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Clean Air Commute Challenge Day 3: It’s time to GO!

June 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment

We’ve reached the middle of the week and this can mean only one thing…It’s day 3 of the Clean Air Commute Challenge! Today we will be discussing a very classy and comfortable way of getting to work while helping the environment at the same time: The GO train!

Softchoice has many employees who use this method of travel and are doing their best this week to really up their game. Today I spoke with our GO train savvies Robert Poretta, David Brisbois and Jason Rand who all gave me the low-down on the joys of taking the GO train.

All three of these enviro-savvy gentlemen take the GO all year round commuting approximately an hour, to an hour and 15 minutes each way. David is stepping it up a notch for this week.” This week I took the train 4 out of 5 days. I also plan to take the bus to the go station two days this week opposed to driving to the go station”

Jason has also been taking some fantastic actions within his household to live a greener lifestyle. “I carpool with my wife to the Oshawa GO Station and  I take the GO  every day. We recently bought a new vehicle and didn’t  keep the old one (two cars in our household). [Read more...]

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Green Commute 2010 Summary

January 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment

At Softchoice one of our favorite sustainability programs that we take much pride in is our Green Commute program!

Most people can’t believe this when explained to them, but yes – Softchoice pays its employees to take an active transport to work every day – walking, riding your bike, public transit, etc…Payments are made to the employees every month, which would cover the cost of a Metro pass or a great pair of walking shoes! [Read more...]

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The Impact of “No Impact Man”

September 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

You’ve probably heard about him by now, seen him on TV, read his book or his blog - and just within the past year the movie about Colin Beaven’s ambitious experiment has been released. After having mostly heard about No Impact Man through my wife, we recently had a chance to view the film together and came to understand some challenges he faced beyond the self-imposed restrictions from modern-day living.

Sure, the year Colin, his wife and toddler daughter spent on a strict local diet, biking through the streets of NY and even at one point without electricity or a fridge WERE a huge challenge – but the real eye-opener was the backlash received from some friends, family and others that considered themselves to be environmentalist.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Environment, Reducing Energy, Reducing Waste Tagged With: , , , , ,

Shared bikes: Time to rethink your commute

August 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Bixi tent at Urbane Cyclist - spreading the word through the city.

Sometimes when I leave the office, I play a counting game. I count all the single-occupancy vehicles lined up on our street as they wait to squeeze on to the packed highway. Sadly, that number climbs up pretty fast.

Many cities are starting to take some great steps towards alleviating congestion and trying to make it easier to get around town without the need for a car. Bixi has been launched in the downtown Toronto area after successful roll-outs in cities like Montreal, Washington DC and London UK. I was fortunate enough to catch this info tent being set up in front of Urbane Cyclist on John St at lunch today. [Read more...]

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A greener way to work

August 10, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Many people say they would like to have a greener commute, but they think they would be giving up some freedoms by leaving their car at home.  I have to say that I am now on a year and a half of a green commute and I hope to never look back.  If you live in a city with any decent public transportation then you have to give it a second shot.  Think about how much you pay for a car payment, insurance, gas and any kind of repairs.  Got a number in your head?  Now think about paying an average of $150 a month for the average monthly pass for a bus or train in most North American cities.  The cost savings are great!

Not only is it cheaper I find it much more relaxing.  Don’t like listening to people in the morning?  Bring an iPod.  Then you can kick back, read the paper and sip coffee while you cruise past all the traffic.  I have included a picture of me here to help you see how I am riding the Chicago L, saving money and flying past all the cars down below.

Do you have a green commute?  What is your favorite part about it in your city?  If you don’t use public transportation but your city offers it then what is it you don’t like?

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A great business case does the trick!

May 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Carpooling SignWe’ve had a lot of new employees start, and the parking lot is getting full. With the nicer weather on the way, we thought we’d review our Green Commute Program and sent an email out to everyone in our Toronto office showing them the benefits of the program. After sending out the email, we right away got 3 people turning in their parking passes and moving to the green commute! 3 may seem like a small number, but with each of them taking 2 trips daily, 5 days a week for a whole year….it really adds up! It really shows that you need constant communication of your green programs.

Here are some sample business cases we used: [Read more...]

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