Help lead a "citywide bike parade" on Earth Day

Hmmmm, not too much traction here…is earth day out of fashion or something?

;-(

Every day is Earth day!

Earth day suffers from being the step-child of City Repair, with all that entails. Solicitation of donations is severely restricted to only those companies that pass moral muster with CR, many kosher companies, the usual suspects (Natures, Whole Foods etc etc) are already hit up by City Repair for the things they are truly more interested in (village building convergence etc). Shift has had to deal with the bizarre politics of CityRepair for many years, same story.

They seem to have had this grand vision of blazing new cultural paths by bringing it to the “hood” this year, but the locals are kinda shaking their heads at what they call the “granola” mentality. On the bright side, nobody can accuse CR of compromising their values.

So, it’ll happen, as always, but it won’t be all that impressive. While I would be disappointed to see a grand Earth Day sponsored by WalMart or something, the “usual suspects” turnout and low production values of the average PDX Earth Day are not much better. Dust off the Tea Monster, it’s time for average.

Earth Day was a wonderful event last year. The ride was beutiful and amazing. A simple Festive party with many friendly people, dancing, and music. It was what I hoped it would be. There were alot more people than I thought would attend, and everyone was smiling! This was a great party, so much better than that sickness called “Rose Festival”.

It is and should be a perfect opportunity for venders to become known and offer us different taste of food and products. Anyone in this type of market should be contacted and asked to offer their contribution. It is a way to become known, as I am always looking for places that fit my lifestyle, to spend my money.

I feel anyone who bikes should take advantage of this oppertunity and not view it as a hippy fest, but a chance for riders to offer a day and say to the neighborhood, “im doing something more for my world, how about you?”. Make it part of your group ride, A nice cool down at the end of a long ride. Enjoy the diversity.

Well it is sort of a hippie event though, isn’t it? Not necessarily the way to reach out to a broader base. OTOH, that doesn’t mean earth day has to go corporate either. Just sayin’…

Earth Day in Portland has been a community supported and organized event through City Repair for the past 8 years. Every year a group of volunteers become involved through the organization as well as through the support of neighborhood associations, schools and groups that are passionate about sharing some of Portland’s best resources in sustainability.

In 2006, City Repair was invited by a resident of the Woodlawn neighborhood to host Earth Day at the park. I attended numerous neighborhood association meetings and there are a handful of volunteers from that community in organizing positions within the Earth Day Coalition.

The event will be looking for donations from people attending since it is a free event with close to 150 organizations represented. In terms of fundraising, we have had to turn down offers from Disney, Clear Channel and others that do not fit our sustainability ethic: http://www.cityrepair.org/wiki.php/projects/earthday/sustainability.ethic
(in my mind, one of the best guidelines I have seen in developing a big event like this).

Earth Day will be impressive, mostly for the number of people who have been involved as well as the celebration itself starting with bike rides from all around the city.

Please join us!

In cooperation,
Bob New, Earth Day Coordinator
Executive Director, Community Exchange Cycle Touring Club and Bike School