Green publications should promote public transit

Screen capture: Voting break-down from Mother Earth News poll results

An email from Utne Reader this week invited me to take a “green vehicle” survey that was hosted by Mother Earth News. The first few questions had to be left blank because they involved the answerer’s primary vehicle and “public transit” wasn’t an option.

Help keep bus routes on time

The highlight of my evening commute is the bus’s pass through a downtown Lakeport that is decorated with holiday lights: in storefronts, lampposts and the tree in Old Courthouse Square.

Occupy movement begins at home

An increasing number of Facebook posts and pages concern “occupy” parodies or spin-off movements, among them “Occupy Sesame Street” (“99 percent of the cookies are consumed by 1 percent of the monsters”), “Occupy Gringotts” (We are the 99%… of Wizards”) and “Occupy Autism Speaks” (“We are the 1 in 110”).

Water refill station, anyone?

The most compelling feature for me was what was missing from the “Sustainable Sonoma” exhibit at the recent Sonoma County Fair.

All aboard the yard-sale bus

In the interest of keeping it local, I would like to propose an alternative to charter bus excursions that take Lake County dollars to distant communities. Instead, why not charter a Lake Transit bus to tour yard sales on Saturdays?

Hand-made pouch for bus pass

Made a new ID holder out of brocade fabric to hold my Lake Transit rider's pass.

There are pockets on each side with a picture-frame opening through which the bus pass is visible. The fabric partition in the center has a grommet so I can hang it from a laniard.

I modeled my design after a plastic holder that was beginning to split at the seams.

Took two attempts to get the ID holder the right size but it turned out beautifully.

Gas prices make the bus a bargain

Lake Transit rider's pass in
hand-made brocade ID pouch

Among the messages on an e-mail group I subscribe to, were the instructions not to buy gas on April 15. The timing was ironic because I had added gas to the tank only one day before.