HOW-TO: KEEP ACTIVE

Keep or take up walking and cycling to work and advocate for your government and local businesses to provide more sustainable and safer public transport options

1. Swap short drives for walks or bike rides (or learn to rollerblade, skateboard, or scooter if you want a cooler way to get around)

2. Give your productivity and personal wellness a boost by walking or cycling instead of taking short personal car rides

3. Engage with green space and support urban conservation projects in your community by using public nature spaces for moving around, like using bike paths

4. Pre-check and choose routes for walkability, give yourself extra time and get exercise, increase your health and wellness, and reduce your transport impact

5. Start a group of people commuting to work at the same time to make a walking or bike bus if safety is of concern  

6. Support local government initiatives to introduce better urban design, walkable cities, and mass public transport systems

WHY IS KEEPING ACTIVE SO IMPORTANT?

Using your body to get around is great for a variety of reasons; it’s cheap, clean, and good for your health, and its implementation often increases road safety. By just cycling to work, you reduce your chance of cancer by 45% and cardiovascular disease by 46%. In many places around the world, walking and cycling are the norm, but more can be done to enhance infrastructure. Introducing sidewalks in a city can reduce serious traffic injuries by 25%. Personal car transportation contributes huge impacts to air pollution and to your carbon footprint, so whenever you can, swap your car rides to human-powered transport options to help reduce these stats and to encourage a shift in the way we design cities and move around them.

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HOW-TO: SHARE YOUR RIDE

Continue or opt for public and shared transport instead of driving, and advocate for more options

1. Join bike, scooter, or car share services if your city has them

2. Use public transport and give extra time to yourself (read a book, enjoy music, meet someone new)

3. Join rideshare apps or start collaborative commuting with your neighbors or friends

4. If available, consider inter-city or inter-country rail services over short distance flights

5. When using on demand taxi services, opt for the green option (if available) and the ride share option

WHY IS SHARING YOUR RIDE SO IMPORTANT?

It’s true, sharing is caring! Not only does sharing rides reduce emissions, but it also saves money. The World Health Organization estimates that 3.7 million people die each year as a result of outdoor air pollution. The transport sector currently contributes 23 percent of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (World Health Organization, 2015). A way to reduce such emissions is by sharing transport. Rather than taking your car, by taking public transport like trains and buses, you not only lower your carbon footprint but also invest in the these services to keep them functioning.

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HOW-TO: GO CLEANER

Swap to options like electric vehicles, cleaner fuels, and fewer kilometers to reduce your transport footprint

1. Explore all the options available to you for getting around, and find which ones have the least impact

2. Adjust your routes so that you are going the least distance

3. Swap short distance drives for alternative modes of transport

4. Look for and ask about flexible working options to reduce your commute, such as working from home, video conferencing, or later start times

5. See if there are leasing services where you can give an electric car or bike a try

6. Swap your fossil fuel car to an electric one

7. Use cleaner fuel when you can

8. Support government or business initiatives that provide alternative fuel and cleaner transport options for your community

WHY IS GOING CLEANER SO IMPORTANT?

We all have to get places, and the impact we each have on climate change and air pollution is directly attributed to our transport choices. You can opt to drive less, share your ride, and swap to electric. Added benefits of reducing your car dependence is cost and time savings, along with better air quality, lower noise, and less congestion issues. Globally we are seeing a rise in electric vehicle use and charging stations, so now is a great time to find ways of swapping to electric. Try a car out through a leasing or car share service to see how easy electric can be.

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