Participate in World Car Free Day

Wednesday, September 22 is World Car Free Day. In our car-dependent world, we often don’t even think about hopping in our vehicles for everything. Therefore, we should plan ahead and think of strategies to avoid driving on this day in particular. Hopefully, it inspires us to do our part to reduce emissions and use our cars less often going forward.

If you’re a teacher, encourage your students to walk, carpool, or take the bus to school on this day. Incorporate it into your teaching by educating your students about emissions from vehicles or the health benefits of walking instead of driving. You could even make it a cultural lesson, pointing out how some cities, like Bogotá, Colombia, actually have designated days that commuters cannot use their cars within the city. This reduces traffic and air pollution.

If you work outside of the home, look into if you can get to work without a car. Is a bike an possibility? The Pace bus? The train? If you’re just running errands that day, try biking or walking to the store. Looking into these options may just show you how inaccessible some things are for people without cars, especially outside of a city setting.

Overall, better transportation design in the U.S. would make it easier for us all to participate in World Car Free Day, every day. But this may not be possible for everyone. Make an effort on September 22 to not use your car, and see how you can alter your habits going forward.