Archive for July, 2010

So you want to use your car less?

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

Here’s 3 easy steps to using your car less.

Step 1 Think about whether you really need to use a car for the trip. Could you bike or cycle instead. Think about the calories you’ll burn, earn that latte! Did you know two thirds of car journeys are less than 6 kilometers?

Step 2 Okay, you’ve thought about whether you need to use a car. It’s too far to walk and not suitable for cycling. Could you catch a bus or train? You’ll save money; sometimes it’s quicker, but you will also be reducing your carbon emissions. Feel virtuous as your train chugs past those commuters on their one occupant cars stuck in a motorway jam!

Step 3 Get serious; now you may have discovered you can manage without a car reasonably well. You sometimes need to use it but not that often. Work out what it costs you to have it sitting in your garage ready for whenever you might want it. Really work out the costs, add in the car registration, servicing, 6 monthly WOFs and insurance, petrol and so on. Chances are, if you sold the car and invested the money you could have quite a nice holiday every year.

Consider whether you really need to be a 2 or 3 car family. But what about when I need a car? Have you heard about car sharing?

In Auckland and Wellington Cityhop offers a membership scheme where members can access brand new eco-friendly cars for only $15 an hour. So you need never be without a car for the weekly trip.

The more people who car share the more likelihood that there will be more cars around the city and suburbs.

Finally, if you have kids, find out if your school has a walking school bus and join them in. It’s a great way for you and your kids to make friends, get exercise and be friendly.

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Zipcar plans US float

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

The world’s largest car sharing company, Zipcar, is planning a US stock market float that could raise up to $75m. Reported the Independent, the 10-year-old company filed offer documents yesterday, a month after it dramatically expanded in Britain with the acquisition, Streetcar.

Zipcar pioneered what it called car-sharing, a service that charges an annual membership and rents cars at an hourly or daily rate. The service is successful in markets in which car ownership is lower and parking is scarce and expensive, such as urban areas and colleges. The market has been successful enough that larger car rental companies such as Hertz and Enterprise have started their own rivals.

Zipcar members now number more than 400,000 in 13 major cities and at more than 150 college campuses in North America.

The company has posted losses every year since it was founded and said in a regulatory filing that it also expected losses in 2010. Revenue rose 22.5 per cent to $33.2m in the three months to 31 March, while its net loss widened from $3.0m to $5.3m. If the period had included Streetcar’s results, Zipcar would have posted revenue of $39.6m and a loss of $6.1m.

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Car share spirit – people sell their car

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

Cityhop has a partner in Oz, Go Get car share. In Sydney and Melbourne Go Get has a great relationship with the council. In Sydney in particular, Go Get, has a number of ‘pods’ car parks with special signs like the one above.

Can you read what is on the post it? Some cool mmeber was so delighted at the new park they left a note, viral marketing in action telling those who stopped to read it and were curious how great car share is.

The ‘post it’ says, “Yay for GoGet! We sold our car for this. 10 members in Hordern St alone. More parking for all.”

That is the spirit of car share – people DO sell their car and can rely on car share to get them places when they need wheels. The result: fewer cars on the road, more spaces for everyone, safer streets, cleaner air, oh and the big benefit, more money to spend!

Have a closer look at what your car is costing you. Car share makes sense if you don’t use your car everyday.

Research by the world’s largest car share company shows that people who join car share reduce their driving by up to 40 per cent.

50 per cent decide to sell one or another of their cars or put off buying a car. People walk, cycle, use public transport more once they car share – why? Beacuse it makes sense.

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What can we do to reduce our emissions?

Monday, July 12th, 2010

There has been a lot in the papers about emissions trading, climate pollution, debate about what NZ can afford and what it might cost to agree to the Kyoto protocols.

What about if every individual, or even just 100, were to sign on to cut our own climate pollution by 20 % ( four times what the Aussie government wants people to do by 2020).

Aussie, Bathhurst Burr in a blog in the Fifth Estate has some great ideas to consider. Whether you believe in climate change or not, many of his suggestions will still benefit the local economy and improve our environment.

He starts with food and says  the bulk of our climate and resource pollution comes from how we grow, buy, eat and waste good food. Instead of meat every day, try to eat red meat and chicken just 2-3 days a week. Fish is also good as long as its local. Try only to buy food grown locally and within 100 kms of your place and buy what is in season.

Travel is another large comtributor to climate pollution. He recommends  you join a car share company. Cityhop is one example. Car share users drive less, use public transport more and tend to walk more.

Houses are another culprit. Replace your hot water cylinder, ( if you can with a gas or solar system) or if you are building, get gas or solar hot water system.

IF all this sounds to hard you could spend $100 a month investing in growing soil on carbon farms to take all your pollution out of the air or planting trees. Of course there will still be other people’s pollution – the jet setting politicians, gi-normous fridges, ‘sustainability’ consultants jetting around the place to climate change conferences where they can argue whether the climate is in fact changing!

Anyway cityhop thought the best part of his blog is this food for thought:

“Spending time on yourself, what you buy, how you eat and travel so you cut your own pollution by 20 per cent in the next month.

Worth a try, don’t you think?

What if more of us made our own greenhouse cuts should we have to contribute to emissions trading?

How to cut 20 per cent greenhouse gases from your total:
Buy most, preferably all, fruit and vegies from local markets, local farmers =  ~ 2- 5 per cent
Plant a lime or lemon tree at your house or unit = ~ 0.5 per cent
Plant a lime or lemon tree in the street near your house or unit or office = ~ 0.5 per cent
Ask your councillors to have your local council buy only local fruit and vegies = ~ 2-5 per cent
Only eat red meat from local farmers two days a week=  ~ 10-15 per cent
 - fairly easy in New Zealand!

Travel by car share car and no car = ~ 2 per cent
Walk and no car = ~ 3 per cent
Solar hot water = ~ 5 per cent

NOTE: look at the size of the savings, not so much the specific numbers as the variations in diets, where you live and how you buy food make it too hard to be precise with the numbers

 We like it and will be thinking about how we can do more of these savings.

Regardless of the impact on the climate if more of  us bought locally it would encourage more people to grow their own veges. We’d get more food stalls. With so many farmer’s markets cropping up it’s not hard to buy local produce. And that is a tangible start 2 to 5 %. Add a change to your transportation and you really do make a difference to your wallet and your environment.

Worth thinking about!

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