Happy Independence from Oil Day: Will your weekend be gas-free?
Posted by Jonathan Maus (Editor) on July 4th, 2008 at 11:03 am
spotted at MCBF last weekend, was
created by Bike Punk Printing
in Portland.
(Photo © J. Maus)
As we heard earlier this week, there’s a new campaign underway to encourage “Gas Free Fridays”.
I would love to see this concept really take hold throughout the country.
Hopefully, the coalition of advocacy groups behind the campaign can devote some resources to making that happen (a good start would be a website, maybe a viral YouTube video, stickers, etc…).
Can you go completely gas-free today? How about the entire weekend?
Chime in below with your weekend plans and let us know if you were able to be completely fossil fuel free.
Oh, and happy Fourth of July!
[Barring any major breaking stories, your regularly scheduled news programming will return on Monday morning.]
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July 4th, 2008 11:14
Sure. It won't be different from any other day...
July 4th, 2008 12:26
Re gas-free.
Nope. We have son & daughter in law in town. We'll be driving.
I may sneek away early tomorrow for a bike ride. That's probably it, unfortunately.
July 4th, 2008 12:54
My parents and brother are visiting and I was planning on getting a zipcar to pick them up from the aeroport; however, _they_ said not to and that they would be OK with bus/max! Not gas-free as the bus is not a giant 40-person tandem (ooooh...someone needs to build one!) but still a step in the right direction.
July 4th, 2008 13:15
No clothing?
No electricity?
No food?
No water?
No public infrastructure?
No..
None of us are any where near gas free. But, I suppose if you just keep on pretending, it will be so. That is after all the american way.
Happy 4th, fellow slaves!
July 4th, 2008 13:24
Actually, we are inverse. Holidays and weekends are when we will usually use the vehicles, mostly out of town or recreational use. During the week we are almost car-free.
I won't say gas free, because as Steve pointed out (albeit in an inflamitory way) we consume petroleum products in almost every aspect of our lives.
But since transportation makes up almost 40% of Oregon's energy consumption, it is a great place to start conserving!
July 4th, 2008 19:57
car-free in south-cakalaki!
+1 for the suburbs
+1 for 10:30 at night
July 4th, 2008 21:02
Didn't go gas free, but it was worth it for the great mountain bike ride today. Didn't drive as much as possible though either.
July 4th, 2008 21:31
Earthship and Cob homes are going to get better looking all the time...
July 4th, 2008 23:20
This idea _rocks_my_world!_
With the news of FBI profiling law abiding citizens, etc. I was very bummed about the 4th until I heard about Gas-Free Fridays! For those who actually read the info, the goal is clearly defined as refraining from burning fossil fuel on Fridays, a very do-able and very worthy goal. I also love the idea of extending the 'challenge' through the July 4th weekend.
Our family spent much of the 4th catching up on much delayed yard work, utilizing a push mower and hand tools. We also enjoyed an at-home film fest with the aid of DVDs brought home by bike from a local rental place earlier in the week. The evening ended with the traditional viewing of the fireworks (and the customary cuddling of the shell-shocked house pets) while the old folks enjoyed bike blended cocktails made with vodka from a local brewery (also collected by bike)
I am lining up activities and festivities for the remainder of the weekend that shun fossil fuel use, which is not that big a change from my usual routine, but I love the notion that it is happening around the country (and Canada as well, BTW) Imagine the impact of this kind of movement! Cutting out driving just one day a week can reduce CO2 emissions by about 500 pounds each year!
What will YOU do?
July 5th, 2008 01:01
Since CO2 emissions naturally comes up in such a discussion, it led me to wonder: how much CO2 (and other greenhouse gases) is released by the average American's Fourth of July fireworks?
July 5th, 2008 06:43
#10, John, yeah but...the REAL question is how much CO2 is released by the average FART.
Santa did enjoy last night's big bang while rolling slowly along Riverside Drive, closed off to motor traffic. Think Sundays Parkways.
July 5th, 2008 09:06
sweet! glad to see my friends get a plug! bikepunk.com! they are rad and make some cool shirts and stickers, and if you send them a S.A.S.E. they'll send you a free Sheldon Brown sticker.
July 5th, 2008 10:42
uh, bikepunk is authentic and all, but they REALLY need some pro help with that site.
Anyone want to lend them a hand?
July 5th, 2008 12:25
Not only carfree, but saturated fats free as well.
I have made some changes in my diet to alloy myself to have a smaller carbon footprint.
For about two months now, I have been staying away from red meats, refined sugars, and most other processed foods.
I have been 'juicing';ie; making my own raw vegetable and fruit juices every day and using them to replace much of the refined foods that I have been eating in the past.
This has allowed me to focus my shopping toward local sources and to foods that are not as big carbon and oil footprints as much of the 'junk' and fast foods that we eat today.
Not only have I lost about 20 pounds in the last two months, but I feel a lot better and the 20 mile bicycle commute has gotten easier then before.
To me, getting off of oil is more than just not driving. . .
Luv
Mark Allyn
July 5th, 2008 14:16
I'm bike-free!!
Proud pedestrian forever.
July 6th, 2008 19:06
ECT and Matt Picio were proud to celebrate Independance from Oil days. We rode (some of us all the way from Portland, some from Gresham TC) all the way out to the far end of the Mt Hood National Forest at a distance of 78 miles. We camped for two days, enjoyed an informative nature hike, soaked in the [almost] natural forest, and had great food some of which was cooked on the campfire.
The scenery was great, and we were out of earshot of cars.
July 6th, 2008 20:51
yeah, they do need to finish their website, none of the links are working. He just got it up maybe a week or so ago and is trying to figure it out.
July 6th, 2008 20:52
Whoa, don't give me too much credit there - I only led the ride.
We had 11 people total riding 78 miles (across almost the length of Clackamas County) to the Big Bottom area, hiking among old-growth and second-growth Douglas Fir and Western Redcedars. The entire trip, and everyone's gear was hauled completely by pedal power.
(caveat: the firewood was brought up by car during an earlier scouting trip)
Thank you Aaron, Matt, John, Caroline, Brad, Robert, Heather, Steph, Ed, and Tomas for coming out on this grand adventure!
For those of you who think 78 miles is a bit... too challenging for a camping outing by bike, ECT is hosting a trip out to Oxbow Regional Park in 2 weeks - see http://www.exchangecycletours.org for details!
July 7th, 2008 04:32
Hello Everyone back home in Portland! We are currently in England & then heading up to Scotland trying to peddle our shirts and promoting bicycling over here. Sorry about the website not working yet but we have been incredibly busy and are planning to get it up when we return. We miss our home town and have noticed that everywhere we go it seems that people know all about the huge bicycle movement in Portland!! We have been telling people to check out bikeportland for all the info. Thanks for all your emails and keep up the good work we really are influencing the world.
Thanks again!
bIKE pUNK
July 7th, 2008 09:20
I have less problems with the House of Saud then with the House of Chevron and Texaco... posting record earnings while whining about not be able to drill in Alaska and while people in the North East are loosing their houses over heating oil prices...pretty distasteful!
July 7th, 2008 09:50
I car-pooled to my gramma's house in Yakima, then to my uncle's house in Selah.
Then, I car-pooled back.
Didn't get a chance to ride this weekend at all (Yakima isn't exactly the most bike friendly place, no bike lanes on most of the roads and very skinny lanes) but my boyfriend, who stayed home, did. And then told me about it, how he rode every day while I was gone. Jerk. :) Rub it in, why don't ya! :)
July 7th, 2008 10:02
I took the Central Oregon Breeze up to Bend. The bus was full both ways. They allow bikes, but they have to be boxed. I think it would be great if they took at least two bikes on a rack in front like Trimet does.
July 8th, 2008 12:40
I go Monday to Friday without using any gas. Walk to work every day. On the weekend I plan out all my chores for one trip in the car.
It makes more sense to live where I work and drive once a week for groceries etc, than to live near the stores and commute five times a week to get to work.