 
I had a discussion with Eric yesterday about the main theme of our environmental endeavours versus the RAAM race itself. It came down that there are two main things that we are striving for: one selfish and one self-less. The selfish is the actual racing aspect of RAAM. We're out there as riders and crew as one team to push ourselves to the limits to come out on top. The self-less is the raising awareness of how individuals can make an immediate and direct impact on the environment by utilizing an alternate means of transportation - walking, taking a bus, carpooling, biking, riding a subway. And beyond...I spoke with my mom today, and an alternate means of transportation just is not available to her. However, we took a look at other immediate options. Her electric company offers the option of, for an extra $8/month, acquiring electricity from wind power (zero carbon emission) versus traditional oil/coal burning. Choosing that option and "investing" a couple of extra $$ we calculated reduces her carbon footprint by over 3 TONS a year! Going back to the alternative means of transport versus driving yourself - Eric brought up the point that if you gave up driving just yourself for 2 days a week out of 5, that is a reduction in pollution by 40%! 3 days = 60%! That's huge. You get the point. Something else that came up was that we want the awareness to peak during RAAM race week, but to create a lasting impact beyond just that single week in June. $8/month on an electricity bill saves more than 3 tons of pollution from being pushed into the environment a year. Finding an alternate means of transportation every week, if only a day or two, reduces your carbon footprint by a minimum of 20%. Let's make it a lasting impact. On another note, if you have an extra 20 minutes to spare (or need a means of procrastinating at work) check this out: www.storyofstuff.com.
Comments:
REALLY good and informative video!
by: Andrea - 02/08/2008 10:11 PM That link is definetly worth the 20mins. We should share it with more people! |
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