Features Editor might bike to work!

I drive to work.

In the context of presenting the world’s best island destinations, ISLANDS covers environmental issues, especially those directly influencing islands and island travel. In each issue we present “Green Globe Travel Tips” for traveling better and more responsibly. Eddy Patricelli interviewed Green Globe International’s Bradley Cox for this blog. We have features in the works on the Maldives and the Galapagos, which address environmental threats to islands and the implications for the rest of the world.

And I personally believe reducing our impact on the environment is the right thing to do, for myself, for where I live, for islands and island dwellers, and for everywhere and everyone. Yet I drive to work. It’s five miles each direction, and I drive the whole way five days a week. I own a bicycle, and there’s a bus stop blocks from my house. I ignore both. I’m part of the problem. I resist getting up a little earlier to ride in, even though I need the exercise and spend more time getting it later. This is my 15 minutes of lame.

I suspect the inertia I feel — minimal but sufficient to keep me in the driver’s seat — multiplied by the planet’s 7 billion human inhabitants, amounts to the sense of hopelessness many feel in the face of climate change and deteriorating quality of life due to environmental degradation. How can I slow the juggernaut of consumption, let alone reverse it, with so many people ignoring it? First, stop ignoring it myself.

Another biking editor, Eddy Patricelli, on the Montague Folding Bicycle

So, a pledge: At least one day next week, I will get to work some other way than driving my own car. I’ll ride my bike, take the bus, carpool, hitchhike or steal someone else’s car, preferably a hybrid.

I probably won’t steal a car. I hope I bike. Biking is fun. But what if setting the alarm earlier melts my clock? If I stay home with swine flu, do I get a carbon credit? My mind races with apocalyptic possibilities and excuses. I’ll get over it. I might even like it.

I do not believe that riding my bike to work one time or even every time will save the world by itself, but I do believe making the effort on a personal level is crucial, first to understanding the magnitude of the problem, and second to understanding the magnitude of the solution.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

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