Downtown San Jose Events Promoting Bicycling and Green Living

Today was "Bike to Work Day". I'm sorry that I didn't get the word out earlier.

There are two events that are coming up that I will tell you about....the first one you will need to register today if you're interested.


Get Back on Your Bike!
A free lunchtime presentation on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 in the King Library providing practical tips to get re-started in bicycling.

Topics covered will include: what to look for when buying a bike, how to ride in traffic, taking a bike on public transit, and more.

Free helmets will be provided and fitted for the first 25 registrants.

When: Noon-1:00pm, Tuesday, May 18.
Where: Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library, Room 255/257,
150 E. San Fernando Street in downtown San Jose.
Advanced registration required. To register, email john.brazil@sanjoseca.gov no later than today, Thursday, May 13, 2010.


San Jose Via Velo Downtown Event
From 10:00am to 3:00pm this Saturday, May 15th on San Fernando Street between Highway 87 and Third Street.

This event is part of a global movement to open up city streets for the community to use for walking, cycling, and other human-powered fun presented by the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition and the City of San Jose.

All ages are welcome to enjoy the celebration, which will feature casual bike rides, live bands on two stages, bicycle tune-ups, green living demonstrations on recycling and composting, organic food cooking demonstrations, high tech scavenger hunts on bikes, yoga, and other fun activities.

For kids there will be children's cycling activities (kids bring their own bikes), Kaiser Permanente Kids Course (indoor/outdoor obstacle course), button making, carbon footprint games, nutrition games, native plant and tree games, and yoga classes for children.

Here' the link to the flyer:
http://sanjoseclassic.com/images/Viavelo-poster-final.pdf

Here's a link about the activities and vendors that will be at Via Velo:
http://bikesiliconvalley.org/content/1241


Some good news!

Last October, the San Jose State University issued the SJSU Ecological Footprint Challenge to students, faculty, and staff.

750 participants took a short quiz that asked questions about their energy use, food habits, transportation, and recycling habits for baseline data.

From October 2009 until March 2010, participants tried to reduce their energy use and have more sustainable eating, transportation, and recycling habits.

In March 2010, participants were asked to re-take the quiz challenge to see if their ecological footprint was reduced.

In a campus presentation this afternoon, it was announced that the winner of the lowest ecological footprint from the challenge is Sstoz Tes from the King Library's Center for Steinbeck Studies.

Sstoz has an ecological footprint that is 43% less than the average of the 750 people that took the challenge.

Congratulations, Sstoz!!