I’m sitting in the Greenery, writing some text for the introductory page of our website, and being bombarded by the irritating rumble of a delivery truck idling outside the bistro across the street, unable to stop thinking about the toxins it is spewing into the air that I am breathing just a few dozen metres away, and feeling a sense of helplessness to make it stop. Part of me feels I should just walk across the street and ask either the driver or the restaurant manager to ask them to turn off the engine. Part of me feels I should write a letter to my borough councilor inquiring when the city’s anti-idling laws will actually be enforced. Part of me thinks I should wait till I have a serious laundry list of demands before I ask for my councilor’s busy time. And part of me wants to just go stick a banana in the muffler. I’m certain I’m not alone in being uncertain of which strategy to employ in simply protecting my health and reducing the level of stress in my life. I’m certain I can find a dozen studies online about the impacts of noise and engine idling on mental and physical health. And I’m certain that there will be some sort of resistance to whichever method I choose. However, I’m also certain that if I don’t do something, nothing will change, and I will just be left a little sicker, a little more stressed and a little less empowered to bring about the world that I think we need. So what do I do?
On the one hand, I don’t want to piss anyone off. That comes down to approach. If I can maintain my composure, stay positive no matter what, and be prepared to be denied, I know I will win some long term points: credibility and the guts to ask for what I want areetnd stand by my convictions. Perhaps the driver and the manager are also consciously or sub-consciously uncomfortable with the noise and the air pollution being generated by what is probably just a bad habit. Hmmm.
Okay, I did it: I went across the street, into the bistro, and asked the waitress if she could ask the driver to turn off the engine as the sound was really irritating. She said he was downstairs and was just on a delivery… I replied that there was in fact a law against idling and that I was thinking about asking our city councilor if it could be more diligently enforced. She said they had received some flyer about it and that it would be good to turn off the engine not just for the sound issue ‘but for other reasons too…’ i.e. health! Amazing! She said she would ask the driver when he came back upstairs. I thanked her and left the restaurant, and returned upstairs to see what happened. And… VICTORY! A moment later the driver came out and turned off the engine! I couldn’t see his face up close to see if he was annoyed or just didn’t care, but perhaps it’ll get him thinking and he’ll turn off the engine at the next stop without being asked. I think I’ll bring over that waitress something to say thanks, and let her know about our little project here at Greening Duluth… and I think now I’ve got even more motivation to work on that laundry list and stop idling everywhere!
So here it is: My first post for our new, Greening Duluth blog. Appropriate, I think, to start with a small but solid example of how we can make changes just by strengthening our resolve and standing up for our beliefs. I invite you, dear reader, to post your own stories, thoughts, fears and hopes to this little blog, in the hopes we can inspire a change far beyond our wildest dreams. To sustainability, friendship and faith!
