From a City of Roanoke press release:
Roanoke, VA - Roanoke Public Libraries and the Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition (RVCCC.org) invite you to pick up a free Compact
Fluorescent Lightbulb (CFL) from Roanoke Main Library, on Thursday, January 18, noon - 3 p.m. While supplies last. One per person, please.
Roanoke Main Library
706 S. Jefferson St. Roanoke
540-853-1057
Through our own giveaways, RIDE Solutions has distributed or assisted in the distribution of over 1,000 CFLs. Most of these have been through the Household Hazardous Waste days, with Roanoke Valley Cool Cities volunteers handing out the bulbs to attendees.
Thanks to Bob Grebe of WDBJ-7 and his
coverage of RIDE Solutions. We've already received a couple of registrations and an application for a
free bike rack as a result of the spot.
Check out WDBJ-7's
GreenTown page for more regional environmental news and resources.
There are more videos of RIDE Solutions and related programs at the
RIDE Solutions YouTube channel. We're also on
Facebook and
MySpace for those of you in the social networking scene.
UPDATE: There has been phenomenal response to the WDBJ-7 Mornin' piece by Bob Grebe. Between attending today's Bicycle Friendly Community workshop and processing rideshare registrations, all other work has fallen to the wayside.
Jeff Sturgeon of The Roanoke Times has a
front page article on an upcoming League of American Bicyclist workshop that will be held tomorrow in Roanoke. Shane Sawyer, Bicyle and Pedestrian Planner with the Regional Commission, and I will both be attending, along with other local elected officials, planners, and area cycling advocates. The Workshop will go through the process of becoming a Bicycle Friendly Community, a designation offered by the League and attained by only 73 localities nation-wide. What makes a community bicycle friendly?
Bike-friendly communities are those that, in the opinion of a panel of evaluators, are serious about developing the benefits of biking for fun, fitness and transportation.
So what do we have that shows we're serious as a region? From the article:
The region would have several assets to trumpet, including progress paving the Roanoke River Greenway, where bikes are welcome, and the proposed launch of a free or low-cost shared bicycle program. The Blue Ridge Bicycle Club has 425 members.
If it seems a bit spare, it must be that space concerns did not allow Sturgeon to include:
And I'm sure there's much more. The Roanoke region has a good shot at getting the Bronze level of designation, it seems to me, and doing so could propel local governments into building additional bicycle infrastructure and driver education into the region.