Tips on Making This Holiday Season More Sustainable!

The last night of the bike tour we passed around a piece of paper asking for ideas on how we can make this holiday season more sustainable for our family and friends. These are some of the ideas we came up with and would like to share with you. As individuals our choices and actions can have a large impact, often beyond what we will ever realize. We encourage you to consider how we can make decisions that will ultimately have a positive impact on our health, community, and environment.

Gift Ideas

• Try to purchase gifts exclusively from companies that score an A- or better in the Better World Shopping Guide.
• Purchase gifts from re-sale shops.
• Use Newspaper for gift wrapping.
• Hand Crank Blender
• Home Composter
• Seeds and potting soil
• Sprouting Jar
• Gardening Tools
• Bike Tools
• Rechargeable Batteries & Charger for those electronic gifts
  

Stocking Stuffers

• Seafood Watch Cards
• High Efficiency Light Bulbs
• Re-Usable Bags
• Re-Usable H20 Bottles

Ideas on how you can lessen your environmental footprint:

• Shut off holiday house lights when leaving the house and sleeping.
• Try buying ingredients for holiday meals that are:

Local
Organic
Vegetarian/Vegan

• Try carpooling as much as possible to holiday gatherings or ride a bike (if there isn't 3 feet of snow outside)
• Don't buy a real Christmas tree, instead:

Plant a tree & decorate it!
Use a tree/plant you already have
Get creative and make a tree with things you find around your house

• Don't Buy Anything! Make Stuff...Donate to an organization in someone's name.
• Make your own Christmas Cards, Send E-Cards, Use Recycled Paper Cards
• Purchase food in bulk, avoid individual wrapped treats

What other ideas can you come up with?

If you're going to San Francisco

Let's take a moment to bring everyone up to speed on the events of the past week...

Tuesday, November 30th (Morro Bay to Cambria)

• Exploration of Morro Bay's estuary by kayak afforded a glimpse into the wildlife of the bay and the shorebirds of the tidal flats
• Chris, from Camp Ocean Pines, gave us a tour of the facility and allowed us to help feed Rufus, a rescued Red Tail Hawk who lives on-site.

Thanks to Camp Ocean Pines for hosting us!

Wednesday, December 1st (Cambria to Kirk Creek)

• Approaching Big Sur we rode past zebras grazing in front of Hearst Castle and stopped at San Simeon to see the Elephant Seals

Did you know that Elephant Seals could dive between 1,000 and 2,000 feet and stay underwater for up to an hour and a half? Daaaaaaaaang!

• We then began climbing the hills of the majestic coast line of Big Sur
• While setting up camp the day came to a close with a stunning sunset, which cascaded an array of beautiful colors.

Thursday, December 2nd (Kirk Creek to Pfeiffer Big Sur)

• A scenic 30 mile ride through the heart of Big Sur.

Friday, December 3rd (Pfeiffer Big Sur to Monterey)

• Lunch stop at Point Lobos (The Gateway to Big Sur)

The unique geographic area contains a rich diversity of plant and animal life found both on land and in the water.

Point Lobos Ecological Reserve was created in 1973 and is considered one of California's most well-known and longstanding "no-take" zones prohibiting the catch or removal of organisms.

• Monterey's famed 17-mile drive was an appealing option for some riders, boasting panoramic views of the bay and the coast's most beautiful white sand beaches.

Saturday, December 4th (Monterey to Sunset State Beach)

• Morning excursion to the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Close encounters with Sea Otters, Jelly Fish, Pink Flamingos, Penguins, Shore Birds, along with many of the familiar organisms of the Kelp Forest.

Informative visual aids presented sustainable issues along with action strategies to lessen our environmental impact.

Check out their website to learn more about the organization and the resources they have to offer. www.MontereyBayAquarium.org

Sunday, December 5th (Sunset State Beach to Santa Cruz)

• Arrived in Santa Cruz in the rain and made our way to our respective home stays.

Thanks to our hosts:
Brian
Kim, Robin, Emma, Zach and their dog Gigi
Becca
Kim

Monday, December 6th (Santa Cruz to Big Basin)

• A visit to the UCSC farm provided great discussion points on how we can make gardening more accessible to children.

"The Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems is a research, education, and public service program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, dedicated to increasing ecological sustainability and social justice in the food and agriculture system."
http://casfs.ucsc.edu/

• Following our visit to UCSC we cycled up Empire Grade and into Big Basin experiencing first hand an important aspect of the Redwood ecosystem, the fog, which provides up to one third of their annual water needs.

FACT: Of the nearly 2 million acres of original forest, approximately 95 percent has been logged in the past 200 years.

What YOU can do: Visit National and State Parks in your community to help with funding while gaining an appreciation and respect for natural spaces.

Find a park near you: http://www.nps.gov/findapark/index.htm

Tuesday, December 7th (Big Basin to Half Moon Bay)

• A 12 mile hike on the skyline to sea trail from Big Basin to Waddell Creek changed up the pace of the bike tour as we explored the Redwoods, stopping along the way to see Banana Slugs, California Newts, and a beautiful waterfall at Berry Creek.
• After a break relaxing on the beach and some lunch, we pushed through a 30 mile cycle to Half Moon Bay where the rains began moving in and surfers were on 24/7 call to surf the giant waves of Maverick's.

Wednesday, December 8th (Half Moon Bay to San Francisco)

• We awoke to rain and rallied to make the epic ride into San Francisco where we found shelter at Kathy Rose's apartment.

Thursday, December 9th (San Francisco to Bolinas)

No "Sustainable Living Bike Tour" trip to San Francisco is complete without a ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. We rode across the bridge with fog flanked beside it into the town of Sausalito. We had a very late start on the day, so knew we would be riding into the earlier parts of the night. Our ride was only about 30 miles, but very hilly and wet due to the mist.

The ride to Bolinas was definitely one of our hardest days of climbing. The inclines were relentless and spiral along the mountainsides; the elevation was so high that our ears were popping.

The views were stunning from Panoramic Highway in Mill Valley. We then rode downhill for miles in thick fog along the wetlands of Stinson Beach.

Our ride finally ended in a beautiful, beach side, hippy town called Bolinas. We were welcomed by Signa and a note from her roommates Sol and Andrew. We were provided with amazing hospitality within a house that inspired us all for many reasons.

Thank you Signa, Sol & Andrew for sharing your beautiful haven with us all.

Friday, December 10th

The 2010 Sustainable Living bike Tour culminated in San Francisco with a festive gathering hosted by Kathy Rose and roommates Rob and Sean.

Thank you so much for opening your home and helping us celebrate!

The past three weeks have presented the volunteer riders the opportunity to look more closely at our relationship with our surrounding environments, the people who live in them, and how we can learn from these places to continue to grow as educators. The information gleaned will be instrumental in the continued growth of the Sustainable Living Bike Tour as an educational tool.

Many thanks to all those who played an integral role in making this bike tour possible through donations, accommodations, and through inspiring change in your communities.