Santa says 'Choke, choke, choke'
to Christmas carbon emissions
This year Santa has added another item on his "naughty or nice" Christmas list, wishing for all Australians to cut down on their vehicle carbon emissions over the festive period.
With the busy holiday period just around the corner, many families are planning day trips and short holiday breaks, making December one of the worst months for carbon emissions.
According to a Survey of Motor Vehicle Use released in late October 2007 by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), in the space of just one year (31 October 2005 to 31 October 2006) there were an additional 262,713 passenger vehicles on Australian roads, equating to more than 893,000 extra tonnes of carbon emissions.
Jonathan Kerr from ibuyeco, Australia’s first and only 100% carbon neutral car insurance provider, says that Australians are becoming more aware of the kilometres they travel, however are unsure of how they can limit their carbon impact, especially during the busy festive period.
"Considering the amount of extra kilometres we will drive during December, now is the perfect time to do something to address those emissions," Mr Kerr said.
"If just ten per cent of Australian drivers (private vehicles) decided to offset 100% of their vehicle's annual carbon emissions, we could reduce our carbon impact by 3.8 million tonnes, which I'm sure would put us all back in Santa's good book," he added.
Thankfully, there are a number of ways to limit the carbon impact your vehicle will have over the holidays. Here are some simple tips to consider:
- Plan your shopping trips - or why not buy directly online.
- To make up for the extra kilometres you'll drive during the Christmas break, try to make an effort to catch public transport to and from work.
- If you are driving, check your tyres to make sure they're the correct pressure.
- There are also many car-pooling websites such as www.thecarpool.com.au where you can arrange to share vehicles to work each day.
- Why not offset 100% of your vehicle's carbon emissions each year by purchasing carbon neutral car insurance? ibuyeco is Australia's first and only 100% carbon neutral car insurance provider, so all your unavoidable driving can be completely offset.
Other results of the ABS Motor Vehicle Use Survey showed:
- Passenger vehicles travelled a total of 156 billion kilometres during the year, which equated to 75% of all vehicle distance travelled.
- Based on average carbon emissions of 3.4 tonnes per vehicle per year, there was more than 38 million tonnes of carbon produced by 11.3 million passenger vehicles in the year to 31 October 2006.
- Although Australian cities do not appear to have the high levels of smog and pollution visible in other cities around the world, the per capita production of transport emissions is amongst the highest in the world.
ibuyeco's carbon offsetting activity meets the Australian Government Greenhouse Friendly™ standard, the criteria of the Kyoto Protocol, is independently audited and is guaranteed for 100 years. The carbon offsetting activity is carried out by Greening Australia, with all plantings taking place in Australia.
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Even with carbon offsetting built in, our car insurance rates are very competitive.
