You don’t always need a car to get you from place to place and one holiday challenges you to do just that.
World Carfree Day is an annual holiday on September 22 that asks people to give up using their cars for a day and try giving up driving a car forever. With climate changes becoming a growing concern, Carfree day has become more necessary than ever.
More than 60 percent of transportation emissions in the United States come from cars and light trucks. Every gallon of gas burned produces 24 pounds of carbon dioxide and other global-warming gases into the atmosphere. Almost five pounds of that come from the extraction of petroleum and the production and delivery of fuel. More than 19 pounds per gallon of heat-trapping emissions come right from a car’s tailpipe.
These gases have contributed with many man-made gases to climate changes on a global scale, as a recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, causing the melting of ice caps and increased large-scale weather phenomenon across the world as some of the side effects.
In honor of the holiday, here are some tips you can use instead of driving a car.
- Ride a bicycle. Bike riding is a healthy alternative to driving a car and produces zero emissions. If you’re close enough to use one as your mode of transportation, do so.
- Car pool. Sometimes you can’t avoid taking a car. So if you have to, car pool instead. This will cause few emissions to enter the air and save you money on gas/ car maintenance.
- Take public transportation. Public transportation is always running and producing emissions anyway. If it can take you to and from any of your destinations, why not take it?
- It requires no money, is healthy and produces zero emissions. If you are close enough, just go for a walk.
- Use telecommunications. Why take any transportation when you don’t even have to? Use telecommunications when possible to avoid producing emissions and stay in the comfort of your own home.
Emissions from cars are a growing problem with simple solutions. By participating in World Carfree Day, you can prevent emissions from entering the atmosphere and see how much you really need your car.
