Living "green" means more than buying a Prius or agitating for LEED certification

From the Independent, in "Money talks: How concern for the planet is changing the way we shop ":

Bikes vs 4x4s
In the capital a battle is being fought between gas-guzzling 4x4s and greener-than-green cycles, and it looks as though the bikes are winning. Between 2001 and 2006, trips by bike increased by 50 per cent to 450,000 per day. There has also been a 15 per cent increase in journeys on the National Cycle Network, to 232 million journeys. In the previous year the rise was 11 per cent. And at Christmas, Ikea gave all its 9,000 UK "co-workers" folding bikes. Meanwhile, sales of 4x4 vehicles are falling, and it's happening faster in London than in the rest of the UK, according to new figures. There were 3,172 4x4s sold between January and May, down from 3,402 in the same period last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. This amounts to a 7 per cent fall in sales in London, compared with a 5 per cent drop across the country. A Mintel report also shows that 32 per cent of people nationwide are trying to cut down using their cars.

Oyster cards vs tickets
For Londoners, the paperless ticket is here to stay. More than three-quarters of all Tube and bus journeys are made using Oyster cards and the number of single journeys now paid for by cash is extremely low. According to Friends of the Earth and Transport for London, around 100,000 fewer paper tickets have been sold every day since Oyster was introduced in May 2003. But while Oyster cards may spell the end for paper tickets in the capital, another casualty is the Underground ticket office. Forty of the most lightly used ticket offices at Tube stations will close.

Trains vs planes
A survey by the research company emedia recently found that 34 per cent of responders were willing to spend more to reduce the impact on the environment of travelling, while 76 per cent were more likely to take environmental issues into account when booking their next holidays than they were the previous year. Thirty per cent were using alternative modes of transport, such as trains and coaches. Visit Britain says that coach operators are reporting an increase in bookings for 2007 from within the UK and from visitors from outside Britain for short breaks and tours in the UK and Ireland as well as to mainland Europe. Aviation is the fastest growing source of carbon dioxide emissions. According to the Government's own figures, in 2004 the UK aviation industry emitted an estimated 9.8 million tons of carbon. They project that this is likely to rise to 16-21 million tons of carbon by 2030. Since the UK is aiming to reduce carbon emission by 60 per cent by 2050, something has got to give, and it does not look like it is going to be air travel.