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FOOD WASTE: TACKLING THE PROBLEM UPSTREAM
Advertorial by Travel Lane County
How many jobs revolve around driving? REALLY driving—where someone is behind the wheel for most or all of their workday? Local delivery drivers, long haul truckers, taxis, buses—there are millions of them driving US roads every day, making up a significant percentage of total drivers on the road and a significant percentage of added pollution.
Despite tougher emissions standards and the increase of more fuel-efficient vehicles on the road, transportation passed up power generation as the largest source of pollution in the United States last year.
Transportation has increased the amount of greenhouse gas pollution simply because the number of
emission-producing vehicles continues to increase. Counting just the cars, there are 246 million of them in the US! (And 230,000 in Eugene and Springfield, about one vehicle per resident.)
Some laws which would regulate automakers have been passed and some struck down. The most exciting innovation is coming from outside of government—companies like Tesla who hope and dare to revolutionize the trucking industry with all-electric semi-trucks, or local companies like Arcimoto who are innovating with emission-free solutions that defy standard vehicle categorizations. However, short of working directly for one of those advanced companies, what can you or your company do to help cut down on pollution?
The first thing would be to take a second look at electric vehicles. They currently only make up about 2.4% of total cars in Oregon, but that small number is quickly increasing. Improvements are being made
annually in every category that have typically concerned potential electric vehicle consumers. Battery technology has grown by leaps and bounds in previous years, strengthening their appeal and practicality. Oregon is number 3 out of the 50 states with its number of electric cars, behind California and Washington, and recharge stations are becoming more plentiful. The purchase price of an electric vehicle is still higher than its petroleum based counterpart, but that gap is shrinking.
You can pessimistically say that one electric vehicle won’t significantly change the output of the planet’s carbon emissions, or you can do your one small part and have faith that others will do the same. Whether that means driving an electric car yourself, or using vendors that do, that small effort is a meaningful step towards our global success of reducing pollutants. Norwegians are doing that right now, with 60% of all new vehicles sold being electric, growing their country’s total percentage of electric vehicles to 30%. Why couldn’t we do the same?
One of those jobs that revolve around driving is the security patrol. They are driving around at night, invisible to all but the criminals they are deterring, so it’s normal that they wouldn’t come to mind immediately. There’s a lot of them out there and they spend a lot of time on the road. Some security
companies drive pick-up trucks and some drive hybrids, but there is only one security patrol in Oregon that is all-electric and it happens to be based right here in Eugene. We do a pretty good job too. In nearly 10 years of business, we have never lost a client.
So if your company has a security patrol, and wants to support local businesses that care about the cleanliness of our planet, check out Premier Security. Make that small effort and help to clean up your place, your community and your planet.
For more information contact Angie Marzano or by visiting www.foodwastestopswithme.org.
Transportation has increased the amount of greenhouse gas pollution simply because the number of
emission-producing vehicles continues to increase. Counting just the cars, there are 246 million of them in the US! (And 230,000 in Eugene and Springfield, about one vehicle per resident.)
Some laws which would regulate automakers have been passed and some struck down. The most exciting innovation is coming from outside of government—companies like Tesla who hope and dare to revolutionize the trucking industry with all-electric semi-trucks, or local companies like Arcimoto who are innovating with emission-free solutions that defy standard vehicle categorizations. However, short of working directly for one of those advanced companies, what can you or your company do to help cut down on pollution?
The first thing would be to take a second look at electric vehicles. They currently only make up about 2.4% of total cars in Oregon, but that small number is quickly increasing. Improvements are being made
annually in every category that have typically concerned potential electric vehicle consumers. Battery technology has grown by leaps and bounds in previous years, strengthening their appeal and practicality. Oregon is number 3 out of the 50 states with its number of electric cars, behind California and Washington, and recharge stations are becoming more plentiful. The purchase price of an electric vehicle is still higher than its petroleum based counterpart, but that gap is shrinking.
You can pessimistically say that one electric vehicle won’t significantly change the output of the planet’s carbon emissions, or you can do your one small part and have faith that others will do the same. Whether that means driving an electric car yourself, or using vendors that do, that small effort is a meaningful step towards our global success of reducing pollutants. Norwegians are doing that right now, with 60% of all new vehicles sold being electric, growing their country’s total percentage of electric vehicles to 30%. Why couldn’t we do the same?
One of those jobs that revolve around driving is the security patrol. They are driving around at night, invisible to all but the criminals they are deterring, so it’s normal that they wouldn’t come to mind immediately. There’s a lot of them out there and they spend a lot of time on the road. Some security
companies drive pick-up trucks and some drive hybrids, but there is only one security patrol in Oregon that is all-electric and it happens to be based right here in Eugene. We do a pretty good job too. In nearly 10 years of business, we have never lost a client.
So if your company has a security patrol, and wants to support local businesses that care about the cleanliness of our planet, check out Premier Security. Make that small effort and help to clean up your place, your community and your planet.
For more information contact Angie Marzano or by visiting www.foodwastestopswithme.org.
