Archive for July, 2006

Woes of public transportation

Friday, July 21st, 2006

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 […]

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Apartment recycling

Saturday, July 8th, 2006

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 […]

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Are business ethics gone these days?

Saturday, July 8th, 2006

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.