Photography by Myleen Hollero and JP Collins
Most bike commuters don’t bike because it’s the green thing to do; the fact that biking is green is just a nice byproduct of their desire to bike. JP Collins is unique among bike commuters in that he began using a bike for transportation precisely because it was the green thing to do. “I wanted to put my environmentalism where my mouth was.” says Collins.
Collins, a graphic designer and illustrator living in San Francisco, has been an ardent environmentalist for twenty years, a bike commuter for just two. His green lifestyle is a work in progress that started with a general environmental concern he shares with his wife Lisbit Bailey, a museum curator for the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. First, Collins and Bailey changed their diets by becoming dedicated consumers of organic produce and becoming vegetarian in the process. Next, they began recycling and composting until making green decisions was just the way they lived their lives. Collins and Bailey went out of their way to find and use basic things such as simple cleaners, sustainable furniture and cloth tote bags, decades before these became fashionable.
The realization that transportation was the next area of their life ripe for greening arose organically as well. They had a car they weren’t using and they discovered that they just didn’t need it. “Ultimately, what convinced me to move to a bike was following the alternative fuels debate,” Collins said. “I had a feeling they were asking themselves the wrong questions. Even if we do move to these alternative fuels, cars still take up a lot more materials and energies than other transit alternatives. I didn’t immediately take up a bike, but that is what ultimately came out of that realization.” Like many bike families, they joined a car-sharing service for times when they do need a car.
Most of the time, Bailey commutes via public transportation and Collins commutes on his bike: “It’s faster to get downtown on my bike. I love just being out and the freedom, the fresh air and the views. I like not having to wait for the bus, being on my own schedule.”
Collins and Bailey continue to green their lifestyle at every opportunity. There may be some extra effort involved, but they clearly enjoy it wholeheartedly. They joined a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) program last year and, naturally, Collins picks up their bag of organic, locally-grown produce on his bike each week. They sustain their inspiration by following the work of leaders like Van Jones (green jobs and social justice), Bill McKibben (global warming, alternative energy and local economies), William McDonnough (remaking the way we make things) and Paul Hawken (green business). They also share a vision for the city that San Francisco could become: “A city in which people realize that they need to stop driving for a number of reasons: for personal health and the health of the planet. In which people invest in themselves and the health of their community as they invest in their retirement plan. In which people slow down and start enjoying their communities.” Collins pauses for thought. “For me, being a self-propelled person means being a completely environmentally conscious individual.”
Bike-geek gadgetry. Being into both sustainability and self-propulsion, there are a lot of new alternative energy gizmos to geek-out over. The Hymini wind turbine attaches to your handlebars and generates energy from the wind created by riding. You can then plug in your mobile phone, iPod or whatever-portable-device and charge it from the stored electricity. Green geeks, bike geeks unite! -JP Collins
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