Ride the Bus, Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Friday, July 13, 2007 3:44 PM
A week ago, an international event billed as the world's biggest party raised awareness of global warming. More than 10 million people watched the Live Earth event on streaming video - celebrity-studded concerts held on 7/7/07 from Shanghai to London to Johannesburg.
The goal was to promote awareness of global warming and urge people to take small steps and make lifestyle changes to reduce their carbon footprint. Live Earth encouraged people to make simple pledges, such as:
* Change four lighbulbs to compact florescent light bulbs.
* Turn off your monitor when not using it.
But the one that got several of us excited here at METRO: "I will ride public transit to work one day per week."
Anyone concerned about global warming should consider the benefits of public transportation. Mass transit users save 855 millions of gallons of gas a year in the United States, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 8.5 million tons compared to if they drove, according to The Alliance for Climate Protection, one of the sponsors of Live Earth.
And for all of us who are time-crunched, here's another mass transit benefit: In 85 of our biggest urban centers, mass transit prevented 1.1 billion hours in time stuck in gridlock. Read more here.
If you've never used METRO before, now's a good time to start reducing your carbon footprint. Click here to calculate your carbon footprint.