Portland, OR

Sometimes, I really need to remember that not everyone is interested in “what we do in Portland…”

Not only am I a proud Portlandian, but I tend to talk about it too much when I visit people in my home state of Michigan. I need to learn to just shut up, but it’s not like I am bragging per se, but instead, I see many things that Portland does as neat and cool and that most of the people I know would really like Portland. But, most people I know in Michigan are stuck there, for lack of a better term. I just happen to be one of those people that has no qualms about moving across a continent, but most people like living close to home and family and friends — or at least that is what they say. Not that I think that anyone is envious of my nomadic lifestyle, but I remember when I was stuck in Michigan and how eager I was to get the heck out.

Not that Michigan or any home state is a bad place, but some people, like myself, feel a need to explore other lands and experience different lifestyles. We need to move away from home. We are not running away, like my uncle accused me of, but rather we are not content staying in one spot our whole lives.

However, not everyone is impressed with what we Communists and Hippies are doing out West. Most people are polite about it, and simply look bored when I bring up Portland’s propensity for gardening, our city’s incoming gay mayor, our many farmers markets and how everything is organic and local, how I can go to the store in my pyjamas and slippers and no one even bats an eyelash, how I can ride my bike almost everywhere, and how polite everyone is on our bio-diesel buses and our electric streetcars…

Yeah, I’d probably get annoyed with me, too. And since I am in Brighton, Michigan (outside of Detroit), I stand the risk of getting a ticket for annoying people with my incessant “in Portland” sentences.

I try to keep my fondness for Portland in check, but it is hard because I am and have been a little eco-nazi for years, and with Portland being such a green city (in more ways that one), I usually point out that Portland is a good place for someone like me, and then I try to work in an environmental lecture into my conversation. I would find that annoying, so I really need to find other ways to answer the question, “How’s Portland?”

From now on, I will politely say, “Come see for yourself.”

Portland, Oregon, Michigan, Brighton, Detroit, farmers markets, organic, biodiesel, environmentalists, communists, hippies

A friend of mine and I were talking the other night, and she asked me about recycling plastic bags. We started talking recycling and all that greenness that comes with it, and I noted that I felt that Portland was a bubble when it came to people being green or environmentally-conscious and responsible.

I get lots of email updates from the gazillion environmental action groups of which I am a member or subscriber of newsletters and action updates. And I am also on the mailing lists of many a governmental agency, including my love-hate relationship, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Today, the EPA sent out an press release regarding shopping for new cars. There are two reasons I am bringing this up: Portland is way ahead of the curve (we think) and the advice to shop for a car is timely and mixed.

We all like to think that Portland, Oregon is, like, the “greenest city” in America, and you know, it most probably is. But I still see huge trucks and SUVs on our roads, so it’s not like everyone is a member of the Church of Hybrid. But as a girl who moves around more than the average re-locator (what can I say, I get bored easily), and having lived or spent considerable time in rather diverse areas of this great nation of ours, I can safely say that Portland is by far the most environmentally-aware and -conscious city I know of. Does that mean that everyone recycles and has switched to CFL’s? No, of course not, some people don’t bother and then some people may disagree with some actions (CFL’s have mercury in them, as an example), but if you drive around on a neighborhood’s trash pick-up day, you may be amazed how many big blue recycling bins are right alongside glass bins and the green compost bins. In my neighborhood (Reed), I rarely even see the straight-up trash bins some weeks. My neighbor and I were complaining about the only bi-weekly compost curbside pick-up. Heck, most cities don’t offer curbside yard/kitchen waste pickup at all.

And secondly, the EPA’s press release…

Celebrating the Environment: Trading up your Sleigh this Holiday Season?

‘Tis the season for giving, and if you’re in the process of shopping for a car or light truck this year, EPA can help. Environmentally friendly vehicles come in all shapes and sizes, and there are some simple ways to find the best one for your family. There are also easy ways to improve your fuel economy, regardless of what model sleigh you drive.

* When shopping for a car, go to EPA’s Green Vehicle Guide to look for vehicles that earned EPA’s SmartWay designation, meaning that they are among the cleanest, most fuel-efficient available; and
* As you do your holiday shopping, be sure to maximize your vehicle’s fuel efficiency by combining trips, driving gently, and keeping your car well-maintained.

For sh*ts and giggles, I checked out the EPA’s green vehicle guide, and out of the cars with average MPG’s above the current (and finally raised) CAFE standards –which is 27.5 mpg by the way– nearly all of them are Japanese or German. There are 17 vehicles listed that have an average city mpg of 28 or more, 13 of those vehicles are not American. When we look at the 15 vehicles that are just shy of CAFE, at 27 mpg, the America cars make a better showing at 8 out of 15. When I looked at the list from the lowest mpg, starting at the bottom I had to scroll more than 2/5 of the way up the screen before I hit a Japanese make. The only exception was Mercedes, and the rest where almost GM models. And of nearly all the models listed, they are all designated to burn gasoline/ethanol blends, and ethanol is bringing about it’s own “blend” of problems.

And the Big Three are asking for a bailout? I wonder why. And the EPA is not helping at this point, telling car shoppers to choose models with good gas mileage, which probably means you will not be purchasing a GM or a Ford.

*disclaimer: As a Michigan native, a bailout is probably necessary, as everyone and their brother in Michigan depends on the auto industry, be it directly or indirectly. And I have a brother that works for a company that writes the diagnostic manuals for vehicle, so I also know how much paid time off the Union dictates for its employees and in turn, if the auto workers are off, so is everyone else.

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