They See Me Rollin'

What's one to do on an overcast and possibly rainy day? Go for a bike ride!!! For those that don't know, the Swamp Rabbit Greenway is a paved, level trail that cuts through the back side of Furman University's campus and runs from Traveler's Rest to downtown Greenville. My task this week was to go on a bike ride on the Swamp Rabbit Greenway. Great! I thought, I've been on the trail multiple times and enjoy the heck out of it. Except one of my bike's tires was flat. Dammit... So I decided to ask my roommate if I could borrow his bike. 

Of course being at Furman, my roommate's father is loaded and bought him a $1,000 + bike that he barely ever uses. Being the stand up guy that he is, my roommate lent me his bike for the day and said "Just take care of it." That line was very shocking to hear coming from him, because he hardly takes any care of the bike himself. For weeks, he had been leaving the poor bike outside uncovered and exposed rain, and was starting to rust from the lack of any it saw. I knew I would be able to show the bike a good time. Equipped with my Camel Bak and both of my cameras (I'm in introduction to photography) I set off for the trail. 

Apparently something did not register with me when I asked to borrow my roommate's bike. The dude is 6'1". I'm 5'8". So when I set off for the trail with high hopes and a smile, I realized that this bike is wayyy to big for me. With 29" inch wheels and a massive body the size of a tank, I was raised further off the ground than my bike and felt like I had no control over the bike. Not to mention, my crotch was being destroyed by the overextended seat post. And of course, fancy bikes require a hex head wrench to adjust the height, so I was screwed (pardon the pun). Luckily, I was able to compensate for my short coming by standing up while I rode, which was good because I was able to ride faster and feel like Kate Winslet in Titanic with the wind blowing my hair back in a sexy way.

Being an overcast day and in possession of two very expensive cameras, I thought it best to limit my time outside and my exposure to rain, and chose to ride to Traveler's Rest rather than downtown Greenville. Traveler's is 3 miles away from Furman while downtown Greenville is 6 miles. Biking for pleasure rather than exercise is so nice. I road slower than I normally do and stopped to look at interesting things, such as the off-site composting piles that the manager of Furman Farm has and took pictures for my photography class. Since my bike has been on the disabled list for about a week, it was very exciting to go at a faster speed than 3 miles per hour for a change.

Once I arrived in the town of Traveler's Rest, I stopped and took some more pictures and got my hair cut in a really cool old-timey barber shop. The guy was really nice and told me I was parting my hair on the wrong side. He also told me that no one has perfect hair except for Jesus. Here's some of the pictures I took from my bike ride. I might try to post some of the pictures I've taken for my photography class on my tubular photos section of my blog. Later skater.

 Setting the bike against a log helped getting on and off.

 

NO HANDS

Mmmm steamy compost

Locavore

Hello! So every Saturday there is a farmers market in the heart of downtown Greenville on Main street. This super chill and well organized farmers market is called the Saturday Market. Packed full of 50 local venders, Main street is lined with tents of local farmers and artisans that sell anything from fresh seafood to soap. Shaded by the trees the line the street, the market has a relaxed and happy vibe as you can enjoy free samples provided by a cooking demo and tubular tunes from a local band. The market is also food stamp friendly, which is flipping sweet in that it offers a healthy option for people under government aid. To top it all off, the market even has a booth for local non profit organizations to share information about the cause that they are working for. The only downside to the market is that it is not pet friendly, so you don't get to see any cute dogs there. Pictures speak louder than words so I'll let you check out the pictures I took while I was there. Bye bye bye.

Sustainability Scavenger Hunt

Howdy! Let me fill you in on some important deets. As part of the fine print of the sustainability/ECOS scholarship, that I am getting, I have weekly assignments to complete and post on here. The first task was to make my blog and post a welcome post. Check. My next assignment, and I guess current, is to go on a scavenger hunt to find a list of sustainability themed objects/places on Furman's campus and take pictures of them. I'm proud to say that I found almost all of the objects/places. Some of them I was familiar with, and others I had to ask around, and when those people didn't know they had to ask other people and it was a mess, but I persevered. I had known earlier that Furman made a pledge to become carbon neutral by 2026 (that's only 13 years away!) but this hunt showed me all different sorts of green initiatives that Furman has already taken. There are 4 LEED certified buildings (and these are huge buildings we are talking here), a wastewater treatment facility, an organic farm (mentioned in an earlier post), a gazzilon solar panels, and a model Thoreau cabin. The Thoreau cabin don't really offset our carbon footprint but I guess its more of a sustainable philosophical message. I didn't find all of the things on the list. I missed the gardens that around Furman's lake that prevents soil erosion and promotes biodiversity. I ended up taking a lovely nap on a bench. Gotta love naps. I was really impressed by the amount of green things that Furman has invested money into to promote a better world. Furman could have easily spent the money elsewhere but I applaud their decision. Check back next week to see what the latest news as I journey further into sustainability science. Later skater.

Stay Classy

I just saw this on my friend's Tumblr. I thought it was pretty inspirational. Go create something, fool.

Trampin'

Alright so, I am in the coolest class ever. It is a nature walk class. I know right?! Too cool. Anyways, my professor assigned us some reading to do from this book called The Gentle Art of Tramping. It is basically a hiking for dummies book. It is so inspiration about hiking and freeing yourself from the stress of everyday life and makes you want to go hiking or "tramping." This guy, Stephen Graham, is definitely a cool cat in my eyes. I think my professor just scanned a few chapters of this book, but 3 chapters in and I am totally digging it. Check it out, kiddo.

The Gentle Art of Tramping

A Song

I don't know if this song was produced sustainably, but every time I hear it I think about nature and all of the cool experiences you can have alone outside, whether it be hiking or biking or just taking in all of the beautify scenery. All of these beautiful things in life won't stay around if we don't change our way of consumption and treatment of the earth. Anyways, the band is Youth Lagoon (they are super chill) and the song is July. If you like this check out their other song Afternoon.

Observation Point

This isn't really a sustainability post, but rather a college post. I am taking a Nature Walk/writing class and one of our first assignments was to find an "observation point" where we can go each week and observe our surroundings and write in a journal. I found this really peaceful spot on a small bridge that goes over a little creek. The only bad thing about it is the mosquitos!  But the sound of the water is so calming that I think it's worth the bug bites. Furman never stops surprising me with all these scenic views!

The Furman Farm

Here at Furman, we have a small organic "farm" where we grow all sorts of good fruits and veggies, from kale to blueberries. Everyone is welcome to come out in their free time and volunteer. The manager, Bruce, loves the help and is happy to tell you all about the science behind everything we do. We have a really cool CSA that lets people enjoy our delicious food. A great thing about our farm is that we compost the food scraps from our dining hall and use them to fertilize our plants. Even the pest control methods we practice are eco-friendly, I used coffee grinds to get rid of ants. Who knew?! Here is a picture of the row of arugula I planted!

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to my blog! My name is Tim Sharp and I am a freshman at Furman University, and I am planning to major in sustainability science, hence the title. Pretty clever huh? As part of a sustainability scholarship set up by the great Dr. Shi *key inspirational music* I have to make a blog and tell all about my sustainability adventures. I am not sure exactly what I will be posting, but I'll try and get a groovy mix of pictures and textual posts in here, but we'll see as the blog evolves. Stay golden Ponyboy.