Sunshine is in the forecast & it is beginning to feel a lot more like summer around here. Not only is the weather warmer, evenings are longer, gardens are blooming, the farmers markets are in full swing, and people are outside walking, running and smiling at each other from their bikes!

More than 600 people and 57 teams are greening and cleaning their commutes in the Clean Commuter & Wellness Challenge . It’s week 2 and whether you are involved of not, you may notice that people are looking a little fitter, stronger and wealthier as a result of leaving their cars at home.

Great response

We have some wonderful stories on how people are participating, the impact the challenge has had across the health authorities, as well as new information and inspiration to support biking, walking and taking transit to work.

Shout-outs

Throughout the challenge, we have asked our Clean Commuters for stories from the bike-path / transit system or ride shares. Log-on to the http://BCGreenCare.ca for the full list of Shout-outs, and check out this sampling below:

+ Shout-out to our top team the Techies; a team of medical technologists from St. Paul’s Hospital – a mix of managers and supervisors from Providence Health Care, the team was created by Peter McLellan and they are scoring high as the team that is cutting the most cutting greenhouse gas emissions greatest and the most calories burned. Way to go Techies!

+ Shout-out to Danielle Berman who is in the lead of our Top Self-Propellers category! Danielle is a concurrent disorders clinician at the mental health clinic in Whistler and her commute is a whopping 120-km round trip with roughly 1100m of elevation to climb on her way to work & a strong head wind to compete with on her way home!

+ Shout-outs as well to Gang Green: a group of case managers, occupational therapists, recreation therapists and a team lead at Richmond Mental Health Team, VCH. As well, RCH Rehab Scrambled Leggs: a rehabilitation team consisting of physiotherapists and occupational therapists from Royal Columbian Hospital, FH.

GreenCare Community

Interested to find out more? Visit the GreenCare Community site to read the stories of those participating in the Clean Commuter & Wellness Challenge. As well, there is lots of information on how you can clean & get active on your commute. We are offering bike maintenance workshops and bike repairs onsite, as well as information on car sharing, ride-share and transit. We hope we can support you in a cleaner / greener commute.