Phil Duffy
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Jun 22/01) - More than 700 people walked to and from work all week in a noble effort to reduce greenhouse emissions.
Don't Drive to Work Week, which started Monday and ends today, has been well received.
"We started out not knowing just what kind of city wide participation we could expect," said Jennifer Dallman, communications officer for the NWT Climate Change Centre.
"As of Monday we had over 25 businesses and offices who had signed up as a team. This works out to at least 700 people who participated in our campaign," she added.
The week kicked off Monday with participants gathering outside City Hall and walking to the Legislative Assembly's Great Hall for a short presentation and refreshments.
One of the organizations supporting this environmentally conscious effort is the Department of National Defense.
"We have had a good response and excellent participation," said Cpl. Robert Hick.
"We arranged shuttles to transport our people stationed in our Forward Operations Location (FOL), which is located out past the airport. All they have to do is walk to and from Headquarters."
"We've encouraged them to participate but haven't ordered them, so while they're not driving to work they're not exactly marching in formation either," added Hick.
Other businesses co-operating in this ozone friendly project include Overlander Sports, CJCD Mix 100, Kellet Communications, and Mark's Work Warehouse.
Besides seeing more people hoofing down city sidewalks, one might expect other changes.
"It hasn't affected our bookings one way or the other," said Dodie Luzny, Manager and Dispatcher of YK cabs.
And there should have been lots of empty parking spaces, too.
"There really hasn't been a noticeable change in the number of parking or traffic violations," said by-law officer Doug Gillard.
