Though I am an avid cyclist, I rarely use my bicycles for transportation, mainly just exercise. I usually just drive to the store or wherever I need to go without even really thinking about it. Cutting back on my fossil fuel burning this week will definitely be the hardest part for me mainly because I drive so much. The overuse of fossil fuels is a huge problem in the U.S. today, and I am guilty of contributing to this problem. I like to take day trips home, go places to visit friends, and sometimes just drive around to have some alone time. Today I even went and met my parents for dinner and ran errands without thinking about it.
My trip to Atlanta this weekend is also going to effect my consumption of fossil fuels this week. The good thing about our trip to Atlanta is that my friends are meeting me at Wofford and we are taking my car which is the most fuel-efficient of the group. For the rest of the week I will definitely cut back on my driving and walk or ride my bike places if it is reasonable. While we are in Atlanta we will be walking everywhere because the Hotel is close enough to the Georgia Dome making it reasonable to walk there.
Though I will not be participating in reducing my fossil fuel emissions this week as much as others in the class may be. I am still going to try to be aware of my consumption of fossil fuels and try to curb my driving habits to make my vehicle more fuel efficient. I guess that's a start.. right?
Check out the US Energy Information Administration's web site for some statistics on energy and fuel consumption: http://www.eia.gov/
I agree with Matt, that it is really not an easy task to cut down on fuel use sometimes. Taking trips to places that are not necessarily close to home definitely increases your fuel footprint. But as a college student that is what we like to do on weekends, it is nice to just get off of campus and go somewhere with friends. And I think it was considerate of him to take the most fuel efficient car on his trip because most of the time when I take trips with my friends we all pile in a big SUV so we can be comfortable but it sucks gas and is not good for the environment. I think if we do not drive too much during the week, it should be okay for us to take a trip on the weekend.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Matt, that it can sometimes seem impossible to cut down on our fuel consumption. But, I applaud him in his efforts to make his trip to Atlanta as fuel efficient as possible. He has taken all the measures needed to do so like: carpooling, taking fuel efficient vehicles, and curbing his driving habits. Many people do not realize that increasing your speed on the highway has a severe impact on your gas mileage. As long as Matt makes up for his fossil fuel consumption by cycling for transportation the rest of the week then i believe he has made a valiant effort in this step of the carbon-cleanse.
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