Going Green on Earth Day
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 4:10 PM
Want an easy way to go green on Earth Day and all year long?
Ride METRO.
Commuting on public transit can reduce your carbon footprint by 4,800 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
That's according to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA),which has calculated that switching to buses and trains from your car will cut daily carbon emissions by 20 pounds.
So how much carbon dioxide emissions are 20 pounds/day or 4,800 pounds/year? It's more than the combined carbon emissions reduction that results from using energy-efficient lightbulbs, adjusting thermostats, weatherizing your home, and replacing an older refrigerator with an energy-efficient one.
Here at METRO, we have also been celebrating Earth Day by participating in various companies' employee events. Today, METRO community reps were at the AIG Green Day EnergyTransportation Fair.
At these corporate green fairs, METRO promotes its bikes-on-buses program and explains how our 100 new hybrid-electric buses a year use less diesel, save on fuel costs, lower maintenance and operating costs and result in cleaner NOx emissions by 50 percent.
We also recycle the water we use to wash our fleet of buses, reducing the number of gallons used per bus by 14 percent.
Inside our administrative building at 1900 Main St., we use green-tipped florescent lamps, which containlower levels of mercury.
"From the buses on the city streets to the buildings we operate, METRO makes a consistent effort to efficiently use materials and minimize our impact on the environment," says Karen Marshall, director of community outreach.
And today, we have an incentive for you to ride METRO. We have teamed up with the Houston Astros to offer fans a discount if they ride green.
You can get half-price tickets to the 7 p.m. game tonight against the Los Angeles Dodgers if you show your fare item at the Minute Maid Park Box Office on Texas Avenue. The box office is open until 7:30 p.m.