Fisheries and Oceans Canada, HGC among Shifting Gears winners
Green-Up contest encouraged alternative transportation methods
Friday, May 21, 2004 - Roderick Benns
In the end, Peterborough Green-Up says they were all winners just for participating. But the official winners of the Shifting Gears Peterborough Workplace Transportation Challenge have been determined. The month-long contest encouraged people to get themselves to work in alternative ways than one person in one car.

The four official winners are:
	Small Employer:Fisheries and Oceans Canada - 81 per cent participation
	Medium Employer: HGC Management — 41 per cent
	Large Employer: Robinson Place (Ministry of Natural Resources building) - 30 per cent
	And in the elite 'Masters Class' was the Green Communities Association with a 100 per cent participation rate.

For the month of April, local workplaces challenged each other to walk, cycle, carpool and bus to the workplace for their health, savings, fun and prizes.

Assessed for both number of participants and number of trips overall, almost 500 employees vied in four categories for the 'Most Travel-Wise Employer in Peterborough' award.

Though the above are the official winners, there were many, many workplaces that
won for enthusiasm and spirit, according to Jackie Donaldson, Green-Up's co-ordinator of the program.

TD Canada Trust - Peterborough Square, wishing to support its employees in healthy lifestyle activities, promoted walking as an active, easy and enjoyable way to commute, Jackie points out. In the end, more than 30 per cent of their employees walked to work, she says.

The Peterborough County-City Health Unit brought in experts to speak with employees about good walking habits and challenged each other with an internal contest at the same time. She notes The Lung Association (a close second to Fisheries and Oceans Canada) was thrilled to participate because the organization recognizes the importance of the challenge as a way to promote the reduction of vehicle emissions.

For every round-trip taken, participating employees were entered into a draw for
30 donated prizes from local retailers.

For many participants, the challenge provided the push needed to take on healthy lifestyle activities. Walking (whether full or part way) was a particularly common choice for getting to the workplace. Jackie notes walking, cycling, carpooling and bussing are important alternatives to single-occupancy vehicle
use. "Benefits include improved physical fitness, saving money, community engagement, cleaner air and.reducing excess greenhouse gases, the cause of global climate change," she says.

Jackie notes Green-Up spoke with many employees who said they had since purchased or hauled out their old bike with the specific intention of using it to commute, or continue to walk and carpool long after the contest had ended.

The Shifting Gears Challenge was co-ordinated by Green-Up and was supported by the Government of Canada's 'One Tonne challenge,' the City of Peterborough, the
Peterborough County-City Health Unit and Wild Rock Outfitters.

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