Great Minds, Would-Buts, and a Livable Hometown

Back in February 2007 I mentioned something I called the "Would-Buts" that prevent us from talking sustainable action or making livable choices (See "Get off Your Would-But and DO Something"); in the "great minds think alike" catagory, we now have a list of "seven buts" that might stop you from making your hometown less noxious.

Since there is no point in my repeating what was said on ChelseaGreen.com, I commend this article "The Seven “Buts” Blocking Your Town’s Transition Off Oil" to you, as well as my original "would-buts."

Go on, get off your "would but" and read 'em!

How to Get Off Your "Would But" and Start Doing Something

I Would But . . .

You know you should do it (whatever green thing “it” is) and you would but, well this thing and that thing and the other thing really make it impossible for you to do right now.

Welcome to Stage One Denial.

I’ve been there; every time I stop doing some green thing for awhile, I go through it again to get started. Breaking through Stage One Denial -- the "would-buts" -- is the hardest part of doing the green thing, at least sometimes.

An Example: Bike to Work Day, Just Today.

Take, for example, the green goal of riding a bike to work. Last summer I rode nearly every day to work. It was hot, but bearable. I got to wear summer clothes to work (shorts, polo shirt) so it was a fairly comfortable bike drive.

But the fact that I had to carry a laptop to work every day changed the ride. I was nervous carrying it unpadded in a backpack. (The computer case I had weighed a great deal, so I did not want to carry it on the bike.) And the backpack made me really hot. Although I rode most days in the summer anyway, the laptop-in-the-backpack became my “would-but” for the fall semester.

In the fall semester, without a way to carry my laptop conveniently, I rode a car to work every day. I would have driven my bike, but carrying the laptop was a problem. See how this works?

Over Christmas I received a really cool Jandd pannier bag. Folds up to look like a canvas briefcase, has a padded holder for a laptop, and a built in waterproof cover(!)

This week, my laptop and I drove a bike to work every day.

How about you?

What’s your bike-riding “would-but?”

For most of us it is one of these top ten:

1. “I don’t have a bike.”
2. “I have a bike, but I haven’t ridden it in years.”
3. “I’m scared of the cars.”
4. “I have to work in dress clothes, like a suit or high heels.”
5. “I work too far away.”
6. “I have to carry stuff to work.”
7. “I have kids to pick up.”
8. “The weather is too severe.”
9. “There is nowhere to park a bike when I get there.”
10. “I have bad knees/back/balance and can’t ride.”

I have used at least seven, maybe seven and a half of these personally.

We’ll deal with these Top Ten Would-But excuses in future posts. For the moment it is enough to recognize a "would but" excuse for what it is – a temporary obstacle to be overcome. And once overcome, most of these would-buts seem terribly insubstantial.

In general, though, the top suggestions for more bike driving are to get a good used cruiser bike if you don’t own one (try www.freecycle.org for a potential free bike!), or clean yours off and get it out of the garage! Drive your bike on weekends from time to time to get back in the groove; find a “Road Cycling” course online to help you understand and deal with the driving a bike instead of a car for transportation -- versus riding a bike for fun only.

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COMING SOON: Puncturing the First Five "Would But" Excuses . . . .

Five Percenters, Changing the World

The premise of this blog is that if one makes a few, easy green changes and choices, the few easy things will add up to a whole lot more than the parts.

Turns out, at least a few folks have invented a term for it, calling it the "Five Percent" approach.

Blogger Noreen's Five Percent (which I stumbled across four or five links down into a read of some favorite eco-blogs) uses this as her premise:

Imagine if every single person on the planet invested 5% of their
energy in working toward a better self and a better world. I decided to try it,
since it's something I can do not just once, but every single day. These are the
stories of the little efforts I'm making while living my ordinary life. I'd love
to meet you along the way!

She's been offline since August, but her blog has some great back-posts, and a host of neat "impact" links, which are worth a look-see.

Another way to look at the 5% is what I call the "stone soup" effect. If you don't know the story of Stone Soup, you can read it here. But in a nutshell, but doing things one little bit at a time, moving reluctant change slowly and stepwise, it is possible to create something larger and more magnificent than anyone thought possible.

Easy Green is a reference of some of the things one person can do to do one's own 5%.