DoSomething.Org To Host Weekend Without Oil

DoSomething.org has partnered up with several companies to host a Weekend Without Oil on August 21-22. The goal is to have 116,000 people live an entire weekend without using oil.

The Weekend Without Oil aims to help people- especially teens- recognize the many ways that they consume oil on a daily basis. Furthermore, the weekend long event is providing participants with ideas on how to reduce their oil consumption.

Participants are asked to take a weekend long pledge and are given a list of actions they can take. Although the activities are personal, participants will be able to see how even the smallest actions help on a large scale.

Some of the actions on the list may be geared toward teenagers, however there are several things that all ages can do. Furthermore, although the list is made for that specific weekend, the hope is that people take on some of the listed actions as habits. Among many ideas provided by DoSomething.org there is, walking or riding a bike, enjoying the outdoors, and using reusable bags. Other actions which are targeted specifically for that weekend include not buying make-up, new DVDs or CDs, or new clothes. Consequently, the list itself is a great start for anyone who wants to start living green.

Each action, however small it may be, has a huge impact on reducing oil consumption. For instance, transportation alone accounts for 40% of oil consumption in the U.S, make-up is mostly oil based, and electronics need a lot of oil to be produced. Cutting back on these things would put a pretty big dent in daily oil consumption.

Taking the pledge is easy. All you have to do is visit the Weekend Without Oil page and fill out the form. By taking the pledge you can see how many gallons there already are of offset oil. Currently, there are a little over 7000 which equals about 6 gallons a person. That means about 1166 people have already pledged to live an entire weekend without oil.

Once you have taken the pledge DoSomething.org is asking that you spread the word via Twitter, Facebook, AOL Lifestream, and Digg. Additionally, since many of the activities on the list include friends and family, be sure to let them know what is going on.

Also, make sure to check out many of the companies that have partnered up with DoSomething.org to make the Weekend Without Oil a success. Some of these companies are include environmental blogs, Gulf Coast activists, and green fashion.

So if you are up to the challenge take the pledge and mark your calendars. Help DoSomething.org see how much Americans can reduce oil consumption in just a couple of days.

Sources:

DoSomething.org
Weekend Without Oil
TreeHugger.com