Celebrate Earth Day
on foot
It’s time to leave cars at home
By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
Thursday, Earth Day, is a day to
give the planet a break, and three local groups are promoting the day as
an opportunity to shackle automobiles to their driveways.
"Given that our mission is to
encourage the use of non, single-occupancy-vehicle modes and create an
efficient multi-modal transpiration system to reduce congestion, protect
air quality and improve quality of life, it makes sense to try to
somehow connect to Earth Day through the concept of a car-free day,"
said Beth Callister, executive director of Wood River Rideshare.
Steve Berks of Hailey gets into
a rhythm with a skating-type motion, which propels him forward on his
slalom trike. He travels between South Woodside and Ketchum on the
bike path. "As long as I don’t hit a headwind, I’ll make it in about 90
minutes," he said. Express photo by Willy Cook
Rideshare is partnering with
Citizens for Smart Growth and the Environmental Resource Center to try
to raise public awareness about sustainable transportation solutions.
According to Callister, car-free
days are meant to be a break in the daily pattern of driving. The aim is
not to take all cars off the streets as a long-term solution. The
purpose is to encourage people to think about the impact of their
transportation choices and how cleaner, more effective forms of
transportation can enhance quality of life.
Car-free events that are
effectively organized on a broad scale can help identify opportunities
for making both small and large changes in communities.
"We are starting very small, just
getting the idea out there," Callister said. "We don’t have the
resources right now to plan an extensive car-free day, but we do want to
continually put out ideas that might help to get people to think about
their daily habits and what affect their individual choices have on our
common resources."
Car-free days are not exactly a
cutting edge concept. A worldwide car-free day has been designated as
Sept. 22, and car-free days are held around the world in cities in
Austrailia, Austria, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Netherlands,
Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, England and Italy.
According to Callister, the
growing use of non-sustainable modes of transportation worldwide has led
to air pollution and congestion that have had negative effects on the
health and quality of life in communities.
Pollutants from car exhaust such
as nitrogen oxides, sulfates, ozone and acid aerosols contribute to
cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, asthma hospitalizations and
reduced lung function, while increasing congestion has led to increased
travel times, stress, noise and loss of productive time.