We all know that driving is bad for the environment, but sometimes it's necessary to get to work, school, etc. Are there any ways to make driving a little bit greener?
-Nicole Cogar, Green News Editorial Board Member
Thank you, Ms. Cogar, for such a great question!! =] It definitely is a lot more of a hassle to walk, bike, BART, or even bus to certain locations sometimes when these specific means of transportation are inconvenient or more time-consuming than desired. However, if you're trying to find the best way to travel greener, the previously listed solutions are your safest bets!
Although, this wasn't the question, Ms. Cogar, was asking, was it? She wanted to know how to be more environmentally-friendly when one IS and MUST drive to their preferred location. It's no surprise to say straight out that the Toyota Prius is the most eco-conscious car on the market as purchasing a new one of these models will cost you about $20,295, but "over the course of 10 years, the Prius might save as much as $2,100 in gasoline costs alone" (Williams-Derry). By using less gas, you will have prevented wasting "roughly 15 tons of CO2 over a decade," and that's definitely something to think about. Despite this knowledge, it's true that with our economic recession draining our wallets and our personal hunger for such a car, we must also look at other options before making a financial decision as investing in a new vehicle.
Now to the next option: Carpooling!! If you do a quick look up on www.WillYouJoinUs.com and make your way to the Energy Generator for carpooling, they give you a great idea on how much energy you'd save by carpooling. It's great!! =] If I committed to carpooling at least 7 days this year, I could save enough energy to recharge my latop 874 times!! Crazy. 
Not to mention that with more people carpooling, there will be significantly less cars on the roads in which case we may be able to reach our destinations faster, relieve stress from waiting in traffic jams, and "[reduce] traffic congestion in the region [because] carpool participants also improve the region’s air quality by removing over 1.5 million pounds of air pollution annually." I received this last bit of information from www.RideFinders.org which helps those interested in carpooling to locate others with similar destination preferences. There are also many other sites on the web that dedicated to this specific purpose, so get out there & find yourself a carpool buddy!! Or better yet, talk with your friends and family about putting together a carpool program for driving to work, school, or even to the mall or the movies. This way, you're not only saving money and helping the environment, but you're also spending quality time with the people you love and have fun with! It's a win-win situation for sure. :D
Last but not least on my rant, always know where you're going and if possible, pre-plan your driving expedition beforehand. This way, you won't end up cruising around aimlessly trying to locate a specific place or taking an extra long route that could have been avoided. That's why we have MapQuest and Yahoo! Maps! Also, if you pre-plan your driving expedition, you can find the easiest and shortest ways to reach your destination without wasting too much gas or CO2 emissions. Try it out!! =]I hope I've been of some help to you, drivers, out there who are interested in helping our Earth without vetoing the use of your car altogether. It's a difficult compromise, but as long as you follow these tips and keep the environment in mind while on your driving adventures, then all will be well!!
Love&Peace,
Dr. Green T
Works Cited:
"Carpool Benefits." 2008. RideFinders. 4 Sep 2009. http://www.ridefinders.org/Carpool/benefits.aspx.
"Energy Generator." willyoujoinus. 04 Sep 2009. Chevron. 4 Sep 2009. http://www.willyoujoinus.com/takeAction/energyGenerator/?gclid=CKXV6MOt2ZwCFShRagod9CbgJg.
Williams-Derry, Clark. "So You Want to Buy a Prius." The Tyee. 25 Jan 2005. 4 Sep 2009. http://thetyee.ca/Citizentoolkit/2005/01/25/Prius/.
6 comments:
Chicken
wowwwwwwwwwwwwww
I wonder why i did not knew this before.... it was a good read.
This blog is amazing!!
Electric cars are a good option to go green. Problem is they are twice or trice more expensive than their petroleum powered counterparts. We should wait for this technology to become cheaper so we can all afford to be environmental-friendly.
I like this post very much, You have defined it very simply for so I understand what you say, In this post your writing level is also excellent to us. This is great issue you have done on this topic really very well.
Post a Comment