Blog Action Day - Making effective transportation choices
October 15th, 2007 | Today is Blog Action Day, a day when “bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind.” This year’s issue is the environment. Participating bloggers are encouraged to write about any topic relating to environmental issues. Because I have recently been looking for a car, today I’ll be writing about making good choices in regards to transportation. To do so, I will be enlisting the help of a wonderful book called The Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices.
The aforementioned book lists the following five things as “priority actions for American consumers” in regards to transportation:
Living closer to work and stores will cut down on your commute, which can significantly affect your overall health and sense of well-being while at the same time benefiting the environment.
Buying a new car sends an indirect message to auto manufacturers to keep making new cars. “When you picture that new car in your driveway, imagine instead the four tons of carbon and nearly 700 pounds of ordinary pollutants pumped into the atmosphere as a result of its manufacture.” If you do buy a new vehicle, make an effort to ↴
Choose a type of car that meets your everyday needs, and then look for the most fuel-efficient and least-polluting car in that class. I have been looking at cars for a couple of months now, and I am looking seriously at the Toyota Yaris. The 2008 model Yaris has the best fuel economy of any non-hybrid car. The idea here is this: do research! Don’t just buy a car on a whim because it looks cool; consider its impact. These sites are a good place to start: FuelEconomy.gov, GreenerCars.org, and UCSUSA.org
Create a “travel budget”, and try to reduce the amount of driving you do by 20%. Log your daily trips and odometer readings. If you reduce your driving by 20%, you’re lowering your household’s total contribution to global warming and air pollution by about 5%.
I am lucky that my church is only about 6 blocks from my house, so walking is an appropriate option. If walking or bicycling aren’t serious options, consider taking the bus or train instead of driving to lessen your impact on the environment.
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