Getting Around and Being Green
If you think you can’t make much difference in the global warming crisis, think again. There are many different steps you can take, and combining those with the contributions of other individuals can make a surprisingly big difference to the final outcome. In fact, “taking steps” is almost literally one of the things you can start with, in your effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Transportation is one of the big areas of concern when it comes to global warming. After all, it was society’s love of gas-guzzling, carbon-emitting vehicles that really got the greenhouse gas thing going in the first place. So this is where people can start making a big difference. And the first thing you can do here is to start walking. Don’t hop in a car to go down the block for milk. In fact, don’t even hop in the car to go two blocks.
Start walking as much as you can, if the place you need to go is just a few blocks away. You’ll get to know your neighborhood much better than you do now, and you’ll get more regular healthy exercise. It’s sort of a win-win thing, isn’t it? Even if you need to go a few blocks to shop, and you worry that the load will be too heavy for you to carry back, you can buy one of those long-handled carts that can hold a few shopping bags. If you have several errands to do, plan a circuit to follow, to walk between them all but not overtax yourself by criss-crossing back and forth.
The next useful step, if the distance is just a bit too far to walk, might be to get a bicycle. A good wicker basket on the handlebars can probably contain most of what you’d be buying during a “quick run to the store,” or this emission-free vehicle can get you to appointments or perhaps to a friend’s place. Once again, you’ll get to know the neighborhood and you’ll be getting exercise while you cut down carbon emissions. Most of the time, even if you aren’t sure the main roads are safe for bikers, you can find quieter routes to get where you’re going.
But of course, some distances are just too long for either walking or biking. Don’t assume that you absolutely have to use a car even now, though, especially if you’ve got a good transit system in your area. A great many of these systems have begun to switch to environmentally friendly vehicles, and of course in many larger cities there are subways that use electrical power. Some cities that have train systems have started using windmill power to run them. So you may have some options for lowering your carbon footprint even if you have to travel for longer distances through your city or town.
However, it does seem that sometimes you just can’t avoid using a car. This will be where your commitment is really tested. Do you have a ZipCar, AutoShare, or some other kind of car sharing setup anywhere near you? These companies and others have arrangements where people can use a car just for the time period they need it, and then return it. In a larger city especially, where the air gets clogged with engine exhaust and you’d have to worry about idling and then high parking charges, a rental system like this is frequently an excellent answer.
But of course the ultimate answer, if you have to own a car, is to get as environmentally friendly a vehicle as you possibly can. The Toyota Prius has been on the roads for a few years now, and many other companies have begun bringing out their own hybrid electric-gas cars. Electric, battery-operated cars are also becoming more widely available. As they get more common, the price will go down, but even before that happens, this might be considered a long-term investment in the future of the planet.
Changing your mode of transport is not the only thing you can do to live green and help in the fight against global warming. You can change eating and buying habits, and of course you can recycle. But starting to walk more, or cycle, or even switch to a more responsible vehicle, will not only be healthy for the planet, but will increase your own health as well.
