This is Kim, Sea Rocket Super Cook, on her Harley parked at the bar. Now that I've got your attention... since we opened up almost a year ago, we wanted to work with people who live in the hood. There are lots of good reasons to do this ("it's really busy, come give us a hand fast!"), but the one we could put a number on is how many car miles your staff drives each day, and therefore some approximation of our environmental impact. The other day I counted up how many miles each of us travels by car to get here each day.

Dennis - 0 miles (1.7 mile bike ride)
Elena - 2 mile drive
Christy - 0 (she walks about 5 blocks)
Chris - 0 miles (walks 1.5 miles from South Park)
Connie - 0 (less than a mile on the 2 line bus)
Kim - 6 miles (rides her Harley from National City)
Mac - 1 mile (sometimes rides his bike)
Rachel - 10 miles (lived a few blocks away, but just moved to OB; only works weekends, so at least she's not commuting every day)
Diana - 1 mile drive
Jenghis - 0 (bikes 1 mile)

We drive about 140 miles per week to get to Sea Rocket, so that's about 20 miles per day. And most of those are Harley miles...

I've lived many parts of my mostly rural life (Flagstaff, Arizona; Sweet Home, Oregon) with long commutes and the first thing I did when I got the chance was to move as close as possible to the school I was attending. As a teenager this had nothing to do with saving the environment...living way out in the boondocks just wasn't as fun as living in town. Then I came out to California and found out that my little country commute was nothing compared to what these city people did! Eventually I got my own commute, but always dreamed of doing away with it. Thanks to a great road bike I got on craiglist for 50 bucks, I nearly did. Then opening the restaurant brought me a new commute of 12 miles, which I've been actively trying to do away with for the past year. I've recently moved closer to the restaurant and am riding my bike, so my mission is now accomplished!

Commuting is a choice in the medium term, even if one can't always choose in the very short term. It's not always an easy choice, but it is a choice. It can mean lower pay at a job that is closer. It can mean a less comfortable living situation. But it can also mean a better quality of life (depending on what you value) in the long term if done with thought and planning.

If you're interested in learning how to ride the bus, check out some of the blog posts Jay at The Linkery has written recently. He's turned riding the bus into a science and an art. If you're interested in getting a bike, check out San Diego's coolest bike shop, Velo Cult, or check out what's on craigslist.

Here are some other environmentally focused things we're doing:
Buying local and regional food directly from producers as much as possible
Compostable/biodigradable corn trash bags
Dr. Bronner's biodegradable soap
Recycling
Composting