Today is the last Friday of the month, which means it's also "Green Streets Day." The kids and I have participated in this initiative for the past several months. We've enjoyed finding our way to work and school/camp using 'people power.'

Green Streets Day (http://portlandgreenstreets.org/) is my favorite type of public/environmental health initiative: it is fun, it is fairly easy, and it costs nothing (or very little). It gets people out and about, exercising their bodies and minimizing their impact on the world. Portland Green Streets does an admirable job getting the word out...

"On Green Streets Day, we encourage people throughout Greater Portland to:

* Wear Something Green (shirt, pants, socks, whatever!)
* Get Around Green (walk, bike, bus, carpool, telecommute, etc.!)
* And then to Celebrate (by signing in for freebies, discounts, & raffle items from local businesses)!

We hold a region-wide party on that day, with each individual and institution - celebrating and encouraging in its own way.

So throw on something green for the last Friday of the month - and share a car ride, hop the bus, drive your bike, or put one foot in front of the other. And watch out - because you will not only do good, but feel good, too!"

I like this approach. The Portland Green Streets group wants us to enjoy our monthly person-powered commute. They aren't trying to make us feel guilty about the days on which we must use fossil fuels to get around. They simply want to help us experience an alternative.

My family and I experience this alternative regularly--especially the kids. We live close to our schools, the library, the town-sponsored summer camps and many of the playing fields. So my older kids (in seventh and tenth grade) walk and bike more often than not. Whenever possible, I accompany my second grader to school or camp along our neighborhood's wooded paths (we think she's still too small to go by herself). We chat, and occasionally take advantage of the free flowers that our friend sets out on her stone wall. Once we've gotten my daughter to her destination, I return home for my bike, and ride the two miles to my office.

There is nothing better than a bike ride on a beautiful day.

Unless it is a walk with one's second-grader on a beautiful day.

I know I'm lucky to be able to commute this way. Many people have odd schedules, or live too far away from their jobs or schools for this to be a viable option. My husband's job is forty minutes away in Lewiston, and though he has considered biking there, this simply hasn't been practical yet.

So the kids and I will carry the Green Streets torch for now, and we're happy to do it. Thanks to the Portland Green Streets group for making this monthly event something to look forward to. Our bodies and our world appreciate your efforts.

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