Creative Commutes: How We Get Around
People love to complain about their morning commute.
With good reason — spending the first moments of your day stuck in traffic is a drag. Beside the fact that the carbon footprint isn’t great for a sustainable future, it’s been said that a lengthy commute may negatively impact your well-being. But what can you do? Here at Burton, we find creative ways to get around.
For example, we carpool, walk, bike, skateboard, and run. Our offices are situated right next to Lake Champlain, so we could even paddle to work if we wanted to. (Challenge accepted.) In our parking lot, there are electric car hookups and prime parking spots designated for carpoolers. Some of our officemates live way off the grid, but there’s always a fleet of loaner bikes that can be borrowed during the day for coffee or lunch breaks. The lakefront bike path is steps away from our front door and makes it easy to get around.
The highlight of our week is the Friday morning bike pool. Every summer, EPIC — our environmental grassroots group at Burton — organizes a morning bike ride to work. The plan is always to meet somewhere in town for coffee, then roll to the office as a crew. Starting the day pedaling together is a great way to get to know each other. Plus, it gives us a chance to officially decide which coffee shop is our favorite. When we arrive at work, we've got the Bike Barn right outside the office to store our wheels in.
We switched things up for our most recent bike pool. Instead of going to a coffee shop, we met up at our favorite tree house in Oakledge Park, a few blocks from the office, and set up our own breakfast spread. EPIC supplied the beans and bagels, and everyone who joined brought a mug along for the ride. Sure, we woke up a bit earlier than usual, but we got to spend that time acclimating with lake views, fresh brews, and good company.
In the end, we learned creative commutes are the best kind, and nothing makes breakfast taste better than an early morning workout. ∆
