Transportation

Boycotting Gas? The Great American Gas Out Sham.

11 March 2013
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Just like every Spring, emails and Facebook feeds are lighting up with news of this year’s Great American Gas Out.

For the small price of refusing to buy gas on this one arbitrarily chosen day (or sometimes chosen weekend), you effectively decrease the profits of oil companies.

Actually, you inflate your own sense of eco-righteousness.  That is about all that you will accomplish.

Gas prices will stay the same (despite the false claims of previous years causing gas prices to fall $.30 overnight).  This “event” is a total sham.

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I have never played along with the gas out, even during my years writing this blog as “Green Grounded” when I yearned to be the most environmentally-friendly gal in town.

Why did I avoid this annual boycott?

Think about it.  Who are we joking to think we are changing anything with this method?

Even the originators of this email suggest fueling up on the 14th, or on the 16th.   Fuel away!  Fill your car overflowing with glorious liquid gold (not the cheese) with abandon!  The oil companies will feel our wrath on the 15th, however, when suddenly their sales are all dried up!

Gandhi said something about being the change, right?  Not staging a one-day protest where you simply put off doing a chore you will happily oblige to the day after.

I feel the same way about Earth Hour, realizing Read more »

You Want to Talk Gas Prices During Obama’s Inauguration?

12 March 2012
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I have seen more ignorance purported regarding what gas prices when Obama took office.

More inane pictures, more pundits babbling, and more mindless regurgitating of a fact – that gas prices were $1.86 or such when Obama was inaugurated.

A fact is a fact.
A fact is a fact – in context.

This “fact” that is being spewed by the ultra-conservative media and their followers is a fact completely out of context, which as far as I can decide, is no fact at all.

Gas was that price when Obama took the office.  Guess what?

Get it?

I was Read more »

Proximity Costs of Living (“Green” House, pt.2)

18 June 2010
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Not only have we considered what we can afford in energy efficiency (or renovating as such), but house buying requires considering the cost of your location.  No, I do not mean the cost of the house, but the cost of living in that house.

Do we want a bigger chunk of land, where obviously we are going to have to drive 15 minutes minimum to just about everything (work, life, play), but we have our sanctuary to start a family?  Do we want to sacrifice space and interior square footage in order to live somewhere more urban?

(Unfortunately, Raleigh is so big, that you can literally live downtown “in the middle of everything” and still have to actually drive 15 minutes to get just about anywhere. Sigh.)

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Oh, City of Raleigh... I wish you were... smaller.

To be more specific:  do we want to live near downtown Wake Forest, where we can live and play conveniently in a walkable community, but drive 25-50 minutes each way to work?  Do we sacrifice living in a community we really enjoy in order to be much closer to work, but also have to drive to do anything else — including driving to a park just to go for a jog? Unfortunately for us, nothing is “walkable” about Raleigh. You better love your car. I mean, insanely love it.

Location.  Location.  Location.

The thing is, “location” means different things to different people.  Like Marc and me.

….

It turns out, we bought a house in an area neither of us had shown any previous interest in.  I would love living in the heart of historic downtown Raleigh (or actually historic downtown Wake Forest or historic downtown Durham).  Then again, everyone would, and that is why the houses are a fortune.

Honestly, we find downtown Raleigh entirely too busy, too froo-froo, and too big for us.  We like a downtown you can navigate completely by foot.  Asheville, by the way, is our favorite, with Wake Forest, Durham, and Pittsboro tying just underneath.

We found a house two weeks ago that we really really liked though.  A house that is the nicest house we’ve looked at so far.  Gorgeous.  Two stories (I always wanted to live in a two story house… Marc wanted to stick to a ranch).  A beautiful green color home, with a beautiful open front porch.  A large, happy back deck.  Spacious, lovely rooms, and nicely maintained.

This house was way east of where we wanted, however.  East of 540, just north of Knightdale.  Country.  I mean, ponds, swamps, horse-stables, mosquito-ridden country.

While we both like the idea of the country, I guess we both realized we are not ready to be that far away from everything.  Even a pop-up trip to the store would be a production.

Then our agent let us know a house we saw back in April was back on the market.  North of North Hills, south of North Raleigh… in an area we think is convenient and we can love.  Easier to work, play, and more.  Where I can jog, where we can meet friends, where we drive a little less.

…

So maybe “location” does not mean something that different to Marc and me, after all.

Just another part of the debate as we look at the money, the houses, and our lives.

Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue

Audi Branding Fails with Green Police

8 February 2010
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The Audi “Green Police” Super Bowl commercial last night was a major letdown for many environmentalists (not all), as well as a major shot in the arm for extremists on both sides.  I think it was a marketing fail on Audi’s behalf not to take a more grounded approach… or at least hit their target properly.  And I explain why here on AshleySue.

Boycotting the Rose Parade

1 January 2010
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FYI, flowers are lovely and all, but incredibly eco-unfriendly.  Particularly when you’re talking the scale of the Rose Bowl Parade.  Doubting they are grown with much concern for toxins, not to mention the global transport for these flowers.  I have no doubt by refusing to watch the parade I am making a difference, too.

Meh.

Oh yeah, and HAPPY 2010!  I’m thirty now!

:)

Sustainably yours,

Ashley Sue

Shot for Bicycling?

28 July 2009
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I posted before why I hesitate bicycling around town, but I figured getting runover was my biggest concern.  Now we have to contend with being shot for bicycling… by a firefighter?  With our child strapped to the bike?  And our spouse bicycling beside us?  Really?!

Sustainably… and safely yours,  Ashley Sue

Giveaways, Coupons, & Posts to Come

25 June 2009
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Quick updates:

At the beginning of next week, I should be posting a contest to win a $50 Earth Fare gift card! Yay! Who doesn’t adore Earth Fare’s delectable, healthy, conscientious grocer selection and body care?! I know I have been thrilled to familiarize myself with Earth Fare! So keep an eye out for that NEXT WEEK!

Until then, for today (Friday, 26 June 2009), you can print out this coupon to visit your local Earth Fare and receive a FREE PRE-MADE DELI SANDWICH! I personally am excited for the coupon, so feel free to bump into me at Earth Fare!

Also, I attended the third annual Mountain Green Conference at Warren Wilson College ~ and I have a true plethora of information to share. From sealing your thermal envelope of your house, reducing air leaks and drafts, greener automechanics, building science, owls, local foods, beekeeping, the groundbreaking historic measures of WWC, NASCAR, and some generally nifty (albeit common sense) knowledge, posts are coming!

Bonus: posts of my Pisgah National Forest retreat will be coming too!

Lastly, HUGELY, I will spend part of this weekend and next week doing a MASSIVE overhaul of this website layout.  I have a lot of issues with the functionality and aesthetics of this theme, so I will be designing a CSS to make it better suited for (g)g and my purposes.  So get excited about that ~ I am!  This is LONG overdue change!

Hoorah!

Cheers to you all ~
See you at Earth Fare today!

Sustainably yours,
Ashley Sue

Economy Priority Over Environment, Global Warming HooHa

23 April 2009
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Browsing through various news on green life on the grounded “every American” level, I found a blogpost from the NYTimes showing a Gallup Poll this month indicating that, for the first time in over two decades, Americans feel considerations for the economy trump environmental concerns.

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According to this post, another recent Gallup Poll shows that the majority of Americans believe global warming threats are greatly exaggerated.  People ask me about this constantly.

A friend and mentor on Twitter pointed out that polls can be “useless” and “confusing”.  That is true.  The mere wording of a question can greatly alter how people respond to it.  The source also has to be considered because, as I have heard many times, anyone can find the result they want if they try.

I can easily see where Americans would feel that environmental issues need to be overlooked for now if it could mean saving our flailing economy.  Too many Americans are in daily survival mode.   Spending large amounts of money and time on more expensive alternative energies, organic foods, and other “green” endeavors seems unjustified to many.

If you couple the “economy v. environment” debate with the “is global warming a farce?” debate, you can truly see why people would choose economic stability initiatives at the sacrifice of environmental efforts.

These either/or arguments are short-sighted and highly deficient, however, and stem from a mix of media chaos and one-way thinking.

Traditional news media love to propagate/slam global warming, economic fears, and right-wing/left-wing rhetoric.  If we stay afraid, if we pit against each other, if we only hear the extreme perspectives, we will cling to the news media for more information that confirms what we want confirmed.

Feeling that the economy can only be saved at the sacrifice of the environment or that the environment will only be saved at the sacrifice of a sound economy is simply a lack of knowledge regarding history and economics.

Whether you personally want economic stability, a healthy family, farmers who are paid well, a thriving city life and career, or a lush yard in the country, each of these comes down to environmental welfare.

While moving into a “green” lifestyle or environmentally-minded decisions requires cost analysis and consideration, the forethought to know saving a dime right now can cost us exponentially in the near future is what will thrive in the new economy.

Capitalism will reward careful thought and implementation of environmentalism in the economy.

So decide if you actually need to watch that extra half-hour of news media, consider the source of the information you receive, take a giant breath in, exhale, and know somehow, someway, we can all be OK, including our environment.

Sustainably yours,  Ashley Sue

Van Jones Video Interview

21 April 2009
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In honor of Earth Day, I figure I should share a completely beautiful and inspiring video of David Gottfried and Van Jones discussing what we are working toward and how this transformation is happening.

You could certainly say I am drinking the Van Jones kool-aid.  After all, he’s beautiful, he’s a humanitarian, he’s intelligent, he’s positive, he’s insistent.  Why would I fight that?

Truly, take a few minutes to fall captive to the video on urban renewal and environmental progress for a new world.

And take a minute to smile.  Take a deep, rejuvenating breath, exhale, and smile.

Happy Earth Day!

Sustainably yours ~ Ashley Sue

The Face of Sustainability

23 March 2009
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People who care for the natural environment tend to embrace or reject many labels.  Greenies.  Environmentalists.  Conservationists.  Conservatives.  Liberals.  Hunters.  Vegetarians.  Gas guzzler.  Clean coal.  Wasteful.  Shop-a-holic.  Hybrid.  Republicans.  Just kidding about that last one, by the way, and feeding on the stereotype of a Treehugger. ;)

Environmentalists are blamed by some for hating.  A lot.

Seriously, Google “Environmentalists hate”, which I did to see what kinds of words would pop up.  ”Solar”, “Grass”,  ”America”, “blacks”, “minorities”, “the poor”, and “humans” all make the list of who and what environmentalists seek to destroy.

Googling “anti-green” yielded interesting results, too.  As it turns out, a slew of webpages devoted either  to railing the environmental movement due to people feeling annoyed by “greenie” superiority complexes or to proving the environmental movement theories as we know it to be wrong.  A couple were just humor blogs… and some, I frankly could not tell how serious they were.  Just look here, here, here and here for a few examples of these sites.

My biggest issue, however, are those that are sustainability and conservation-minded basing each other.  The ends do not justify the means for many, and the semantics over how to achieve a healthy ecosystem create confusion, misunderstandings, and blatant failure of communication.

After all, when is the last time you heard a “vegetarian” speak nicely of a “hunter”, or vice versa?

I attended the Dixie Deer Classic ~ a hunting type of convention at the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh a couple weekends ago.  I brought a video camera because I wanted to ask some hunters to share their visions of conservation and environmentalism for my blog.

I realized, however, being approached by a vegetarian “greenie” with a video camera may be a little threatening and questionable.  So instead, I simply opted for conversation.

As it turns out, I spoke at great length with the Wake County Wildlife Club, and learned a lot.  I will be sharing, shortly, more regarding that conversation, some of the inspirations I gained from that weekend, and questions that arose for me.

Thus, I bring you a Green Grounded featurette ~ “Face of Sustainability”.  Starting this week, I will occasionally chronicle one person, one every day normal person, who in lengths great, small, or controversial, are environmentalists.

I look forward to bringing you this segment, and if you are in the Asheville or Raleigh area and would like to share your views, feel free to contact me.

Until then…

Sustainably yours,

Ashley Sue