The 2011 National Commuter Challenge Week is June 5 to 11. Nelson had the best participation in Canada last year and now the West Kootenay EcoSociety is expanding the challenge throughout the Kootenays.
With grants from Columbia Basin Trust and Osprey Community Foundation, the Nelson-based environmental non-profit is throwing down the gauntlet to commuters all across the Basin. The Commuter Challenge is a national program that encourages Canadians to walk, cycle, ride-share, carpool, tele-work or take transit instead of driving alone to work.
The Commuter Challenge is based on friendly competition between communities across Canada to see which has the highest percentage of participation rates per capita during the week. By recording participation and tracking kilometers travelled, Canadians are able to see how their greener commutes translate into a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
The Challenge encourages Canadians to choose greener commuting for the sake of their own personal health, the health and safety of the community, and in order to mitigate the negative climate change and air quality impacts caused by greenhouse gas emissions.
To get involved, each workplace or individual can register — commuterchallenge.ca — and then a workplace point person can log commuting results for everyone. For more information contact John or Vincent at the EcoSociety at 250-354-1909.