Anyone who’s read PC Pro over the last few years will know that we’re interested in green issues – occasionally indulging in a spirited argument with our friends over at Custom PC who are doing lots of good work by supporting the Folding@home scheme… but at the expense of energy consumption – and one of the ways we do this is by sponsoring the Sustain IT awards.

It’s through this that I happen to know about an excellent site called walkit.com, which describes itself as an urban route planner. The key difference, as it ever-so-subtly hints with its name, is that all its routes are for people who want to walk rather than drive or take public transport.

Back in 2007 when we were all sitting in a room judging who should win the various awards, walkit.com only covered a couple of major cities, but it’s now expanded to include Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle & Gateshead, Norwich, Sheffield and Wigan Borough.

And if you live or work in any of those cities, I strongly recommend you take a look. Rather than jump in a cab or suffer the trauma that is public transport, walkit.com will offer you either direct or less busy routes to take you to your destination.

For instance, the picture above shows a suggested route from the PC Pro offices to a press conference I’m going to in a couple of weeks. I could travel by some convoluted route via tube or bus, but I’ll probably get there quicker if I walk – walkit.com estimates 38 minutes, but I reckon that by barging fellow pedestrians out of the way in my usual polite manner I can get that down to half an hour.

And, more importantly for my 36-year-old waistline, following the advice will help me burn a few calories while doing some exercise (handily, walkit.com estimates how many calories you’ll use). Yet another benefit is that a little less CO2 will be generated as a result; walkit.com again estimates how much.

Naturally, you can also print out the turn-by-turn directions, if your conscience will allow you to put up with the carbon footprint this entails.

I’d be interested to hear what other people think about this site. Have you even heard about it before? Would you ever use it? Have you used it? And if so, has it changed the way you travel around the city?