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| Why don't we have propaganda posters like this anymore?! |
For most of us, getting around town— to work, to the store, to friends' houses, to church— is a huge part of our lives. And far too many of us have designed our lives so that most of that getting around involves sitting behind a wheel, chipping away at fossil fuels. Transportation (including, to be fair, trucks and planes as well as cars) accounts for 29% of the US's greenhouse gas emissions, so it's a good place to look at.
As with so many green habits, many of these suggestions are not feasible in countless circumstances. Many people live in neighborhoods without public transit, or have disabilities that prevent them from walking or biking. Some people are scrambling to get a job and keep food on the table and can't worry about carbon emissions right now. That's totally okay.
But many of us have none of these challenges, and are still wasting a huge amount of precious gas on unnecessary trips. We can do better, and it all starts with little shifts in habits. Find what works best for you.
BEGINNER:
Notice what kinds of transportation options you use. I mentioned this in the Energy post, but it bears repeating: paying attention to where you drive, walk, bike, or bus helps you understand your transportation habits. Think about your driving patterns: how much of it is unnecessary?
Combine car trips and plan ahead. If you want groceries today but also have a dentist appointment by the grocery store tomorrow morning, it's better to whip up some food from the pantry instead of making two trips. Planning ahead— making a comprehensive grocery list, combining errands with your commute to work or other essential errands, and so on— can save a lot of gas and time.
For short distances, try walking or biking. If you're capable of walking and live in a safe neighborhood, look for a place to walk nearby that's similar to a place that you drive to. For instance, do you drive to the gym to run on a treadmill? Maybe you can walk to a nearby park and jog laps around the walking path. Do you drive across town to buy groceries? Perhaps you can walk to a nearby grocery store instead when you only have a few things to buy. If you have a bike, you have even more options.
Learn about public transit in your area. You don't even need to ride it at this point— but if you live in a city, pick a place that you often drive to, and look up the route on Google Maps, using the bus icon to check for transportation options. Chances are, the route is incredibly long and complicated; however, depending on where you are, there might be a direct route that is actually more convenient, especially if you're in a big city where parking is expensive. Just be curious and think about it.
INTERMEDIATE:
Think about how wasteful cars are. We take cars for granted, and rarely stop to think about their consequences. I love the analogy that Mr. Money Mustache uses in his article "Curing Your Clown-Like Car Habit" (he's sardonic and really likes swearing, so don't click if you don't like that): "When you use a 3500-pound car to transport your 150-pound self around, 96 percent of the weight of that clump of matter is the car. You’re moving 25 times more junk around than you need to, and thus using 25 times more energy to do it." He likens it to buying 25 blackened salmon salads for lunch, eating one, and throwing the rest away. This perspective shift is key to helping us see why other forms of transportation are important, even if they are less convenient.
Try out a bicycle. If you don't already have one, this is a good time to make the leap. You might be able to find one for free or secondhand for cheap, or you could show up at your local bike store and ask for help choosing one. I was able to buy a nice bike for slightly cheaper from St. Charles's Bike Stop Café because it was a refurbished rental bike. Be sure to buy a helmet as well. Then start looking for places to bike. Are there any greenways in your city (like Great Rivers Greenway in St. Louis)? Any quiet streets that lead you toward where you need to go? Pick a route that looks good and give it a whirl.
Take public transit. If you have public transit, try giving it a shot, if nothing else just to see what it's like. Use Google Maps on your phone (pick the "Public Transit" option or bus icon) or get a bus schedule, and go somewhere when you have gobs of extra time. Bussing to a farmers market is a fun first trip. It may be a great experience, a terrible experience, or somewhere in between, but it will raise awareness of your options.
Carpool and share rides. If you have an office job, a traditional carpool may be a good idea, but carpooling can take other forms: offering a ride to a neighbor when you go grocery-shopping, meeting up at a friend's house and then carpooling to the party, or simply coordinating schedules within a family so you can take one car instead of two.
Do a car-free experiment. Figure out the essential car trips in your current lifestyle (20-mile commute to work that has no public transit option, for instance), then go for a week or two without using a car for anything else. After a week of walking, biking, and using public transit, how does it work out? What was not too bad? What could you keep doing in order to live more lightly on the planet?
ADVANCED:
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| A transportation option not feasible in many circumstances... but boy, was it fun! |
Live close to where you work. If you are committed to cutting your transportation use, this is probably going to be the biggest leverage point— and the hardest to change. But if you're looking for the next big step, this is it. (Plus, living close to work saves you a ton of money! [It's another MMM post— swearing alert.])
Introduce other people to alternate forms of transportation. Whether inviting people to walk or bike with you, share a carpool, or try out the city bus with you, teach other people the joy of alternative transportation! Many people actually enjoy the leisurely pace of a walk or the adventure of riding the train— they're just on autopilot to take a car everywhere. If you can get them to step outside their comfort zone, they might not be converted, but at least you'll get them thinking.
Write your city about public transit and bike lanes. Are you frustrated by the lack of public transit, bike lanes, or other alternative transportation infrastructure in your city? Making this your pet cause might be the answer. See if anyone in your area is already working on this (for instance, in St. Louis, Great Rivers Greenways has done a huge amount of work making the city more bike-friendly) and help them out, or find some like-minded people and strike out on your own. How can you get people excited about having a more walkable city with less traffic and more fresh air? Who can you get on board to help out your initiative?
Go car-free. This is a big step, but if you have the means to design your life this way, it's a huge win for the planet. See this post by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits for an idea of what that looks like.
Which of these challenges would you like to take on this month? What would you add to the list?
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