Better Wear my Sneakers….

In all honesty, I am going into this Sustainable Behavior Challenge, knowing that this is going to be no easy task.  This past week I spent a lot of time, if nothing else, at least thinking about how I would make taking on this task possible.  Many different solutions have ran through my head when it comes to cutting down on driving around campus, especially to football practice.  Some thoughts that I have realized may be holding me back are that fact that I know that I am going to be dead tired after football practice, and not feel like walking up that hill.  Another thought is that I will be in a rush when leaving for practice, therefore I would want to cut down on walking time by just driving.  These thoughts actually haunt me when I think about them!

            The solutions that I have been considering are essentially one of two choices.  I can either choose to suck it up and walk down to football practice for the next three and a half weeks, or I can choose to ride with one of my teammates who also has a car.  The only issue I see with the second idea is the fact that I have not decided if riding with a friend is cheating yet.  When evaluating that question I realized that it is not exactly the same thing as me driving also because if we both drive, it obviously has a stronger negative effect on the environment, so riding with a friend may actually be an acceptable choice and one that I believe I will start off doing.  If I cannot find a friend to ride with then I will walk.

            “It is projected that VKT (Vehicle Kilometers Traveled) will continue to increase at an average annual rate of 1.6% over the next 20 years (U.S. Department of Energy 2008), resulting in a VKT of 7 trillion by 2030. The projected impact from increasing VKT is expected to outpace gains from improved fuel economy and alternative fuels, resulting in an increase of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (AASHTO 2008).”  This quote comes from an article called “The Role of Brownfield Developments in Reducing Household Vehicle Travel”.  The article that I explored made me realize that one person’s efforts or one family’s efforts can go a very long way when it comes to changing their driving habits.  I will use this factor to motivate myself as I embark on this journey of reducing my driving habits.