The other day when I was searching the web I stumbled upon this page: http://www.freecycle.org/. I suppose I was directed here due to the fact that I may have been looking for something bicycle related but I forget what was the beginning but the ending was a great discovery. Apparently Freecycle is an organized group of people who are giving and getting stuff from other people. The idea is to reuse items and keep them out of our landfills.
I then attempted to join one of these groups. I searched for a Freecycle group near my neighborhood and immediately found a Yahoo! Group for the city I’m living in and adjacent city. I signed up with this group just to see what was happening. Besides getting inundated with emails after emails explaining rules and what not to post, I finally got to see the message board. What I saw was listings of people making “OFFER” for stuff that they don’t need and are willing to give it away or people requesting goods in a form of a “WANTED” post or a note that what they had offered had been “TAKEN”.
As an experiment, I wanted to participate in this community. I had a used paella pan that was given to me but never used. I think my girlfriend thought we would be making paella but that never happened. It just became a nuisance moving in and out of the oven whenever we wanted to bake. I was ready to just donate it somewhere but never found the time. So this was a perfect item to offer to the mass population of Freecyclers. My first post was immediately denied. Apparently you had to put your location in the subject head. I reposted and didn’t check my account for a few hours after I had place the post. When I got back, my in-box had 16 messages all asking about the pan! I was shocked that it worked and that people really WANT a paella pan. I decided to give the pan out to the first to respond (response time 15 minute). Unfortunately, that person said she couldn’t pick up the pan until Monday. Since I was making the rules in giving my stuff away, I wanted it to be picked up that afternoon so I chose between 2 requester who said they can pick it up that day. The one I ended up with gave me a time frame which was very helpful.
Some people gave me very specific reasons why they needed one. Others were questioning what it looked like and how big it was. When I read all these messages, I was seeing very interesting behaviors. It felt good giving my paella pan away that day. The smile on the person’s face and gratefulness was awesome. You experience something similar to when you are volunteering for charity. Freecycle just gave me another option to do with stuff I don’t want. So if you have a closet full of crap that you don’t want but still works, why not Freecycle it? With for over 4,000 groups and 7 million members, you’re bound to find someone who might want it.
As of yesterday, I have officially finished my 8 weeks trial period without a car. Through this time I have expressed some displeasure in the process but now it’s finally done! I would be lying if I told you I did not drive my car during this time period. I had to drive it in 3 separate occasions. The first incident was for 2 doctors visit in one day. I would have taken public transportation but even though the appointments were 2 hours apart, I was not going to be able to make it considering I wouldn’t know when I’ll be out after the first appointment. I suppose I could have considered that incident a “rental” incident but I think I can prevent something like that from happening either by scheduling them on different days or scheduling earlier. The second incident was a drive down to Orange County. I was heading down to our friends’ place so that I can leave the car for a weekend trip to San Diego. That would have been considered a legitimate “rental” opportunity. I would have even driven the rental down to SD. The final incident was because I had to bring my car in to get it tuned up and fixed maintenance issues. That actually has nothing to do with needing a car since the reason alone is enough to justify why I needed to drive. It was this last trip where it finally sealed the deal in my decision to give up my car permanently. I am tired of throwing my money away maintaining this proverbial ball and chain.
Here are some highlights of my 2 months experience.
Bought rain gear, but did not bring it when it did drizzle. Still had fun riding in the wet.
Rode 855 miles during this time which included commuting, some group rides, and my Santa Monica excursion.
Realized that LA still has a long way in becoming a bicycle friendly city and there are dedicated individuals who are out there fighting for a better LA as we speak.
Los Angeles have so much things to experience outside of a car.
I could go practically anywhere in LA if I planned it right.
People generally are surprised and doubtful when you tell them that you’re giving up your car. They’re almost sympathetic for the cause and some do offer rides.
Some people don’t think it’s possible to be car-free in LA. Some think it’s social suicide.
Your iPod is your best friend on public transportation.
My friends are realizing that I’m not messing around.
Using the bike rack on a bus is easy.
For the next step, I am going to get my car washed and detailed and will be putting it on Craigslist for sale hopefully by today. It is going to be good to lose this 3,000 lbs from my life. The revolution has begun!
I reached the half-way point of my 2 month trial period of being car-free. The first month wasn’t too bad. I actually traveled more than I thought I would. I rode about 500+ miles so far. There were days I felt that I was struggling to stay on the bike. Most of the time I’ve been happy riding to and from work. I realize I can’t stay out during school nights too long. Riding home at 11PM or 12AM really sucks when you’re exhausted. I also don’t like to bring my Xtracycle on a train. This limits my mobility since the bike is much longer than normal and I feel like a jerk for blocking people’s way. Plus, I can’t throw it on the bus since their bike racks are built for normal length bikes. Those are pretty much the major challenges for the first month of being car-free.
Now that I just finished the 2nd day into my second month, I was presented some new challenges. I visit my folks weekly and when I got there this week, I did not have the keys to their place. I was locked out in the cold and couldn’t get a hold of them and friends. If I had a car, I would have the keys with my car keys. No, that did not discourage me but made me realize that I need to be more conscious about having keys with me or perhaps stashed away somewhere in case I forget again. Another challenge comes from the weather. Early in the week I saw rain in my forecast. Since I haven’t purchased rain gear for riding, I’m not going to ride the bike home. Instead I’ve planned it out so that I got a ride from a co-worker after my CERT training at work. The rain has raised more awareness as far as going to destinations like the library. Luckily I bribed a friend at work to take me in exchange for joining him for a lunch out. Otherwise, that would have been coming into work later than normal and taking 2 bus rides and a train stop to the library and then work, in the rain. The last but least significant thing I am experience is that I may be socially out casted from my friends who are planning to have monthly / bi-monthly poker games during the week. There’s no way in hell I’m riding over to Culver City on a school night for a poker game. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy so I’m glad I have these challenges. But this is definitely something I’m willing to live with. My spirits are high and I can’t wait till November 14th when the 8 week is done. Hopefully, nothing will change from now until then. I’ll be glad to announce that the car is for sale!
So what would happen when you put a bicycle, car, and public transit commuter in a race during rush hour in New York City? See what happens in the video that I found at Utility Cycling below.
Most importantly, the bicyclist did not put out any pollution whereas the commuter had 1lb of carbon and the car produced 6lbs of carbon for that same 5 mile race.
So how about a race between bicycles and a helicopter? There shouldn’t be any way bicyclists can win, right? See this video provided by Treehugger.com.
Imagine living in a city like San Paulo where it is so congested that there are helicopter transportation services that you can take. In the end the bicycles produced no carbon whereas the helicopter produced 3.75kg of carbon, which translates to about 8.27lbs of carbon (thank you Google for the conversion).
I’m thinking these scenarios may not be feasible in Los Angeles because of how sprawled out our city is. Nevertheless, even if we’re traveling slower than cars, we’re green and we’re not stressed.
Today I’m taking my first steps in being “Green”. I’ve completed my plan on commuting to work without the need of my car. Here’s how the plan will pan out: I will be riding my bike to Cal State Los Angeles. Leave my bike in a bike locker which I will rent from the school for $10 every quarter or 10 weeks. Take the Metro line 484 or 490 bus from the campus to Downtown LA. Transfer over to the Red Line train which stops directly across the street from work. This will cost about $50 a month.
It will probably take some getting use to following a schedule to leave from home and work, but I will have more time to enjoy some music or read. I’ll start on a Tuesday and Thursday only schedule. If I enjoy it, I’ll probably do it more frequently. The only problem is carrying stuff to go to the gym and my lunch. That is the only reason why I would drive. That can simply be rectify by adding a pannier. I can’t wait to put this plan into play. I’ll be saving money, helping the environment, and getting exercise (not that I don’t have enough).
If you’re interested in doing the same go check out the LA Metro site. They have a great trip planning tool to tell you what buses to take for your destination.
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The other day when I was searching the web I stumbled upon this page: http://www.freecycle.org/. I suppose I was directed here due to the fact that I may have been looking for something bicycle related but I forget what was the beginning but the ending was a great discovery. Apparently Freecycle is an organized group of people who are giving and getting stuff from other people. The idea is to reuse items and keep them out of our landfills. 
Themocracy