Fighting global warming can be frustrating, reporter finds

After sleepless nights obsessing about melting glaciers and drowning polar bears, Friday, finally, was going to be the day I actually reduced my personal contribution to global warming.

For the first time, I intended to take the bus to work and leave my comfy, economy-sized, CD-player-equipped car at the curb.

It's something I had been thinking about for months, but now I could answer the question future generations will undoubtedly ask: You were so concerned about the environment, but did you actually do anything?

So with Al Gore in town and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels unveiling proposals to combat the city's climate-changing gases, I kept my keys in my pocket, grabbed my 5-year-old son's hand, and walked to the bus stop near my West Seattle home.

Before we set out, I went online and typed my destination (Seattle Times headquarters at Fairview Avenue North and John Street) into the King County Metro Transit Trip Planner, which gave me three possible itineraries.

I figured it'd be no sweat, except maybe for my son Ben, who wore his clothes over his pajamas because day care was having PJ day.

The schedule for Route 56 on the Internet was different from the posted arrival times at the bus stop, but we were a few minutes early, so no big deal. The bus came, and we sat together, and I hadn't been so relaxed in weeks.

That is, until we got off the bus, near the Seattle Art Museum.

The online trip planner said I should transfer to Route 17 to Sunset Hill, getting off at Westlake Avenue North and Denny Way. Or, it said, I could transfer to Route 72 to Lake City, getting off at Third Avenue and Pine Street.

Sunset Hill? Lake City?

With wind whipping at our faces, Ben and I traipsed through downtown, trying to find the right bus stop.

"Hurry up," I told my son.

"I need to pee," he told me. "And I'm hot."

Up one street and down the other. I finally found a Metro kiosk, and discovered the Route 70 bus makes regular stops along Third Avenue. We took the 70 and hopped off a block from Ben's day care. He took the transfer slip to show his teacher that he was doing his part for global warming.

By the time I got to work, my 15-minute commute by car had taken almost an hour. In a little while, I would pick Ben up, and we'd take the bus home. Which bus, I wasn't so sure.

Fighting greenhouse gases ain't going to be easy.

Alex Fryer: 206-464-8124 or afryer@seattletimes.com