Posts Tagged ‘environment’

Do you know that it’s possible to join challenges in Commute Greener facebook app? A challenge is sponsored by a company or an organisation who want to reward you for your improvements to a greener everyday travelling. You get points for every improvement you make, points that you can redeem to nice prizes and offers from our sponsors.  The WWF challenge is ongoing and this week we just re-started the global Volvo Group challenge and the local mat.se challenge.

Join the WWF challenge and you have the possibility to contribute to the organisations many initiative and actions against climate change. Be one of the first top ten in the Volvo Group challenge you can win prizes that make your daily commuting more comfortable. Or for you living in Gothenburg, Sweden,  join the local mat.se challenge and get 100 SEK in discount when you by food from them. We will soon release new challenges, like us at Facebook and stay updated.

The application is free and can be downloaded from Apple Store for iPhones and Google play for Androids or you can fint it on on facebook Appcenter.

Are you a company or organisation who want to know more about challenges and valuable campaigns? Find more information at www.CommuteGreener.com or contact CommuteGreener@volvo.com.

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

Today I got the opportunity to attend a great session, maybe I was even meeting a future Nobel Prize winner (it has happened before). Even more important than the prize is the discussion on putting a price to what we all value so much: Nature. It is far too often overlooked, but we have a special interest and know that what gets measured gets done.

Putting the right value to nature’s services. It is a quest and lots of bottom-up innovation is still needed to make it happen in everyday life. Top-down policy may do its part and judging on the new World Bank report it is a more hot topic than ever. -Will the COP18 deliver? Instead of waiting and keep asking we can all contribute and get on the right way.

Gretchen Daily (yes we have talked about her earlier) is certainly a positive person and this morning her speech was vibrant with energy and engagement. However, she does not neglect the challenges we face. As a professor at Stanford University she know what she is talking about and her pioneering work is quantifying and valuing natural capital. Have a look! InVEST is a policy and calculation tool that bring macro-level understanding to both global and local conditions and can comprehend both complex and simple factor analysis for valuation on nature capital.

It was great to meet today as well as to get encouraging support for Commute Greener!

Yesterday Volvo Group announced that Gretchen Daily, professor at Stanford University in California, is awarded Volvo Environment Prize 2012. And of course we we congratulate Gretchen to her progressive efforts on putting a price on Mother nature! She is convinced that the only way to create long-term welfare is to quantify the value of ecosystems.

“….the problem is that so much of the ecosystems and the services we get from them are, in principle, valued at zero. We need to work pragmatically to fix this. If we can demonstrate economically the enormous benefits of pollination by insects or natural protections against climate change and floods, then investments in nature will become part of everyday life. We’re talking about 21st-century environmental protection.”

Do you know that you now can be awarded and get real-life benefits when you Commute Greener? We are convinced that all your steps towards sustainable future should be awarded. Enjoy the benefits, you are worth it! I am happy if you share your experience, comments or just feedback at Facebook. Is it a good idea to be awarded if you Commute Greener??

It will be even more easier and more enjoyable to Commute Greener since the new Commute Greener Facebook app soon will be launched…. Like us, stay updated and  join the new Commute Greener movement!

Happy Tuesday and Commute Greener!

/Karin

Another good reason to take the bus, watch this cool bus driver…

Do you want some company on the bustrip? Just register and login to Commute Greener and search for a ride share friend!
Follow this blog or like us at Facebook to keep you updated about the coming Commute Greener Facebook app release, including an improved ride share feature and much more….

Commute Greener!
/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

Making her very first blog entry just a year ago we now welcome back Marie-Louise Holmqvist and more sharing:

I do want to share 'What a Wonderful World with David Attenborough'



One more thing to share, The Daffodils, a poem by William Wordsworth.
I think it describes the wonder of spring and the beauty of nature better than anything else.

.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.  

And twinkle on the milky way,
Continuous as the stars that shine
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance, 

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed – and gazed – but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who Commute Greener!
Your dedicated and positive work for a sustainable world.
It helps to give us,
and succeeding generations,
the possibilities to go on wondering at and be enchanted by the beauty of nature.
Marie-Louise Holmqvist

Let’s keep the train theme from yesterday. After all, this kind of transportation deserves some attention as well, and there have been a lot of bike related stuff on the site lately.

Lots of Swedes work in a city different from the one they live in. Because of that we have a fairly well developed public transportation system, as not everyone own a car. Chaining the commute, using trains for fast and effective transportation is both more comfortable and better for the environment then driving. It is no wonder that the government want more people to use that system instead of driving.

Wouldn't riding one of these be nice for the commute? Foto: Wikipedia Common

Another country with a well developed train commute system is Great Britain. Like Sweden the distances are long and people are mobile. Trains open up a larger area to look for work in, something which get more and more important today. Some British friends of mine have become true masters of green commuting, doing everything from eating breakfast to bank errands while on the rail. And believe me, while that kind of lifestyle can be stressful it may also let you relax as all the boring stuff is done when you get home.

The Japanese has to get some credit for their very well developed train network as well. They commute long distances in a relatively short time, without much of a problem. The trains are even on time, some.thing which is not always guarantied.

So there are great possibilities for a train commute all over the world. And the savings in CO2 are great as well. With a CO2 emission rate of some 35 g/km, and commutes that lasts for at least 30 minutes with this rather fast mode of transportation, you save a LOT of greenhouse gases by taking the train. You also drop a lot of other emissions like particles, NOx and so on that would have been emitted if driving. A car with an emission rate of some 120 g/km (ie. “low emission”) would emit some 12 kilograms of CO2 on an 100 km commute (a quite common distance for long range commuting) while a train only would emit some 3,5 kg on the same distance. That is a lot of CO2 to be saved there, especially when considering that a train easily can swallow hundreds of passengers. THAT is a LOT of CO2…

If you have a long commute, and have the opportunity to use a commuter train, try it out. It is not so bad and you can get a lot of stuff done while on the go. With some proper planning and preparations you can have a comfortable commute with a lot of time for yourself, or with time for Internet errands which leaves time for more fun stuff in the evening. Sounds good? It sure is!

Commute Greener!

Fredrik

Hope you are having a great weekend, maybe you did some parkour?
On youtube I enjoyed above with reference to VANOC Sustainability National Video Contest and to Recycle. Which favorites do you have on youtube or other sources?

Final countdown, the song by Europe can be heard together with some extreme skiing compilation as another way going through nature. It is essential to care for the environment at the same time as there are many ways to go around…

Going around is a common activity in cities, this one is presented as the best trial biker of the world while being accompanied by music that seems to sing ‘only to show you are wrong’. I rather think there are many ways to be right…

Skateboarding often shows that ‘balance is movement’ and I got this through a very positive ski instructor. Her hat also had a funny, and serious message: ‘Drop cliffs, not bombs’. There are ways to go up on a mountain and then almost flying like a missile:

The Wingsuit proximity flying shows adrenaline in a need for speed.

Bockers are not making you that fast but still giving a thrill, as you may have seen already last weekend. The trick made by Welsh Bockers and Jurassic Jumpers while Powerbocking are certainly more exciting. Way to go, way to go…

Freeride in the nature accompanied by a lyrics to Wake up!

Last Paradise is the youtube description of above. Let’s make sure we change many of the current behaviors so that we rather help to create more paradise feelings by also including innovation perspectives. A new week soon begins, please take action, go by better means of transit and Commute Greener!
/magnus

You see it every day. Long lines of vehicles, moving slowly in a start/stop pace occupied by single drivers. All of them looks irritated. All of them looks stressed out. Traffic congestion is a huge problem both from a logistic and an environmental point of view. Start/stop traffic is a very wasteful way of driving, practically spewing out CO2 and particles as the engine of the car has to work hard on low gears. Not a green way to commute at all!

I came across this article during the morning stroll through my article feed. IBM recently made a quite large survey in several large cities across all continents . They asked some 8000 people questions about how long the commute usually take, traffic flow, price of gas and health issues.  And much much more. All this went into their index of how bad a city is to coping with the commute;

The Top 10 cities with the worst commute in the world:

1. Beijing (99)
2. Mexico City (99)
3. Johannesburg (97)
4. Moscow (84)
5. New Delhi (81)
6. Sao Paolo (75)
7. Milan (52)
8. Buenos Aires (50)
9. Madrid (48)
10. London (36)

-Andrew Nusca, smartplanet.com

Stockholm, Capitol of Sweden got the 20th place. If you live in one of these cities, then you probably spend a lot of time in traffic. All of these cities have one thing in common; they are large. Some of them are growing at a rapid pace, and the infrastructure can’t keep up. Economical growth have its backsides after all. As you can see, Mexico City is sharing the first place with Beijing. The interesting thing is that Mexico City’s employees are using Commute Greener! and are getting great results. A while ago they even got the first Commute Greener! certificate for good results in saving CO2 and changing habits. I must say, good work! Especially since the city is one of the worst in the world to commute in.

If it is possible to commute in a greener way in such a city, why couldn’t it be possible in all cities around the world? Not being stuck in those long lines of frustratingly slow moving vehicles is something to strive for after all. That kind of traffic situation even affect the health of the driver a great deal with all the emissions, particles, stress, irritation and all that sitting still. Better to do a little research and try out a transit commute, or a bike commute once or twice a week.

One problem for at least some of these cities are that driving is a status symbol. Being able to afford a car is a sign that you are doing well for yourself. Making money. Status. In these cities, like Beijing and New Delhi, the car culture is somewhat new. I grew up with pictures of massive amounts of cycling Chinese on the news every time a TV rapport from the east was on the air. Now we get rapports of mile long traffic stops instead. On the other hand, they do have some interesting ideas of how to combat the congestion, like those huge monster straddling buses. Better infrastructure, this or regular, will come even in booming cities but for it to be effective, people will have to use it. And as long as it is only poor people riding it won’t be a priority. Sad but true. And according to this study 95% of the asked Chinese’s said that the commute affect their health. Does that sounds sustainable?

The bottom line is that it is often possible to commute greener, even if you live in a large city. That will probably be the only sustainable way to commute in the future. It is better to do your share now, and benefit from better health while saving the planet. It is possible. The workers of Mexico City showed that.  Why not try it out. A little planning, some changes of habits and some endurance and you may very well start your greener commute really soon! It is worth it.

Fredrik