-

What's New COVID-19 has made Zero Waste and our lives in general more challenging. So far we are surviving and learning how to cope. Great time for bicycling though with so few cars on the road. After my cross country ride, I decided to become a bicycling professional and joined the staff of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition full time in 2019. As of October 2019, our house is now net-zero energy (it is fully electric and produces more energy than it consumes), we generate only about a quart of trash per month for 3 people and 3 dogs, and we are almost zero carbon for our transportation (I bike everywhere and my wife uses an electric car). In 2019, I bicycled 5004 miles from San Francisco to Boston and talked with people across the US about oceans, plastic, and climate change - giving 254 talks in 3 months. Please read more at http://ZeroW.org. In 2018, completed a bicycle education project for the Santa Clara County Public Health Department - training 145 people in-class, 85 on-bike, and 29 new League Cycling Instructors. See also http://www.vta.org/SmartCycling

  

About me...

After working at Harvard University, Bank of Boston, Fidelity Investments, Apple Computer, Sun Microsystems, Adobe Systems (including patent US8160947B2), and Silver Spring Networks (all world class companies), I did a career pivot to full-time public service rather than working for for-profit companies. I'm blessed to have a loving wife who enjoys working as a public librarian. Also, we were able to save and reduce our ongoing expenses enough so we can continue to live in high priced Silicon Valley. I now work full time for the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition.

Why did I switch? 

1. To spend more time with my wife, family, friends, dogs, reading, writing, and outdoor activities. We'll rarely remember how great it was to work late, but we'll always remember the great times we had with family and friends. I now have time to cook regularly and drink tea with friends and family. Life is short. Too many have died early. Carpe diem!
   
   
2. To do more to make our world a better place through a diversified portfolio of public service work and donations:
• Kids: Child Advocates of Silicon Valley (I'm a CASA), Safe Routes to School (getting kids to walk and bike to school), American Youth Soccer Organization (I teach soccer coaches), Central Asia Institute, Positive Coaching Alliance, local public schools.
• Community: City of Sunnyvale Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission, Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum, Sunnyvale Community Services, Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church, neighborhood associations.
• Environment: Zero Waste, Friends of Stevens Creek Trail, Grist, Freecycle Forever, Freecycle Sunnyvale.
• Science: Monterey Bay Aquarium, California Academy of Sciences, Union of Concerned Scientists, Climate Ride.
• Health: Cancer Research Institute, Oxfam America, Planned Parenthood, Greenbelt Alliance.
• Bicycling: Adventure Cycling Association, League of American Bicyclists, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, San Jose Bike Party
• Education: Harvard University, KQED, KDFC, Montalvo Arts, Wikipedia, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Hostelling International
• Politics: Supporting politicians who prioritize science, environment, health, education, children, affordable housing, and equal rights.
  
  
3. To do good:
• I was shocked at the subversion of a once great political party and that our system could elect someone so unqualified and harmful to the American values I hold dear: science, environment, health, education, children, equal rights, truth, justice, and professionalism. With my kids mostly done with higher education and a supportive wife, money was now less important to me than time and doing the right thing. I chose to devote my professional skills and energy full time to make our world a better place rather than just making more money. Plus this shows we can achieve near zero waste on a limited budget in the middle of very expensive Silicon Valley. I can't take it with me so I want to both live life to the fullest AND do as much good as I can before my time comes.

My perspective...

• Be clear.
• Be the ball.
• Know thyself.
• Knowledge is power.
• Everything is relative.
• Reduce, reuse, recycle.
• Think globally, act locally.
• Live carefully and be positive!
• What goes around, comes around.
• The constants in life are birth, death, and change.
• When visiting, always leave a place better than it was when you arrived.
• Do unto others as they wish to be done unto, not just as you would have them do unto you.
   
• The pen is mightier than the sword, and the computer is the mightiest pen yet invented by mankind.
  --My 1993 extension of a quote from Edward Bulwer Lytton and Richard Burton.
   
• Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a woman to fish and feed her for a lifetime. Build a fishing school and feed a community for an eternity.
  -- My 1993 extension of a quote from Kuan-tzu (Chinese Philosopher).
   
• Human life is precious. Our Earth is precious. Please do not waste either. We must educate everyone, encourage planned parenthood, enjoy our differences, and empower individuals. I believe in self-determination. I believe in ecosystems. I believe in balance.
   
• I don't believe in drugs or smoking, but I do believe people have the right to choose, as long as those choices don't hurt others. I do not tolerate intolerance. I believe in religious freedom. I believe in checks and balances. I believe in free market economies and democratic governments. I believe in sustainable communities.
   
• Life and death are challenging and difficult. Yet they must balance. So that any may live, all must die (eventually). Humankind needs to mature in its understanding of both life and death. Death should not be viewed as a bad thing. It is a natural consequence of life. A mother is the best person to choose whether she aborts her fetus or not. Each individual is the best person to choose when to end his or her own life. God has given us the power and the resources -- we must use them wisely and empower people to manage their own destinies -- without stomping on those of others.