New Movie "What Would Jesus Buy" Starring the Rev. Billy Coming to some local theaters

With Thanksgiving and Black Friday (or Buy Nothing Day) behind us, I thought it might be nice to let everyone share their experiences over the holidays.

How did you get to your destination? How far did you go and did you carpool, walk or take public transport there? Was there any talk over the table about oil/gas prices or global warming? What's the general feeling around your area about these issues? Did all your relatives and friends get caught up in the shopping madness looking for the best deals on stuff they need?

And, under the fold, as an antidote to the usual Christmas shopping madness, I bring you The Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping...

We are starting to get a number of submissions for TOD:LOCAL and we thank all of you for submitting them; keep them coming! This one is by Nelson Harvey of The Wild Green Yonder, a blog about grassroots urban sustainability, alternative economics, and ecological design.

Arguments for rapid action on global warming are often framed in terms of the precautionary principle: given the potentially catastrophic consequences of the problem, we're better off taking action to prevent them, even if some uncertainty remains about just how bad they'll be. But in thinking about the legislation and technologies intended to combat global warming, it's important to remember that even the most attractive solutions will likely have problems of their own.

TOD:NYC has had a pretty good run over the last two years and while there is still lots going around in NYC with local environmental groups and the city"s Plan 2030, it's always good to look around at sustainable design from around the country and world. Over the next few months, I'd like to highlight best practices in making different areas of the world more sustainable communities. AND WE WANT YOUR HELP!!!

The video above from Paris about their new bike sharing program was sent to me by one of the local bike advocates here in NYC that wanted to highlight something he thought would revolutionize biking in NYC. In just a few weeks, the Paris bike sharing program has tallied over a million bike trips around town. It's hard to imagine even some of the best mass transit programs getting that much use over the first few weeks, especially at such a low cost. A friend who was on vacation in Paris at the time wrote to be that he rode for 7 miles on a tour around town and it felt great.

So I'd like all TOD readers from all over the world to contribute your own examples of environmental best practices from your community. We would like to post these examples on this page, which we are considering renaming TOD:LOCAL. And "Local" is wherever you happen to be. Please send your posts and videos to me in html if possible. Below, please find a wonderful 30 minute video created by the one and only Clarence Eckerson Jr. celebrating the changes that Portland, OR is making to become more sustainable.

I'm really starting to build a local base of activism for environmentally friendly ideas. I've been thinking about setting up a separate website like the Park Slope Neighbors or paying the $19/month for a Meet-Up site. Another site recommended to me is the Open Plans Project. The Gotham Gazzette has also run a series of articles about local cyber-activism.This would help sustain my local environmental initiatives and give a voice to the majority of people in the district that support these ideas against the narrow micro-NIMBY naysayers and stagnant institutional players like the NYC Department of Transportation.

But maybe there is another path? Interloafer comments in my last post that I should apply for open spots on my local community board. BP Scott Stringer and the local council members will have full rights to appoint new people to the board. Indeed Stringer has made Community Board reform a major issue.

So what's a budding activist to do? Apply for Board membership or continue to build a local movement for policies that will help soften the impact of peak oil? Would it be possible to do both?

I welcome thoughts from my dear readers.