Field Museum Launches Shared Bike Program for Employees

- Bikes for meetings, errands, exercise.

- Reduce pollution, save money.

CHICAGO, March 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Field Museum will add to its
already extensive "green" record by launching an innovative Shared Bike
Program on March 31, 2008 - just in time for spring.

The Museum is a trendsetter for employee bicycle use. It encourages employees
to bicycle to work by providing showers and bike parking, including a large,
secure, indoor bike-parking facility. As a result, more than 100 of the
Museum's approximately 575 full-time employees bike to work on a regular
basis.

Initially, the Museum's Shared Bike Program will make three bicycles available
March-November for employees to use during daylight hours. More bicycles will
be added depending on demand.

Employees may use the bikes for personal or work-related reason - to run an
errand, attend a meeting away from the museum, or just take a spin. The Museum
expects to save money with this program by reducing expenditures for taxis,
parking and messenger services.

"The Field Museum's Shared Bike Program is an ideal way to encourage more
people to get on bikes," said Rob Sadowsky, executive director of the
Chicagoland Bicycle Federation. "Companies that encourage their employees to
ride bikes end up saving money on health-insurance costs. Plus, they get
healthier, happier employees."

Other "green" initiatives at the Museum:

-- Take One Step, a program that encourages Museum visitors to purchase shares
of carbon credits to offset the greenhouse gases created by their trip to the
Museum;
-- Extensive solar panels on its roof;
-- A Renewable Energy Vehicle that runs on filtered waste vegetable oil and
travels to schools, street fairs, and other public events teaching people
about renewable energy;
-- Widespread use of energy-efficient fluorescent lighting;
-- Extensive recycling of paper; cardboard; printer cartridges; cell phones;
eye glasses; batteries; etc.;
-- A new heating system that makes ice at night when electricity rates are
lower and then uses the ice to cool the building during the day.
-- The Museum's "A Greener Field" committee promotes divers conservation
initiatives and offers a wide array of educational and informative programs
about conservation.

The City of Chicago is considering a citywide program that would make bicycles
available for use by the public at stations scattered around town. The program
is modeled on similar programs around the world, including one in Paris.

"Many employers encourage automobile driving by subsidizing parking;
reimbursing drivers for their mileage; or making cars available to employees,"
said Carter O'Brien, head of the Museum's A Greener Field committee. "It's
time for employers to consider doing more for bicycling."

-- Digital image available:

Field Museum employees on Shared Bikes
Robert Weiglein, Exhibitions Designer at The Field Museum, and Johanna
Thompson, Student Programs Administrator at The Field Museum, try out the
bicycles that are part of the Museum's new Shared Bike Program.

"Calorie for calorie, the average human body on a bike gets something like 250
more miles per gallon than a car," Thompson said. "When I think about it that
way, it makes me want to use a bike for as many trips as possible, especially
the short jaunts."

Weiglein initiated the Shared Bike Program: "One day last summer, I was in a
taxi rushing to an appointment in the North Loop when it occurred to me that I
would rather be on a bike. I also thought it would help the Museum be more
'green'."

Photos by Karen Bean

SOURCE Field Museum

Greg Borzo of the Field Museum, +1-312-665-7106, gborzo@fieldmuseum.org