Drive Less Walk More: It’s a choice!
More people today are enjoying green living and are beginning to realize that driving is actually something that can be considered a choice. As driving does remain one of the most popular methods for commuting, there are still many people across the world that are opting to try alternative means of transport so that they can conveniently get to and from work or even run errands with less of an ecological footprint. Choosing not to drive for a few days a week or to avoid driving for certain errands can actually present you with some big advantages. Here are some of the top improvements that you can see by opting out of driving:
Reducing your carbon footprint
Your car and the amount of gas that you burn can be considered one of the biggest pollutants in your life. If more people decided to opt for carpooling or even public transportation, we could see a lesser impact on our world from fossil fuels.
It can improve your psychological well-being
ditching your car for public transit or walking can actually help with your psychological well-being. Driving can also be the cause of stress, boredom, and social isolation. Choosing to take public transit or taking your bike can often be a great way you can improve your overall well-being.
You can improve your physical well-being
If you are regularly biking to work or walking to work, this can contribute to your daily exercise. With improvements to your physical well-being, you can often feel better psychologically and you can reduce your risk for a variety of diseases that are directly related to sitting and inactivity.
Opting out of driving is a choice and you can come with many advantages for yourself and for the environment! Experience the difference by slowly changing your habits.
Thank you for taking some time to read this article. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments in the section below.
Sources:
Adler, Ben. “What We Can Learn from Millennials Who Opt out of Driving.” Grist, Grist, 18 Mar. 2014, grist.org/cities/what-we-can-learn-from-the-millennials-who-are-opting-out-of-driving/
Perry, Susan. “Yes, Ditching the Car for Your Commute to Work Improves Well-Being.”MinnPost, www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2014/09/yes-ditching-car-your-commute-work-improves-well-being
2 Comments
Dave August 2, 2018 at 2:15 pm
For those who have that choice, it definitely is. But let’s be realistic not every community has the infrastructure to allow walking and bike riding. I have a bike and I would love to go to work with it but where I live it is very dangerous riding a bike. Countries like The Netherlands have included bike lanes in their infrastructure which facilitates and encourages the use of bikes rather than cars.
Walking can be encouraged if the walking space is included in the city’s infrastructure. Same as with bike riding, people will not consider it if it’s dangerous or impractical.
TGC-LTGW August 4, 2018 at 12:57 am
Interesting perspective Dave!
It all comes back to letting our government representatives know what we want and we can only do that by going to town halls and talk to politicians with the right mindset to fight along with us for what we want.