Wednesday, March 31st, 2004

By Martin Zeilig


POOJA Das wants her peers to go off ramp.

"We're trying to reduce the number of cars on the road, especially single-occupancy vehicles," says the Grade 12 student at Fort Richmond Collegiate, adding that each litre of gasoline produces 2.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide (a gas that contributes to global warming) that is released into the atmosphere.

On Feb. 20, Das and other members of the FRC Envirothon Club attended a workshop hosted by off ramp Manitoba, which is a high school program offered by Resource Conservation Manitoba. Off ramp is a student-led program "to increase the number of youth walking, cycling, taking transit, car-pooling and debunking the car culture," notes the off ramp website (www.resourceconservation.mb.ca/gci/offramp/ramp.html).

"We worked on some alternative transportation issues. We decided to hold an event between Fort Richmond Collegiate and Vincent Massey (Collegiate) since we were both present at the conference," says Das. Students will hold a bicycle rally between the two schools on June 4 to promote alternative transportation.

The off ramp Manitoba project began in partnership with the off ramp program of BEST (Better Environmentally Sound Transportation) in British Columbia. BEST began their pilot project in 1999, and it has seen tremendous success since then, says Serge LaRochelle, program co-ordinator for Resource Conservation Manitoba, a non-profit environmental organization.

"One of the goals of the off ramp program is to reduce the number of single occupancy vehicles that commute to and from Manitoba high schools," he adds. "We seek to achieve this goal by increasing awareness of climate change and transportation issues, and supporting high school student leaders in their attempts to foster awareness and participation at their schools and in their communities."

The local off ramp program got started last August after LaRochelle contacted schools that had participated in the 2003 Winnipeg Commuter Challenge. That event, part of a national sustainable transportation event to celebrate Environmental Week, will be held from May 31 to June 4 this year.

"It's a friendly five-day competition that encourages individuals in the workplace and schools to adopt alternative forms of transportation. We set up some meetings with different student groups at high schools around town," says LaRochelle, adding that, besides Fort Richmond and Vincent Massey, the other high schools represented were Sisler and Kelvin.

In February, a workshop was held with interested students from those schools, as well as with a teacher from Morris Collegiate in Morris, MB.

"We discussed what activities the schools could organize together to promote alternatives," says LaRochelle.

Workshop co-ordinator Coral Maloney finds it exciting to see students being so involved in this issue.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for students to meet other students and share ideas. It's empowering for them. They're really on the ball," says Maloney.

Apart from the Fort Richmond and Vincent Massey cycling rally, some other nifty ideas emerged from the workshop, including a car pooling program and an in-line skate rental swap, says Maloney.

"If high school students see the benefits of alternative means of transport, it will carry over after they graduate and move on in life," she says.

For more information on the off ramp program, contact LaRochelle at 925-3772.

www.resourceconservation.mb.ca/gci/offramp/ramp.html

For more on the bicycle rally, contact Das at Fort Richmond at 275-7520.



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