Posts Tagged ‘bike’

Last Saturday, on Earth Hour, we had a lottery among the participants in our Earth Hour Challenge. As announced on facebook earlier this week the lucky winner was Maxim Nenkov. Maxim is a student, studying physics, in Gothenburg, Sweden. Maxim lives in student dorm close to city center and enjoy all aspects of student life. He also enjoy nature, photography, cars, going out on Friday night and quiet nights in his room and biking with friends at Delsjö and Botaniska when it’s warm enough.

- “I like the idea of the app and I like that Volvo supports the idea of sustainable commuting and that you can get points for that. ” says Maxim.

The prize he will get for his commuting improvements in the Earth Hour Challenge is a backpack from the Volvo Group,  may be good for carrying all your physics literature…..Congrats again Maxim, hope you appreciate the prize. We will also send you a unique Commute Greener sticker, since you like to cover your bike with stickers! We will soon announce more winners, stay updated at facebook it may be you!

The Earth Hour Challenge is ongoing until April 2nd, so it’s still possible to join the challenge and have a chance to be a winner.

Download the free application from Apple Store for iPhones and Google Play for Androids or find it on facebook. On your Commute Greener profile, go to “Your challenges” in the upper right corner, click on the Earth Hour challenge and click the “Join” option. Now start commuting greener, receive points for your improvements and be a winner!

Happy Easter and Commute Greener!

/Karin

A modern Santa Claus does of course take an e-bike to gain green efficiency as it could be quite complicated to park reindeers in the city….

E-biking is a good way of green commuting, why not give it a try? Join the movement and you will get real life awards when you make improvements, for example; leaving your car for a day and changing to a more sustainable transportation mode. You can also join the ongoing Challenges, one global is now running by WWF and one local in Gothenburg, Sweden, by mat.se. Join and contribute to WWF’s important global mission or redeem your points to food!

You can find the “Commute Greener – smarter ways” app on facebook or on Google Play for Android devices (soon also available on AppStore, watch out…)

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! (by the way, the app is also a perfect Christmas present to everyone you care about, and for free)

Commute Greener!

/Karin

People use to say I am impulsive, sometimes it’s good but maybe not always…but today I took the opportunity to grab my bike when I recognize that it was such a wonderful winter day, clear, sunny, just a slight wind. I had no, absolutely no excuses to not ride my bike to work this morning! So after some struggling to find all equipment, again… also lights, since the days are getting shorter here in the north (at first I find three lights for the front and not any to the rear…. ). And I got rewarded immediately, such a great ride, wow!

And using Commute Greener Facebook app also gives you points and badges and other real life benefits! Do you now that? If not, try it out, or contact me at support.commutegreener@volvo.com and I will be more than happy to introduce you.

And do you know more? The more I ride my bike the more turns I can do on my skis this winter, and that motivates me! And I also have a goal, in August 2013….. What motivates you? Do you have goals that motivate you to take the bike also during winter?? Get the app, make an improvement and post a comment on our Facebook page what’s motivating you and you may be the winner of a Commute Greener bicycle kit, useful during winter or just when it, dark, wet and cold…

Enjoy life and Carpe Diem!
/Karin

I got an e-mail the other day from a guy that made me so happy. The e-mail started with a question regarding the Commute Greener solution and the possibility to use it without Facebook. I know that we have been pushing a lot for the new Commute Greener Facebook app  – and yes – it’s also possible to use Commute Greener without Facebook. Just go to www.CommuteGreener.com and sign up! But what made me happy was that guy wrote that he has changed his daily commuting to bus and to this….. 

“So fun in the city, going 3 to 4 four times quicker than walk, easy to grab and get into buses, and can ride to almost any reasonable track, pedestrian ways, unlike bicycles. Yesterday, I’ve been riding during lunch break –my usual time to go sport- for a good hour. No back pain as I got when jogging for years. You can choose to ride smart and cool, but can burn your heart as well !”

I am a bit crazy in bikes, have some…but I have missed this Finnish innovation- Kickbike! I have seen similar for children, but with very small wheels and dangerous to ride, at least for people like me…

And why not go by a Kick Spark this winter – i like!

Thank you Pierre for your inspiring e-mail and Happy commuting!

/Karin

Yes I did it, finally I find all my stuff and now I am prepared to cycling during this autumn and maybe during winter (?!?). It’s so easy to find obstacles to not taking the bicycle when it’s getting colder, darker, wetter, windier…at least if you living in the northern part of Europe, as I do. But I know that I can really enjoy it if I am prepared, having the right clothes and equipment but every year is the same, where are all things?  At least for me, things have a tendency to spread here and there…. gloves, thicker pants, reflective vest, favorite thin woolen socks, covers for my shoes, thin cap, first and second layer long sleeve shirts, wind jacket, rainwear, oh gosh…

But since I find everything I am prepared to take my bike tomorrow to work, are you? Compete, have fun and challenge me by using the new Commute Greener Facebook app. The weather conditions seem to be quite bad tomorrow, hope I find my bicycle mate  and get a ride with him!

Happy Friday!

/Karin

Yesterday it happened again! I went out for running, was not too motivated, it’ was raining, getting dark, smelled fantastic from the kitchen where B was cooking… The track passed a cow field and my shoes and feet getting cold and wet immediately. But suddenly I got that wonderful feeling of happiness; my legs were just moving by themselves, my breathing was calm and rhythmic. Sometimes it also happens me while mountain biking with friends and challenge myself over my limit and do it! And on my way to work by bike the other day I met this guy and I hitched a ride with him and get that feeling of flying along the road.  It was so fun and such a perfect start on the day. This is flow and I love it!

With the Commute Greener facebook app  you and your friends can collect points and badges, compete and have fun when you go to work. You will get suggestions from people who will share the ride with you and suddenly you may also fly to work and get the wonderful feeling of flow.

Join the growing Commute Greener movement!

/Karin

A posting from guest blogger Jessica Gold, Sustainergies

I saw this picture of an interesting ad posted on Internet the other day. I think its brilliant content is in line with Eldridge Cleaver’s quote from 1968: “you’re either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem”. Breaking free from an unsustainable system is the core of Commute Greener – we have a long way to go, and your steps counts!

Jessica Gold

I know that many of you reading and appreciating Ruth Anianssons blog posts, and me too. Ruth is living in Copenhagen, Denmark, and except blogging for us Ruth also works as journalist, stage poet and conferencier.

This Saturday Ruth was engaged in the inauguration of the exhibition “Make a difference” (in Swedish) at the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg, Sweden. Ruth did a stage poetry about being an observer. Thank you Ruth for your great performance and finally I also met you!

Main focus in this exhibition is the role of the observer, and the consequences and responsibility for taking no-actions, with examples from the history but also from today’s violence. And I will say also relevant in our decisions about taking actions or no-actions to contribute to sustainable environment, or?

Yesterday I took the bike to work, again, my bike was not in good shape, rusty after the winter…but yes I did it, I made a difference, I was not an observer, I was taking an action. Why? Because I was touched, thank you Ruth!

(By the way, Dadongwo is the Chinese expression of “I am touched” and also the name of our coming Facebook app, included in the Commute Greener concept, that soon will be released. The purpose with the app is to have fun, get touched and motivate you take actions to commute smarter in your daily life. )

Commute Greener!

/Karin

Peak travel, heard about it?

That’s the moment when a society stops using more energy on transportation and more private cars, and slowly turns to a greener way. It seems to be happening, or even have happened. Swedish radio reported last week about this from prominent researchers who have studied the energy and transportation sector for a long time.

Adam Millard-Ball from McGill university in Montreal points out that the raised gas price is not the only explanation for why fewer people are getting private cars, attitudes among people are changing too. Even in the car’s home town Detroit bicycling is growing largely.

Peter Newman, professor i sustainable development at Curtin University of Technology, Perth, tell that the “peak car” happened already in 2004 in developed countries.  Therefore he recommends urban city planners to re-check their plans and drawings. Most cities might not need more highways in the future, but more bicycle lanes or train tracks, for example.

I also just found this great video from Detroit, showing how bicycling can be a new lifestyle, bringing both joy, less pollution but also an improved health. Enjoy:

Want more info about this?

Are We Reaching Peak Travel? Trends in Passenger Transport in Eight Industrialized Countries, Adam Millard-Ball & Lee Schipper, Transport Reviews: A Transnational Transdisciplinary Journal, Volume 31 Issue 3, pages 357-378, 18 Nov 2010, DOI:10.1080/01441647.2010.518291

‘Peak Car Use’ (pdf) : Understanding the Demise of Automobile Dependence, Peter Newman & Jeff Kenworthy, Western Australia Eco‐Logica Ltd. ISSN 1352‐7614World Transport, Policy & Practice, Volume 17.2 June 2011

Living in Copenhagen I feel like a little mermaid transportation wise. Fluent, flowing.

The capital of Denmark is namely a wonderful city for anyone wanting to become a bit greener. The bicycle lanes are broad, well-done and cover the city. And apart from buses and well functioning commuter trains, the city is also provided with a autorunning (!) metro, only inaugurated in 2002 and right now being expanded with more stations. The options for anyone wanting to try something else than a car, are thereby many.

In fact more than 33 percents of the population are going to work or their place of education today by bicycle. Families often travel in the special “Christiania bicycle” with three wheels and a big wagon in the front where one can place one or two kids. Or big packages. Perfect. The bicycles really rule parts of the city, and on one of the biggest streets there is a cycle counter, some days reaching 20 000. Even now, when Copenhagen has been covered with a white winter layer, the cycle crowd at the red light is big every morning.

The city has set a high target and hope that in 2015, only three years, HALF of the population will transport themselves on two wheels. One is investing in the transportation sector and wants to become the “World’s best city for cycles”. I wouldn’t be surprised if they make it. Since the city if flat, nothing but old habits stops one.

So in case you’re looking for a new place to live, transporting yourselves in greener ways, but still want the multitude of a capital or metropol, you’re welcome to the haven of trading!