Making daily journeys that work for you, benefit your health, our environment, and save you some money
May is the perfect month to get involved with active travel, with campaigns like Bike Month offering a fun and practical way to get healthier and cut your personal emissions.
This month we are also highlighting the Transport and Connectivity chapter in our Climate Emergency Response Plan through our new Connect County Durham campaign. Over the coming weeks, we will be exploring different aspects of the theme, and how each one can impact our daily lives. First up we are talking about active travel.
What is active travel?
Active travel refers to any method of transportation that involves physical activity. It is essentially getting around in a way that makes your body move. This includes walking, cycling, or even to using mobility aids such as wheelchairs. This is an inclusive and affordable way to cover short or long daily journeys that involve very minimum, if any, carbon emissions and tend to cost nothing or very little.
Why is it important?
Active travel brings a wide range of benefits. Moving your body, whether that’s walking, running, cycling, or scooting, are all great ways to keep physically fit and healthy. Choosing these kinds of activities for shorter journeys more often can make a big difference in your overall wellbeing.
But it’s not just about physical health, being active can really help your mental health too. Spending time outdoors, breathing in fresh air, noticing the world around you, taking time to listening to music or the sounds of nature, or simply taking a moment to think, can all help reduce stress, boost your energy, and calm your mind.
Physical activity releases endorphins, your body’s natural “feel good” chemicals. These can help boost our mood, help you relax by lowering stress hormones like cortisol, reduce pain, and even improve your sleep and focus.
Alongside the health benefits, it also is healthy for our environment. Choosing an active type of transport, instead of taking the car or a bus, emits significantly less carbon emissions. For example, Dr Christian Brand, a researcher at the University of Oxford, estimated that if you choose to cycle as opposed to driving for just one trip a day it could reduce your personal annual emissions by 500kg.
But that’s not all, by reducing the need to travel by car, it also can reduce the number of cars on the road, in turn, reducing traffic. It’s also important to mention that active travel can work out better for your pocket as you don’t have to regularly pay for petrol, or parking, or bus fees. CycleScheme estimated that switching to a bike for your journey to work and you could save over £3,000 every year. See how much money does cycling save you for more information. So, if you can, choosing to cycle or walk to work instead of driving, can be less stressful, better for your health and wellbeing and our environment.
Sometimes, we understand though, that active travel can be challenging due to weather conditions, distances or other unforeseen circumstances. There are still plenty other transport options that benefit your wellbeing and are lower carbon emission options. We will be covering them in articles over the next few weeks so keep an eye out.
Meanwhile here’s some tips to help overcome (where possible) some of the challenges we can face with active travel:
Weather: Duller, wet, and colder days can make travel more difficult or not enjoyable. If you are feeling brave you could power through, wrap up warm, wear waterproofs and grab your umbrella. If this is not an option for you can always look at other opportunities for travelling sustainably daily, whether that’s using car sharing options or public transport. This is not always feasible as some extreme weather conditions don’t permit travel at all and it’s always good to keep an eye out on weather warnings.
Long distance: Traveling long distances is not an option for a lot of people, especially if you are not used to physical exercise. This can often put some people off, but you could consider combining a few different low-carbon transport options such as walking and catching a bus or a train for some of your journey. There also is the electric bike option, which while can be initially pricey, it can assist you by using electricity to help climb hills or rest during long distances.
Active travel is not perfect, and it may not be an option every day, but even choosing it some of the time can still make a difference. Think of it as part of a broader toolkit of sustainable transport options.
Get involved
It’s Bike Month
Every May, Love To Ride host Bike Month, a nationwide campaign that encourages people of all experience levels to cycle more often. This challenge is a great opportunity for everyone, from novice to expert, to try out active travel and enjoy the benefits of it.
You can sign up either as an individual, student or workplace. You will get access to tips tools, and chances to win some fantastic prizes, just by hopping on your bike.
Fun for Everyone
Active travel is a perfect opportunity to get everyone involved and exploring the outdoors in new ways. Take this as an opportunity to teach your young children how to ride a bike. Or plan outing with friends or family, such as bike trails, hikes, or just cycling to the beach, park or the beer garden.
Getting started with active travel does not have to be only journeying to and from work, it also can be a leisurely, fun exercise, or activity to pass your time and cut your emissions.
We would love to hear from you
Share your stories, experiences, and photos of nature, and send us a few lines on how you are helping protect our environment in County Durham. Whether it is something you do personally, a community project you may be involved in, a business change or action, or even a great photo of nature. We want to celebrate and share your efforts and views.
Send us your stories or photos (with a short explanation) by emailing climatecountydurham@durham.gov.uk or by filling in our Get in Touch form and help inspire others across our beautiful county to take action. And do not forget to sign up to our Climate Change and Carbon Reduction Pledge.
