Fresh AIRE

I am brilliant

My husband and I moved from suburban life 3 years ago to a condo in Clarendon (Arlington) -- and I felt brilliant at the time, with gas at $3/gallon. With gas now at $4+, I feel like a downright genius!

Now the New York Times has confirmed my genius-ness with an article, "Fuel Prices Shift Math for Life in Far Suburbs." As the article states, "The shift to costlier fuel is threatening to slow the decades-old migration away from cities."

Higher fuel prices may at last be providing the big motivation for people to seek a more transit-oriented, walkable, bikeable life. We've already seen that Arlington's urban villages have weathered the housing downturn better than our ex-burban neighbors.

Urban villages = healthier and now, wealthier! Am I brilliant, or what!

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Diana Sun is Director of Communications for Arlington County, a walking commuter, bicylist, and happy resident of the urban village of Clarendon.

What if Metro trains never stopped?!

Sure, a train that never stops would inherently be more energy efficient without all of the stop and start motion.  They would also be more reliable BUT is it really practical?

While this isn't in the works for Metro here in the greater Washington DC area, it is an interesting idea.  One can only wonder what is being said in the video since it is in Taiwanese but it poses a very interesting concept.  It is hard to visualize how a train could allow passengers to board and exit while speeding along but the 3D animation illustrates this top-mounted boarding shuttle system.

Arlington Residents continually call our office with great ideas to save emissions and reduce energy use. While this idea is rather abstract, we always welcome your thoughts and input.

Click below to get an idea on how this concept might work:

If you have reduced your energy use at home or work please let us know.  We would love to share your success in future blog entries!

Small Steps...Big Difference!

I just spent the weekend hanging out with some friends, one of whom I just learned has taken one small step towards environmental responsibility - without even knowing it!  In an effort to get more fit, he began biking to work three days a week.  He claims his "motives are not so noble" since he does it "primarily for fitness," but I have to applaud him.  This is a tremendous environmental commitment as well.  Emissions from transportation are fairly sizable in most communities.  In Arlington, transportation accounts for about 30% of the community's total emissions.  Any steps we can take...big or small...can and do make a big difference. 

I went to CarFreeDiet.com and did a quick assessment of the impact.  Here are the results of my friend's biking commitment, he is: 

• Saving $16 on gas and related car expenses per week
• Reducing the amount of CO2 emitted by 27.9 pounds per week
• Burning over 1200 calories per week

Rock on!

Finishing the Community Bike Ride: priceless!

Registration: $18.
Water bottle: $3.
Feeling of accomplishment at completing the 24-mile, 2008 Arlington/Alexandria Community Bike Ride: priceless!

On Saturday, I completed my THIRD Community Bike Ride -- we took a huge loop around Arlington and Alexandria, including what I call the "million-dollar" monumental view from the GW Parkway. Of course what I will remember about this particular bike ride is the heat, baby! Temperatures neared 100 degrees; event organizers kept us well hydrated and cared for. It's a great way to see the wide variety of biking -- trails, lanes, and routes -- in our community, and a lot of fun, too.

Since my first Community Bike Ride three years ago, I've bought a bike (I rented that first year) and have traveled many of the local trails. But more importantly, both my husband and I have been using our bikes to run errands and day-to-day tasks, e.g., doctor's appointment, farmers' market, pharmacy, grocery store, even business meetings. The bikes help us stay fit, and with gas hitting $4/gallon, it's a wise financial choice as well. We feel brilliant!

This year, I rode with my colleague Shannon Flanagan-Watson -- we're pictured here at the finish line, still standing and still smiling! We had a lot of  fun riding together and hope to recruit even more colleagues to join us next year! The police (on bikes) escort going down Fairfax Drive was AWESOME. Hope to see you out there!

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Diana Sun is Director of Communications for Arlington County, a walking commuter and bicylist, and a happy resident of the urban village of Clarendon.

Looking for a Free Ride?

A program called Ride Free is going on now!  The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission set up this program for the summer to help residents do our part to improve air quality.  On high ozone days (code red) from May 1 to September 15, Ride Free offers free bus rides in Northern Virginia to help keep cars off the road and their emissions out of the air.  Hopefully we won't have many, if any, code red days, but just in case...

The Six Habits of Money-Wasting (and Energy-Wasting) Drivers

If you’re one of the millions of American’s that owns or drives a car, you may very well be wasting some of your hard earned dollars on some easy-to-cure gas guzzling driving habits.  CNNMoney.com issued an article today entitled, “6 ways you’re wasting gas.”  I must first say that it’s pretty funny/ironic how I came across this article.  My husband, who I lovingly refer to as ‘the worst driver on the planet,’ sent the article link to me early this morning.  I see myself as a decent driver and have been guilty of the habits noted from time to time, but my husband is guilty of these far more frequently!  In brief, the article points to some very common driving habits that are costing loads of dollars at the gas pump.  If you’re guilty, breaking just two of the habits can improve fuel economy by as much as 35%!  Plus, you are reducing the amount of emissions your car is spitting out into the air.  It’s a win-win all around.  I have to send a huge THANK YOU out to CNNMoney.com, because now I’m not so much the nagging wife as the money saver! 

Rethinking the bike lane - where should it live?

Here is an interesting film to get you thinking about bike lane design.  The film is about 8 minutes long and well worth the time.  Arlington has long been a leader in smart growth and transit oriented development as you know and Bike Arlington along with Commuter Services continues to innovate our connectivity. Here is yet another idea to consider for our streets to further encourage bicyclists and keep them safe.

Though this video is NYC-centric in nature, all lessons and video easily apply to cities across the U.S. including the metro DC area.

This film was sourced from http://www.streetfilms.org/.  Feel free to look at the other educational films and resources on their site.

Our new hybrid - Update #3 (1 year) [cross-post]

Please see my post on the Commuter Page blog about the reason you should buy a hybrid car if you live in Arlington (and even if you don't).

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Steve Offutt, Arlington

I'm So Proud!

Although my family has always been supportive of my career choice, they have never really understood my interest and motivation in working to “protect the environment.”  But, after more than 14 years of studying and working in the field, I think they’re starting to come around and I’m just so proud! 

I’ve long been deemed the “tree-hugger” in my family and quite frankly, very proud of that.  I wear it like a badge of honor.  Wearing this badge means that I often have to remind my mom to “turn off the faucet” when she cleans up the kitchen counters, tell my dad to “turn off the light” when he leaves a room, or urge my brother to “recycle that bottle” when he’s about to throw one in the trash can.  I try not to nag, but I do look for these instances where an opportunity presents itself and I jump right on in with my two cents.  The best part of wearing this badge is that it has actually rubbed off in some way. 

The best example of this is the decision my parents made in 2003 to buy a Honda Civic Hybrid.  Now, we can’t forget one of the major factors in this decision – the allowance to use the HOV lanes!  Nor can we forget the bottom line benefit of money saved at the pump (the car averages about 40 mpg).  But, we should focus on the fact that by owning this car, my parents are continuing to prevent an enormous amount of harmful emissions that would have otherwise gone into our air.  The decision, as my parents like to say, was a “no brainer.” 

Another example is the fact that my mom now not only looks for CFLs instead of traditional incandescent bulbs, which is a huge leap in itself, she even knows to look for the ENERGY STAR label on the package.  For those not familiar, ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.  You can now find the ENERGY STAR label on over 50 product categories as well as buildings (commercial, institutional, and industrial) and homes.  Now, my mom may not know the details of ENERGY STAR, but she recognizes that the cyan blue label means something important.  She understands that it means it will save her money and allow her to one way to “do her part.” 

Businesses, Residents: Want to Learn How to Fight Global Climate Change? Then Attend Arlington's Car-Free Diet Expo January 29

The first must-attend "green" event of the 2008 season is Arlington's Car-Free Diet Expo. The event, to be held at the brand spanking new and gleaming Hotel Palomar in Rosslyn (2 blocks from the Metro) on the morning of January 29, has something for everyone. Breakfast will be provided. Attendees can register to win many door prizes and everyone will get a chance to meet Chris Balish and receive a free autographed copy of the "Special Arlington Virginia" edition of his book "How To Live Well Without Owning A Car."

Employers and property managers will get to learn about the services of Arlington Transportation Partners. Everyone will get to attend speed learning sessions with national experts covering information on transportation services and programs as well as other green services available in Arlington. Fresh AIRE and Arlington Recycles staff will also be on hand to teach you what your business or property can do to be environmentally friendly.

Exhibitors include Zipcar, TeleworkVA!, GoLoco, Whole Foods, Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment, Fresh AIRE, Bike and Walk Arlington, Arlington Recycles and many more (for a full list visit the Expo web page). Each of these vendors will be providing great prizes including free energy audits and more. These will be listed on the web site shortly.

Visit Arlington's Car-Free Diet Expo web page for more information and don't forget to RSVP. Send us an email or call 703.247.9299. See you on the 29th!

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Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for Arlington County, manager of CommuterPageBlog and a biking/Metro commuter from Rosemont in Alexandria.