Magnus the Lucia bride from Commute Greener

Monday, 14 December 2009 14:40

On our way around Copenhagen, the Coolplanet team ran into Swedish Magnus Holmqvist dressed up as a Lucia bride. Magnus was out promoting Commute Greener by Volvo - a system that turns your mobile phone into a personal CO2 calculator, helping you to reduce personal and global CO2 footprints.

We asked him why he was out in freezing Copenhagen dressed up as a Lucia bride.

“I’m here to get individuals involved. By using Commute Greener you can set your target, see to that you reach it and then you can even share with your friends in a friendly competition.”

“It works sort of like a pedometer or a trip teller, so that you get a sense of what one kilo of CO2 is. I can easily reduce one kilo per day and save the work of one tree for a month. We want to make change happen in a fun and stimulating way.”

Magnus is responsible for Commute Greener! and part of the group of Volvo employees that came together to find out how to make commuting more exciting at the same time as reducing the environmental impact. The focus was on human habits and the necessity to change behaviour as well as having fun. The average result of the team’s trial gave reductions of 30% in about one month. It is simply about breaking your habit: taking the bicycle instead of a bus ride, or taking a bus ride instead of a large car, or car-sharing with colleagues.

For more information, go to www.CommuteGreener.com or follow Magnus on his blog