By SLCgreen Intern Kellen Hunnicutt
Most of us do a lot of driving in our lives. We drive to school, work, to run errands, and to meet up with friends. Not only is all this driving time bad for our air quality, but so much time in our cars can also be bad for us. Studies have shown that long commute times can produce stress and fatigue, and hurt mental health.
So why drive alone when you can carpool?
Carpooling saves money, reduces pollution, and can transform a routine commute into valuable social time. Consider carpooling to work with a coworker who lives nearby or coordinating a carpool for your kids to get to school. Carpooling can also be a great way to get to events or out into nature with friends and family.
Carpool to Work
If you are thinking about trying carpooling, the first step is to check in with coworkers to see if anyone lives near you and would be interested in carpooling. The TravelWise website also has a page where people can find others to carpool with. You put in your destination and location, and the website finds others traveling a similar route who want to carpool.
Jude Westwood and Madi Larsen were collaborating on a project at work when they realized they both lived in a similar area of Salt Lake. Madi suggested they carpool, and soon they were driving to work together three out of five days a week. “Carpooling doesn’t work well if you have to go anywhere straight after work, but on days when we were both just going home, it was great,” says Westwood.
“We just talked for an hour every day,” Westwood describes, smiling, “a lot of our friendship is based on that.”
For Westwood, carpooling took a boring and potentially stressful hour of her daily life and transformed it into an “hour of time traveling that felt really rich.”
“If you live nearby to each other and both have the same work schedule, why would you not carpool to get there?” Westwood remarks.
Carpool to School
Coordinating carpools for your kids is also a great way to reduce time burdens on individual parents.
Havalah Heale is a Salt Lake City high schooler. Nearly every day, Heale carpools to school with her friends. Her parents and the other student’s parents alternate who picks up and drops off Heale and her friends at school each day. This way each parent is only responsible for driving a few days each week.
“I often find myself recommending carpooling,” Heale says, “not only because it is great for the environment, but it also provides an easy way to get from place to place” and it’s a “great way to make new friends.”
Carpooling is excellent for students because it gives them time to grow friendships and teaches them about the positive impact they can have on the environment. “I’m seeing real-time examples of reducing pollution and it makes me feel like I am doing my part to reduce carbon emissions!” Heale declares proudly.
Carpool to Events
Are you a frequent concert-goer, sports fan or outdoor enthusiast? Instead of meeting up with people for an event or activity, consider driving together. Parking can often be overpriced and hectic at big events, and it is always easier to park one car instead of many.
Do Your Part To Clear the Air
Carpooling is a wonderful way to improve the city’s air quality and minimize your contribution to climate change. Around 50% of pollution in the valley comes from transportation, no matter the time of year. Make your commutes more fun, save on gas money, and be kind to our planet by carpooling whenever you can.
Thank you for doing your part to clear the air! Don’t forget to log your carpooling and other trips on the Clear the Air Challenge!