Today is Blog Action Day 2009 and the theme is climate change. My little blog is part of a global network of blogs that will touch on this topic today. As an eco-geek, an environmental educator, and the daughter of a man who's known as "The Carbonator" because of his work on carbon neutrality, I have a bit to say on the subject. I'm going to narrow my post to how I try to reduce my carbon footprint through using alternative transportation. Our family of three lives a car-free lifestyle by choice. Here's how we do it:
Walking, walking, walking. I live in a high-density urban neighbourhood with many amenities within walking distance. We walk to the library, the grocery store, the credit union, the bookstore, the video store, gym class, music class, and any number of coffee shops and sushi restaurants. I love getting where I need to go on my own two feet!
As you may have guessed due to the name of my blog, I like to ride my bike. In the past, it has been my main mode of transportation to and from work. The addition of a child to the mix has assuredly lowered the frequency of my bike trips, but we do get out and about with the bike trailer once in awhile.
My main mode of transportation when I'm getting around with my two and a half year old is the bus. The transit-savvy of you may have recognized the bee logo from the 99 B-Line bus that runs east-west along Broadway here in Vancouver. It's a great express bus, crowded at times, but gets me to many transfer points including the new Canada line skytrain.
When walking, biking, or bussing won't work, we book a car through the Co-operative Auto Network (CAN). I've been a member of CAN's car sharing network since 2002 and I love having access to a fleet of 230 cars throughout the city (and beyond!). I typically book the sedan that's a five-minute walk from my house, but I've also used their minivans, VW beetles, trucks and cars with bike racks.
For the really long trips (e.g. visiting my family in New York), we fly. Then we buy carbon credits. It's not a perfect solution, but it's something!
Now that you've heard my two cents, head over to Blog Action Day and read some of the other 8,000 bloggers' posts on climate change!
I love reading car-free lifestyle by choice stories - they are so inspirational! Thanks for sharing yours. I'm fortunate to live in a neighborhood that has all the essential amenities within a 5 minute walk....but for various reasons we've chosen to have our oldest son go to a school that's at least an hour walk away. I recently figured out that taking the bus is do-able. Once both my kids go to the same school full days (hopefully in Sept 2010), then I'm seriously considering ditching my car!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Holly! And congrats on going car-free and doing for your part :)
ReplyDeleteWow, you are really inspiring! This is one major downside to my suburban existence, the lack of good transit. My neighbourhood is pretty walkable, actually, with restaurants and coffee shops and stores nearby. But not enough to forgo motorized transport. My goal is to get rid of one of our cars. It's a start, right?
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