Photo Credit: treehugger.com
I follow a very strict rule when it comes to taking cabs in the city: only on special occasions. Times like when I’m running late for an appointment or I’m off to a friend’s birthday party in high heels. It would also be a special occasion when I’m carrying dry cleaning, groceries, and a gym bag after a long day at work and it’s pouring rain. I think I find this rule so easy to follow because I get to decide if the occasion is “special” or not, except when I’m with Mr. Green …
Certainly we compromise all the time when it comes to getting around the city and I love exploring Toronto with him on foot, but I get the feeling that despite agreeing to cab to dinner if I’m dressed up and in heels, he’d much rather we walk or even take the subway.
Mr. Green walks everywhere. It seems no distance is too great or the weather too nasty for him to get around the city in his New Balances. Just the other weekend we walked to Leslieville from downtown. No biggy. And if we hadn’t scored a fabulous Kinetics 1970s era stool on the cheap, we would have walked home (we took the TTC instead).
Mr. Green walks for a few reasons:
- Because he loves seeing Toronto on foot; you can discover so much about a city or town by walking its streets. Just this weekend, Mr. Green showed me the Cloud Garden. It’s a great garden complete with a waterfall that’s tucked between office towers just east of Yonge, south of Adelaide. Despite working around the corner, I had no idea this garden oasis existed!
- The exercise.
- It’s a lot greener than driving!
With being greener in mind, Mr. Green’s workplace signed up to participate in this year’s “Clean Air Commute,” an initiative of Pollution Probe happening this week. The Clean Air Commute hopes to encourage more people to walk, cycle, take public transit, carpool, telecommute or drive a hybrid car to work. The environmental damage a lone driver can cause commuting daily is significant. But that same lone commuter can make a serious difference when it comes to air quality, without making huge sacrifices. And that’s what I’ve learned since dating Mr. Green. I might grumble about walking places when I’d prefer to cab, but I know we’re doing good things for the planet.
Check out the Clean Air Commute and consider committing to making our air cleaner by making small changes to your daily commute to work or everyday life.
I love the idea of the Clean Air Commute.
As a long time virtual worker, I’m proud to contribute what I can to our environment by not commuting five days a week. One of the top benefits of a virtual workforce is the positive impact on the environment: less vehicles on the road, lowered office supply consumption, reduced office equipment/furniture, lowered utility costs, smaller carbon footprints, etc.