I have a private house with a small garden. I love taking care of trees, such as magnolia, azalea, camellia, and yew trees. In every spring two big magnolia trees in my garden bring a fantastic scenery of full blossom with a few thousand flowers clinging all over the tree crown.

I teach at an university how to conserve our nature and forests. My university campus is located in Suwon 40 km south from Seoul. It has been my routine life to get up early in the morning and take a commuter bus to Suwon every day during the last 25 years. Actually I enjoy riding the bus very much.

As a matter of fact, most of my faculty members living in Seoul drive their cars to Suwon. They feel that driving their cars would be more convenient to them and would save valuable time during the early morning hours. It is fortunate that the university campus has plenty of lands to house all the cars driven by faculty members and recently by graduate students.

I agree with them on this issue of driving private cars for their own convenience, because time is a valuable asset for the professors. But I may not agree with them on the issue of driving cars every day. Most of us live in cities these days and we may still need cars for various reasons. But in big cities like Seoul and Tokyo, we would better to show wisdom to drive our cars only when driving is an only alternative.

I have driven a car during the last 30 years and fortunately have had no traffic accidents on my faults. I have paid automobile insurance for 30 years, but have received no single compensation from my insurance company. I have owned a small car, named Elantra made by a Korean motor company, which is now 10 years old but still runs in good condition at an excellent gas mileage. The odometer on the dashboard shows the total kilometers I have driven during the last 10 years. It is only 75,000 km. In most occasions my driving has been limited to long trips only. In town I use public transportation, such as buses and subway trains.

It is my pleasure to ride a commuter bus every day. Indeed I enjoy riding the bus. Of course there is a shortcoming in riding the bus. It takes about 30 minutes longer than driving my car to get to my office. Otherwise I am 100% satisfied with my commuter bus, because I am fond of talking with my faculty members on the bus. In addition to that, there are many benefits, at least seven of them as listed below, in using a commuter bus instead of driving my car.

First of all, riding a commuter bus definitely saves energy. Korea produces no single drop of oil in its territory, and Korea spent 31.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2002 on importing crude oil and natural gas from foreign countries.

Secondly, it enhances my health. I need to walk about ten minutes to take a city bus from my house to a bus station where a commuter bus is connected. On the way back home, I walk about 15 minutes again. In total I walk at least 25 minutes every day, which keeps me healthy and in good shape without a necessity of diet.
Thirdly, most important to me it gives me one and half hours of extra time on the bus. On my way to my office in the morning, I read books, write letters, preview my lecture notes or make plans for coming days. On the way back home in the evening, I read again or take a nap if I am tired.

Fourthly, It reduces bumper-to-bumper traffic jams on the road. There are about 3 million cars in Seoul now. Taking a bus or using public transportation which is now very well established in Seoul really helps easy the traffic conditions, and even benefits me by shortening my commuting time.

Fifthly, it reduces air pollution. All the cars spit out hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and soot to the air. We, as a citizen in a big city, need to cooperate each other in reducing the chances of driving our cars if possible.

Sixthly, a bus is safer than a private car in a traffic accident and it will save my life.
Finally, it saves my money. Driving a car every day for a distance of 40 km one way costs considerable amount of money for gasoline and highway tolls.

You would be surprised to learn that there are so many personal and as well as public benefits from not driving a car but from taking a bus or subway train. I think this is a very simple way of saving energy, keeping the air clean, and conserving the environment including our valuable trees and forests.

I suggest that you join me in my personal "silent movement on saving our environment". I don't like the loud speak by some environmentalists who are reluctant to come out front to practice in saving energy by themselves.