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Sustainability Challenge Day 3
September 21, 2020
Rev up (or down) your engine for Day 3!
Welcome to Climate Week; well, Climate Week NYC anyway. While the UN postponed what would normally be a world-wide week of climate events due to the pandemic, climate change effects (including in New York State) aren’t taking a year off. And neither are you!
When you took the ecological footprint quiz, you may have discovered that transportation is the biggest part of your personal carbon emissions. It’s also the biggest source of NYS greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for more than electricity generation, waste, refrigerants, and agriculture combined.
Go Car Free For Climate!
Today, make a pledge not to drive your car at least one day between 9/21 and 9/27 as part of the Car Free for Climate event. Social media junkies can take a selfie and post it to social media using #NYSCarFree to let everyone know about your experience.
Big Step: Change WHAT You Drive
Like most people in WNY, you probably need a car at least some of the time. In a perfect world we’d all toss our cars and rely on bikes, public transport, ride-sharing or services like ZipCar. If you can do that, please do! If you can’t, ask yourself: Am I driving the most efficient vehicle I possibly can?
Challenge yourself to buy or lease an electric vehicle or a hybrid plug-in vehicle. New York State rebates and federal tax credits make purchasing affordable. And whether purchased new or used, an electric vehicle will cost a lot less to operate, while performing as well or even better than a gas-powered vehicle. Sounds too good to be true? You can compare the savings yourself.
Already Doing This? Take a Small Step: Change HOW You Drive
So you’re already driving a plug-in hybrid, and thanks to COVID you rarely go anywhere. What then? Even electric car drivers can take steps to operate a vehicle in the most efficient manner possible. And that will save you money! Pledge to make at least 3 changes to your driving and maintenance habits. You can track your fuel economy to chart your savings!
While you’re at it, you can advocate for transportation policies that move us away from fossil fuels… but we’ll explore that more later in the 20-Day Challenge.
A Look Ahead:
Tomorrow we’ll raise our voices… but don’t worry, we aren’t mad at you.