Communicating the benefits

Carbon Emission Savings - Calculate your Ride2School benefits

Great reasons to walk

Prove your case to a sceptic - benefits of walking & riding

 

Carbon Emission Savings - Calculate your Ride2School benefits

Riding and walking to school makes a consistent and substantial contribution to the reduction of Greenhouse gas emissions. In one of the most evocative campaigns of recent years Sustainability Victoria put the image of the black balloon to emissions. Just as more and more of these balloons are produced through a myriad of actions, so can other actions, such as riding a bike instead of driving a car, save balloons.

Calculating the Active Travel Carbon Savings at your school

We've got the formula's you need to calculate the carbon emission savings of students at your school. Give students the formulas and information below for a great in-class activity.

Assumptions:
1) Car fuel consumption = 10.6l/ 100km
2) Balloon capacity = 50g CO2/ Balloon
3) 1 litre of petrol = 2.4 kg of CO2
4) Cancelled trips: Think about how many days of school you have missed last year and express this as a percentage of a total number of school days. If you do not know how much you have missed, use 10% as an estimate.
5) Shared trips: Think about how you would get to school if you did not walk or ride. Would your parents drop you off and would you be alone in the car? If you would either share with someone else or use public transport, then use the correction factor of 0.75. If your parents would drop you off every day if you did not ride or walk then keep the value as 1.

Formulas (plug in your numbers)

Black Balloons saved:
((YourWeekly KM * SharedTrips * CancelledTrips * SchoolWeeks) * 2.4g) * 1 Balloon
                                                      (10.6 * 0.05kg)

Saved greenhouse gas in tons:
((YourWeekly KM * SharedTrips * CancelledTrips * SchoolWeeks) * 2.4g) * 1 Balloon
                                                               10.6

Saved greenhouse gas expressed as volume:
YourSavedGreenhousegasInKG * 0.56m^3

 * The assumption and estimates reported here were adopted from the Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) Active Transport Quantification Tool.
 

2008 Emission Savings

In 2008, the Ride2School team calculated that 63,605 students of schools that were registered with the Ride2School program rode or walked to school, at least occasionally. Together, these students saved more than 16.5 million black balloons by just not travelling to and from school in a car, bus or train.

In terms of volume, the saving in CO2 (in gaseous form) is enough to approximately fill the Rod Laver Arena three times from bottom to roof. Expressed in weight, the reduction of CO2 emissions equalled 777.7 tons, more than the weight of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. These are very conservative estimates, since the calculations only assumed a minimal number of times and minimal number of kilometres that students walked or cycled.  

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Great Reasons to Walk

Walking is the most simple, inexpensive and accessible way to get around with many benefits for all of us.

• Walking refreshes the mind, reduces fatigue and increases energy.
• More than half the body's muscles are designed for walking. It is a natural movement that is virtually injury-free.
• Walking provides an enjoyable time for sharing and socializing with friends and family.
• Regular brisk walking can reduce elevated blood fats or blood pressure and improve digestion and elimination.
• Walking strengthens bones.
• Walking relieves stress and tension.
• Regular walking increases the number of calories you expend and helps you feel good about your body.
• Brisk walking is an aerobic activity. It trains your heart, lungs and muscles to work efficiently.

10 Great Reasons to Walk to School

1. It's economical
2. It's educational
3. It's a chance to teach and learn road safety skills
4. It reduces stress
5. It's friendly
6. It's non-polluting
7. It's healthy
8. It's fun
9. It's time you spend together
10. You get to know your neighbourhood

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Prove your case to a sceptic - benefits of walking & riding

Health and fitness

• Nothing better than fresh air and walking into school. Feel energized and alert, alleviate stress, anxiety and depression
• ‘two birds, one stone’. Contributes to the recommended 60 minutes of exercise per day, while getting to school
• One in four Australian kids is overweight, one in five is obese
• 65% will be overweight or obese by 2020
• About 80 per cent of obese adolescents will become obese adults
• Diabetes - now in the sub teen population – the list doesn’t end

One less car

• Reduce congestion around schools
• Every car counts, bike ride to shops/ mate’s place than relying on parents or public transport

Sustainability

• Walking and riding are forms of sustainable transport.
• Think about petrol.
• Unlike other means of transport, it lets out no harmful chemicals in the air. Reduce greenhouse gases – Ride2School schools saved 31 million black balloons in 2007 – equivalent of 13,200 average households

Saving $$$

• No petrol, no transport ticket = reducing personal and family costs
• Economically efficient activity, as it lowers transport costs through reduced fuel expenditure and individual contributions to congestion

Its Fun! 

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