How to ...
In today's online world, some trips just don't have to be made.
Take time when you are planning trips to ask yourself whether you need to travel at all, especially in your car for just the one purpose, or is there a better option?
Sometimes the answer will be to use the Internet or the telephone instead of the car.
Always consider using the broad range of available online or phone services instead, including:
Ordering or downloading videos online
Using internet and phone banking
Renewing your library books using your library's online system
Shopping using the Internet
NOTE: The core carbon calculation used for this activity is 1kg of CO2 pollution avoided per 5km of single-purpose car travel reduced in a medium-sized vehicle i.e. 5km a week (1kg) X 52 weeks = 52kg per annum. This is a quite conservative number based on a commonly used calculation that reducing 3700 kilometres a year of travel in a medium-sized vehicle (getting 100km per 11 litres of fuel) will deliver 1 tonne of emission reduction (in this case the saving would be about 1.35kg per 5km).
Why is it important?
Private motor vehicle use is a major source of the CO2 pollution that we cause in our daily lives, with average use* of a medium-sized car creating about 4 tonnes of CO2 pollution each year.
Every time you avoid driving 5km can save about 1kg of CO2 pollution. Do that regularly, even once a week, and the savings will mount up for your wallet and the environment.
(*On average cars in Australia are driven about 15,000km per annum.)
