What is your Transportation Footprint?

You have likely heard the term “transportation footprint” before, but might not know exactly what it involves.  In a time when “being green” and acting environmentally friendly is the only way to be, more and more people are beginning to evaluate their own “global footprint.”  Your footprint is the amount of greenhouse gas that you put off as a result of your daily activities.  For instance, a person who lives in a smaller house and therefore uses less energy to heat it would likely have a smaller footprint.  However, there are several factors that weigh into a person’s actual environmental impact and among the largest is the issue of transportation.

The world today is smaller than ever.  A person can be anywhere in the world within twenty-four hours thanks to a wide variety of different modes of transportation.  People have an easier time living where they choose and finding a job because highways are stretching to just about every corner of the country.  Hop in the car and drive as much as a couple hours to get to work and you are just like nearly every other adult in America.  In fact, the average commute to work has grown substantially over the last fifty years.  Since 1960, the average miles travelled per person per year has more than tripled.  Most people today travel at least twenty miles one way just to make a living.  Yet, there is a cost for all of the travel that takes place every day in this country.

Cars, trucks, vans, and other forms of individual transportation account for nearly twenty-five percent of greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere.  Before a car even leaves the lot to go home with its new owner, it has accounted for a whopping six tons of carbon emission due to the manufacturing process.  If you think that is bad, consider this.  On average, each gallon of gasoline accounts for twenty pounds of carbon emission.  If a car gets just twenty miles to the gallon, then each accounts for one ton of carbon emission per mile traveled.  With an average commute being fifteen to twenty miles one way, that means that a single person would put off approximately two hundred pounds of carbon per week or a whopping ten thousand pounds per year, if not more.  An even scarier fact is that the pollution of all of those vehicles combined is still just twenty-five percent of what this country turns out annually.

Though airlines are taking steps to be more environmentally friendly, flying is currently among the most polluting forms of transportation and even subways, trains, and buses are adding to the filth that is causing global warming.  It should be noted that a single international flight for a family of four will release more greenhouse gas per person than that family would otherwise produce in twelve months. If this pattern is to continue, then ice caps will continue melting into our ocean, bringing colder air into warmer waters.  Eventually, a huge portion of our world would become uninhabitable.  This is why it is so important to do the online questionnaires that test your own global footprint.  One should be aware of ways that he or she could cut down the negative impact he or she has on the surrounding environment.

For instance, rather than saving a little bit of money by having one or two stops on the flight from New York to Los Angeles, a person could fly direct and create less individual pollution.  Newer airlines and those that are the most forward thinking are also flying with more energy efficient plans and are even sending some planes out running purely on biodiesel fuel.

There are also ways to cut environmental impact closer to home.  Carpooling with co-workers can cut emissions by two, three, or even four times.  Public transportation is an even better solution for those that have it easily accessible.  These forms of commuting put off far less carbon emission per person compared to what would be discharged if each of those people were to drive round trip.

If you insist on driving on your own each day, consider washing your car at the carwash rather than at home and turning off the engine rather than idling while in traffic.  Washing the car at home typically means using up to two or three times as much water as what would be given off at the carwash and idling is a leading cause of excess carbon emission.  Turning the car off ensures that you spend less time polluting the air we breathe.

The truth is that for so long we have been taught to think of money and time above all else.  However, if we wish for our children, our grandchildren, and all those who come after to enjoy the more beautiful things this world has to offer, then we need to slow down and truly contemplate which means more – a little extra cash or a lot less pollution.  And, in many cases, you will find that the morally correct decision will also save you time, money, and afford you a much smaller global shoe.