocolate is detected in the brain to cause more pleasure than kisses," he said to me. "But I don't really think so. What do you think?" I thought people only said those kinds of things in romantic movies, but I guess I was wrong. We had to test the theory, of course, so he shared an M&M with me, and then we shared a kiss. Like I said, hikes really are the best way to get to know someone.

Since then, he and I have organized a few other hikes, bringing together our friends, coworkers, and people who heard about the hike from Facebook or campus newsletters. I've had interesting conversations on the trail with people I never would have met otherwise, and I've realized how simple and worthwhile organizing hikes can be. People in the sustainability world of UC Santa Cruz now know about the hikes, and many who haven't come before have expressed interest in coming in the future. I cannot wait for spring quarter and the sunlight and flowers, which will hopefully draw even more people out to our hikes.

A photo of the fantastic group who came on our second inter-organizational sustainability community hike. I got to know some people on this hike who have brightened my life, and they continue to remain in my life either in person or through the perspectives I gained from talking with them.

As for hiking dates with my transportation coordinator friend, who has since become my boyfriend, we definitely continue to hike together, getting to know each other better every time. We just went on a gorgeous hike yesterday at a county park near San Jose, and we had a really good time enjoying the view from the top of a hill.

I believe that in addition to the conditions for conversation that hiking creates, the energies and connections that happen in nature between self and wilderness transform human social interactions into deeper connections when you spend time outdoors with someone one-on-one. Observing natural space, viewing the soil and vegetation and ecosystems, getting to know the environment, talking about where we would choose to live if we had been people living there thousands of years ago, and having moments of connection with nature together--all of this connects us to nature and ourselves.

Ultimately, hiking is a connecting activity, and in this digital age of social and human disconnection through overconnection with technology, hiking is a cure that I cannot get enough of. I encourage you to consider organizing a hike with your friends, significant other, or family. It's easy, fun, really inexpensive, and the opportunities for engagement with yourself, nature, and others are so rewarding!

Thanks for reading!
Green Gal

My Family of Writers, and Why You Should Visit Jeune Gal's Blog

Before I introduce my younger sister, who last night began a blog of her own (Jeune Gal), I want to provide some background about my family.

I come from a family of writers, each of us with a unique style and method of sharing our hearts and thoughts with the world. I have so much gratitude for the way I was brought up, always being read to and encouraged to write. My father recited Shakespeare to me when I was a really little kid, and perhaps the nectar of Shakespeare's language flowed into my developing brain and planted a seed that continues to grow each time a line of poetry or a storyline comes into my head.

When I was seven, I applied to be a poet laureate in my hometown at the suggestion of my father, who later did become the poet laureate. Though I knew I wouldn't be selected, going through the process of submitting poetry and receiving a personal letter of encouragement from the committee was an empowering process that no doubt contributed to my continued inspiration as a poet.

Every year that our local Poetry, Prose, & Arts Festival has taken place, my sister and I have attended, writing poetry, reading others' poetry and stories, and hearing from famous and local poets about why writing matters. We were even featured on one of the promotional postcards for the Festival one year.

A major reason that I've pursued the world of writing is my parents. My father is a journalist, community college English teacher, former poet laureate, television book show co-host, and writer of short stories. My mother writes every morning in a journal, relies extensively on her writing and communication skills in her job, and has many times in her life written letters and poetry. This barely scratches the surface of how my parents have been role models to me, not only in writing, but in everything they've done and how they've done it.

Beyond my parents, there are many other writers in my family, too, including my grandmother (and faithful Green Gal blog reader!), who has written a number of short books with stories and poems that she's given to family members and friends. I could go on about how family and friends in my life who write or express themselves artistically have inspired me to be the writer, poet, and artist that I am today, but that could take up ten more blog posts. This post is about my sister, one of my biggest inspirations and supporters.

Given the history of writing in our family, it's no surprise that my younger sister also has a knack for sharing her thoughts with the written word. Though I'm well aware that she was exposed to the same inspirations and models of writers as myself, she hasn't been in the habit of sharing her words as often as I have with my blog, so this morning when I read her latest blog post on her new blog, Jeune Gal, I was impressed and so proud of her. Her ability to communicate her thoughts into a story through blogging is something I've been trying to teach my peers about at college; it is not often that someone actually writes their blog in a way that captures "story-telling" in a very real sense, but my sister has managed to do this without anyone telling her how. She not only shares the heart of her story in a succinct way, she also organizes her thoughts in a way that ties everything together.

Her blog is a space to share her experiences with having a rare genetic disease called Jeune syndrome, which makes her small (among other symptoms and conditions). She is fortunate enough to have a very mild case, but it has still greatly affected her life in large, visible ways and in more subtle ways.

She also hopes that writing this blog will open up the door for connection with other older people with Jeune syndrome. Because the disease can be quite severe, most babies who are diagnosed with the disease die very young. My sister has been doing research to find others who have survived the condition, and so far she's only found one or two people who are old enough to connect online. Everyone else writing about or asking questions about the disease online are parents of children with the disease.

It's inspiring to see her putting her ability to write to the service of connection with others who are struggling or have struggled. Like I said, each of the writers in my family has a unique way, purpose, and skill in sharing through written word.

Please visit her blog and read about her experiences. Beyond the audience of those with Jeune syndrome or who have children or know children with the disease, the blog is written for society in general, so that we can all gain some perspective on what it means to be treated differently by people in our world based on appearance and how we can all have more compassion and respect for all people.

Perhaps the more people who read her blog, the higher the chance is that someone with Jeune syndrome will come across her posts. She would love to connect and share experiences with someone else in the world who has faced similar obstacles to her.

Her blog can be found at http://jeunegal.blogspot.com/