Ride sharing is one of the most eco friendly ways of transportation. Whether it is taking a bus or the train, it beats driving a single car. According to the
Environmental Protection Agency, the
average car produces about 532 gallons of gasoline per year. Imagine 532 milk jugs. There is only 365 days in a year so, that is more than a jug a day. You probably don't even drink a gallon of water a day. And that is just scratching the surface. The air is already polluted with CO2s emitted from cars everyday. Imagine if everyone drove their own single car.
Here are facts;
The average vehicle has the fuel economy of 22mpg (miles per gallon).
The average miles traveled in 2010 by a single car was 11,489 miles per year.
The average gallons of gasoline consumed per vehicle for 2010 was 522 gallons.
The average amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the environment per vehicle for 2010 was 4800 kilograms (10,582.1886 pounds).
So, with that being said, the average person puts almost 11,000 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air annually by driving their car alone. And this is not even touching on the subject of the numerous other ways people emit pollution into the environment through day to day tasks. The EPA does a great job at
statistically breaking down this methodology.
Let's prevent this!!
Here are a few solutions to reducing your carbon footprint..
Public Transportation metros, subways, bus
Imagine your typical metro (bus and train transportation) holding about 20-30 people at one time. Now picture if each one of those people decided to drive their own car individually. That would be havoc on the already polluted environment and just added people to the horrible traffic issue. During 2012, in NYC alone, the average weekday subway ridership was 5.4 million. That is 1.7 billion people in 2012 taking public transportation.
Carpooling
Another form of ride-sharing, carpooling is a more intimate way of green transportation. Since moving to Los Angeles, I have also found that people who carpool(those who have more than two people in their car) have their own special lane. This is a great incentive being that these cars could bypass traffic. Recently, there has been an influx of new wave car-sharing option. Modeled somewhat out of taxis, this service links people with drivers available for carpooling. This style of carpooling can be a bit cheaper than taxi's as well and can also be more convenient. It's no wonder why
they are giving taxis a run for their money. It's like Blockbuster to Redbox. You can download their apps via smartphones such as iPhones and Androids. A couple great options are
Uber,
Lyft and
Sidecar
Benefits;
Save money! Because gas is getting no cheaper.
Reduce pollution.
Reduce greenhouse gases.
Fresher air to breathe leading to better respiratory health.
Reduce dependency on oil.
Meet new people.
Reduce traffic.
So just remember, every time you get behind the wheel, you are contributing to the pollution crisis we are going through with global warming from CO2 emissions which largely come from vehicles. Do what you can to reduce your carbon footprint on the environment. Every little bit counts and
11,000 pounds of pollution is a big deal. CO2 Now does a great job at
keeping track of the amount of CO2 currently in the atmosphere.
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