We need to be ‘greening our transport’ – and the Sidmouth Cycling Campaign has certainly been pushing for this:
Sidmouth Cycling Campaign | Facebook
And of late, on their social media, they have been highlighting the issues around doing that greening of our transport – including a challenge to the new government:
Government knew it wasn’t investing enough in cycling, according to new document | road.cc
They have also challenged local government proposals which will seemingly not help this greening:
Bicycle parking at Sidmouth Swimming Pool – Vision Group for Sidmouth
It just so happens that in Carbon Savvy’s latest newsletter, we get more on ‘greening our transport’:
Greening your transport
Jane Davidson was Welsh Government Education Minister, then Environment Minister, from 2000-2011. She proposed what is now the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, as described in her book #Futuregen, Lessons from a Small Country. We asked her about her passion for low-carbon transport.
Carbon Savvy: Did becoming Minister for the Environment for Wales change your lifestyle?
Jane Davidson: Yes absolutely. At the time I was very interested in sustainability, but we were not as a family doing much more than recycling. We decided we’d do “one big green thing” every year. I was determined to categorically reduce my impact and my family was keen to do their part. After all, why should I expect others to do what we were not prepared to do ourselves?
CS: How did transport fit into that?
JD: The first big change I made was cycling to work (except when I had to be driven to meetings in a ministerial car). This was possible because I could shower and change my clothes at work, and there was a dedicated cycle path. That supporting infrastructure was critical and made me realise how important it was in making my individual choice easy. I loved the 5-mile ride into Cardiff – great thinking time and I got fit too.
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CS: Any tips for making the shift to sustainable transport?
JD: The sustainable option becomes stronger when it has other positives, so look for more than one benefit when choosing sustainable transport.
- Walking and cycling help you keep fit as well as staying low carbon.
- Take others with you when you use your car. More lift sharing and less solo transport.
- For E.V.s, be sure that you have a green energy supplier, otherwise you’re still contributing to the fossil fuel economy.
- Look out for ways to reduce costs when travelling by train, e.g. senior railcards, family railcards, and interrail tickets.
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