The Smogbusters Way To School project is designed to encourage students and parents to consider the implications of motor vehicle travel, particularly to and from school.
The Smogbusters Program is based in the Conservation Councils across Australia, for more information contact: natsmog@envict.org.au.
Smogbusters aim to work with the community to improve urban air quality and help Australia meet its greenhouse gas objectives, by increasing community understanding of and willingness to adopt better practices with respect to public transport and motor vehicle use.
The Smogbusters Way To School Kit is designed to encourage students, parents, and the broader school community to consider the implications of motor vehicle travel, particularly while travelling to and from school.
Motor vehicles have offered us a
level of mobility we could not have imagined only a few decades ago, they have
revolutionised the movement of our goods and services but these benefits come
with a high price tag.
The rewards are being outweighed by the social, environmental and financial costs of car dependency.
70% of urban air
pollution is caused by the motor car. The motor car is not the best vehicle
for
every task and a variety of travel tasks require a variety of travel solutions.
Traffic congestion on our roads, and the associated air pollution that results from motor vehicle use, is becoming an increasing problem in all capital cities of the world.
Each individual must begin to take responsibility for their transport choices.
If you must drive:
• keep your car well maintained
• avoid driving in peak hour traffic
• remember speed kills good fuel consumption
• drive smoothly and select the correct gear if driving a manual car
Many parents consider it unsafe for children to walk or ride bicycles to school because there are so many cars on the roads at that time of day.
Parents then decide to drive their children to school thus increasing the number of cars on the road and making it even more unsafe for children to walk, ride or use public transport.
Congestion on the roads outside schools at peak times is increasing.
This, in turn, increases air pollution and reduces safety for our children.
Now is the time to take action and address air quality and transport issues with our younger generations. We cannot afford to become complacent about the environment, particularly air quality, as its’ decline is often related to health issues such as asthma and coronary heart disease and affects everyone who breathes.
The Smogbuster Way To School project aims to give teachers, children and parents an opportunity, and an incentive, to halt this spiralling problem. In the long term it will help to encourage a safer environment and to keep the air clean for all.
Support your child and help them to school the Smogbuster Way.
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