If you ask Missy Stults for some encouraging statistics toward Ann Arbor’s carbon neutrality goals, she’s ready to reel off a few dozen off the top of her head. As the director of the Office of Sustainability and Innovation (and an avid bike commuter), Missy is gearing up for the fifth annual A2ZERO Week with a full head of steam and a lot of advice for cyclists to help keep the momentum going.

The fight for environmental sustainability is daunting and nonlinear, so the primary purpose of events like A2ZERO Week and Green Fair is to celebrate progress and inspire behavioral shifts with visibility and fun. They also remind us to keep pushing and remember that environmental laws are written by people who can be persuaded to re-write them.

Cycling will be a big part of Ann Arbor’s Comprehensive Plan, which aspires to improve sustainability by persuading more Ann Arborites to leave their cars at home. But that won’t happen without viable alternatives, brought about with a combined effort from the public and private sectors. If we can somehow acknowledge and achieve our collective goals, who knows? We might one day be half as happy as Scandinavians.

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We trade some world-class aphorisms, like “Make no small plans, for they cannot stir the heart of man,” and “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.” We also talk about the metrics the world uses to assess a carbon footprint, seeing the ocean for the first time after years of study in Michiana, and her multiple connections to Jerry Seinfeld.

Other links:

* Follow A2ZERO 2030 on Instagram

* The Cargo Bike Rally kicks off A2ZERO Week at 3pm on June 1

* Ann Arbor wants to build its own renewable-energy grid

* The genius behind Jason Alexander’s whale monologue …

* … and the Goddard Institute of Space Studies sits above a certain diner.

* Bicycle Alliance co-founder Nate Phipps speaks about the SA2T Grant …

* … which was used to help launch the Borrow A Cargo Bike A2 program.

* The University of New England in Biddeford, Maine

* How Copenhagen cleaned up

* How Walmart turned Bentonville into a biking epicenter

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