Lookouts and Lighthouses Repurposed, Oh My!

image from recreation.gov

Back in the day, there were such a thing as forest rangers who spent time in tall towers with binoculars in hand, looking for signs of smoke and fire. These days, weather satellites and other technology have taken over those tasks, but rather than dismantle the lookouts, they have been repurposed as getaways. This doesn’t mean they’ve lost their rough charm, though. Although there have been fire lookout stations that have been made into upscale weekend or vacation retreats, the towers offered through recreation.gov – some of which were built in the 1930s – seem as untouched as the forests that surround them.

Though most provide beds, visitors may be required to bring their own bedding as well as water and food and outhouses at ground level are the usual. What amenities are available depends entirely on which facility you’re talking about, but one thing remains consistent – great views and peace and quiet. And at night – a sky full of stars that can’t be seen when near a city.

Ocean Views

Even further back than there were forest fire lookout towers, there were lighthouses. Today, many of them have been preserved by private owners or nonprofit groups which rent out luxury accommodations. But there are a handful of lighthouses that are still operated by state or federal parks, their lighthouse keeper’s homes or specially built cottages available to the public at modest fees, most available as hostel lodgings, where a nightly bed can run as little as $23.

What Else Can be Repurposed As Lodging?

There have been several articles about shipping containers being repurposed as homes. Churches, lofts, even grain silos have been converted to provide shelter to humans. Apparently, the only limits on repurposing for living space lie within our imaginations (note: requires free NYT login).

Some of us may spend so much time commuting in our cars that they begin to feel like home and while we may want to reduce our carbon footprint by ridesharing, we’re sometimes reluctant to share our home away from home with a stranger. ZoomPool makes it easy to find a rideshare partner who is compatible with the way we live. Get more fun per gallon with ZoomPool.

How Recycleable Is Your Life?

image via idioms by kids

We Americans have a lot of stuff. Generally, a lot more than we know what to do with. And this becomes apparent particularly when someone is moving, as a colleague of mine did a couple of months ago.

Downsizing after the early death of her husband, she found herself faced with the hugely unpleasant task of sifting through nearly 30 years' worth of acquisitions. Some items she knew could be recycled, others not. Still others she wasn't sure about. When the dust finally settled from her move, she discovered that some of the things that were technically recyclable turned out to be unrecyclable and there were things she had not even thought were recyclable that were!

Unlikely Recyclables

Did you know dentures, eyeglasses, prosthetic limbs and cell phones are recyclable? Groups like the Lions or Elks clubs and some businesses collect some of these items and make them available to be re-fitted for new users who can't afford to purchase them for themselves, or in the case of dentures, recycling the materials. So before you throw away your previous pair of prescription lenses, think about who might use them.

Unlikely to be Recycled

It may be a perfectly useful piece of furniture - a bookcase, a desk, a table. But if it is made with particle board, a number of charity resellers like Goodwill won't take it. It may be that furniture made with particle board just doesn't sell, although it can sometimes disappear.

It could be just a week old with the tags left on it, but for thrift stores, mattresses are out. It's a health issue - the law doesn't allow them to take the chance of spreading illness or varmints through beds. This doesn't mean your old mattress must go to the landfill, though. Many mattress sellers are offering to collect used mattresses/bedsprings because the materials can be salvaged.

So How Do You Know?

First, start with the label or tag, if there is one. Look for the recycling symbol. If it's there, the item is technically able to be recycled.

Now check with your local recycling center online or by phone about what they're able to take. They may not be able to recycle somethings for lack of the proper machinery or destination. Earth911 can be a good place to start looking for both centers and information on what's recyclable.

If it's a useful item in good condition that can't be accepted by Goodwill or another agency, you can still offer it on craiglist or perhaps swap for something else. A friend might be having a garage sale or there might be a local consignment shop. It might even be worth something as a collectible.

Plan Ahead

If you're thinking about a move in the future, even if it's not the near future, it's worthwhile to begin planning now. The more information you have on the recycling options available to you - whether for re-use or breakdown for materials - the better you can plan and the fewer still useful items will end up taking space in the landfill. In fact, though Fall is just arriving, Winter and a new-start New Year will be just behind it, followed by Spring and you-know-what.

Though your actions may not keep the landfills from filling, every little thing, whether composting or ridesharing, helps offset your carbon footprint.

Incentives to Rideshare - What Would You Take?

For a lot of us, ridesharing is about saving the planet one empty car seat at a time. But various rideshare programs, corporate and government, have been disappointed enough in their user statistics (and under pressure to perform better) that they have begun to offer various incentives for carpooling.

WTOP, in the D.C. area, reported in June that Commuter Connections (Maryland) would begin paying commuters $2 every day that they carpool. The idea is that once people try it, they’ll like it and continue. This pilot program comes after another D.C. innovation, the “Bridge Bucks” program, which paid Woodrow Wilson Bridge commuters $50 a month to take public transportation or vanpools, which in turn was followed by a Department of Transportation version which hoped to lure commuters away from their cars during the time the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge was closed for repairs.

Many colleges offer staff and faculty incentives to take transit or rideshare by offering such motivators as a guaranteed ride home if you need one, subsidized rail or bus tickets, preferred parking and “bucks” that can be earned and spent on campus. Incentives need not be limited to carpoolers, but may encompass bicycle riders and pedestrians as well. Cities around the nation have chosen to recognize employer efforts at encouraging ridesharing and use of public transit and vanpools and some have even partnered to offer subsidies to start vanpools.

For people not working for a big company or government, the incentives are usually smaller or nonexistent. Commuters using the “Slug” method of carpooling just want to get where they're going. For the passenger it’s transportation. For the driver, it’s an opportunity to use the carpool lane. The once unwritten rules include no exchange of names and no speaking unless spoken to. Since the inception of this grassroots form of organized hitchhiking, there has been more and frequent discussion and voting at the slug line website about new slug line locations and the rules. And slugs can also search for items left behind in someone’s car. Slugs say it’s relatively safe because D.C. high-occupancy lanes require at least three people in a vehicle. You stand in line, get in a car, and hope for the best.

Yet, even with “casual commuting” there can be a pay off in social networking; after a while, slugs begin to recognize one another and see each other around town and this can lead to casual friendships, making the ride more enjoyable. And with the popularity of the forums and participation in conversation on the slug website, it seems as though even those willing to travel with others anonymously crave some sort of interaction. So maybe it isn’t all about economic incentives – employer brownie points or government statistics. Given a choice, probably most people would prefer to ride with a pleasant companion than sit in silence for an hour or so. Will incentives like being paid to take the bus or train or carpool make a dent in the growing traffic surrounding the city centers? Possibly. The $2 a day pay program by Commuter Connection is a pilot program ending in October. If it’s a success, it may spread to other cities. Or, if the traffic remains bad but not like D.C., it may not.

If you’re not ridesharing, what would it take to for you to start?

Would it take a reward program or the opportunity to exchange conversation and thereby make the ride shorter? Would it take confidence that you already know something about the person you’re travelling with because you’ve learned a bit about how close they match to your ideal trip partner? Would it be sufficient incentive to see your suggested match’s feedback ratings from other carpoolers? There is even the chance for those in the dating pool to meet other like-minded members in a low-key situation and “test drive” the relationship. ZoomPool offers these incentives. That’s pretty nice – especially if you would like to add ridesharing as a way to reduce your personal carbon footprint. In which case, ZoomPool might be less of an incentive and more of a reward. Why not try it? After all, the more people who join the community, the more rides will become available and the more the community can grow. In the end, that could be an incentive for everyone.

And for those of you who decide to upgrade to Certified membership with its additional personal safety filters, the reward includes participation in the ZoomstR Plus loyalty program, where shared miles accumulate toward gifts and discounts.