If you live in a city, you’re close to everything you could need. Yet, it's likely you’re always hopping from place to place. From your home to the grocery store, parks, shops, and restaurants, it’s all within a short commute.
The way you get from place to place matters. Your choices impact your experience, the time it takes, and the state of the environment. Each time you choose a method of transportation, you have several options that all rank differently in terms of environmental damage. Are you pumping greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, or are you choosing to go emission-free? Here are five great ways to get around the city without producing greenhouse gas emissions.
Walk
Look down at the ground. Do you see those two things with toes on them? Those are your feet. The best way to create no emissions while getting around your city is to use them!
Walking is the only true method of transportation that creates zero emissions because there’s no additional equipment that has to be made and manufactured. Walking also offers a great way to explore your city, enjoy the fresh air, and perhaps discover places you would’ve otherwise passed. Plus, you get in some extra exercise, and walking can improve your mental health.
Bicycle
If you want to speed things up, take your bicycle and helmet and go for a ride. Like walking, biking gives you exercise and creates no additional greenhouse gasses. Powered simply by your muscles, you’re able to go substantially faster and farther than walking. Biking is a lot of fun, and cities have recently begun prioritizing bike lanes to make it safer and easier to get around on two wheels.
Scooter/Skate
Bikes aren’t the only wheels that can get you around. Perhaps you like the thrill and freedom of a skateboard, the sturdiness of a scooter, or the extra control from roller skates. The benefit of these over bicycles is the extra portability. Instead of locking up before you head indoors, you can bring them inside with you.
Public Transportation
Public transit is cheap, runs constantly, and doesn’t require you to own anything. Electric trains and buses are more common today than ever before and emit no additional greenhouse gases. Even if electric options are unavailable to you, since the trip is going whether you get on or not, you’re not producing any additional emissions.
Carpool
If none of the other options are available to you, try tagging along with someone already going your way. Your coworker who lives down the street or your friends can pick you up in their ride. If their car is electric, that’s great! If not, like public transportation, you still avoid creating additional emissions since they’re going whether you join them or not.
Transportation options that are better for the environment are often slower but offer extra benefits like exercise, lower cost, and making new discoveries. If you don’t own a bicycle or scooter, in many major cities, you can rent them by the minute and drop them off at stations throughout the city. Planning ahead can help you save emissions by coordinating with other people going to the same place as you.
