A survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau shows that in the last decade, bicycle commuting is up across the nation by two-thirds.  Is it any wonder?  Who doesn’t want to spend less time stuck in traffic?  But many people still aren’t getting on a bike and pedaling where they want to go.  What’s stopping them?  Fear?  A lack of gear?  Or, if they’re already biking, how do they get their friends to join them?  By the end of this show, your listeners will have some ideas for overcoming these challenges… ideas to consider when they’re ready to strap on that bike helmet… 

Biking experts Marc Caswell (from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition) and Patrick Smith (from Cycles of Change) provide answers to questions from the audience like:  How do I make a right hand turn safely whether I’m in a bike or a car (unsafe turning is the leading cause of bike accidents)?  How do I keep my bike from getting stolen?  What’s the least amount of equipment I need to bike safely in the dark?

For a lot of people, home improvements can be overwhelming.  What to tackle first?  Do they need to hire somebody?  What can they afford?  It’s no wonder that many people skip over the question: What’s the most environmentally responsible way to do this?  By the end of this episode, your listeners will have some new ideas to consider when they finally summon of up the courage and the cash to make home improvements of their own.   

Home improvement experts, Cat Chang (from Andrews + Chang), Eron Ersch (cabinet maker and board member with Asian Neighborhood Design), and Lise Thogersen (from LTDesign) provide answers to questions from the audience like:  What can I do to improve my home that will have the greatest return on investment?  How do I conserve energy if I’m a renter and the landlord is unwilling to replace the drafty windows in the livingroom?  What kind of floor works best with a radiant heating system?  The experts also provide clever tips like using keys to test the durability of bamboo floor samples, talk about insulation made from old blue jeans, and describe an innovative and inexpensive way to remediate lead in the soil with fish bones.

If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world and eight million of its residents are under the age of 13.  Teenagers send an average of 3500 texts a month.  And more than half of kids between the age of five and eight have used a mobile device.  Despite the prevalence of social media and new technologies in young people’s lives, it can be hard for adults to have constructive conversations with kids about them.  Kids want adults to trust them, to understand that their friendships are strong even though they’re texting instead of talking on the phone.  They’re fed up with adults telling them to put down their smart phones when the adults are clutching their own.  By the end of this episode, your listeners will have some new ideas about how to handle these concerns and frustrations, ideas to consider when they’re ready to have a conversation about how to stay safe and have good experiences on line. 

High school sophomore Carly Steyer (daughter of the founder of Common Sense Media) and Vice President of Education Programs Rebecca Randall (also with Common Sense Media) provide answers to audience questions like:  How do I give my kids the space to safely make mistakes online?  How do I limit online marketing to kids?  What can I do if my kids see something inappropriate?