<html><head></head><body><div class="ydpab3d869ayahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><div></div>
<div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">These are some really important things to consider. There are easy ways to reduce our carbon footprint without avoiding travel</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Carpools are wonderful - more efficient and a great opportunity to bond with other dancers</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">There are lots of more fuel efficient cars that make a real difference. Outside out local dances it is starting to look like a Prius dealer's lot - those get near 50 mpg. All electric or plugable hybrids do even better - but are relatively new and expensive right now. Trains and buses take a little planning but better for the environment..</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">only slightly related question: Why is it offensive to call a dance figure a gypsy but not offensive to be a dance gypsy?</div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><br></div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false">Mac McKeever</div><div><br></div>
</div><div id="ydpa81697e2yahoo_quoted_1315934453" class="ydpa81697e2yahoo_quoted">
<div style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:#26282a;">
<div>
On Monday, October 7, 2019, 01:55:01 PM CDT, Paul Wilde via Organizers <organizers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><div dir="ltr">Hey all,<br clear="none"><br clear="none">This is a long email, as it includes three posts.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">First, I hope people don't mind, but I'm ccing,<br clear="none">callers and musicians list here, as I think<br clear="none">we can collectively bring about a major shift<br clear="none">in habits w/ our concerted hive intelligence.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">I am including the original two posts near the top of<br clear="none">this email, so callers/musicians list people can<br clear="none">see where this started. PLEASE feel free to<br clear="none">cut out the original lengthy posts when replying.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">First:<br clear="none"><br clear="none">On 10/7/19, Heitzso via Organizers <<a shape="rect" href="mailto:organizers@lists.sharedweight.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">organizers@lists.sharedweight.net</a>> wrote:<br clear="none">> I'm a believer that climate change is a real threat.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">> I'm also a believer that our culture desperately needs activities<br clear="none"> that bind people together rather than fractures them apart, and<br clear="none"> I believe contra dance is an excellent way to do that.<br clear="none"> (sharing weight, dancing with everyone, ...)<br clear="none"><br clear="none">> I've mentioned the issue of how do we change our contra culture<br clear="none"> to minimize our carbon footprint from traveling to non-local contra<br clear="none"> dances to my wife, Jennifer Horrocks, a few times over the years<br clear="none"> (she sews and sells contra dance dresses all over the country).<br clear="none"><br clear="none">> Recently Liz Burkhart (on this email's "to" list) posted on Facebook<br clear="none"> about her trying to alter her contra lifestyle to minimize her contra<br clear="none"> carbon footprint.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">> Cut-and-pasting from her post:<br clear="none"><br clear="none">>> I've spent years with a contra habit that takes me to roughly one<br clear="none">dance weekend per month. The closest, besides our own, was 83 miles<br clear="none">away and the furthest was 795 miles. I am acutely aware that this is an<br clear="none">incredible amount of distance to be covered for just one weekend (sometimes<br clear="none">a week) for a pleasurable activity. It's been weighing on me more and more,<br clear="none">as it's becoming painfully obvious that our lifestyles aren't sustainable. My<br clear="none">lifestyle at home is mostly pretty simple, but I feel this nagging guilt<br clear="none">when I do something extravagant, like drive to Vermont for YDW. Although<br clear="none">we did our best to cram up to 6 people and our stuff in a van, we still<br clear="none">consumed a lot of fuel to make it happen. Some people flew, which consumes<br clear="none">even more.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">>> I think I'd like to work on decreasing the amount of out-of-town events<br clear="none">I go to, and try to find alternative ways to get there. Carpools are great<br clear="none">and much better than driving solo, but we could do more. One dancer this<br clear="none">weekend took public transit and a bicycle from DC area to Vermont. A whole<br clear="none">band playing for a square dance weekend a few years ago biked from south<br clear="none">(I think New Orleans?) all the way to Nashville. I think this is really<br clear="none">admirable and more people should consider something like this. This<br clear="none">ongoing climate change makes our world a scary place, and it will only get<br clear="none">worse (it doesn't look like those with the power to fix it care to change<br clear="none">the high consumption status quo). It's also becoming more common for me to<br clear="none">have to drive distances to call contra dances, which is harder to find<br clear="none">carpool mates for. I'm not sure what that will look like for me - I am<br clear="none">fantasizing about a NE train/bike tour with dates far enough apart that I<br clear="none">can make it to gigs with this slower and less convenient transportation.<br clear="none">I'm also considering making a vow to never fly on an airplane again. Their<br clear="none">use is so incredibly terrible for our environment.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">>> Has anyone been adapting their travel habits in the face of climate<br clear="none">>> change?<br clear="none"><br clear="none">> I believe that we, our contra community, needs to openly start discussing<br clear="none">this issue.<br clear="none">I applaud Liz's public request for comment and solutions.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">> Sincerely,<br clear="none">> Heitzso<br clear="none">> <a shape="rect" href="http://atgaga.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://atgaga.com</a><br clear="none"><br clear="none">Finally, my reply:<br clear="none"><br clear="none">Yes, this is a very worthwhile discussion.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">On a slightly side note, 2+ yrs ago a hydrogen station was completed<br clear="none">at a local super market parking lot 1 mile from our house.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">I tried for 1 yr, writing emails and calling Stop & Shop, Toyota, Honda,<br clear="none">and people from Air Liquide who were the ones responsible for installing<br clear="none">the hydrogen station. I got absolutely nowhere for all this effort.<br clear="none">I was told repeatedly by everyone I could get to talk to at both<br clear="none">Toyota and Honda (both who make hydrogen powered cars)<br clear="none">that there weren't stations to provide fuel to start selling these<br clear="none">cars anywhere but in CA. To my knowledge (I live in Prov RI),<br clear="none">there are stations near Hartford CT, Mansfield MA (20 mi. from us),<br clear="none">Newton MA, (40 miles from us and close to Boston), and I'm sure<br clear="none">there are others nearby that I'm not aware of. Perhaps you know<br clear="none">of others you could add to this?<br clear="none"><br clear="none">CA is the only place you can buy these cars (is what I'm told).<br clear="none">Someone mentioned OR. I called dealers there, and no luck.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">SO, my very dissatisfied take on all this was that the industry<br clear="none">(car makers, etc) are doing worse than just dragging their feet<br clear="none">on switching to non-carbon based fuel alternatives. It pisses<br clear="none">me off no end (esp having a station 1 mile from home). But<br clear="none">honestly I don't know where to take this from here.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">After all this effort, we switched out from a Toyota Echo ('05)<br clear="none">which had been getting just under 40 mpg for over 10 yrs, to<br clear="none">a Prius, now getting 55+mpg overall, but I'm still not happy<br clear="none">about the carbon footprint.<br clear="none">Biking is great, (but I'm afraid our household is a little to<br clear="none">old for that now), and public transportation is also a great<br clear="none">alternative. However, just for an example, I believe there<br clear="none">is no public transportation that will take you into Concord MA,<br clear="none">where the Scout House is, and where there is dancing at least<br clear="none">10X/mo. Correct me if I'm wrong on this.<br clear="none"><br clear="none">So I'd love to hear from others and apologize for this slightly<br clear="none">lengthy rant, but for one, I would LOVE to see hydrogen become<br clear="none">the rule of the highways. Their exhaust is water, and being lighter<br clear="none">than air, any leaks would go up, and not spread fire across the landscape,<br clear="none">as gasoline would do, should there be an accident. Oh, and the<br clear="none">Hindenberg? All that black smoke and all the fire after the first few<br clear="none">seconds was due to diesel to run the engine and the canvas bag.<br clear="none">Grrr!!!:-)<br clear="none"><br clear="none">These lists rock,<br clear="none">Paul<div class="ydpa81697e2yqt1295846587" id="ydpa81697e2yqtfd89433"><br clear="none">_______________________________________________<br clear="none">Organizers mailing list<br clear="none"><a shape="rect" href="mailto:Organizers@lists.sharedweight.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Organizers@lists.sharedweight.net</a><br clear="none"><a shape="rect" href="http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net</a><br clear="none"></div></div></div>
</div>
</div></body></html>