Burn Carb to reduce your footprint

The idea behind my blog was originally to highlight simple little things we can all do which on the face of it make only a small difference, but if we all do them the impact can be significant. Of course the real gain is in the educational benefits and heightened awareness.

You’ll see from my picture that I do like to run in my spare time. Not only do I get the physical benefits, but it’s a great way to clear your head, and a time when I think most clearly. Today whilst out at lunchtime I saw a slogan on another runner’s shirt which struck a chord with me. It also highlighted another way we can get closer to living green for free.

The slogan read “Burn fat not oil”. I wondered how many other people just read it and thought “that’s clever” or even didn’t give it any thought. I would hope that in the current environment where the issues of global warming are high on the political agendas of most of the world’s governments. I am not going into the rights and wrongs of fossil fuels right now, it’s a massive topic and not the focus of this blog.

What the slogan did do was identify another way we can reduce our carbon footprint. This time the benefits go beyond saving a bit of money and contributing to preserving the environment. By getting out and exercising you can fell better psychologically and lose weight (or maintain weight and eat more!).

Transport is responsible for about 25% of CO2 emissions, and is an area where we can all do a little to reduce our impact. Simply run (or ride) a bike to work, save your bus or train fare, leave the car at home, and save your lunch break for relaxing and recharging your batteries to be more effective for the rest of the day. Personally by running to work, in a month I save enough money in train fares to pay for a weekly shop for a family of four. If you normally use a car to travel to work this benefit could be even greater given the excessive petrol and parking costs.

In these tough economic times this is something we should all consider.

The argument I usually hear when I suggest this is based on the additional time taken, but for me (living about 7kms from my office) the door to door time is actually quicker on foot! This must be the same for many city dwellers where surface speeds during rush hours are a joke.

So just imagine the positive impact of 1 in 10 of all city workers leaving the car at home.