News

Robins commuter wins award for avoiding pollution

  • Published
  • By Wayne Crenshaw
  • 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
A Team Robins member is the first Georgia resident outside the Atlanta metro area to be named a Clean Air Commuter Champion by the state's Clean Air Campaign.

Larry Harrell vanpools from his home in Abbeville, a 110-mile round trip, and logs his miles saved on The Clean Air Campaign's website.

Harrell, a painter in the 402nd Electronics Maintenance Group, earned the award for not producing more than 25,000 pounds of pollution, said Kenyon Thweatt of The Clean Air Campaign.

The estimate is not based on the distance Harrell has traveled, but on the number of trips he's saved, Thweatt said. The idea is to give equal credit to a commuter who chooses to live close to work and is also not producing pollution.

The mileage savings is figured according to the average commuter distance of 20 miles. The pollution savings is based on the Environmental Protection Agency's estimate that one gallon of gas emits 19.4 pounds of carbon.

"The efforts of Larry and his co-workers have had a significant impact and should be recognized," Thweatt said. "We look forward to seeing more Middle Georgia commuters acknowledged in the near future."

The Clean Air Campaign allows those who carpool or vanpool to log the miles they save and earn $25 dollar gift cards through regular drawings.

Harrell is the first to admit many people at Robins, including some of those who ride in his van, have done better at not producing pollution because they have been sharing rides longer. He is being recognized, however, because he logs his miles on the Clean Air Campaign website, www.logyourcommute.org.

Harrell said he logs his miles, in part because of the chance to win prizes. But, it's also because he can see exactly how much money he is saving, he said.

In the three years he has been logging his commute, The Clean Air Campaign estimates he has saved $32,708 in fuel and maintenance costs.

It also calculates he has driven 65,417 fewer miles and did not produce 40 tons of pollution. Harrell said he enjoys vanpooling, particularly the return leg from Robins to Abbeville.
 
"I get to sleep an hour going home," he said.