Ecofamily » transportation http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/isuecofamily Connecting Family and the Environment Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:13:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 2012 Eco Challenge http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/isuecofamily/2012-eco-challenge/ http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/isuecofamily/2012-eco-challenge/#comments Thu, 27 Sep 2012 04:26:54 +0000 Kristi Cooper http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/isuecofamily/?p=1405 One of my favorite resources on sustainability is the Northwest Earth Institute.  I have participated and facilitated book discussion groups with their materials.  This is the fourth year of their Eco Challenge  http://www.ecochallenge.org/   Although it starts next week, it is not too late to choose your OWN Eco Challenge.  You pick a sustainable living practice that you want to focus on for two weeks and do it! You may be interested in water conservation or energy consumption or waste reduction.  You can customize your Eco Challenge, form a team, join a team, or compete with yourself! You get tips and resources to help you in your challenge. Here are the benefits from the NWEI EcoChallenge website:

  • Challenge: The EcoChallenge is a chance to push yourself, adopt a new habit, reduce your impact, and challenge your teammates to work toward a sustainable future!
  • Community: Registering for the EcoChallenge connects you to a growing community of folks who are making a difference. Connect with others who are taking on the EcoChallenge on this website, and through NWEI’s Facebook page. Together we can inspire each other and be a force for change.
  • Inspiration: With so many ways to approach sustainability, it can be tough to know where to start. We provide you with tips and success stories in each EcoChallenge category (water, energy, transportation, food, or trash) to help inspire you.
  • Savings: There are many ways to save money by taking on the EcoChallenge. Reducing your energy consumption and water use will cut your monthly utility bills. Diverting waste to recycling and compost could allow you to reduce the frequency of your trash service! Pursuing alternative transportation is sure to save you money too.
  • Accomplishment: Now is your chance to give a new habit a shot—you may find out that it’s easier than you imagined. We also encourage you to share your progress with your friends and family, or better yet, take the EcoChallenge together and celebrate your joint accomplishments!
  • Fun: Many participants tell us their EcoChallenge led to surprising discoveries and unexpected benefits. The romance of an “un-plugged” dinner by candlelight. The smell of fresh bread wafting out of a neighbor’s kitchen during a bike commute. The thrill of finding a treasure at a secondhand store. What will you discover?

    • This is your chance to change your life for good! What sustainable habits do you want to develop?  Tell us about your Eco Challenge at  http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/isuecofamily

    Kristi Cooper

    ]]>     http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/isuecofamily/2012-eco-challenge/feed/ 1     Triple Win! http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/isuecofamily/triple-win/ http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/isuecofamily/triple-win/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:26:56 +0000 Kristi Cooper http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/isuecofamily/?p=371 Sustainability is achieved when there’s a relatively equal balance among our social, environmental and economic values.  This is the “triple win” It’s simple yet marvelously complex! Here is an example from  “Living Sustainably: Its Your Choice” from Oregon State University Extension.

    Buying local food  reduces the amount of transportation needed. This means lower food costs and fewer greenhouse gases addressing both economic and envrionmental values. Buying your food at a farmer’s market lets you meet the person who grew your food.  You can provide input on how your food is produces thus addressing social and environmental values.

    Get the idea? Think of a choice you are making that supports your economic, environmental and social values. Share your triple win!

    Kristi Cooper

    ]]>     http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/isuecofamily/triple-win/feed/ 4     MPG http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/isuecofamily/mpg/ http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/isuecofamily/mpg/#comments Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:51:24 +0000 Kristi Cooper http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/isuecofamily/?p=66 Okay, help me out here.  I like to go to new places, meet new people, experience other regional culture so that means traveling someplace other than where I live. So if I want to get there, I have to use transportation.  On vacation this year we traveled with another couple so needed a vehicle large enough and comfortable enough for 4 middle aged bodies to travel 8.5 hours one way. We cheered the drivers who could get the most mpg but our top winner only got 16.9 miles per gallon going downhill with the AC off! It was 106 degrees heat index, just so you know the sacrifice we made for this experiment. We did not have other transportation options – Amtrak did not go where we were going. Airlines didn’t either, for that matter, and I know they get less than 16.9 mpg but we might have traded time and short term discomfort. We did not have any horses nor the extra vacation time to travel on 4 hooves. The highest priced gas we bought was just under $4.00/gallon. There HAS to be a way to increase the efficiency of personal vehicles or create something like those beam transporters from Star Trek to get us places with less dependence on petroleum. Come to think of it, wasn’t Star Trek about a population that had to live in space because earth had been destroyed? Yikes! We (collectively) gotta figure this out and fast! Please share your observations!

    ]]>     http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/isuecofamily/mpg/feed/ 1