One of my favorite holidays on the planet is coming up soon — World Carfree Day.
The idea is pretty simple: for this one day, don’t use your car!
Of course, one goal of the holiday is to show people the benefits of other modes of transportation and show them that these are viable options that they could use more often throughout the year (not just on this one day).
As we’ve written previously here at The Fun Times Guide to Living Green, there are a lot of cool things about transit and bicycling, some of which are sort of hidden until you try these options out or think about things in a little more depth than normal.
While it’s not as eye-catching or flashy as the World Naked Bike Ride, World Carfree Day is a bit broader in that it includes more than biking and is not a turn off to those concerned about public nudity.
I highly recommend getting in on the fun on or about September 22 each year to enjoy World Carfree Day.
Why Getting Out of Your Car Is a Good Idea
I know that a lot of people love their cars, and the idea of other people trying to convince them to give those babies up or use them less can get on their nerves.
But just look at this info and see if it wouldn’t make sense to at least try the alternatives out for one day:
- Auto-oriented transportation systems and development cause us to be less healthy and result in a tremendous number of premature deaths every year (or even every day).
- Driving cars for common, everyday purposes is in many cases extremely inefficient and unnecessary, with the result being that individuals throw tens of thousands of dollars down the drain (or to relatively unfriendly and unstable foreign countries) every year.
- Transportation is one of the leading causes of global warming and is the largest net contributor to climate change. Cars cause even more global warming per mile than planes.
- Cars are also a major contributor to air and water pollution.
So, get out of your car and try out some green transport!
Recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert, I am the director and chief editor of Cleantechnica. I’m also the president of Important Media and the director & founder of EV Obsession and Solar Love.
