Home of Sustainable Shopping Streets of the World

This is the home of Sustainable Shopping Streets of the World - your guide to finding all the best sustainable shops and eateries across the Planet. Thankfully, there is an increasing number of green businesses setting up in this post-mass consumption era of sustainable living and many of them are locating next to each other in some of the nicest urban precincts you'll find.

Check out the East Village, New York, NY

Check out Melbourne, Australia

Check out Brighton, UK

Check out Berkeley, California

Check out Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia

Check out Portland, Oregon

ABC Radio Interview

Listen to Michael's recent interview with ABC Radio's Bush Telegraph Program in which he provides his take on how to have a sustainable holiday in Australia.

Tuesday

A North American Bicycle Tour: Riding the Great Divide

Those with an interest in cycling may have heard of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail, North America's longest off-road mountain bike trail. Clocking in at 2,490 miles, the Great Divide crisscrosses down the Continental Divide (basically along the top of the Rocky Mountains) from Canada down to the US/Mexican border. As the US Adventure Cycling Association states, the route is the definition of remote but, as they say, "its remoteness equates with spectacular terrain and scenery".

I mention this great Trail because I received an email from my friend Matt McCarthy yesterday updating me on his travels. I knew he was undertaking some great cycling rides in the US but I was stunned when I visited the most recent of his online photo-journals. It turns out that Matt and his partner Nancy have just completed the whole of the Great Divide ride from Canada to the state of New Mexico. I encourage you to check out Matt's slideshow and Nancy's detailed journal of the ride - I am sure you'll be highly impressed and inspired to hop on a bike and go travelling.

I've taken the liberty to reproduce Nancy's journal introduction to their journey below. I think it provides a great insight into why long-distance cycle travel is such a great way to not only see some of the world's great natural features but to connect with like-minded people who love the thrill of conquering the many physical and mental challenges involved.

Since I was 15 my youngest brother, Alex, and I dreamed of going on an extensive bicycling tour, but we never did. It was only after I moved to DC (at the age of 29) that I got back in to biking, first as a commuter and then as a long distance weekend road cyclist. I was living with Alex during this time and he suggested that I hook up with a bike shop and do a "Sunday Ride" with them. It was on these rides that I met Matthew, an Australian living in DC. Matthew and I started going on our own long rides together and we have not been apart since. It is through Matthew and his experience as a cycling tourist that I have entered the world of cycle touring, as I had dreamed of as a teenager.

Last summer Matthew and I went on a fabulous 6 week tour in Alaska. We met so many other cyclists; saw such breathtaking sites, flora, and fauna; and survived and thrived even under some very brutal conditions (the Dalton Highway!) that we decided that we wanted to go on a much longer ride. Six weeks in Alaska was not enough-- we decided we wanted to put our jobs on hold (he is an economist/engineer and I, a high school English teacher) and do some more touring. 
 
Click here for more of Nancy and Matt's Great Divide cycling tour journal.

Posted by Michael Grosvenor at 2:37 AM
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G Magazine Review of Sustainable Australian Travel For Dummies

It's generally agreed that holidaying at home is a greener option than flying to the other side of the globe for a couple of weeks. And considering how alluring a destination Asutralia is to people from all over the world, we have a pretty amazing "backyard" to explore.

Author and urban planning consultant Michael Grosvenor has put together a great guide book that makes it easy for you to make sustainable choices when planning your next domestic trip, with Sustainable Australian Travel for Dummies.

The information is specific in that all the information comes from a green perspective, yet broad in that it caters to a range of budgets and age groups.

A great deal of thought has gone into the structure of this book, making it very user-friendly. For example, there are masses of cross-references throughout the text so that you can jump to the relevant section without having to flick through the whole book.

The first third of the book deals with general travel issues: researching, planning and booking a green holiday, how to spot greenwash, supporting local economies and indigenous communities, alternatives to driving and flying, and carbon offsets.

The last two thirds address 12 regions with information about getting there, public transport and cycle paths within each region, eco-friendly accomodation, sustainable shopping, natural wonders, cultural attractions and eateries that serve organic and or local produce.

There are reasonably detailed maps of each region but not of individual towns or cities.

If you like Grosvenor's no-nonsense approach to green issues, check out his other book, Sustainable Living for Dummies.

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