5.9 Biking Viking Ken Shields Travels Green

Totally Worth It by Heather McLeod inspired by Ken Shields

verse one:

(A maj) It's a lot of fun. It's (e min) kind of peaceful too.

You (A maj) get some time to think. And (e min) there's the fresh air too

I've (G maj) got my routes. My (D maj) checklists. I (A maj) bicycle.

If (G maj) you get wheels I'll (D maj) take you (A maj) home.

Chorus:

(D maj) Let's move from ice to (A maj) nice

(D maj) Internal Combustion Engines (A maj) gotta go.

Be (E maj) open to (G maj) something new

It's (D maj) totally worth it. (A maj) Try Again.

Verse two:

When I was ten I learned, I learned in school

Oil destroys & pollutes - figure something else out

Do what you can, to lend a hand

If I can help, I will

Chorus

Verse three:

If it doesn't work this time, just carry on

Why are we doing this? So we can say

We didn't just, let it burn

Time to change the world. It's our turn.

Chorus

Verse One - out

This is the script that I (Heather McLeod) brought into (blanketed bunk-bed) studio to record the "wrap" of my conversation with Ken Shields. I did not strictly stick to script. I have no transcript of that conversation - you'll have to listen:

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Today on Something Different This Way Comes I talk with Ken Shields, the green transport activist and super volunteer I started to get to know properly at the Northwest Climate Gathering last month.

We met at the Sleeping Giant Brewery between when we both got off work and Nerd nite, with enough time to order a meal before it started. 

Nerd nite? You ask. We’ll get to that.

So Ken & I each ordered a beer then looked for a quiet corner and found it in the shop front, over in a corner. 

I record on an old laptop that must be plugged in, so I scanned the walls for plugs.

 The first one I found would have me blocking off entrance to the bathroom, which wouldn’t do. So then we spied one tucked behind a fridge full of lovely, locally brewed beers.

I’m mentioning all of this for two reasons.

Firstly the fridge’s motor is very audible, grumbling into my microphone almost throughout our conversation, much more audible on tape than it seemed in person. We are very good at tuning out these background sounds in our day to day life. A microphone is not so nimble. 

I say almost throughout because at one point, twice in our conversation, the fridge’s motor stopped for a few minutes. You will hear those moments.

Now making indoor electronics like that fridge more efficient, so they don’t have to run almost all the time, will be hugely impactful in getting us from carbon-dumping to carbon-capturing.

It’s not just because of energy efficiency that require us to change something so ubiquitous and unsexy as big storefront fridges - and many are working hard to swap out these old for new. 

The refridgerants used in all but those bought recently with climate action purpose - are huge carbon emitters.

I’ll put a link to a CBC article detailing recent research into this Climate Action front in the show notes.

And I don’t know that the one rumbling right by my microphone is one of the newer systems that use alternative refridgerants. 

I know Sleeping Giant Brewery does a lot of things to help wherever and however they can.

But it all seemed a fitting setting for our conversation

We talked about active transport and electrification of our travel, that is a passion for Ken. 

And our conversation inspired me to compose a song I’m calling  It’s totally worth it

Here’s the chorus

I will play you the whole thing after our chat

In which we talk about the attractions of all those nice alternatives there are to ICE - Internal Combustion engines.

But we also talked about doing what you can do, and how you just can’t do it all, 

all at once.

Sometimes you can swear off plastic bags only to find them forced upon you, for example -  we’ll get to that. 

Sometimes that means recording a podcast with a grumbling fridge motor fighting hard to drown out your quieter comments, because that’s the only spot with a plug. 

Sometimes when you’ve done a dozen things that all make a difference, it’s the one thing you haven’t been able to figure out how to change yet that draws your attention like a pebble in your show.

So Ken & I settled ourselves on the stools by the fridge, with my computer and amp balanced on top of the barrel acting as a table between us, and our drinks slowly warming to room temperature on the window ledge beside us as we recorded this chat.

And right off the hop Ken made my day by handing me two copies of the Planning Progress model we called Hope’s Progress that we used at the Northwest Climate Gathering to help turn conversations and information into action plans.

The ones we taped up at the Gathering that gradually got covered in bright post-it notes declaring Hopes and Actions and Hopes for Action.

The ones Ken handed me had typed responses in each of the boxes provided, and titles too!

I love it

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Ken Shields is a city cycling advocate and a proud electric vehicle owner as well as the tech mensch volunteer who brought the Biking Vikings to the Northwest Climate Gathering 2023 .

Now here’s the song I just wrote inspired by that conversation

Inspired by today’s conversation with Ken Shields, that was It’s Totally Worth It

Now after our conversation I packed up my recording stuff and we took our warm beers back to the bar for nerd nite.

And I have to give a shout out to the first presenter who was funny and passionate and shared a lot of information in her 20 minutes with ease and inspiring grace.

Then gave me her business card so I can join the newsletter she emails out and show up at the next water management meeting.

Michelle Willows is an Environmental Planner with Lakehead Region Conservation Authority

She was talking about toxins in fish we catch and eat here, where they come from and why they matter.

And one of the things she mentioned was North Harbour in Thunder Bay, which is deeply contaminated from 90 years of a sawmill. It’s leaching mercury into Lake Superior, among other nasties.

Apparently action being considered is to dig up that hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of contaminated waste and put it in the Thunder Bay landfill on John St. 

A plan she sees more as moving the problem to another part of our watershed, than actually solving it.

So I want to learn more and do more about this work to help heal our lake and watershed, so I emailed her to join the newsletter.

Do what you can do.

I’ve got links  to information on this on my landing page

And links to the two Facebook groups Ken mentioned that he runs:

Just Bike TBay

And The Memorial Link

City Council is preparing budget decisions right now, this month, and Ken would love your support in getting them to finally fund the active transport infrastructure they have long had in their plans.

So check out Just Bike Thunder Bay and the Memorial Link and add your voice to this call for action!

Theme - 

I’m Heather McLeod - if you like Something Different This Way Comes please like and follow it, write a good review and tell a friend why you listen

You can find lyrics and chords and join my weekly newsletter at www.SomethingDifferentThisWayComes.ca