You can make a difference!

I hope you all took the opportunity to fully embrace our democracy and vote today! I think right now is an exciting time of change.

My hope is that you voted for a candidate that you believe can help us collectively re-align the choices our we are currently making as a nation to better fit our core values.

What I want to encourage tonight, on this day of democracy in action, is local action. I want to encourage you to take an active role in your future by being more involved in local politics.

Over the last few weeks I have attended public meetings regarding the nature of development in the designated growth area of the county (for me, this area is 250 East). The County and the Thomas Jefferson District Planning Commission are hosting a series of public workshops on development and transportation, where they are asking for public input on what this area will look like in the next 20 years. I am by far the youngest person in attendance by twenty years. While this makes me sleep well at night, it is discouraging to me that more people aren't taking an active role in the co-creation of their community.

Now I realize my attendance at these meetings is taking a total leap of faith, given what has happened in Crozet and then Pantops (at one meeting I attended there was audible laughter at the Pantops Master Plan), but I have to believe that the County is trying their level best to get it right this time.

And I think they will with continual input from the community.

But we need you! Do you want to see surrounding rural areas protected? More green space? Another co-housing community? Come to the meetings and share your wants.

It's true that the bucks stops with the Board of Supervisors and Planning Commissions: they get the final say. (I remember being outraged at the "temporary" crossing on the downtown mall having been implemented in the face of the planning commissions recommendation otherwise).

But they represent us! Our County Board of Supervisors (and in Cville proper, the City Council) affects our quality of life on a day-to-day basis probably more than the federal government does.

So we must pay attention to the issues, make phone calls, pay visits, write letters. Check out the County website or City website under community development. We can make a difference!

Happy Voting,
BWB

Asking for help...

Thanks to a dear friend of mine I am going to do something that feels very weird.

Asking for help.

I'm flying solo here and I know you all are extremely busy. But in case you are spending too much time on Second Life; or you just lost your job and DON'T need another one anytime soon; or you happen to be a grad student in urban planning or environmental science who is looking for an exciting new project to write your thesis on about the emerging new eco-conscious citizens who are re-aligning everyday choices to fit better in line with their values, Betty needs you!

Instead of going online right now to figure out how to put a nifty "NEW" button on the site, and working past midnight, and then have it still look like Elmo did it on his computer, my friend tells me there might actually be someone willing to help me do that for free, because they can do it with their eyes closed and they care!

So I will start out right now by asking you to consider the value of Betty to you.

Has she helped you find a use for an old pair of tennis shoes? Has she listed your burgeoning business and driven customers to your store? Has she posted an event and helped increase attendance? Has she inspired other actions in you that have helped you make a difference in your world?

If you find value in what Betty is trying to do in our community and our world, please consider giving some time to the cause. I think it's important for you to know that currently Betty is 100% volunteer and paid for by small, private donations (of which to date there have been five - and don't ask how many have come from my mother!).

Below is a list of tasks.

Better World Betty task list:

*Get the Word Out – Fliers on Kiosks and around town once or twice a month

*UVA publicity – chalk art/kiosks

*Easy-Peezy Tech Help –
Subscriber form
In the News
Tutorial on Tags
Google Map to search tool

*Local Green Scene assistant

*Brainstorming, formulating, creating a dining guide

*Farmer’s Market – helping manning or womanning a table


Thanks all!
BWB

Betty meets quantum entanglement

Please allow me the Sunday indulgence of briefly peering into the realm of quantum physics and the meaning of life.

This week a series of discussions with friends, theologians and scientists (my husband being the most brilliant member of that group and the best looking, if you ask me) have lead me to a brief moment of Satori (a Japanese word for enlightenment).

Let me explain.

Graciously welcome: quantum entanglement.

(God forbid any bona fide quantum physicist reads this, but here goes my feeble attempt to explain).

Scientists have collided electrons together at high speeds to find something even smaller than electrons and particles: quarks (you can't even see them unless they move). And these quarks, when separated, like to go either "up" or "down." (They don't exactly know why. That's called quantum confinement).

But the thing that had me jumping up and down a few nights ago is this: Let's say a quark has been split and one moves "up" and one moves "down". If they change one, the other one changes. Amazing, right? They don't know why this happens. Einstein actually called entanglement, "spooky action at a distance."

But the coolest, spookiest, spine-chillingest thing about it is this. If you then take the "up" quark and put it in New York City and take the "down" quark and put it in Australia and then change one of them, the other one changes too! No matter how far apart they are, they act and react, or you could say "interact." They are beautifully intertwined. Quantum entanglement.

Does that rock your world or what?

We humans are beautifully and inextricably connected on this great big bouncing ball we call Earth*. And ultimately if we are to survive, we have to shatter the illusion of separateness, as Thich Nhat Hanh said.

Just had to share.
Peace,
BWB

*gotta give credit to five for fighting for that metaphor.

Denim Therapy

I have found an even better website than better world betty, if you can believe it.

I know you all have that favorite pair of jeans - they perfectly conform to your unique lower body. Whether that is your big beautiful hips or your jay-lo look alike gluteus or the lack thereof. The jeans that make you feel like a million bucks. People in the grocery line ask you, Where did you get those jeans?

And we all know that good jeans come at a very high price. Number one, they are hard as hades to find. If you're tall, like me, they are never long enough. And with today's funky fake sizes (that are rigged to make you feel skinnier), you have to try on a dozen pair to find the right fit. And when you do find them, you are appalled at the price tag.

My first favorite pair of jeans (that is, after my jordache jeans from my elementary school days) I didn't find 'til I was 30. A pair of Lucky Jeans. Made in the USA (which is hard to find when buying clothing) at a steep 90 bucks, which I distinctly recall swearing that I would never pay. But it was after my second son was born and I figured I had earned a decent pair of jeans!

And, let me tell you, they were worth every cent. I've been wearing them once a week for the past five years. Do the math.

But these jeans are becoming mere threads. Both knees are torn out and the belt loop to boot. But I won't give them up.

Enter: Denimtherapy.com.

That's right. Denim Therapy. This company will take your favorite jeans and presto, change-o, repair them for you! You send them your jeans and they will first give you an estimate (and they are careful to make no distinct guarantees). But, hey, isn't it worth an excellent try?!

Though I'm a bit scared to part with them at all, tears or no tears, I think I'm going to do it! If they can mend these well-worn jeans, I'll be dancing in the streets (with them on, of course).

I'll let you know...

Peace,
BWB

Some of my favorite pre-K books encouraging environmental stewardship

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss (love it)
Recycle! by Gail Gibbons (her non-fiction is always beautifully straight-forward)
Don't Pollute by Stan and Jan Berenstain (old school green effort)
The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon (informative and reader-friendly)
Welcome to the Green House by Jane Yolen (beautiful celebration of the tropical rainforest)
Hush Little Baby by Sylvia Long (nice re-invention of the familiar consumerist lullaby)
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky by Susan Jeffers (Chief Seattle's words)
People by Peter Spier (great gift book - how we are all connected to the human family)

Bring the list the next time you visit your favorite library or used bookstore (for listings check better world betty).

I welcome more suggestions!

Peace,
BWB

No more excuses, commuters!

Last week I went to a public about what citizens hope to have happen in the designated growth areas of Albemarle County (important stuff, if you live there like I do, but that's another blog).

At the sign in table, someone there gave me a funky, cool recycled pen with the website rideshareinfo.org. I had heard of ride share, but had no idea the wide range of services available for you commuters out there. You Crozetians and North 29ers or possibly those of you who live in surrounding counties and have to drive long distances into town, please consider taking advantage of the ride share program.

The website is easy to navigate and informative: check out car pools, van pools, school pools and their "guaranteed ride" program.

You know how we all make excuses for why we can't car pool. The big one being, I need to be flexible. What if my daughter gets sick and needs picked up early at school? What if I have another pressing need where I have to leave work? I'll be without a car!

No more excuses.

If you are signed up in any type of pool at least two days a week, you are eligible to register for a "guaranteed ride:" if you suddenly need a ride, the people at rideshare are happy to help. Either via free taxi service(within a certain distance) or even a short-term rental car option.

When my preschooler starts a five day half-day program next year I plan on "school-pooling" with a neighbor to cut down on drive time. My son's school is not currently listed on the site, but Baker-Butler Elementary School, both Covenant schools, Greenbrier Elementary and others are listed as participating. Check it out Albemarle and Cville area commuters: rideshareinfo.org

Peace,
BWB

take the greener parenting path...

The kids and I had the morning to ourselves so the plan was to let Mom enjoy some Nia exercise at ACAC and then we could head to the bookstore and the park.

In keeping with the no-buying pledge we head to Read It Again Sam on the downtown mall, my favorite used bookstore in town. I like the way it's laid out and the staff is always friendly and helpful.

My 7-yr old was looking for a football book and my 4-yr old wanted a Star Wars book. Unfortunately, they only had young adult and adult books dealing with those topics.

But they have a great kid section, so after my youngest finishes his tantrum, we begin to browse. Soon we are immersed in George's imaginary adventure among 76 dragons you have to find. And my oldest found a book about King Cobras that he's thrilled with. I even find a reprint of the 1915 edition of "The Betty Fairy Book."

So we make our final selections and head to Revolutionary Soup for lunch(love that place because they use lots of local and organic produce, just wish they would dish the plastic utensils). On the way to the park we buy our "Brownie for Barack" and head to the new McGuffey park. What a simple, beautiful, green day of fun.

On the way home I want to hit home the lesson of today's adventure: the hidden message being that it's fun and important to go green.

I ask my 7yr old how much his snake book was at the original price. $18.95. How much did we pay? $9.50. I said, Wow. Because we paid half the normal price, we were able to buy two extra (used) Ms. Frizzle chapter books about dinosaurs and whales! Cool. If we went to Barnes and Noble we would have had to spend more gas (more fossil fuels) and buy a new book (dead tree) and we could only buy one (the economics of this my boys really get!) That's why it's a better choice to go to a local used book store, son. We helped save a tree AND we helped support Dave and Barbara at Read It Again Sam (check the Betty directory for store hours). It's a total win-win.

And although we didn't find exactly what we were looking for in the first place, the alternative we chose was equally interesting and worthwhile and better for the planet. Maybe that's a big part of what "going green" means.

Peace,
BWB