Sustainability on Two Wheels

Have we mentioned yet that Tokyo is brimming with bicycles?

As strong supporters of bicycles ourselves, we are delighted to be in such a cycle-focused city. Though the first several days were perilous (bicyclists oftentimes ride on the sidewalk, and we were adjusting to the modified traffic flow of sticking to the left side of the street), we love the Japanese bicycle culture.

Everyone seems to ride one....and if their legs aren't long enough to reach the pedals, they ride in a basket either in the front or the back. Babies and grandma's and dapper businessmen: they all cycle. All the bicycles are basically the same - cruiser style with plenty of metal baskets anchored to front and back. Bicycle parking lots are commonplace, and although many people seem to own cars, they certainly don't seem to use them for daily transport.

Part of the emphasis on bicycles is certainly impacted by the cost of living in Tokyo, and in particular, the expenses of transportation. While the Tokyo Metro is efficient and widespread and a fantastic way of getting around, it is fairly expensive. We have been spending an average of $7 a day on the subway, and we try to walk as often as possible.Were we to be living in Tokyo longer than 8 days, we would certainly invest in bicycles.

Why bicycle, when you could drive a car instead?

1) Bicycles do not contaminate the air, or contribute to global warming.

2) Cycling is good exercise!!

3) Bicycles do not require much space. Six bicycles can run on a road with a width sufficient for just one car, and twenty bicycles can be parked in a single car parking space.

4) Bicycles are cost-effective. The price of a bicycle is one hundredth of the price of a car, or even less when purchased used. Bicycles do not need gasoline, and they are tax-free.

5) Bicycles are affordable. Compared with cars, bicycles are far more affordable for the billions of poorer people in the world.

6) Bicycles are resource-effective. A bicycle, which weighs only about 30lbs, does not use much in the way of raw materials.

7) Both grown-ups and children can ride bicycles.

8) Bicycles foster more social interactions than does the isolation of driving in a completely enclosed car.

9) Traveling by bicycle allows for greater awareness of other environmentally-friendly concepts.

Do you use bicycles as a frequent mode of transportation? Why not? Could you?

I came across a fantastic initiative that donates used bicycles to heathcare workers in developing countries: Municipal Coordinating Committee for Overseas Bicycle Assistance (MCCOBA). Recycled bicycles are dismantled, shipped, and then reassembled for donation. Imagine living in a place where a bicycle was considered more valuable than a car.

As the most energy-efficient form of travel thus far invented, bicycles are a perfect example of sustainability on a personal level...and you don't have to spend $500 (or even $1,350 on a bamboo bike). Going green shouldn't refer to the amount you spend on "saving the earth," though it so often seems to be the case. Are the terms "eco-friendly" and '"sustainability" already class-based? Do they exclude certain populations?

Are you a more conscientious person for buying the latest hybrid car? Or did you realize that your carbon footprint would be smaller over your lifetime by simply hanging on to the old one?

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Traveling Green - Hard to stay on Mission with 'greening' our diets

We gave ourselves a few constraints to green our journey around the world. We are using only public transit wherever possible; except for our transoceanic flights we are sticking to rail and bus; we are planting to offset our carbons (our first project will be rebuilding a house planter with perennials and vines outside our 'home away from home here in Sumiyoshi). We also are planning to eat at least three days 'at home,' using non processed foods. This is difficult. Not only will we not always have a kitchen; but, as we have already found in Japan while shopping at our neighborhood markets, even the obvious changes when you are not familiar with language, character letters, or even what we think of as obvious (the bread section, the fruits and vegetables, the seafood etc).

By example of how sometimes normal foods can be turned on their heads, this morning I saw a sandwich filled with soba noodles and seaweed. Language is always a barrier (one that we have overcome before), but not knowing cultural morays can add the extra burden. We have persisted. Our only meal 'out' so far this week was a lovely Japanese version of egg foo yung which we had at a small neighborhood restaurant. Fresh ingredients, mushrooms, cabbages, egg mixture, tofu and very small flavorings of meat were presented tableside and our lovely host prepared them on the grill, set into the table. So we cooked and ate and it was local, unprocessed food at a tiny local family run community restaurant; but, we are not counting it as one of our three days of home cooking.

This idea comes from a lot of sources we have been studying lately. Have you seen the movie "Food Inc"? Or do you know that 'organic farming is not a mom and pop business but takes place at the same scale and usually right next to and with many of the same multi-national corporate giant practices as regular produce only substituting organic fertilizers and natural pesticides and pest eating insects for unnatural ones, but often at a cost of a higher carbon foot print? Too bad that the last time we tried to travel with Peanut Butter the TSA saw to it to take it away as it falls in some category of potentially explosive pastes!! Otherwise we would have carried a 1.5 kilo jar with us because - you know what - Peanut Butter, as it turns out, is a tool to save the planet!! Mom was right way back when. Unfortuantely, besides the Aussies and their Vegemite, paste sandwiches are not catching on in the rest of the world. (My sister Stella and her husband Peter, who have taken on a lovely duty of managing our Hotel Oso Perezoso in Colombia this year, practically buy out Carrefour when PB goes on sale in Santa Marta!!).

Other 'green' ideas we are reinforcing for ourselves in Japan are heat-on-demad water heaters (which we used already in South America), the human energy harnessing of community gardens, and bicycles as a primary source of daily transportation. we would also love to take home in our backpacks an eco version of the Japanese toilet - warm water bidet, flushing sound camouflage, apricot scented air freshner, and a warmed seat.

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Photos

A few photos from Japan....


You can see the rest of our travel photos by visiting our Photo Travel Site (password is "travel").

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