SFUU’s Transportation Footprint

"Pool It" Sign North of Vancouver, Washington, Was a Reminder That the Gasoline Shortage Was Not over in March, 1974 and Sharing Rides Was a Good Idea; image from the National Archives and Records Administration

"Pool It" Sign North of Vancouver, Washington, Was a Reminder That the Gasoline Shortage Was Not over in March, 1974 and Sharing Rides Was a Good Idea; image from the National Archives and Records Administration

This project took the form of a forum (presented on April 14, 2019). The purpose of the project was to lower the SFUU congregation’s carbon footprint by reducing the number of miles the congregation, as a whole, travels by car or by other means that consume fossil fuels. One outcome of the project is to obtain agreement on personal actions that each congregant is willing to take in the area of transportation. This forum included discussions of ride-sharing, video conferencing techniques for meetings, public transport alternatives, personal trip awareness, maximizing driving efficiency, and getting travel/tourist satisfaction while still minimizing the impact on our planet. Participants brainstormed about how we can work together to reduce our fossil fuel consumption. Discussion covered how to encourage members to carpool and the potential for using public transport to get around our local area (around town in Auburn, to the Rocklin/Roseville area, to Sacramento, and to Grass Valley). Click here for Bob’s summary of the main outcomes of this forum.

SFUU serves a farflung geographic area, so sharing rides to church for Sunday services, meetings and special events, and video conferencing some committee meetings are all ways to start reducing our transportation footprint.  To facilitate ride-sharing, we propose creating a physical or virtual ride-board.  Recognizing that we use transportation for more than just church functions, we also propose disseminating information about public transportation alternatives for our area, perhaps devoting space to this issue in our monthly newsletter.  This could involve local transportation alternatives columns in the newsletter or developing experts in public transportation to serve as resources for our congregation.

Green Team Leader for this project: Bob Niblack

Some Additional resources: