Skating Green

By Liz | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

There is a lot of talk about going “green”. And that’s especially hot now considering the astronomical price of gas. So, what’s a person to do when they want to go “green” and save gas, but don’t have money for a hybrid car? In many towns and cities there’s public transportation- but buses can still cause havoc on the environment. One alternative (especially for those of us who live in municipalities that don’t offer public transportation) is to use roller or inline skates. Roller Skates seem to be making a comeback- especially among folks who fondly remember Friday nights at the skate rink (like me). Recently, USA Network’s highly popular “Psych” featured the team infiltrating a roller derby team. And my local roller skating rink doesn’t seem to be losing much business. So, why not lace up and use roller skates to travel short distances?

Skating is environmentally safe, cheap and excellent exercise. If you can remember how to keep yourself up with them you’ll probably find many more benefits from them. One guy in India, Ashwin Chandrasekar, uses his skates to get through the heavy traffic in his area and travels about 10 km (a little over 6 miles) a day doing it.

A year ago, the 24-year-old travelled to Puducherry and Tirupati on a bicycle with a friend. “I returned home eager to do more and that’s when I decided to take up roller skating,” he says. He got the skates from a relative in the US, and “after that, it was a matter of figuring out how to skate.”

At this point, he never imagined skating on roads, let alone using it to travel to work. However, that changed when he became involved in finding out his carbon footprint. “I realised that even a few people shedding their dependence on fossil fuels could make a difference. So I decided to jog to work.” But that didn’t work out, due to time constraints; besides it was strenuous.”

A good pair of skates can be purchased for around $50 and can last for quite a while. Get the helmet and some knee/elbow pads (don’t go on the street without them for obvious safety reasons) and you’re at not quite $100. If you’ve only got a few miles to travel to work or school then it should be no problem getting there with some wheels strapped to your feet. You’ll be doing your body, the environment, and your wallet a huge amount of good. Besides, who doesn’t really like skating (even secretly)? Just make sure when you’re skating your way to a healthy body and environment you keep your eyes out for the pot holes.

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