Saint Mark Presbyterian Church in North Bethesda, MD is an Earth Care Congregation. Among the many wonderful things they do to care for God’s creation, one of their successful activities is an Alternate Transportation Sunday. This special focus began in May 2011 and has continued ever since (and they have even developed tips for replicating the effort).
The Earth Care team explains that the Alternate Transportation Sunday was a big success:
“Saint Markers embraced the idea of energy saving transportation in a big way. The children and youth were particularly enthused. People walked, rode bikes, shared rides and some even took public transportation. There were stickers to celebrate each kind of travel. Using the stickers to approximate participation, we had: 19 people on bikes (or children in attached seats); 12 walkers; 26+ shared a ride (ran out of these stickers); and 2 came on the bus. We had snacks and drinks for the early arrivers. The total attendance was 134. That means about 45% of the congregation participated. Battokok Bityeki said, “That was so successful. There is no one in the parking lot.” Just the kind of result we were looking for.”
Bikes parked at the new bike racks at Saint Mark. Photo provided by Green Team.