Towards low waste, resource respectful bike travel.
In this session we will discuss strategies for low waste/ zero (there is no zero!) waste bike trips as a “everyday acts of practical reverence” (Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Honorable Harvest). Wherever we visit by bike, we are in relationship with histories and ecologies, the human and beyond human world. Our consumption and waste can have impacts that can take many forms, including participation in regenerative economies, respect for local resources of water, food, land, and learning about how a place came to be the way it is in terms of who has access to those resources. While our personal practices of low waste are not the systemic change we need, the practice offers a deeper looking and invitation to larger movements of Just Transition. We will use an example of a gravel road tour between two Oregon train stations as a model to explore low waste trip planning, and build a framework of questions to help guide us as we visit.
Some reading/listening/following: bringing together what belongs together
The Honorable Harvest in “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer
“Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World” Anu Taranath
“Farming While Black” Leah Penniman
BIPOC zerowaste folk to follow
@woke_n_wasteless
@zerowastehabesha
Organizations
@movementgeneration
@neweconomycoalition
podcasts
The Herbal Highway, June 13 interview with Chochenyo and Karkin Ohlone leader Corinna Gould.
Guest host Emiliano Lemus interviews Chochenyo and Karkin Ohlone leader Corinna Gould about The Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, an East Bay urban indigenous women-led project. They discuss re-envisioning what it means to live on Ohlone land, and current opportunities to be in relationship with plants and the sacred in this place.
https://kpfa.org/episode/the-herbal-highway-june-13-2019/
The Zero Waste Movement and Environmental Racism (a white activist’s perspective)
https://pollybarks.com/podcast/episode-1-the-zero-waste-movement-and-environmental-racism/
Welcoming Gender Diversity in the Outdoors (and everywhere)
#ShredtheCistem and learn more about what you can do to make rides and community events in the outdoors more inclusive and affirming of trans and gender non-conforming (GNC) riders.
Gender Inclusivity in Youth Bicycle Education
Skillshare and facilitated discussion of curriculum and best practices that support gender inclusivity and queer safe space while teaching kids about bikes and safety. Cycles of Change collective members will give examples of our curriculum and host a discussion about how to engage youth effectively through educational programming on bikes.
Recognizing Power to Heal Ourselves
For this session, we will talk about some practical ways to create safe(r) spaces. Participants will lead a theater of the oppressed workshop that they can take back to their communities. Through this hands-on activity, participants will access tools for addressing difficult topics like privilege and power. After the activity, we will debrief and talk about how we can better implement anti-oppressive practices in our bike-shops, activist groups, and social circles.
Across the nation, many of us work ardently as Mobility Justice advocates. We do so because of how much we love our most thriving community members who are Black, Indigenous, People of Color, disabled, LGBTQIA+, undocumented, houseless, youth, elders, and etc. We do so because it is how many of us hold ourselves with dignity by speaking the truth. Our love is often misconstrued as rage when it really is our gentle, peace-loving and compassionate spirits moving us. Let’s converge minds, spirits, and hearts to inspire each other for uplifting transformation.
Feeding your body (and heart) while bikepacking
Food is the ultimate connector and transcends all identities, cultures, and backgrounds. In addition to discussing backcountry food basics, this session will address people’s physical, emotional and ancestral connection to food. Participants will spend time identifying the foods and flavors that make them feel whole and learn how they can be used to enhance your trip. Diaspora, colonization, eating disorders, body dysphoria, etc. can have a large impact on how people relate and feel about food. This session will be an inclusive environment for people to connect to food on whatever level they feel comfortable.
Go bikepacking, but make it fashion. Currently, clothing is one of the most discarded items on the planet. Fast fashions don’t consider comfort, fit, and ethical manufacturing of their apparel and certainly not thinking about the needs of bike adventurers. Break the cycle of fast fashions with a lesson on what to look for mindful alternatives.
Creating space for body size diversity in the adventure cycling community
Folks will be invited to explore the connections between the experience of a bikers body and the activity of adventure cycling. We will cover some gear basics for larger bodies and open the space up to share related tips and tricks. To close the group we will discuss how to build a size diverse community of adventure cyclists by examining a few outdoor adventure groups that work to create space for fat people to recreate. **This session is not just for people in larger bodies. It is about creating empathy and connecting people with their own bodies.**
Explore your gender identity in a space where we can be our authentic selves! Better understanding our relationship with our gender identity can be empowering and help us better advocate for others. Hear what our doctors say: that gender comes from the brain and from deep within the heart! Work together to learn about privilege, oppression, and practice how to speak up for others. Learn how to recognize and build healthy relationships with your fellow lgbtqia2s+ bicycle community, break apart the binary, and be a vigilant ally to your fellow community members.
