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Happy Earth Day!
On April 22, 1970, an estimated 20 million Americans gathered for peaceful demonstrations on
environmental reform, known as the first Earth Day. Across the country, 'teach-ins',
festivals and large rallies protesting the deterioration of the environment helped elevate a
populist movement into the mainstream. This month - 39 years later - Earth Day events will be
held all over the world, reminding us that action is required if we are going to save the
planet for future generations.
As a supporter of City CarShare, you have taken action. You are contributing by living a lower carbon-producing lifestyle. You're proving that a small amount of behavioral change (like dumping that car) can improve the environment, lead to a healthier life and put some extra change in your pocket. As a City CarShare member who already walks, bikes, takes transit and uses a car only when necessary, you celebrate Earth Day 365 days a year. Collectively, as environmentally conscious City CarShare members, we will all drive over 35,000 fewer miles each day and we'll save over 35 million pounds of CO2 emissions this year. Because all cars in our fleet are at the highest level of fuel and emission efficiency for their class, you can feel confident that anytime you drive a City CarShare vehicle, you are part of the solution. In fact, when you reserve a hybrid car, or our new Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle, you are producing 25-90% less harmful pollutants and greenhouse gases than comparable gasoline cars. But there are many other ways we can also make a difference. Every year the average American generates about 40,000 pounds of CO2 from personal transportation, home energy use and the consumption of products & services1. Click here to calculate your personal impact and see how much CO2 you produce each year. In honor of Earth Day, we challenge you to find one more thing you can do to help lower your carbon imprint. For a list of some suggestions, visit the Earth Day Network and let us know what you decide to do. We'll be attending Earth Day events and environmental fairs all over the Bay Area this month. Come out and join us! San Francisco Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival - April 11th & 12th- 10 am - 6 pmIf you would like to share the word at any of these events, or any of our community events throughout the summer and fall, email volunteers@citycarshare.org. To learn more about how you and City CarShare are "Green", click here. 1 Union of Concerned Scientists http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/greentips/whats-your-carb.html (20 tons = 40,000 pounds)
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New Cars Springing Up!
Here are the latest arrivals in our network. You now have access to even more emission
efficient vehicles, such as Honda Civic hybrids and partial zero emissions vehicles
(PZEV) Subaru Outbacks.
New Pods
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A Reminder About Service Changes
Never let it be said that City CarShare isn't diligent about communicating changes. Beginning
in March, various changes to our fees and penalty policy were implemented. You're probably
bored by these constant reminders - but sometimes a little redundancy is a good thing.
Remember that our late fees discourage folks from inconveniencing other members. The fee is
$15 if you are 15 or fewer minutes late and $30 if you are over 15 minutes late and you call
us to let us know you're running late. It you don't let us know you're running late, these
fees are higher. And if there is not another member with a reservation waiting for your car,
you can always extend without any penalty fees. Please note you always pay for the time you
have the car, in 15-minute increments, and miles you travel. For more information on fees
and charges, click here.
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Local Business Support - Milanese CaffeLast year, when Arash called us to set up an account for his Co-op in Berkeley, we knew we were speaking to someone with a creative mind and a willingness to support our mission to decrease the over-reliance on cars. Today, thanks to that first conversation with Arash, we now have wonderful relationships with many of the Berkeley Co-ops. Not only are they members, but they also let us locate our cars on their property. Neighbors of these Co-ops get to share our cars along with the Co-op residents. This allows the Co-ops to extend their community-based philosophy beyond their front doors while giving CCS members access to cars from convenient locations around UC Berkeley. Recently, Arash opened The Milanese Caffe on Telegraph Ave in Berkeley. True to his imaginative and supportive spirit, Arash is extending a discount to all CCS members. Thanks Arash for the discount, and congratulations on your new cafe!
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Spring Cleaning Made Easy
Spring is here, and with that comes spring-cleaning. In the current economy, industries like
Goodwill need donated items now more than ever. Luckily our Goodwill Industries partnership
(Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and
Marin Counties & Goodwill Industries of the Greater East Bay)
makes it easier to get your new or gently used items - like clothing, appliances and
furniture - into the hands of someone who needs them. Plus you'll be doing your part to reduce
landfill by giving your old stuff a longer lifespan.
If you use a City CarShare vehicle to donate to Goodwill, we'll give you $10 in driving credits when you email or mail a copy of your dated receipt to City CarShare Marketing (or 1182 Market Street #300, San Francisco CA 94102). Each member can use this discount up to four times a year to donate. Find a donation site near you: 
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Perks for Connecting to Us!We enjoy Sharing the Love with our members. Occasionally we'll have exclusive contests and giveaways for our Facebook fans, LinkedIn group members and Twitter followers. These forums are a great way to swap stories about CCS and connect with other members. Share a picture from the last road trip you took using a CCS car, by adding it to our Facebook album. These social networking websites are also an easy way to share the word about City CarShare with your friends and colleagues:
March Winners! Danny (member since 2008) won two ODC/Dance tickets, for having an easy green tip that anyone can do: Eat less beef. "A kilogram of beef (2.2 pounds) is responsible for the equivalent of the amount of CO2 emitted by the average European car every 155 miles (250 kilometers), and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days."Kristin (member since 2007) won a free Extended Freedom Trip and a private Sebastiani wine tasting and tour, at the ODC/Dance City CarShare member raffle. Freebies for April! Looking for a way to let out your frustration on the bad economy? Become a CCS fan on Facebook, The first 5 members who write what they are doing to celebrate Earth Day on our wall will snag a free pair of tickets to the promotional screening of Fighting on April 21st at 7:30 PM at the Metreon. 
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How are we Green?As a local, mission-driven car share organization, we pride ourselves on being the most eco-friendly car share service in town. We believe it is very important to work with local vendors who also care about the environment and recognize their impact. Here is a glance at some of the ways we strive to make our day-to-day operations as green as possible.Green Detailing
Although our members are cautious drivers, sometimes accidents happen. For any major damage
or dents we have Giannini's Auto Body and San Mateo
Collision on speed dial to keep our cars in stellar condition.
Certified "Clean & Green" by the City of San Francisco, we're pleased that Giannini's can make our cars like new again with a minimal impact on the environment. By staying on top of new and innovative technologies, Giannini's Auto Body has been generating less hazardous waste than your typical body shop for over two years. For instance, they use a vacuum sander to collect dust during sanding operations, reducing exposure to toxic pollutants by 75%. To learn more about Giannin's "Clean & Green" techniques, click here. Both of our body shops exclusively use Waterborne paint, which air-dries and is water-based, so our paint touch-ups contain and emit fewer toxins into the atmosphere. Using Waterborne allows each shop to reduce the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by 300 pounds annually. That's the same as eliminating the emissions of more than 2,000 cars per year! Our Green Mark
Our signage is "green" way beyond its eye-catching color.
Landmark Signs, our sign vendor, has
been keen on finding the greenest methods for sign production. They use inksets that are
"eco-friendly" for their printing and dispose of ink according to EPA guidelines. They also
donate all leftover scrap substrates to
SCRAP, a nonprofit creative re-use
center that provides re-usable and recycled art supplies to art and community groups. For
deliveries, they use bikes for 90% of their travel and of course, use City CarShare when they
absolutely have to drive.
Our Bio-banners from Signworks are the most earth friendly around. They may look like typical banners, but when they are placed in an environment without air (such as a landfill) their biodegradable composition allows them to decay. The product disintegrates entirely into a sodium-based powder after being in a landfill three to five years. No toxins are released in the breakdown process as microbes ingest the material. 
At City CarShare we are also big fans of recycling. We recover old aluminum signs to give valuable resources a longer lifespan and to keep our costs low. Also, when our banners and signs are vandalized by taggers we clean off the graffiti instead of replacing and disposing of them. Clean & GreenHave you ever wondered how we keep our cars so squeaky clean? Our detail service, Every Detail, efficiently cleans our cars at the pods with the greenest methods around. They utilize biodegradable cleaning products from a local manufacturer and clean with washable towels to minimize their waste. For mobile cleaning, they use collection mats to trap water and recycle it for another cleaning. Also, their use of 100% reversed osmosis water to allow for a cleaner drainage if any run-off does occur. |
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Add Our Digits to Your PhoneWouldn't you say we are friends by now? That's how we feel. And friends keep friends' phone numbers in their phones, right? So go ahead and plug the following numbers into your phone so that you have them in case you need to reach us.Member Services: (415) 995-8588 (office hours M-F, 9 am - 5 pm) Make or Extend a Reservation: (877) 363-0710 Emergency Line: (415) 786-7468, used only to report the following issues:
Thanks for Sharing and Happy Earth Day! |
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THE FINE PRINT UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS NEWSLETTER If you are a former member, or have applied for City CarShare membership and wish to unsubscribe, go here: https://denali.citycarshare.org/signup/optout.action (this link only works for former members and applicants). Otherwise, you can unsubscribe by visiting http://www.citycarshare.net/cgi-bin/lists/email.php You will be sent a confirmation that you must reply to in order for the process to complete. |