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Climate Central - A Case Study

Name: Ed Brown
Occupation: Local Authority and Community Support Coordinator

What are have you done to reduce your carbon footprint?
Six months ago I was told that I couldn’t drive for medical reasons so I now se public transport everyday.

How have you done it?
I had no choice but to just get on with things. My only option was to use public transport to get around. At the time it seemed like the worst thing in the world. I was worried about how I would get around and as a result began to worry about how I’d do my job. Work were brilliant and have been really supportive about everything. I now own a bus and train pass that gets me around the main towns and cities in the West Midlands conurbation. If I need to go further for work or social visits I get the train, coach or on the off chance that someone else is going my way I car share. Admittedly if I didn’t live in the suburbs of Birmingham on a major bus route and near to a train station I’d find getting around much more difficult.

How are you finding it?
At first it was a bit of a shock to the system. Waiting around for buses and trains was a bit of a pain and seemed like a complete waste of time. In actual fact it was me wasting time by not checking time tables. I expected the buses and trains to arrive at the bus stops / stations as I arrived but soon realised that it doesn’t work like that. Once you get used to using public transport and how it works you start becoming more organised. Before I wouldn’t think about just getting in the car and driving over 100 miles a day, at short notice, but now I have to plan my journeys in advance – maybe I’m not quite as flexible as I used to be when I was driving but travelling is so much less stressful and if I’m going to a meeting I can work on the way or if it’s a social visit I can read a book or just watch the world go by.

The only time the trains haven’t worked for me was when a car driver crashed in to a railway bridge cancelling all trains but even in the snow earlier this year I managed to get to and from work everyday whilst lots of people in their cars were getting stuck.

How much have you saved?
I’ve saved about 200 pounds a month on petrol alone. I was driving about 1000 miles a month so I’ve saved around £1200 pounds since I stopped driving 3 months ago. If you start factoring in things like tax and insurance and maintenance costs I’ve probably saved an additional £50 a month – so overall I’ve saved £250 a month.

I’m just sold my car and now that I’m no longer making monthly repayments on it I’ll be saving a further £170 so if you add it up I’m saving just over £400 a month.

In terms of CO2 – roughly speaking I’ve saved about 223 kilograms of CO2 each month so over a year I’ll be looking at saving 2.7 tonnes of CO2.

Any key messages?
I’m not saying that everyone should just give up their cars as I know that it’s not always possible. Unless you’ve got the public transport links on your doorstep I can imagine that not being able to drive could cause real problems especially for people in more rural areas. Living in the city does make life easy so if you can get rid of the car for maybe one day a week I’d certainly recommend it. If public transport isn’t brilliant where you live maybe you could use the nearest park and ride system or even think about car sharing. I stopped driving because I had to but it did make me realise that there is life beyond the car and it’s not all bad.

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