Truly and for sure, it’s not always that easy bein’ green. Separating the recycling, turning off lights, reusing bags, paying extra for food that’s organic or paper that’s recycled. All these things take effort, my friends, it takes work to be green. And bein’ green is hard for cities too. You ever try to get a bike lane installed? Sometimes just painting a line on the street can take months and months.

And it’s not easy being green for businesses either. As you’ve probably noticed, most companies are only concerned with one kind of green. So when a business goes out of the way to be eco-friendly, a little recognition is always appreciated. You better believe we were appreciative over here at UA when the city of Boston named us a 2009 Green Business and Bike Friendly Business. Check out Chief Wheel Officer Andrew Prescott and Mayor Menino in this pic from the awards ceremony: two peas in an environmentally-conscious pod!

Quite an honor, I must say. Nothing like a little pat on the back to strengthen your resolve to the mighty cause of bein’ green. And good thing too, because there are all sorts of opportunities this very weekend to get out on two wheels and say ‘No’ to fossil fuels.I believe I’ve mentioned my love of a good breakfast recently. Well, Friday the 29th is the first installment of this year’s Bike Friday series. Get up bright and early, ride to City Hall Plaza, and say hello to yours truly. Simple enough.Continuing on with the fellas from City Hall, we’ll be riding with Mayor Deval Patrick for the Governor’s Mass in Motion wellness campaign on Saturday the 30th. We’ll be cruising from the State House to Bikes Not Bombs, helping kids and teens get green. Teaching kids to use pedal power and leave the fossil fuels to this guy.

Keep an eye our for him, he seems to be popping up at bike events. Bicyclosaurus?Rolling right through Saturday, check out Earthfest down at the famous Esplanade Hatch Shell. Listen to some tunes, learn about some environmentally friendly products, and maybe go for a bike ride along the banks of the River Charles.Cap off your weekend of bein’ green with the Brookline Bikes Beacon Street Bike Parade. Not quite Hub On Wheels, but a cruise down Beacon Street with no automotive traffic sounds fun to me – though I guess I won’t be allowed to join.

Suddenly bein’ green doesn’t seem so tough, eh? I say, take the advice of a frog, and recognize it’s beautiful to be green.