Digital Alterity

Back when I got my bike for last year’s birthday, I quickly started riding it to work every day. I had a great time on the bike, but I eventually gave it up because riding to work meant missing out on sitting around with Allyson for a little while on campus before we had to head to our respective jobs. I’m really protective of any time I get to spend with my beautiful and wonderful wife, so I started driving to work with her. I hated myself for it, but spending more time with Allyon by driving the ol’ armored vehicle was the better of two flawed choices.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, we got Allyson a Trek hybrid bike of her very own. We went out on a couple of the trails here in Gainesville and just generally had a great time together. Then, starting this week, Allyson and I started commuting to work together on our bikes. This morning, after making our way to campus, we even had time to chat for a few minutes and get a piping hot cup of coffee from Starbucks. It feels great to save the gas, get some physical activity in, and still get to spend some quality time with the most awesome girl on the planet.

Honestly, though…The best part? Leaving campus every day. Getting off campus in your car at 17:00 is like a scene from Dante’s Inferno mixed with Escape from New York. On the bike, you’re just constantly in motion with no gridlock whatsoever. You can tear down bike paths until you get off campus and onto little side streets that just let you glide right home. My commute home takes exactly the same amount of time with no wasting of fossil fuels and none of the vehicular stress that makes me hate my fellow man. I arrive at home pleasantly tired and in a really positive mood. After a few days of this, you really start to lose sight of why our culture fell so in love with the car in the first place. Simply put, riding a bike is still just as fun as it was when you were a kid. Getting from place to place is a pleasant experience rather than a hateful chore.

Technorati Tags: Cycling, Bicycle, Commute

A while back, I started a back porch compost bin. I bought a cheap plastic container with a lid that snaps securely in place and used a screwdriver heated on the stove to punch scores of holes into the container to allow oxygen in. Then, I took all of our paper documents that needed to be shredded and used those as my base “brown” material, and we’ve been adding our fruit scraps, veggie stems, and coffee grounds dutifully to the pile ever since. At first I was adding material to the pile every day, but now I just kind of save up my materials until I’ve got enough to justify aerating the pile.

This time, it took me a whole week to build up enough scraps to fill a small bowl, and this evening, I cracked open my plastic container and took in a surprising sight. We have fungi! Now, while some of you undoubtedly think that this sounds like a terrible thing, fungus is actually one of a composter’s best companions. Fungi and bacteria are what break down the materials into useful compost soil that I can use as potting soil or as a fertilizer. The most impressive fungus in my pile appeared to be a large multi-headed mushroom. It stood 20-25 cm tall, and it really stood out from the patches of mold.

Since starting up the compost pile on the back porch of our apartment and recycling all materials that can be recycled in our area, we have reduced our household waste to about a quarter of what we previously threw out. I count this as just as big a victory as switching our power over to renewable energy.

Technorati Tags: Compost, Composting, Green, Gardening, Fungi, Waste