Comments on: Low carbon travel… http://www.nigelsecostore.com/blog/2007/07/03/low-carbon-travel/ love talking eco stuff ... Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:25:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 By: Claire http://www.nigelsecostore.com/blog/2007/07/03/low-carbon-travel/#comment-191 Claire Thu, 12 Jul 2007 17:27:47 +0000 http://www.nigelsecostore.com/blog/2007/07/03/low-carbon-travel/#comment-191 You listed a few agencies including Freewheelers which made me laugh. My husband Steve and I set up Freewheelers about 15 years ago straight out of college. We sold it on as a going concern as we had felt it was before its time and it was not able to make us a living. I'd used the Canadian version and thought it was a fab idea. Our experience then which may have changed over time although I imagine not hugely, was that it worked fantastically well if you could take out as many of the hassles and niggles as possible. Our most successful time was at Glastonbury festival. We ran stalls there and because the leaving point was the same for everyone it made it simple and we matched hundreds of people (I think we even hired coaches as we had so much interest). We also lauched it through student unions but it only worked successfully on the major routes - london to Manchester, Birmingham or Bristol and back. We had a few members who were incredibly committed and flexible (I remember their names to this day!) but they were certainly a minority. It needs major incentives as well as a huge critical mass for it to work well and the web offers that platform but it needs a lot of marketing and committment to reach that point. I love your site and blog by the way. We have 3 kids now so carsharing is not on our agenda except for very local stuff. Our solution to reducing our carbon footprint on car usage is to use biodisel. We are very successful running a VW polo and Sharan that run on biodisel made out of recycled chip fat. We use www.goldenfuels.co.uk, they are great. You listed a few agencies including Freewheelers which made me laugh. My husband Steve and I set up Freewheelers about 15 years ago straight out of college. We sold it on as a going concern as we had felt it was before its time and it was not able to make us a living. I’d used the Canadian version and thought it was a fab idea. Our experience then which may have changed over time although I imagine not hugely, was that it worked fantastically well if you could take out as many of the hassles and niggles as possible. Our most successful time was at Glastonbury festival. We ran stalls there and because the leaving point was the same for everyone it made it simple and we matched hundreds of people (I think we even hired coaches as we had so much interest). We also lauched it through student unions but it only worked successfully on the major routes - london to Manchester, Birmingham or Bristol and back. We had a few members who were incredibly committed and flexible (I remember their names to this day!) but they were certainly a minority.

It needs major incentives as well as a huge critical mass for it to work well and the web offers that platform but it needs a lot of marketing and committment to reach that point.

I love your site and blog by the way.

We have 3 kids now so carsharing is not on our agenda except for very local stuff. Our solution to reducing our carbon footprint on car usage is to use biodisel. We are very successful running a VW polo and Sharan that run on biodisel made out of recycled chip fat. We use www.goldenfuels.co.uk, they are great.

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