Automobile
Originally uploaded by upnorthkid
Cuba is the only country in the world to be defined as sustainable by the standards of WWF's ecological footprint index. It also performs very well on the United Nations Human Development Index. In other words the rest of the world should be looking to Cuba as a model for a better way to live.
We could start with transport. The trade embargo means very few cars and trucks get imported to Cuba. Lots of those that do get used in the tourist industry to make sure visitors get to drive the indlugences they're used to (well Skoda Fabia's anyway).
Which means Cubans are quite resourceful. There's a well organised system of lift sharing.
Those fantastic 50s automobiles that Cuba is full of are the result of tenacious rebuilding, recycling and reusing.
And the car doesn't rule. City streets, rural roads and the island's one 3 lane motorway are full of transport technologies from the last few millenia or so. Tourist Fabia's coast alongside 70s Ladas, 50s Buicks, Russian trucks from the last 5 decades, bicycles, solo horses, bike based mini taxis, buffalo and carts and classic pony and trap configurations. And its great.
So here is to:
1) Getting retro with our motor vehicles. Lets stop making and buying any new ones and see if we can make the ones we've got last another 50 years or so.
2) Applying the same logic to making the perfect mode of transport even more perfect. mmm
3) Reinventing hitch hiking as formalised lift sharing and putting these sorts of fringe activities at the heart of National Transport policy.
4) Bring back the horse as serious transport rather than expensive leisure. Lets see an extensive programme of investment in city centre stabling, hay distribution and a bit of joined up thinking between compost collection and urban allotments.
