The move is just one of several green initiatives Vancity has made this year.

Earlier this year the credit union teamed with the David Suzuki Foundation, Ecotrust Canada, the Pembina Institute and The Natural Step to launch a Carbon Offset program to invest in Canadian solutions to climate change.

Carbon offsets are reduction credits from another organization's project that result in less carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The program will provide financial and coaching support to Canadian nonprofit and co-operative organizations doing breakthrough work in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Financial support will include grants to organizations totaling $100,000 per year. Vancity-approved project assessors with an expertise in carbon emissions will provide coaching and work with the organizations to quantify the carbon reductions achieved by the projects.

In addition to funding these projects and building expertise in the emerging field of carbon offsetting, the offsets provided by the projects supported through the program will be used by the credit union to meet its corporate target of being carbon neutral by 2010.

In July, the credit union launched the Vancity Bike Share, designed to get people thinking and talking about how they get around while promoting the personal and environmental benefits of cycling. Vancity released 45 new bikes onto the streets of Vancouver with the invitation for locals to take them, ride them and pass them along.

Ellen Pekeles, Vancity vice president of community leadership, says the program is a perfect fit for Vancity's focus on offering staff and communities ways to promote alternative transit and fight climate change.

"We realize that 45 bikes aren't going to change the world," said Pekeles. "But if it gets some people talking; if it gets people trying something that could benefit their health and the environment, then we all profit, don't we?"

The program is being managed through Change-Everything.ca, a popular social networking Web site hosted by Vancity and driven by the Vancouver online community. Participants are expected to use the funky, new bright red cruiser bikes for three weeks before passing them on through the site or to someone they know.

To minimize theft and resale, riders will get locks, and the bikes have been registered with the Vancouver Police Department's "Operation Provident". A helmet is provided and to promote bike safety, participants are encouraged to sign up for a free Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition's commuter cycling skills course.

Ultimately, the plan is for the bikes to be returned to Vancity then donated to Pedal Energy Development Alternatives, a local nonprofit that promotes pedal-powered technology. PEDAL will refurbish the bikes and donate them back to the community.

Vancity has a long history of promoting the benefits of alternative transit, including cycling. In addition, for the past decade, employees have overwhelmingly participated in the Commuter Challenge that encourages people to leave their cars at home and find environmentally friendly ways to get to the office.