Be Less Driven! Take a Different Path!

With all the great weather we've been having recently, it's a great time to get outdoors and enjoy nature, and a great way to do that is to ride your bike to work! Riding your bike to work not only strengthens your connection to nature, but it also gets you exercise and reduces your carbon footprint!

It doesn't even need to be a big difference in time! Taking your bike avoids a lot of traffic. Our Executive Director says his commute is a difference of only a few mintues between driving or taking the bike!

Riding your bike isn't the only way to do that, though! You could walk to work, for example, and it doesn't need to be all or nothing, either. If your commute would be too much for a bike trip or a walk, consider going part way. You could bike to a coworker's house and then carpool, or walk half way and then catch a bus or carshare car.

Even telecommuting (i.e. working from home) can help with these things! If you can, take a day in the week and work on your patio or deck, you can enjoy the outdoors, increase your productivity, and avoid putting carbon into the atmosphere from your commute!

If you're willing to give it a try, you can record your successes with Calgary's Commuter Challenge! Running June 3rd to 9th, the challenge pits province against province for amount of carbon diverted! Last year, Alberta beat out BC and Saskatchewan for participation, but was behind Manitoba and Yukon.

Get your workplace involved, or if you can't, sign up as an independent. It's not too late to convince your coworkers to try a different path for a week! They might decide they really like it!

Every little bit helps, so even if it's a day a week of carpooling, or you just walk an extra four blocks to the train station instead of taking the connecting bus, you're reducing your impact and doing something healthy for yourself and the planet!

If you're interested and don't know where to get started, or have your own commuting stories to share, get in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you're ready to go, sign up at Commuter Challenge (below), and let us know online with the hashtag #CommuterChallenge!

Originally posted MAY 26, 2018

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