Living Me to We. Craig Kielburger
insurance. Plus, the share-cars were always available and easy to take out. We had an epiphany on the parking spot: had the green movement got the guilt pitch wrong all these decades? Give people cost-effective and convenient alternatives to driving a car and they will take them.In George’s case, the decision to car-share came down to money and convenience. But surely there are other reasons to ditch the drive? If not rising gas prices and obesity rates, why not love of the environment? Driving is one of the single biggest polluting acts a person can make. Yet, three quarters of us guiltily admit to getting behind the wheel – even when we could easily use another form of transportation. We get it, the True North, Strong and Free, with its inclement weather and massive size, feels like it was built for a car. But maybe we can start by cutting back on our car usage? At Free The Children and Me to We, we have many hybrids; for others, car and bike share programs, bolstered public transit, and the growing popularity of scooters and e-bikes can help replace even just a few road trips with sustainable transportation. Let’s test drive a few alternatives!
DUDE, WHERE’S MY CAR SHARE?Try the walking school bus revolution, catching on in Ottawa and other cities, where children walk together in groups with parental supervision.Check out car-sharing companies available in your town or city.Bike-sharing options are popular at several universities across Canada, while the Bixi bike-sharing program is rolling in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.For the fast and fashionable, invest in an e-bike or scooter for quick, inter-city trips.Challenge yourself by leaving the car at home for a week. By week’s end, you’ll appreciate your wheels and pinpoint places where you can use alternate forms of transportation.Rural Canadians can scout out local bus and charter companies to get across back-country roads.When all else fails, plan ahead and carpool with neighbours or nearby families.
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DRIVING LESS
The costs and benefits of driving, biking and walking
GO TO PAGE 157 FOR MORE TIPS AND INFORMATION
Source: Statistics Canada and Transport Canada.
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Trips and Trials
Practice Commuter Etiquette
WELCOME TO YOUR MORNING COMMUTE. It’s an early hour on a cold Canadian winter morning. The sun isn’t even up yet. But there you are, waiting at a bus shelter as the snow and wind screech past. When the bus finally arrives, 20 people appear out of nowhere to rush the doors, while two exiting passengers battle their way off. Inside, you’re affronted by blaring headphones, horrible personal odours – is that an onion bagel? – and a cell phone ringing unanswered somewhere in the bowels of the bus. Oh wait, it’s just a passenger testing new ring tones. Then you hear a “clip-clip-clip” and realize someone is cutting his nails and you pray the stray slivers of personal matter don’t land on you. The only available seat is claimed by a pair of wet UGG boots propped up by a sullen teenager. Getting off the bus has the feel of a prison break: pushing through textbook laden knapsacks and scrambling towards the exit before the bus lurches forward again. And this is a picture of a thoroughly big city commute. The spotty bus service in small town Canada – where a bus rumbles along the country road once every hour, if that – can make an urban transit user feel like he’s won the lottery.Canadians are a mild-mannered people, but occasionally poor commuter etiquette gets us biting our tongues and wishing for a saner world. Poster campaigns in Tokyo, New York and now Toronto condemn seat hoggers and litterers. Yet we all make exceptions for our own less-than-perfect behaviour when we’ve had a bad day or a rough sleep. So next time you feel your blood pressure rising on public transit because of hard-to-take hijinks or habits, ask yourself if the offense is serious enough to speak up. You can either chill – or challenge (gently). Someone genuinely might not know how loud her music is and informing her of that reality respectfully is not a criminal offence. You might even be doing a fellow comrade commuter a favour by speaking up. The best point of attack though is to pay someone a courtesy: make room unasked or help a mother with her stroller. These small acts can transform someone’s grumpy morning mood and encourage others to pay it forward.
ROADSIDE OFFENCESBlaring headphones plus blaring cell phone chat equals blaring headache.No seat in site? Chances are it’s worse for a pregnant, elderly or injured passenger.Paparazzi-style crowds that block the exits and entrances.I sit, therefore, I am. Your hockey bag doesn’t merit that free seat.Drivers fond of resting elbows on car horns.Colour-blind bikers who coast through red lights.Cutting off, tailing and lane-hogging.Massive boxes or bikes taking up precious space during peak hours.Applying make-up in public is fine, but cutting toe-nails and plucking eyebrows?The public transit is not one big trashcan – save your throwaways for the bin.
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TEMPERATURE RISING
What gets our blood boiling
on the commute
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ElectronicWaste
Recycle That Old Cell Phone
WHERE ART THOU, FIRST-GEN SMARTPHONE? After the feeding frenzy over the new and shiny dies down, we rarely ask where old gadgets go. We met with Carole Hochu, Director of the Ontario Electronic Stewardship Program, to find out. Turns out your old phone, along with other electronic waste, could have been melted down and repurposed into Olympic medals at the Vancouver Winter Games as part of a unique recycling program. But few electronics have an awesome afterlife. Every year we produce 140,000 tonnes of electronic waste, much of it ending up on the trash heap, leaking toxins into the ground. Developing countries are burial sites for outdated gizmos where old computers and fax machines are picked apart by hand and rock, scavenged for parts and burned. These dumping grounds turn into toxic places, leading to high rates of cancer and lead poisoning for the people who live and work there.With a bit of time and care, we can stop this epic fail. We’ve learned not to toss batteries out with our dinner; now it’s electronics’ turn. There are thousands of collection points across Canada to properly dispose of gadgets. (Penny pinchers take note: these recycling programs are funded by a levy included in the price of that electronic. You’ve already paid for the program, so you may as well make use of it, right?) Even better, donate your old, but still functional, computer, printer or office equipment to a charity or school. If you’re the type who regularly upgrades your phone, pass that barely used cell on to less savvy friends and family. Whatever you do, don’t toss those old electronics out with the trash.
REFRAIN AND REUSERound up old electronics from the basement, attic and garage for one big massive recycle.Sometimes a new upgrade to a phone or a computer is just not that hot. Reading reviews of the latest toy and resisting to buy until a better release could save you money and time. (Check out: cnet.com or Consumer Reports)In the market for a new electronic something-something? Before you buy, check out Craigslist and other re-seller websites first. You may be able to find a perfectly good second-hand version.Check out Greenpeace’s handy “Guide to Greener Electronics” before purchasing. It’s a chance