Green Your Commute

Estimated read time 4 min read

Hi all! Today I’m coming at you to talk about “greening” your commute! There are so many options to get where we’re going yet, according to a census by the Department of Transportation, about 76% of people drive to work solo every day (as of 2007). I totally get it – it’s difficult enough to get up on time, get ready, get the kids ready if you have them, grab breakfast, pack lunch, maybe exercise in the morning, and do all the other things you have to do before rushing out the door. Maybe you also run errands at lunch, or have to go to multiple jobs, or do things after work, or shuffle kids around after they’re out of school. Maybe public transportation just isn’t all that great, or doesn’t even exists where you live! There are a million reasons why it’s so easy to fall back on driving alone to work.

But I challenge you all to just take one day and think about your commute a little differently. Next Friday, May 19, is Green Your Commute Day. For this day, maybe consider walking to work, or biking, or trying out public transportation, or carpooling, or drive an electric car, or anything else that is different than driving to work in a gasoline-fueled car solo.

I’ve found in my life that something like changing my commute can seem like a HUGE deal because, let’s face it, it requires some planning and throwing an unknown into the mix. But once I give it a shot, I realize that it wasn’t so bad and usually I even enjoy the change. Hopefully you feel the same way! If you give it a shot next Friday, maybe you’ll realize you like carpooling and chatting with people during your commute, or that you enjoy the down time from public transportation. If you decide to walk or bike to work, maybe you’ll feel good about getting some exercise (and fresh air!) in before you’re cooped up in the office all day. There are lots of benefits to not driving alone.

If you need some more commute ideas, or inspiration, check out this article from The Nature Conservancy. The bit about the people who live in southern Alaska and kayaked to work is pretty freaking impressive!

I drive a hybrid every day, but am considering biking to work next Friday. If you are thinking about this path as well, make sure you are safe! And that you follow biking rules of the road. Below are a couple of links to articles for bike safety:

And if you’re still wondering why you should do this – check out the graphic below:

A graphic showing the leading causes of climate change by percentage.
 

Source

 

This chart is specific to New York, but I’m willing to bet several, if not all, other states have similar profiles. In New York, transportation represents the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and the largest part of most New Yorker’s personal carbon footprint as well (from NYS DEC). By changing how we get from place to place, we can significantly reduce our impact on the planet. If you want to do something to reduce climate change, but feel like it’s such a big problem and that you can’t make a difference – this is proof that you can, and that difference can be huge! Climate change isn’t just an issue to be addressed by corporations and governments, it’s something that every person can help to fix. And one way to do that is to change our driving habits.

If you participate next Friday, drop a comment on how you’re planning to get to work, and how it went!

 

 

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