It’s been a little over a year since I blogged about my carbon footprint, and detailed some of the steps that I was taking to reduce my environmental impact. Here’s an update, along with a new step that I encourage all of you to look into: purchasing electricity from alternative energy sources.
Car-Free Existence
I grew up dependent on cars for transportation, but I’ve found the transition to not owning a car to be pretty easy. I ride my bike when the weather cooperates, 8 miles round trip to school (EDIT: Closer to 6 miles, now that I’ve found a faster and shorter route). Thanks to a good network of bike lanes and trails, plus (mostly) conscientious drivers, my bike commute is usually pretty nice. I can definitely see why Minneapolis is considered the #2 bike friendly city in America.
UPDATE: If you’re hesitant to start biking places because you’re not sure you’d be able to find a route, Google Maps now has bicycling directions that are fairly good.
When it rains, and during the winter, I take the bus. This is also very convenient, as the Twin Cities have good public transportation. I can use Google Maps to find the best route at any given time. Plus, it’s great that the Twin Cities have a growing number of hybrid electric buses, which furthers the cause of going green.
The First Excited State 