With an estimated 1.6 million children in Canada (26 per cent of children) considered overweight or obese, it’s a wonder more parents don’t look at making healthy transportation options a part of their daily lives. Here’s a few ways to work health, cost and environmentally friendly options into your getting to school routine:
Start a ‘Walking School Bus’
If your children’s schools are close enough to walk to, leave the car in the garage. Walking is the greenest way to travel and does the least damage to the environment. Find ways to either walk with, or ensure your children join forces with other families who travel the same path to school. This arrangement can give you adult company to chat with, or you can split the task of walking with the children to school. If enough children in your area head in the same direction to school, consider setting up a walking bus in which the children all walk together with a parent at the front as the “driver” and another parent at the back for safety. I actually did this back in University as a newspaper article for journalism class. The parents I spoke to thought it was great - you got to know the people in your neighbourhood AND you got to take a few days off from walking the kids to school.
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| Image: www.kidshavefun.co.uk |
Like a bike, new scooter, or skateboard to make the trip to school fun and fit. It could also motivate children to not WANT to take the car.
Create a Carpool
Eco‐friendly carpools are best done with a consistent group of committed parents who organize a set number of pickups and drop offs. Ideally, the families work together to organize the largest number of children that can safely be transported in the smallest car. Carpools are easiest to manage if they involve just two or three families. Find out which days work best (or worst) for the carpool drivers, create a schedule that works for everyone and a system for notifying other members of the pool if someone isn’t riding on a particular day. For safety reasons, it’s essential that everyone involved in the carpool have full contact information for all the children’s parents, along with the children’s addresses, allergy notes, and any important health information.
Although Hannah can't walk yet (nor is she in school), she does get pushed in her stroller a lot of places. Chris takes the TTC to work. We do drive places in bad weather, but I try my best to walk before driving.
Do you green commute?
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© 2012 YYZ Bambina. All Rights Reserved.
I recycle everything! Enough to drive my husband nuts, lol
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I sold my car & joined a car co-op
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