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Earth-Friendly Ways Help People Save Money

Changing the rules can change how people behave

As you may know, one of the major causes of global warming is carbon dioxide (CO2). An incredible amount of CO2 is made when oils, coals, or gases are burned. One major CO2 generator is gasoline. This means that a cloud of CO2 is being spewed into the air whenever people drive in cars (even though you can't see it!)

Unfortunately, however, it's not easy for most of us to stop using cars. But certainly we could try to use them less often. If our destination isn't too far away, we can walk or ride our bikes.

Taking advantage of the flat terrain of Takamatsu City, one of major cities in Japan's Shikoku Island, the local government actively encourages the use of bicycles. There are five bike rental stations located at busy urban places, such as Takamatsu railroad station, to make it easier for people to cycle whenever and wherever they please.

To rent a bike for the day, it costs only 100 yen (about a dollar) and no matter which station it was rented from, you can return it to any of the five stations. Because of such incredible conveniences, these rental bikes are really popular. On weekdays, commuters often rent them to go to work or school, or even to go shopping. On weekends, there are a lot of tourists that use the rent-a-cycles to visit the famous restaurants that specialize in a tasty local noodle dish, sanuki udon.

During rush-hour jams in big cities, you'll see the most high-tech cars creeping along the road, slower than the kago, or palanquin that were a popular means of transport in Japan's Edo Period (1600 to 1868AD)! Cycling doesn't create any CO2 or air pollution, and is great exercise. Moreover you'll never get stuck in traffic. Isn't that ideal?

When your point of destination is too far to walk or ride a bike, try using available public transport services like buses or trains. By comparison, buses need only a quarter and trains need only a twelfth of the energy needed to carry a person the same distance by car.

And here's a tip for those times when you need to get somewhere by car: If someone else is going in the same direction, catch a ride with them. Instead of three people taking three separate cars to get to the same place, there'll be less carbon dioxide emissions and less energy consumed if all three go together in one car. Sharing a car also saves money that would otherwise be spent on excess gas.

Not only is it important to promote energy saving by sharing rides with friends, but it's important to make the idea of carpooling itself appeal to everyone. In fact, in the United States, some highways have lanes that are exclusively for carpooling vehicles. That means that only cars with one or more (or in some cases two or more) passengers sharing a ride with the driver get to drive in that lane. Doesn't this make it more tempting for people to carpool knowing they could avoid rush hour traffic by using the faster lane?

At Taikoyama Country Club, a golf club in Japan's Toyama Prefecture, drink vouchers are presented to members and guests who carpool. This system works well because instead of nagging people to adopt earth-friendly habits, those who do (in this instance by carpooling) will get a free drink. Most people don稚 like to be told what to do, but everyone likes a free drink. We can use such devices to guide people to environmentally-conscious behavior without their even realizing it!

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