Does anyone in the San Diego area know if there are any green energy options available? I've contacted SDGE and they don't provide any, but I know in some places you can choose a different provider. However on the state of California website it says the ability for customers to "purchase electricity from an Electric Service Provider instead of regulated electric utilities, was suspended on September 20, 2001."

A while back on one of the blogs I read, Siel wondered what can be done to make public transportation more popular, or "sexier" in a sense. Her first post posing the question, and then in a follow up she pretty much sums it up. The two big problems are 1) reliability and 2) ease of use. I can vouch for both being a problem.

Many a morning while walking to the bus, I see two of my buses go by, one behind the other, only then to go to the stop and wait 20 minutes for the next one. This seems to be utterly foolish. The other problem, ease of use, is a big one too. Luckily it's easy for me, I only take one bus with no transfers to work, but whenever I try to map a route to some other place I want to go, it just can't be done in less than an hour and without multiple transfers. I think part of this is poor planning on the city's part, and part is due to the massive sprawling infrastructure here. It's just not easy to cover the massive area in an effective manner.

On a side note, a couple from Buenos Aires happened to be waiting at my stop this morning, and they asked me when the bus was scheduled to come. I just kind of laughed and said they're supposed to come every 12 minutes, but that never happens. One of them told me that in Buenos Aires, they come one after another, so essentially you never have to wait, you just go to a stop and get picked up.

Finally, I think there is a third problem. Cost. Yea, I know it's not that expensive, but to be honest, if my work wasn't paying for my bus pass, it would probably be cheaper in terms of gas cost to drive my car, since I only have to go 3 miles, which is sad when gas is $3.50 a gallon. It's just not realistic to expect anyone to take public transportation if driving is cheaper and more convenient. If cities really want to make people look twice at public transportation, especially in SoCal, it needs to beat the cost of driving by a considerable amount.

I'm always looking for new routes and ways to try to use the buses and light rail here, and I have to admit, it's just not very easy.

Labels: public transportation

Here in San Diego, there is a problem with trash. I keep hearing that the landfills are filling up much to fast, and that they will be at capacity soon. Ok, so recycling is the quickest way to lessen the burden on the landfills.

The problem is that approximately 80-90% of people in San Diego rent. If you're renting a house in a neighborhood, the chances are probably pretty good that you'll have a recycle bin provided, however if you're like me and you live in a complex, you'll more than likely have a dumpster only.

So once again, the city misses the boat. Recycling isn't mandatory, and apartment owners probably choose to have only a dumpster because it's the cheapest solution. So yet again, a place where you could make a fairly big difference, where the population density is highest, they're not doing it.

I myself keep all my recyclables in a bin which I bring to the local rec center and dump in the city provided recycle bin there. I don't imagine too many people do that though...

Why are things like this that make so much sense so difficult?

I know there are some business owners who take their responsibility seriously. Meaning they are interested in more than making a quick buck.

There are many people who want to make a difference, people who recycle, people who make environmentally responsible decisions, etc. But businesses are where the real difference can be made. Unfortunately, most business decisions are based on dollars and cents. Meaning buying things for the cheapest cost, regardless of how they were produced, where they were made, if they are sustainable, etc.

It is frustrating, because if big business (or even small business) got behind these ideas, a real positive change could occur. Unfortunately, it's only a very small percentage who think like this. And even more unfortunately, small business owners who may make the "right" decision, have to make the wrong one because cost is truly a major concern.

More people of power need to start thinking in a sustainable way.