welcome

Welcome to our August One Day enews – our car sharing edition. Read on to learn about car sharing in Vancouver (not the same thing as carpooling), how you can trade your old car for cash, and other climate change related news and events. 

One Day is a City of Vancouver initiative that encourages residents to take small actions in their daily lives to use less energy at home and on the move; to help protect the climate; and to make Vancouver the cleanest, greenest, healthiest city in the world.  

Join the thousands of Vancouverites who car share.

How often does your vehicle sit? Considering maintenance, insurance, depreciation, and those gas prices that just won’t stop going up; owning a vehicle can be expensive.  So why own a car, when you can simply borrow one when you need it by car sharing?

In Vancouver, Cooperative Auto Network (CAN) and ZipCar rent out vehicles by the hour to their members. Typically once you've paid the small monthly or annual membership fee, then you only pay for the hours and distance that you actually use! In addition to the cost benefits, you borrow whatever type of vehicle best suits your trip (i.e. a cute Mini for a date, or a truck for moving), and you don't ever have to worry about maintenance.

Both CAN and ZipCar offer car sharing for businesses as well. The City of Vancouver has recently contracted with the CAN’s subsidiary, The Company Car, to locate cars at City Hall, replacing a number of City-owned fleet vehicles. What’s particularly great about these cars is that on evenings and weekends, when they aren’t being used by employees, they will be available for car sharing by CAN members.

Let someone with an old polluting vehicle know about Scrap It.

Has your vehicle already lived its ‘nine lives’?  Perhaps it has even failed AirCare?  Are you so excited about the idea of car sharing that you’re ready to get rid of your own car? The Scrap It Program will take your polluting vehicle off your hands and off the road and will even give you up to $2,250 for it!  Just follow these four steps:

1. Find out if your vehicle qualifies.
2. Send in your application form, and wait for an approval package in the mail.
3. Drive your car off to the recycling contractor.
4. Select your incentive. You’ll get to choose amongst Translink monthly passes, a TransLink pass, a bicycle/electric bicycle combination, a West Coast Express pass, or the new vehicle incentive.

In our opinion, the best deal is to trade your junker for a year’s worth of one zone bus passes and get $1,300 to spend on a new electric bike!  Remember, you can always car share through ZipCar or CAN whenever you need wheels. 

Help the City by taking its online Bike Valet survey.

The City of Vancouver is planning for bike valet services for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. We need your feedback and input, and by filling out this survey, you’ll be entered to win a prize.
 

As you are reading this, over 300 individuals are taking ZipCar’s first ever Low-Car Diet Challenge – a dozen of which are from Vancouver, including Veronica.  They handed over the keys to their personal vehicle and committed to living one month without it. Instead of using their car, they are using public transportation, walking, biking and their ZipCar membership, which was given to them whenever they need a vehicle.  This week, the average participant has walked 15 kilometres, biked 19 kilometres and saved $66.

Emily is the 22-year old Vancouver resident that has recently been named the Canadian winner of the Greenest Person in the Planet contest.  Emily makes her own cleaning supplies, buys locally made clothes, and walks or bikes to her job as an executive assistant and sustainability coordinator for a bio-energy company.  Read more about Emily and find out if she becomes the world-title winner on September 16. 

 

 

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Green Drinks Vancouver
August 20
A monthly gathering for anyone interested in green

Solar Panel Tours
August 21
Join this guided tour of three installations of solar demonstration technology: photovoltaic, solar hot water and solar air heating. 

Catching the Spirit
August 21 to 23
Check out this free environmental stewardship program for youth ages 12 to 18.  Camp in Metro Vancouver parks by night, learn about ecology and help with restoration projects by day. 

Youth Summit on Sustainable Urban Transportation
August 21 to 26
Discuss and discover the role of transit, walking and cycling in urban sustainability; learn about best practices; initiate a mentor assisted project or activity; build a network of contacts; and meet people with common interests.

Green Building 101 - For Homes
August 25
Sign up for this two-hour, non-technical workshop for homeowners, apartment-dwellers and anyone else interested in learning how to "green" their home.

Check out the One Day events calendar for more summer events happening in and around Vancouver.

You can report vehicles to Air Care that appear to be excessively polluting by dialing 604.435.SMOG.

The Recycling Council of BC's hotline offers a free, province-wide information service on recycling, pollution prevention, waste avoidance, disposal options and regulations.  Give them a call at 604.RECYCLE.  (Hours of operation: Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm and Saturdays 9am to 4pm)

• Is your scooter a polluter?
• Chinatown Festival goes green
• 100,000 solar roofs in BC by 2020
• 10 easy steps to a cooler planet
• New report shows provincial action on climate change heating up
• Building permits go green 
• Epost joins WWF-Canada’s “The Good Life” Canada post commits to raising $150,000 for World Wildlife Fund’s conservation efforts!

Check out the One Day media section for more climate change related news.