Unitarian Universalist
Congregation of Northwest Tucson Green Sanctuary Program
Sustainable Living
Car-pool to Church Sunday, November 11, 2007. Our church will cut down on carbon emissions and other air pollutants by car-pooling on our “Car-pool to Church Sunday.”
Here are the results for UUCNWT’s first Car Pool Sunday, November 11, 2007:
381 lbs of CO2 were prevented from making it into the atmosphere.
Interested in the Assumptions? There are lots of them:
By car pooling, we decreased driving by 381 miles. The miles were calculated, whenever possible, by taking the mileage provided by Google Maps. Assuming that the average American car gets 20 miles per gallon – the average is more like 17 mpg, but about half the cars driven are light trucks – we saved 19.05 gallons. Each gallon of gas used puts about 20 lbs of CO2 in the air. 19.05 gallons x 20 lbs/gallon = 381 lbs CO2.
That’s the raw calculation. What about the other assumptions? There are some. For example, the car pooling mileage includes couples and families who usually travel together. You may think that it shouldn’t. However, there are couples and families who don’t travel together, even to church on Sunday, usually because they have differing schedules, we decided to include these miles.
Car pooling to church on Car Pool Sunday is only a start. But you can car pool on other Sundays as well. You can car pool to other events. You can even start car pooling – gasp! – outside of church.
For car pooling to work, you need to find the right people. You may want to find someone whose schedule matches yours. Someone who lives close to you, or at least on the way. You might want to work this out by coordinating with your Neighborhood Care Circle, or by introducing this when you’re engaged in the “extracurricular” church activity.
What about those couples who have different schedules? For example, the husband needs to be at the church early but the wife comes for the service. Instead of driving two cars, perhaps the husband could hitch a ride with someone else who has to get to the church early.
Car Pooling has other benefits besides the environment. You pay less money for gas. You get to know other people – often neighbors – a little better, and build important relationships. You may even clean up your car (if you’re the driver) or your front porch (if you’re a passenger).