Upper Green Side

Global Problems, Local Solutions

Upper Green Side is not afraid of taking on the biggest issues of the day. From fighting global warming to reducing suburban sprawl & preserving open spaces to reducing our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels (foreign or domestic) we are taking direct action on all these issues. And we are doing it here in our own backyard. You don’t have to chain yourself to a tree or go out on a Greenpeace ship to have an impact on global environmental issues. You can be a hard-core environmentalist without the tie-dye T-shirts, without going “back to the land” and without sacrificing much of what we consider “modern living”. In fact, our work focuses on positive changes to our area that will make it more livable and a higher quality of life for its residents.

For instance, our work to help bring two local food greenmarkets has many ripple effects. Most people simply enjoy the fresh fruits and vegetables and that’s great. But consider that that purchase also helps to protect farmland from suburban development and reduces the miles that the food had to travel (and therefore the fossil fuels burned) from farm to kitchen. The dollars the farmer earned on that produce and the money saved on the cost of fossil fuels stays in the local economy instead of adding to our growing trade deficit and military entanglements with the rest of the world. Furthermore, our community benefits from establishing a new sustainable food production and distribution network that is less vulnerable to fossil fuel price shocks or trade disputes. It creates a win-win-win dynamic that makes for a better community and a better world.

Another example is our effort to bring safe bike lanes and conveniences like secure indoor bike parking that encourages more people to use their bikes for commuting or other errands around town. Every year we collectively spend billions of dollars on highly industrial forms of transportation like automobiles, buses and subways. While mass transportation is much more energy efficient than automobiles, it still requires huge inputs of energy, capital and human labor to continue functioning at that highly efficient level and is still prone to breakdown and does have capacity limits at peak hours. Biking offers a very low cost, non-polluting and healthy means of transportation to the vast majority of non-disabled adults and children. And by making more room for bikes on the streets of the city, we reduce the capacity of those same roads to facilitate automobile traffic. Ultimately, what increasing street space for biking achieves is a mode shift of urban commuters from mass transit (or taxis) to bikes. That makes room on mass transit for more suburban commuters to use that instead of driving their cars. And again, quality of life and health outcomes increase while we collectively waste less of our precious resources on polluting fossil fuels.

What I’m basically trying to say is that the solutions to many of the global environmental problems are right in front of us and that we should not think of it as trading off “doing the right thing” with a decrease in quality of life. Quite the contrary, we can improve the global environment as we increase quality of life, save money and promote a stronger, healthier community. All it takes is a little local political leadership from elected officials, community boards, coop/condo boards, schools and all the stakeholders in the community to prioritize simple ways of making a difference. The rewards could be great but the cost of inaction is too. It’s time for a change.

As Upper Green Side moves from a small group of volunteers to a full fledged non-profit next year, we will be working to stimulate this change. We hope you will join us.