The Climate Change Collective is an initiative where the blogging community unites behind a common goal. This month, the conversation continues courtesy of Tim at Midlife on Earth. Tim proposes active travel as a solution to many of the issues plaguing our planet and our health.
Could active travel save the planet?
If you’re a regular reader, you know that I’m a big fan of walking as a recreational and fitness activity. But is active travel like walking and biking the solution to our world’s environmental crisis? And could it improve our health and the overall quality of our life?
Tim’s post features an interview with Dr. Audrey de Nazelle of Imperial College, London, who discusses her work researching and promoting active travel. Dr. de Nazelle proposes that in the future people will look at images of our car-congested cities and say, “What were they thinking?” It’s hard to imagine, but she compared it to us looking at pictures from the 70s and 80s showing people smoking in public places.
But we love our cars
What will it take to get us to overcome our obsession with cars and embrace active travel? Tim points out that the shift will require cultural change. More importantly, though, it will require governments to implement policy and infrastructure changes.
Over the last few years, the city I live in has invested in bike lanes and multi-use trails to try to get people out of their cars. I often hear complaints—from drivers—that the bike lanes don’t get much use, and they just lead to more traffic congestion by making it more difficult to get from place to place in our cars. I admire the city for their vision, but it clearly will be extremely difficult to disrupt our North American love of cars and driving. Despite the obvious benefits of active travel for the health of our planet and our people, it’s a tough sell.
There is hope, though. We can look to several European cities as success stories. Amsterdam and other cities in the Netherlands have had great success promoting cycling as the preferred means of transportation. Even a major city like Paris has reaped significant environmental benefits since putting policies in place to promote and increase cycling.
Start with baby steps
As with all major change, the key is to start small. I live in the suburbs and many of the places I travel to are not within walking distance. I don’t own a bike, mainly because too many drivers show no consideration for cyclists, and I fear for my safety. Even so, I do leave my car at home to walk to the store, to church, and to other places within walking distance.
I encourage you to check out Tim’s post, and the video of his interview with Dr. de Nazelle, and to consider ways you can adopt active travel into your life.
Walking, cycling, running, scooting, rollerblading, skateboarding…however you propel yourself to your destination – without the use of an engine – active travel is by far the simplest way to improve your own physical and mental wellbeing, as well as the environment.
Tim, Midlife on Earth
The benefits of active travel – Could it save you and the planet?
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About the Climate Change Collective
The Climate Change Collective started after I left a comment on a blog post by Jamie Ad Stories. Jamie and I wanted to find a way to keep the climate change message top of mind for everyone, so I put out a tweet to see what kind of interest there would be in a climate-change-related blogging collaboration. The Climate Change Collective was born!
The members of the collective take turns writing a monthly blog post sharing their unique perspective about climate change. After the post is published, the rest of the group keeps the conversation going by sharing a link to the post on their blogs along with their thoughts and ideas.
If you’re a like-minded blogger and would like to join our collective, please get in touch. More voices joining the conversation means more attention to the problems plaguing our planet!
More Climate Change Collective posts
The Climate Change Collective series has been going strong for over two years. See Two years of the Climate Change Collective series for a recap of the posts we published in the first two years.
Recent posts in the series
- Is Climate Change Overlooked in Schools? – Jamie Ad Stories
- Highlighting Useful Ways to be Sustainable This Winter – Transatlantic Notes
Thanks to Tim for being part of our Climate Change Collective and for spreading the word on how active travel can improve our health and the health of our planet.
What has the area where you live done to promote active travel? Tell me your thoughts below.
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I really appreciated your article about active travel. It was very informative and persuasive. You made a strong case for how active travel can benefit not only the environment, but also our health and well-being. You also gave some practical tips and examples on how to incorporate active travel into our daily lives, such as walking, cycling, or taking public transport. You made it seem achievable and enjoyable. You have inspired me to rethink my travel habits and to try some of the suggestions you offered.
Hi Supraja! I’m so glad you took some inspiration from my post. I appreciate you reading and taking time to comment.
The phrase “active travel” is new to me. It does seem to be the case that many human beings have a hard time changing our ways. I have a friend who recently, bless her, sold her car (due to her growing older and the car — a hybrid — becoming too expensive to maintain/insure/garage). She does not like the new bike lanes which have been built in her neighborhood because they have added another layer of complexity (and potentially damaging) surprise to her experience as a car driver… and as a pedestrian, too! I will also, sadly, acknowledge that I experience at least as many close calls (inspiring much adrenaline to be released in my bloodstream) from interactions with other bicycle — or e-cycle — riders as I do from car drivers. Fellow bicyclists pass me by going extremely fast with no bell/verbal warning of their presence… and many also tend to race through intersections (which I know is unsettling/aggravating/dangerous for car drivers AND for pedestrians). For many reasons, I tend to ride my bike more like a tortoise than a hare… and encourage you to take a baby step and maybe borrow a friend’s bike to see what riding in a bike lane feels like! One of my favorite times to ride is often (paradoxically) during rush hour, when cars are stopped or moving very slowly due to traffic jams, and I can gently cruise right pass them (although I do have to breathe the fumes from the folks who are not yet driving an electric car).
You make a good point, Will. When I used to drive into the office every day, I often observed that the bicycles were moving faster than me. I agree there are cyclists who could use a good lesson in how to be courteous to other vehicles, including cyclists.
Of course the theory makes sense, but getting people to do it-especially in Texas where everyone loves his truck-I can’t see it happen. And sorry, but I’m sick of the government telling us what to do as it is!
I’d rather embrace the idea of towns made up of golf cart lanes where everything you need is easily accessible by carts, bikes, or walking.
I agree that we’ll never get people out of their pickup trucks but can’t deny that active travel is a healthier alternative than breathing traffic fumes and sitting in traffic. Maybe the next generation will embrace it more.
The conversations that happen when new bike lanes are put in is always eye opening. Recently there was a lot of back and forth about bike lanes in Vancouver’s beloved Stanley Park and they were put in, voted out, then back in again, I think. It feels like getting people active and out of cars shouldn’t be such a struggle. Hopefully changes like these will become easier soon.
Anything like transit, bike lanes, that are seen as “anti-car” seems to meet with protests from people who think that everyone thinks like they do. I do think people in B.C. live more active lifestyles than we do in the East. My daughter will be able to give me the inside scoop when she moves out there. LOL