The Green Parent
Raising kids with conscience
18 Jun 2012
Green Transport week
Looking for an excuse to get the family out of the car and into the saddle? Well, look no further! Get involved with this year’s Green Transport Week and you’ll find yourself fitter and more aware at the end of it. And perhaps it will help all the family to reconsider jumping in the car to make that quick journey to the shops? Travelling green is as much about the journey as the destination and going somewhere on your bikes or on foot gives the whole family a chance to engage with the world around them.
You can stop to have a chat with a neighbour or friend, to gaze at a butterfly, or simply to enjoy the scenery. Plus everyone gets a chance to reconnect through conversation and shared experience.
This year is the 20th anniversary of the Environmental Transport Association’s Green Transport Week from 16-24th June. It was set up to raise awareness of the impact travel has on the environment, to make people stop and think about the way they travel on every journey, and to send a message to the government that the people of Britain care about green transportation issues.
This special week is a time to send a message to the government to let them know that we care about the environment and want them to do more to promote green transport issues. The ETA also recommend you keep a travel diary, making a note of where you go and how you get there, so you can begin to whittle down your reliance on the car. Check out bikeweek.org.uk for events happening near you, or to register your own.
If you are wondering whether or not to get involved, consider this:
• Car use is at an all time high in Britain, and as the roads get busier, really green transport – by foot and bike – gets more and more difficult.
• The car is being used for increasingly short journeys, as a proportion of all car journeys, 24% are less than 2 miles and 58% are less than 5 miles.
• As a proportion of distance travelled, the car accounts for 81% of our journeys, walking for only 3% and cycling for a measly 0.5%.
24 June – Bike Train to Nature Festival, Brighton
Brighton’s bike train is truly a sight to behold with happy cyclists reclaiming the streets. Join in this fun mass ride from central Brighton to the Nature Festival (formerly Springwatch) at Stanmer Park on the outskirts of Brighton.
24 June – Food glorious food bike ride, London
Join Islington Cyclist’s Action Group for an easy-paced ride visiting a wide variety of food growing spaces around Islington and ending at the Islington Farmers Market for lunch.
24 June – Pedal to the Podium cycle hunt, North Somerset
Get on your saddle and Pedal to the Podium! This exciting cycle hunt runs between Winscombe Rugby Club and Yatton Station and the theme ties in with two of this year’s biggest events, the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The family cycle ride includes Olympic and Paralympic related clues with a score sheet to mark your answers. Get in the spirit with a small flag, a customised t-shirt or a painted face!
24 June – Family ride and picnic , Middlesbrough
Come along for a trip around the River Rees, and watch the bungee jumping for the Transporter Bridge to celebrate the Centenary of the iconic Middlesbrough landmark! There will be a chance to stop for a free picnic at the delightful Teessaurus Park – complete with dinosaur sculptures. This is an easy ride aimed at families with young children.
Melissa Corkhill is the editor of The Green Parent magazine, mother of two and author of the book Green Parenting
The Green Parent is the UK's leading green lifestyle and natural parenting magazine. A truly inspiring read, TGP is like nothing else on the newsstand, with insightful intelligent journalism covering topics from babywearing and attachment parenting to home-education and alternative medicine. Each issue features regular columns on Organic Gardening, Seasonal Food and Drink, Green Travel, Ethical Fashion and lots more.
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