Of course we're principled enough to curb our car and jump on the getDowntown Commuter Challenge bandwagon—or bus, as the case is.

Of course we're deeply interested in commuting so greenly that we lower our carbon footprint by telecommuting, biking, walking, and ridesharing. Sure, we want to use go!passes for free bus rides and Zipcars for the cheap weekday rate of $8 an hour for 180 miles and free gas.

And of *course* we want to save the planet, decongest downtown, and decrease pollution.

We also want to have fun. That's what you get in spades when you take the Commuter Challenge in May. It offers so many easy ways to green up your commute, which are fun and different all by themselves. But it's a party when you add the many bribes and prizes and discounts just for trying a new way to commute.

The easiest gets you ice cream! Log just one alternate commute, and you get a ticket for free ice cream at Washtenaw Dairy.

Signing up is easy. Create an account, then log in to chart the miles you've walked, bused, biked or saved, and watch it calculate how much CO2 you've avoided.

Better yet, get your whole workplace to sign up and join the hundreds of Ann Arbor workers competing—and cooperating—in this venture. Check the leaderboard. Maybe yours is already there.

If you'd really like to goose your bosses, convince them to buy go!passes for all full-time employees. Then they're just $5 apiece—for part-timers, too—and come with their own long list of discounts.

Nothing like an almost freebie to get us on the bus...Gus.

Linda Lombardini lives happily close to her workplace, but keeps looking for ways to green herself up while the grass and leaves are greening up, too. You can contact her at Linda@TrilliumRealtors.com.