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Ride, Reuse, Reduce

Misty WhitedErica McKewen
(512) 389-7572(512) 369-6085
(512) 844-5090 cell(512) 401-7665 cell
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RIDE, REUSE, REDUCE

Capital Metro and KAB Encourage Earth-Friendly Behaviors

April 22, 2008

NEWS FACTS

  • In recognition of Earth Day, Capital Metro and Keep Austin Beautiful (KAB) encourage you to Ride, Reuse and Reduce your carbon footprint everyday.
  • This morning Capital Metro and KAB hosted a bag exchange at seven transit locations in Austin and Leander.
  • Bus riders were able to exchange at least five disposable bags for a cool, reusable "i-Ride to Save the Planet" bag.
  • Volunteers handed out nearly 1,000 reusable "i-Ride" bags and collected more than 5,000 disposable bags to be recycled.
  • The event was a part of KAB's "Austin's Got a Brand New Bag" campaign to promote the use of reusable shopping bags and disposable bag recycling.
  • Capital Metro encourages everyone to take these easy steps:
  • RIDE the bus. It's affordable, convenient and less stressful than sitting in traffic everyday. Switching your commute to public transit can reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 20 pounds per day - more than 4,800 pounds per year. And, it also saves your budget.
  • REUSE bags and recycle disposable bags. Each reusable bag eliminates the need for 1,000 plastic bags or 500 paper bags over its lifetime.
  • REDUCE your carbon footprint and oil consumption by riding the bus and shopping with reusable bags.
  • Today also marks the deadline for the i-Ride contest, and so far, Capital Metro has received some unique and entertaining entries from people sharing their reasons for riding the bus. Check them out and submit your own story at www.capmetro.org/i-ride.

MULTIMEDIA ELEMENTS
image riders exchanging bags Many Capital Metro riders exchanged more than 20 disposable bags for a reusable bag.

image of bags collected Disposable bags collected from today¿s event.

QUOTES

  • "Capital Metro supports Keep Austin Beautiful's goals to clean, beautify and protect the Austin environment through improvements and education. Public transportation use is one of the most effective actions individuals can take to reduce greenhouse gases and protect the planet."

    -- Fred Gilliam, Capital Metro President/CEO

  • "The 'Austin's Got a Brand New Bag' campaign promotes reusable bag use and disposable bag recycling. Using reusable bags and riding the bus are two great ways for people to reduce their environmental impact. This partnership between Capital Metro and KAB makes it easy for people to give both of these practices a try."

    -- Brian Block, Keep Austin Beautiful Executive Director

ABOUT CAPITAL METRO
Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority provides bus service on flexible, convenient schedules at more than 3,000 bus stops throughout Central Texas, providing riders with an average of 140,000 one-way trips each day. Capital Metro's fixed route bus service includes 54 metro and flyer routes, 24 special routes, five downtown circulator 'Dillo routes, seven express routes and 20 UT shuttle routes. Capital Metro also offers 56 AISD school routes, van and carpooling coordination, shuttles to special events, special transit services for the disabled, and freight rail. Capital MetroRail passenger service from Leander to Downtown Austin will begin in fall 2008. For more information, including an online trip planner and a commute cost calculator, visit www.capmetro.org or call (512) 474-1200.


line seperatorCapital Metropolitan Transportation Authority
2910 East 5th Street | Austin, Texas 78702 | (512) 389-7400
Specific Route Information | (512) 474-1200