Comments DannyGirl has made

  • To VidrianSeattle: Cute. Sure - in Holland people go everywhere, on flat even terrain, surrounded shoulder to shoulder with other cyclists in a richly bike-centric culture. That's not the dynamics we work with here: hills, cars far numbering cyclists, and a very "car-centric, bicycle-invisible" mindset. Look, people will walk away with a basic idea of 'helmets good' or 'helmets bad'. What you're talking about takes skill to avoid serious head injuries in the absence of helmets. That's all well and good but it doesn't make for good general audience messenging which has to take into account that there are no manditory trainings for biking like cars, no testing and licensing of any kind. People view bikes as being basically toys, we let our small children ride them nearly unattended and just go from there. Sure a helmet is not a bubble. It won't save you from tearing up your entire body in the event of a bad crash. All kind of bad things could happen to you. But a simple crash with some road rash shouldn't automatically be pre-packaged with a concussion also. Helmets work.On Ask Umbra on bike helmets posted 1 month, 1 week ago 12 Responses
  • I'm sorry but this is utter nonsense. I've personally seen your "lightweight piece of styrofoam with a bunch of holes" get cracked when a friend took a tumble on a wet pavement plate. THAT CRACK would have been in his skull! Cracked skulls are pretty much the worst kind of concussion we can have. The helmet saved his life and kept him from being Vegetablized End of story. If you don't believe me, try this experiment on yourself: sit on a bicycle, fully upright. No movement (which is in most crashes). Just sit. You're probably sitting 6 feet tall or so. Now, tuck your shoulders out of the way, and let the bicycle and you fall over in a perfect arc. No slumping and falling on your arms or hands. The object is get your head to bounce off the pavement from a 6 foot drop with no helmet. Have you done it? Ok, assuming you survive your head cracking open like an egg, go ahead and post the results here some months later when you re-gain the ability to speak and think and write and everything else.On Ask Umbra on bike helmets posted 1 month, 1 week ago 12 Responses
  • I noted that the gist of the article *wasn't* about bicycling safety and its merits. It was about helmets and what to do with them after a theoretical crash. :-/On Ask Umbra on bike helmets posted 1 month, 1 week ago 12 Responses
  • The bulk of modern bike helmets is a kind of styrofoam. The only place I've seen that take styrofoam packing frames (analogous to bike helmet inserts) is this collection bin at IKEA in Renton, near the check-out exit. I have no idea what they do with them (they also collect other hard-to-recycle items that represent the products they peddle.) I would think that IF YOU REMOVED all non-stryo parts of the helmet (outer shell, chin straps, foamy inner pads, etc) then you could probably recycle the styrofoam part at IKEA. Unless someone has other info?On Ask Umbra on bike helmets posted 1 month, 1 week ago 12 Responses

  • brings up gender issues in a big way

    It's pretty noticeable for men and women alike (if the gals swing that way) when a man's 'gear' is on the small size - and very regrettable if this is attributable the plastics he was exposed to from the periods in utero through puberty.  What I'm guessing is being in overlooked is the same kind of effect showing up in girls.  That is is to say a too-small, impossible-to-find clitoris.  Yet, this still sort of appearance files under 'feminine' and therefore socially acceptable (if sexually deleterious).  So, to the extent that policy makers and industry actually give a crap about male sexual health, they might get off their butts and do something.  Females will benefit by proxy, but no one's going to get off their buts to save the endangered clitoris, I'd hazard to say. On Phthalates linked to abnormal genitalia in baby boys posted 1 year, 1 month ago 5 Responses

  • supposedly non-racist Asian & Middle Eastern

    Indian people not racist?  Have you ever hear of the caste system?  The Indians are some of the most racist people on earth!  Dark skinned Indians who have the money will actually try to get their skin bleached (!!) to suit mainstream values for light skins.  This doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the depth of cultural racism and regionalism that exists in that country alone.  (See the movie 'Chak De! India' for some hints.)  

    Take note: EVERYONE on earth is racist to some extent or other.  The reality is that it's mainly in "white"-dominated, educated and financially stable areas where racism has eroded and been challenged to any extent at all.  Every culture on earth has prejudice against a stable of other humans, with no exceptions.  

    I trust the Gates Founcations WAY more to do good in Africa than Chinese, Indian or Middle Eastern investors.  WAY MORE.On Gates Foundation wants to boost local agriculture in developing nations posted 1 year, 2 months ago 12 Responses

  • How about local agriculture right here?

    ... to feed the BMGF's own staff?  We should be able to buy everything we need (with minor diet modifications) from foods grown right in Washington and Oregon.  Where are the greenhouses??  Central & Eastern Washington/Oregon get enough wintertime sunlight to keep cranking out the veggies.  Let's take all those recycled curbside bottles & jars and make some greenhouses!  Meanwhile, Western Washington/Oregon could be the vegetarian protein capitols with mushroom megafarms.  This could work! On Gates Foundation wants to boost local agriculture in developing nations posted 1 year, 2 months ago 12 Responses

  • I read Ishmael and the sequel

    ...and it's completely logical and compellingly written.  It's also completely inhumane and would probably take unbelievable elitism to intentionally put in place.  I fear the world that could actually accomplish this project.

    Spoiler: too much food = increased fertility = more people.  Answer: take away the food, problem solved.On Umbra on small steps with big impacts posted 1 year, 2 months ago 18 Responses

  • having babies question - but when in life matters

    I'm wondering "tmakreider's" positon on the timing of when one has those babies.  At the rate I'm going, I won't be a parent before age 36.  At which point I ask, is it 'OK' for someone like me to go ahead and break that ZPG (Zero Population Growth) rule of 2 kids?  I think that anyone who waits to their 30s before they have kid #1 is not in the same boat as people starting in their teens or 20s.  The reason is simple: if all my kids follow the same pattern, our familial generations will be way stretched out (out of line with what biology intended) and it's unlikely great-grandparents will be alive when great-grand-children are born, also unlikely that grandparents will be in any shape to actively participate in the care of their grandkids.

    Please also remember that around the world, the reason people have lots of children is not only to serve religious dogma, or because they were bored and having sex is cheap entertainment, but BECAUSE having a stable of children ensures security for the parents in old age because children don't always live to adulthood.  Even in our culture old age security is NOT a given.  If you want to address the "too many babies" issue, you also have to address the issue of security in old age and issue of resentful youngsters to pay the taxes to make it happen.On Umbra on small steps with big impacts posted 1 year, 2 months ago 18 Responses

  • failing to put their advertising muscle to work...

    If you want to get Americans (or any group of humans) to buy X product (in this case, "small sporty" and very fuel efficient cars) all you gotta do - as any company worth their salt knows - is advertise it the right way to the right opinion leaders in any group to create the mindset that this is the next 'it' product that all the cool kids gotta have.  

    Red state folks have disproportionately bought American autos because of the patriotism factor - all the while pumping scads of foreign oil (from countries who hate us) into the tanks.  What could be a more patriotic option?  An American auto that runs on next none of that liberty-hating oil. Better yet, autos running on American-brewed eco-fuels that keep the American landscape clean and American children free of pollutants.    Now THAT'S patriotic.

    See, you can sell anything if you know how to speak to the customer's concerns.

    Signed, --a Japanese auto loverOn Ford won't sell 65-mpg diesel car in U.S. posted 1 year, 2 months ago 8 Responses

  • 15 years ago in diapers?

    I don't mean to be a butthead here but... Umbra - were you really in diapers 15 years ago?  Estimating generously, that would mean you're 17 years old now.  I do hope I'm taking broad based eco-lifestyle advice from someone a tad older than 17.  Props to all the green teens out there but still.

    [I for one would have been a little older than age 17 about 15 years ago - and I would have wanted to quote eco paper policy chapter-and-verse to any employer.  Whether they would have listened is another story.  I was the mid--to-late-90s "eco warrior" riding my bike to work at a >county< job for years - to the building that used its employee shower as a storage closet - enduring disgusted looks and rolled eyes of inconvenienced supervisors... and NOW King County is all about employee health and trip reduction.  But, anyway...]  On Umbra on recycled vs. certified paper posted 1 year, 2 months ago 9 Responses

  • Why is she only picking on Brita? What about Pur?

    I ditched Brita pitcher filters years back because the pitchers were one more item of clutter I didn't need on my counter.  We use the in-tap Pur filters (they're leaky bastards, but I digress) and it's the same issue as the Brita filters or any other brand not mentioned here.  You're throwing out big hunk of plastic  - that's certainly refurbishable!  Brita et al could even market refurbished cartridges as a 'green' option.

    I don't see how this is any different than printer toner cartridge issue.  There is a fairly robust infrastructure in place now to recycle printer cartridges with an economic incentive to the customer since some places will offer a credit off your next purchase.  This is the way Brita, Pur, etc filters should be handled by retailers.

    [While we're at it - what's with those #6 plastic 'frames' for boxing electronics be un-recyclable, not even at our local recycle drives.  Bah!]On Campaign calls on Brita to recycle water filters posted 1 year, 3 months ago 7 Responses

  • but what'll they do with all the now-unused trays?

    I mean, what happens to the trays (short of donating them to frats for said sledding fun, which is climate-dependent).  Some trays are made of plastic and might be recycled.  Other trays are made of this material I'd be hard-pressed to characterize.  Not quite plastic, not quite wood, not quite fiber-glass.  What are they??  

    I think they have a recycling conundrum on their hands now!  Maybe the art department can help.On Colleges forgo cafeteria trays to save water and energy posted 1 year, 3 months ago 11 Responses

  • and they can grow vegetarian protein underneath

    I've thought about what this would mean if anyone ever installed large scale photovoltaics anywhere on earth - think of all the ground it would cover in shade.  What simultaneous use can that ground be put to?  Growing mainstream and gourmet mushrooms, of course!  (I don't mean 'shrooms, ahem!)  Think of it - who were the first people to install large scale wind farms?  People with large tracts of land like farmers and ranchers.  Why not come at it from the other direction?  Photovoltaics + mushrooms is a great, vegetarian combination.  Frances Moore Lappe would be proud.On Ginormous solar plants to be built in California posted 1 year, 3 months ago 15 Responses

  • look left while turning right

    I hear you brother - as a past, longterm commute cyclist (in the days of 99c gas!) I never stopped being infuriated by drivers who did this... and then then life's responsibilities moved to where I simply can't function where I live, and with the volume of responsibilities... and I also understand that when drivers do this, it's a basic expression of human psychology.  That is, we look to avoid getting hit by anything our size and larger.  I drive an econobox so that's most things on 4 wheels.  I really try to stay conscious of bikes, motorcycles, etc but it really is a struggle.  And if it's a struggle for me with my history, it's well nigh unachievable for everyone else.  Amen to the increase in bike lanes and trails - or bicyclists just getting their butts on the sidewalk.  [BTW, Holding up traffic riding in the middle of the road is not only dangerous to the cyclist and infuriating to the driver - it's illegal in most places.]  On Colleges, high schools move to be more bike- and pedestrian-friendly posted 1 year, 3 months ago 6 Responses

  • invention for 1-armed bicyclists & tricyclists

    I learned about this exciting development in making cycling accessible to more 'types' of disabled folks (in this case, those with 1 normal arm & hand + 1 disabled arm/hand.

    http://www.brakedirector.com/index.htm

    More about the inventor:

    http://biznik.com/members/david-krafchick

    There's been accessible 'human powered vehicles' for paraplegics and assisted tandem rides for blind folks... now this development!  On Umbra on adult tricycles posted 1 year, 4 months ago 16 Responses

  • I've seen a guy riding a segway from Microsoft...

    ...from Microsoft campus up/down NE 40th street - presumably to his abode somewhere around there.  Of course I was struck by the same feeling most of us have: if you gotta go that fast, ride a damn bike already.  

    But, the Segway was kinda made for the campus environment more than any thing else.  So it fits.  It surely beats golf carts and Microsoft's shuttle fleet doesn't always meet the needs of its riders.

    Still, my revulsion to Segways is quite a bit less than those horrible 2-stroke engine scooters that the likes of "Schucks" sells to lazy teens.  Those things are stinky and loud!  I'd expect that the users of such scooters are on their way to needing sign language pretty quickly.

    When I was a teen and too young to have a driver's lic - and up to age 25 when I was too poor to own a car - I rode my bike everywhere!  It was a gateway to freedom from parental control (as early as age 13) and a gateway to fitness and thrift as well.  What's the problem with these people?  The Seattle area is even more accomodating of bicyclists now than it was back in "my day".On Segway sales at an all-time high posted 1 year, 4 months ago 4 Responses

  • always wondered if those ionizer thingies work

    I have one of those ionizer 'air cleaner' thingies in my cigarette lighter - always wondered if it actually works or if it's just a good luck charm for my air.  Better than a stinky tree, I suppose.

    I don't know if this makes a lick of difference but I compulsively change my auto's airflow from 'fresh' to 'recycle' when I'm behind another vehicle that stinks or puts out visible fumes.  I'm sure this isn't entirely scientific since there's bad stuff you can't see or smell, but it soothes me and I'm the one who has to put up with me.

    Back in my bike-riding daze I would try to avoid stinky cars, avoid hanging behind idling cars at intersections, hold my breath when possible & necessary, anything to cut the exposure.  On Umbra on exerting yourself in traffic posted 1 year, 4 months ago 5 Responses

  • you say "guppy" like it's a bad thing

    remember that it's $$ that drives innovation - including green innovation.  sorry, we don't all want to live under the poverty line and have our environmental choices restricted to re-using yogurt tubs as tupperware and line-drying our clothes >because we have no choice<.  it's easy to be "green" when you got no dough to do otherwise.  I prefer to be green 'cause I got the dough to push the envelope on cool innovations.  

    --one guppy who >chooses< to line dry clothes and flout my HOA's rulesOn Toyota may put solar panels on new Prius to power air conditioning posted 1 year, 4 months ago 14 Responses

  • bring on the moss!

    What I have never understood is why we - especially in the PacNW - don't actively cultivate moss lawns for low impact use (ie, not soccer fields).  Moss is green, soft to walk on barefoot and never grows above a certain height - and it's always taking over lawns anyhow.  That's win-win!  

    Aside from that, we use a push reel and an electric edger.  I mean, I have better things to do with my time (and $$) than running to the gas station to fill up tanks of gas for a mower, get gas on my hands, stink up my car, risk an explosion and fight with a mower trying to get it started (probably messing up my shoulder in the process) not to mention the cost of maintaining the damn thing.  No thank you!  I took our push reels to Aurora Mower to get them sharpened this March - they published a coupon in the Chinook Book.On How to green your yard -- even more posted 1 year, 5 months ago 9 Responses

  • love this line!

    "Two-ton fossil-fool powered wheelchairs" LOLOL!On How to green your commute posted 1 year, 5 months ago 20 Responses

  • www.FuelEconomy.gov

    I can't >believe< this website isn't mentioned!  It's how I selected my current vehicle - and buying even a used hybrid was out of the question.  I bought a zippy little early 90s Honda Civic and I'm set to weather the ups/downs of oil prices without committing myself foolishly to a (bio)diesel... which I had considered.

    And yeah, commute cycling!  The best thing to happen to the American obesity epidemic is rising food and fuel costs.  On How to green your commute posted 1 year, 5 months ago 20 Responses

  • re: "Adios Soy"... raw milk.

    Relating to that Weston Price link, here's my experience to relate:  Last summer I was all gung-ho to switch to raw milk for breakfast cereal & coffee.  I bought raw milk at my local Whole Foods (PCC never seemed to carry it) and found it pleasing, never had any problems relating to sanitary issues.  About the same time I began tracking my menstrual cycles on a calendar.  My cycles have always been up to 30 days long (no complaints!) but I found my cycles were getting shorter - as little as 23 days!  I took my case to my naturopath who informed me that this was still technically 'normal' so she wasn't going to pursue the matter.  (Not normal for me dammit!)  Somewhat randomly, I went nearly a month without buying raw milk and switched back to the almond milk we always keep around.  Poof!  My cycles went back to 28-30 days long and have held like that for a few months now.  My theory is that just as pasteurization destroys nutrients in the milk, it also destroys estrogens that are present because cows are milked at inappropriate times in their reproductive cycle.  Such is the way of modern, industrial farming - even small scale, raw milk producers, sadly.  I won't do soy milk for a variety of reasons and rice milk has too much sugar.  Almond milk it is for me.  On Why that organic label on your milk doesn't tell the whole story posted 1 year, 5 months ago 25 Responses

  • re: Topsy Turvey: The End of the Urb

    Clearly this isn't a black/white, either/or situation.  (Either gas prices are low and people move to the suburbs, gas prices rise and people move to the city -or- land prices drop so people move to the suburbs or land prices rise...)  Clearly the real world is highly dynamic and all the article underscored was a >trend< - like any discernable thread in a tapestry.

    That said, what I have long noted is that the American urbs and suburbs were in the process of moving from the 1950s quintessentially American pattern -- cheap land, cheap oil, jobs & poor located in cities, well-off lived in suburbs and trek in via personal automobile -- to the European model -- expensive land & oil, jobs & well-off located in cities, poor live in suburbs and trek in via mass transit.

    Check out the Paris suburbs ("les banlieux") where the poor live while the chic, well-off live in town.  Check out New York or San Francisco... note any similarities?  It's a matter of time.

    That's assuming anyone, anywhere can afford any kind of transportation relying on an internal combustion engine.  Go to developing countries and the 'suburbs' are shanty towns where the dirt poor live encircling the comparatively well-off city-dwellers.On As gas prices rise, Americans move back to the urbs posted 1 year, 5 months ago 5 Responses

  • mellow yellow

    Low pressure sodium may have uses in specific applications but, last I checked, no one wanted everything in their homes and offices illuminated yellow.  Maybe it could be used for "rise and shine" lighting, however.On Eco-conscious gizmos for the enviro to lust after posted 1 year, 7 months ago 14 Responses

  • CFL, LED, Incandescent

    Bad, bad old incandescents, right?  Good, good CFLs, right?  Hmmm... The problem with incandescents is the same problem with internal combustion engines: old technology that stagnated with improvements as long as the cost of energy was low.  Problem with CFLs (and my house is full of them, mind) is they contain mercury.  And silly people all over the country who are adopting CFLs (thanks to various incentives) aren't really 'qualified' to properly handle and *dispose of* CFLs.  GE (remember them, heh) I've heard is developing a more efficient incandescent.  LEDs (we also have at our house) have a long way to go on price, unless the gov is just going to give them away.  A more efficient incandescent might be a heavy-metal-free, cheap alternative.On Eco-conscious gizmos for the enviro to lust after posted 1 year, 7 months ago 14 Responses

  • yet another campaign, yet more overhead?

    I'm sure it has its merits and all but, whenever I hear of campaigns such as this popping up I have to think, do we really need yet another campaign?  What about the ones we have already?  New organizations means new overhead expenses for the environmental movement "as a whole".  It just makes the whole landscape that much more fractured and disjointed.  I'd rather see an effort with the look and feel of this one coming from one of our decades-old environmental orgs, who probably need to get out the deadwood anyhow.  On McKibben kicks off 350.org, a new international grassroots climate campaign posted 1 year, 7 months ago 12 Responses

  • keep your eye on this date

    January 20, 2009.  And a new hope begins...On Bush's unambitious climate speech bashed by other major economies posted 1 year, 7 months ago 8 Responses

  • TheNeoConsPiracy said it right

    What Walmart, in TYPICAL Walmart fashion, is really saying here is "look, we've already bought a bunch of this stuff and we won't buy anymore but we're going to sell our backstock and the personal consequences of our faceless lower income shoppers be damned."  What they want you to hear is "Hey everyone - look at us - we're green too!!"  Well kids of today, sucks to be you but there's hope for your younger sibs.  Suck it up.On Nalgene, Wal-Mart back away from BPA posted 1 year, 7 months ago 4 Responses