Happy Green Beings

During the crazy month that we’ve had with news of banks and bailouts, a piece of legislation was slipped into the bill that encourages employers who provide benefits reimbursing employees for their use of public transportation to also include bicycle commuting expenses as part of their benefit package. Since the legislation tagged this benefit on, and because many companies hire a benefits administrator service, employees may begin seeing this included in their benefits in the near future.

I just want to say, if it helps with the motivation to cycle to work, more power to everyone who pulls their bike out of the garage as a result. In the past three months, I’ve saved 936 pounds of carbon from gasoline emissions, and I’m proud of that. My employer doesn’t have to pay federal taxes, so I won’t be seeing any reimbursement of my related expenses unless the wellness committee talks them into it. But the idea that people are being given this incentive is a positive step, even if it is a small one in terms of economics.

One of the contributers to bikeforums.com provided the following sample letter to his HR department to request that they consider supporting this addition to the tax code…

Human Resources Department,

As I’m sure you are aware, the Congress just passed H.R. 1424 “The Bail-Out Bill” on Capitol Hill. Although this legislation deals primarily with the housing market, there were several other unrelated provisions added to the bill. Among these was a tax incentive for employers who promote the use of bicycles for commuting. The specifics of this tax break are laid out in Sec. 211, “Transportation
fringe benefit to bicycle commuters” under the Transportation and Domestic Fuel Security Provision section but the change is pretty basic. The bill offers a $20 a month tax relief per bicycle commuting employee to cover the cost of any employer reimbursement for reasonable expenses incurred by the employee “for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and storage, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment.”

I am interested in finding a way that [Company Name] could implement a program that would allow employees who cyclo-commute to expense less than $20 a month in bike related expenses.

The benefits of an expense reimbursement program for cyclo-commuters include:
• Lower fuel costs on company owned vehicles
• Less required maintenance on company owned vehicles
• Ability of [Company Name] to claim a full $20 per month per eligible employee
when actual expenses are likely to be far less
• Improved employee health which in turn increases employee productivity
• Creates a progressive and environmentally conscious image for the
company

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like additional information about this recent tax code change.

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This post is a great reminder about how our policies and actions in this country affect others thousands of miles away.  The comments are worth reading as well, as many comment about how innocent people are affected by drug violence.

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The curb side discount electric lawn mower has died. The bearings are gone on the electric motor, so no point in repair. The battery was loosing it’s ability to make it half way around the yard anyway. So out with the rotory mower, and back in with the reel mower. Eugene Klein, who fished our local waters, and kept a garden next door, had a reel mower that he used well into his 50’s. At some point it broke and he finally joined everyone else and purchased a Lawnboy gas mower, so the sound of cutting grass finally changed in his part of our neighborhood. All of the sudden, the late evening lawn mowing was no longer an option. City ordinances had already addressed complaints between neighbors across the region. Soon, their language would be generalized to address the use of their string trimmers, wood chippers, and other noisy two cycle motor driven power tools. Ultimately, power washers, and leaf blowers would fall under their authority as well. Instead of rakes edgers, and leaf sweepers powered by muscle, everything had either an electric or small gas powered element to it.

Mr. Klein never turned to the rototiller. He had long established a well aerated soil structure, composting his fish remains along with yard waste. My brother’s dog so loved to excavate and roll around in that stuff when I tried it in mom’s flower garden. And did he ever have the tomato and green bean crops. We always had plenty of fish in our freezer, fresh tomatoes, beans, and cucumbers on our table, followed by rhubarb for mom’s pies. Friday evenings during the summer, we ate like kings even though dad’s business was in start-up. And they were all thanks to Mr. Klein’s habitual use of a garden fork and skill with his spinning rod. The Lawn-boy and the garden fork used for traditional vegetable and flower gardening seem at odds in this time of global warming, but were completely compatible to a guy who grew up in Northern Wisconsin’s logging camps. Pick the right tool for the job and maintain it until it can’t be fixed. Fishing on Lake Winnebago from a wooden boat with an old Evinrude Motor and a pair of oars, Mr. Kline showed me how to use the wind while drift fishing for walleye pike on early mornings or overcast days, depending upon which shift he worked. He motored out until we lined up the center Elm tree with the radio tower, and another elm tree with a silo, and low and behold, the depth of the anchor went from 15 feet to 7 when he had me drop it in. We were right over the rock pile off of Garlic Island which the walleyes used like a corner hangout. He took me out to further his limit, but I was the one who took home the fillets those summer days. We used his home made jigs, poured from a piece of lead that he found at the army surplus store, and tied with care from buck tails that he brought home from deer camp.

A few weeks before he passed away, Eugene and I sat with my daughter while we visited in his living room. The house still smelled the same as it had when I was growing up. He asked about my children, and talked about his children and grandchildren. The garden was still there, though not as many vegetable plants were in residence as when I lived at home. He ordered a single box of girls scout cookies, and we said farewell for the last time. Taking out the reel mower reminds me of Eugene Klein, his care for his friends, family, and his home. I just purchased a garden fork last evening, so I’ll be thinking of him as I use it to turn the soil for our new vegetable garden plot. I only hope I can prepare the soil as well.

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Earth day has been around since 1970 but I didn’t know the rest of the story. You can find it here and while you’re there, check out ways to green your garage.

Other great places to learn more about being green.

Mom Go Green Musings of a Mom on a Quest for a Healthy Planet and Family

Women’s Voices for the Earth - loads of great resources including how to have a green cleaning party!

and the mother of them all
The We Campaign spearheaded by Al Gore and funded to the tune of $300 million!

How will you celebrate Earth Day?

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This blog is an excellent source of information on food and politics. The posts are long but the information is timely and often provides individuals with specific ways to get involved. (Plus the banner is beautiful!)

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I didn’t know about this until this morning. Our clan will be participating and I’m encouraging YOU to join in too! All the info can be found here.
Pull out the candles, find a good bottle of wine and make it a date!

This video is a little long (6 minutes) but good and gives an overview of Earth Hour 2007.

(PS - If you have trouble with video on this blog, please let me know!)

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