UP|The Treehugger's Lounge

Bike registration every two years in Oregon?

JCT — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:31:44 +0000

Bicycles don't cause the wear and tear to infrastructure that cars and trucks do (in the 20 years that I have been commuting, my bike has never created a pothole), so there is no need for an extra tax on them. The small amount of gas tax that we pay in the US goes toward road maintenance projects, but that tax certainly doesn't completely pay for the road system that we all use. We pay for roads and bridges through income and property tax as well. So even if you ignore the fact that most commuting cyclists also own a car, it can still be argued that they pay more than their fair share of the roads they use.

From the Past: Cities of the Future

marcoc — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:36:21 +0000

Hi, i am an italian architect. I think is necessary about the future of the city create e new way to product the material of the city: tiles, paint or asphalt. Something like this: http://www.active-ceramic.com/
A new way to think, a way a new production method geared towards materials whose active principle helps to improve the quality of the environment.The cities need new materials that make an active contribution to creating a better atmosphere and a cleaner environment.

Will you stop drinking Bottled Water

FromCityToRural — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:55:59 +0000

We quit drinking bottled water about three years ago, though it was because of the cost...the environment wasn't even a consideration. I have a Nalgene bottle that's served me quite faithfully for 6 years.

Recipes

Neo — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:39:53 +0000

We typically don't cook with fruit unless it is with apples, but we do love fruit by itself. We figure it is so good uncooked, why ruin a good thing?

Recipes

SpeedyG — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 02:11:48 +0000

Just wanted to share . . . found a lot of good recipes that use fruit online at Del Monte: http://bit.ly/qYT4q Some of these sound really good for the holidays. Has anybody tried any of these out? Not sure which one I want to try first. Love cooking with fruit.

Will you stop drinking bottled beer?

The Voice of Reason — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:20:43 +0000

I think people should buy more 22oz beers. I would say for my part 40% of my beer consumption is on tap or in growler form, 25% in the form of 22oz bottles or 750ml bottles bought from the store and sadly the rest being 12 oz bottles of newcastle or sam adams or whatever. although I have an 18 pack of those draught Guiness cans in the fridge right now. I fell like something like beer is the hardest to change. I am going to have to build a 3 tap bar in my next house so I can have some variety and also keep the waste down. its amazing hum much crap I bring to the reccling bins each week.

the paper waste from bills and such is crazy. bottles are plentiful, and food cans(beans, olives, and a bunch of asian stir fry ingredients. the amount of waste that we create bothers me.

at leask I rock out on the water front. tap water at home, and a re-usable cup at work. I even brew my own coffee with a french press from the bubbler to avoid all that waste. (and its cheaper and much much better coffee)

soooo, back to my beer...

Will you stop drinking Bottled Water

SpeedyG — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:15:56 +0000

That's a tough one . . . I don't drink it that much, mostly cause of cost though. Seems like the tap doesn't taste as good, and I like bottled water for the portability. However, if I had a fridge with the water/filter, I think I could adapt to that.

Will you stop drinking Bottled Water

olla86 — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:02:40 +0000

My friends were shoked!

Will you stop drinking Bottled Water

olla86 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:15:32 +0000

I don't drink bottled water, but it is new information for me! I will tell my friends about this fact.

Will you stop drinking Bottled Water

DigitalSky — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:50:58 +0000

What do you guys think of Penta Water's claims to have created the world's most pure water? www.pentawater.com -- they say they have a 13 hour 11 step process or something that's free of trace pharamaceuticals, bisphenol A, chlorine, arsenic, MTBE, chromium 6 and flouride.

Will you stop drinking Bottled Water

Neo — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:40:55 +0000

Skyliner, on Jul 8 2009, 09:14 AM, said:

I drink filtered water at home and have been purchasing an 85� gallon jug of spring water every few days from a local supermarket for work. Their water is harvested from a nearby mountain spring, so hopefully this is better than purchasing from an overseas manufacturer. I don't want to always purchase bottled water because I understand the problem with so many plastic bottles causing pollution, but my doctor recommends not drinking tap water for long-term health reasons. The good news is that I have begun slowing my rate of bottle consumption by re-using each jug a few times before sending them to a recycling center.

What reasons did your doctor give for not drinking tap water long-term? This is the first I've heard of any health issues in drinking the tap water here in the states.

I have several 32oz Nalgene bottles that I fill up and take to work with filtered water from my fridge. Tastes exactly like ye olde Deer Park and saves me a ton of money.

Will you stop drinking Bottled Water

Skyliner — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:14:46 +0000

Bike registration every two years in Oregon?

OptimistIce — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:47:46 +0000

For a damn bicycle? Who in their right minds would want that. Thats propostorous

Bike registration every two years in Oregon?

wolverine — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:09:02 +0000

If it's a means of upgrading technology to recover stolen bikes, then I agree with it. But $54 seems ridiculous. I think I paid $5 for my registration in Ann Arbor, and it's still valid for the past few years. My friend's bikes have been recovered by the police when they were stolen because they were registered. But even if they were to use the money to build more bike paths, it still doesn't make sense when the gas tax is already paying for this. I think in many cities, registration is mandatory, but never enforced. It's there for the previous reason I mentioned as well as assessing demand for bike lanes, bike parking and storage, or mounting units on buses. Almost all of these amenities are funded through other means....not the registration itself.

LEED certified buildings

cityboi — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:22:47 +0000

Here is a photo update on what is touted as America's Greenest Hotel. Its a very posh hotel too. The hotel is located about a mile northwest of downtown. There is a greenway trail nearby the hotel for walking, jogging and bicycling. When the hotel elevator goes up and down it actually regenerates electricity.

The Proximity Hotel - Greensboro, North Carolina (The first LEED Platinum Hotel in the United States)

The hotel was features on NBC's Today Show as one of the best places to visit in the United States
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/25260251#25260251

named "best hotel" in The Best of Southern Living (December 2008)
http://www.proximityhotel.com/images/Besto...vingReprint.pdf

Fortune and Wallpaper Magazines both picked the Proximity as one of the top 50 business hotels in the world!
http://www.proximityhotel.com/images/FortuneMay_26_2008.pdf

recent Boston Globe article
http://www.boston.com/travel/getaways/us/a..._green_ranking/

Metropolitan Home Magazine
http://www.proximityhotel.com/images/MetropolitanHome.pdf

Global Innovation Report (England)
http://www.proximityhotel.com/images/GlobalInnovations.pdf

The hotel was also mentioned in:

The New York Times
The Dallas Morning News
US Airways Magazine
The Wall Street Journal Magazine
Travel & Leasure Magazine

Will you stop drinking Bottled Water

RaleighRob — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:57:49 +0000

I'm moving to a place with well water that tastes a bit off. So far been using bottled water but I guess that's something I need to move away from, even though I always recycle. Gonna start shopping for Brita or Pur soon.

Will you stop drinking bottled beer?

Neo — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:10:49 +0000

Here is a great video I found on Youtube about bottled water:

Race to be green

Neo — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:04:13 +0000

Captain Worley, on Feb 24 2009, 10:27 AM, said:

I'm all for clean air, but CO2 is not a pollutant. I can't believe people consider it that.

The EPA has now officially declared the CO2 is harmful. It is now under review by the Office of Management and Budget, and if approved, will make its way into the Clean Air Act where it would be regulated.

Bike registration every two years in Oregon?

Southron — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:59:52 +0000

Captain Worley, on Mar 17 2009, 09:34 AM, said:

Most ridiculous thing I've heard of. it is a blatant money grab by the politicos.

I agree, this is absolutely ridiculous. What's next, forcing people to buy a permit to walk on city sidewalks? We should be encouraging people to ride bikes, not finding stupid ways to keep them from cycling.

Bike registration every two years in Oregon?

Captain Worley — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:34:19 +0000

Most ridiculous thing I've heard of. it is a blatant money grab by the politicos.

Bike registration every two years in Oregon?

suburban george3 — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 23:47:19 +0000

As long as the funds are increasing bike paths and cyclist safety on public roads, I don't see an issue with it..

Bike registration every two years in Oregon?

Neo — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:40:19 +0000

Spartan, on Mar 14 2009, 10:51 AM, said:

I would only support something like this if the person does NOT own a vehicle. Even then its a bit of a stretch. What do the Netherlands do?

I'm not sure what the requirements are in the Netherlands, but I agree with you that if you are already paying for the roads (i.e. you have a vehicle) then you shouldn't be required to pay a fee to ride your bicycle on public roads and pathways. Of course, you must pay for each vehicle you have so I'm not sure that they would see a bicycle or multiple bicycles any differently.

Bike registration every two years in Oregon?

Spartan — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 14:51:12 +0000

I would only support something like this if the person does NOT own a vehicle. Even then its a bit of a stretch. What do the Netherlands do?

Bike registration every two years in Oregon?

Neo — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:05:41 +0000

There is a proposed bill in Oregon that would require a $54 registration fee for having a bike and riding it on streets and bike paths. Obviously this is a way to get money back from those who either switched to bicycle commutes or reduced the days they drive by riding a bike.

Do you agree or disagree with a registration fee for using a bike in this manner? Currently we're all getting a free ride and using public roads and paths to ride our bikes. Obviously bikes don't do damage to roads like cars/trucks do and I would imagine they don't do any damage in the grand scheme of things.

http://www.leg.state.or.us/09reg/measures/...3008.intro.html

Will you stop drinking Bottled Water

Neo — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:48:13 +0000

michigrandgirl, on Mar 13 2009, 09:31 AM, said:

I also am a huge fan of the PUR filter attached to my kitchen tap. As another alternative, has anyone else seen or tried "BOXED WATER" yet? I think it's awesome - and doesn't taste weird either.

I've never seen or heard of boxed water.

I just take a Nalgene bottle and fill it up with water from my fridge that runs through the filter. I can't tell a difference between it and the Deer Park stuff I was addicted to before.

Will you stop drinking Bottled Water

michigrandgirl — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:31:06 +0000

I also am a huge fan of the PUR filter attached to my kitchen tap. As another alternative, has anyone else seen or tried "BOXED WATER" yet? I think it's awesome - and doesn't taste weird either.

Race to be green

Neo — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:12:44 +0000

Captain Worley, on Mar 2 2009, 10:30 AM, said:

I thought this wwas the case but couldn't find it on the web. According to the latest issue of Moteor Trend, GM is building a factory for production of Volt batteries. It's supposed to be up and runing in 2010.

I believe this is just an assembly plant for the batteries. The actual batteries will be made in Korea.

Race to be green

Captain Worley — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:30:57 +0000

Going green!

Neo — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:56:53 +0000

suburban george3, on Feb 27 2009, 12:07 AM, said:

Effective October 1st, 2009; it will be illegal to dump plastic bottles into any landfill in NC. They must be recycled. Of course, it will be virtually impossible for many cities and counties to police this...

Unfortunately it will be just a law for law's sake and won't be enforceable. Are they going to have garbage collectors write tickets when they pick up your trash?

The best way to handle the illegal dumping of items in landfills is to make recycling of illegal goods super easy. My city accepts everything from computers and any other appliance (i.e. fridge) to plastic bottles and cardboard. We don't have to separate anything, just set it out on your trash day and the city takes care of it. They of course do want you to call if you have a major appliance out, but they make that super easy. We also have a $15/mo charge for an extra garbage bin beyond the first one (which is free). They will give you as many recycling containers as you need at no charge.

Going green!

suburban george3 — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 05:07:34 +0000