September 22nd marks World Carfree day, an annual event held to celebrate urban living free from the noise, stress, and pollution of cars. Its aim is to draw attention to the benefits of alternative means of getting from A to B – walk, bike, or use public transit.
Do we have to daily demonstrate a dependence on four rubber tires and all that’s attached to them? If we do, we’ll continue to be slaves to the harmful effects of exhaust pollution, the stress of gridlock as cars greedily take up four times as much space as a bicycle, and we’ll suffer from the monetary costs of owning and operating a vehicle – an expense hugely disproportionate to that of using public or mass transportation, or to the free trip taken on our own two legs.
Established in 2000 by the World Carfree Network, the event has grown to include some 1000 cities in 40 different countries. Let us know if you participated by leaving in the garage a car you would normally have driven out of the driveway, or if you participate everyday by primarily being a pedestrian commuter.
