Change The World: Volume 1 Issue 5: Alternative Transportation

I guess everyone has figured out by now that I can't stop. To me this is too important to stop now. I think that the world is literally on the line and these small changes can change it for the better. Al Gore is frantically traipsing around the planet hoping to change people, television networks are starting to run their Stop Global Warming commercials (which are quite depressing), and there are at least 10,000 websites dedicated to things that we need to do differently. The only way that those site, broadcasts, and spokesmen can be heard is if people are passing on the word from friend to friend.

For instance, if there is a rumor about something shocking it can reach everyone from coast to coast in 3 days. I don't expect something like a blog to travel that fast or be that significant because we all know how important rumors are. However, at this time I have a lot of friends and followers between Facebook, Twitter, and all the other social networking sites and I don't know how many read this but each of those friends has 10-20 friends that I don't have in common. And each of those friends has another 10-20 in common. The point is that by just passing the message to just a few people some changes can be made! This blog goes to April for reading some of my blogs and maybe attempting them. You rock!

I guess the next thing that comes to mind is alternative transportation. I know what your thinking but don't stop reading yet. I'm not going to purpose that you give up your gas guzzling, Carbon Monoxide emitting, heat producing, metal grinding shiny little car because I know that this blog would go completely disregarded. Something that you can do though is to try and use another vehicle once a day, week, or month. For that matter even once a year would be better than nothing. In terms of large scale think about using the public Park-N-Ride system. It might not sound glamorous but it saves you money on gas, saves miles on your car (which will make it last longer), and some cities or states offer tax incentives. Try walking somewhere for a change. Since that might be a big step for some people, I’d suggest something like to the corner store to start or a close park or something. Not only does your body like it but the planet does too. This is especially great if you have kids because for some reason they love to go on walks for the most part. Try using that bike that you have stored somewhere. People go out and buy all this equipment for exercising but never use it. So instead of using it as an exercise, use it to get around and get some exercise anyway. There’s skateboarding, rollerblading, running, jogging, and more. Think about doing a carpool with people you work with. It might sound dumb but you could save a lot of money and only use one car as well as maybe make some new friends.

This blog is pretty general but the concepts are clear. Driving cars releases 200-270 grams or CO² for every kilometer (0.62 miles) driven. That is a lot of damage that one person can do and when you multiply that by the 300 million drivers in the U.S. it really sucks. I like clean air and I like a beautiful planet. It’s my responsibility to keep it that way. And if you haven’t figured it out yet, it’s yours too.