A world without pollution is a healthy Planet. And among all we are making it increasingly difficult to live in it. In order to bet on sustainability, the world car-free day 2021 was established . Why this day and what is it after?
This day was born all over the world and coincides with the European car-free week that arises as an initiative to reduce the use of the car, seeing that its use on a large scale is causing damage to the environment. It began to be adopted around the 1990s in certain cities, in an incipient way and is increasingly relevant.
This also comes from the fact that the World Health Organization warns that 92% of the world’s population is exposed to harmful levels of air pollution.
Why this day
A movement appeared in which the various polluting gases emitted by cars were seen as a problem because they were increasingly abundant in cities.
But it was not until October 1994 when different car-free days are organized in some cities, such as Reykjavik (Iceland), La Rochelle (France) and Bath (from the United Kingdom) that they took the initiative to establish this day.
The first country to apply it at the national level was Great Britain in 1997. And it was already in 2000 when it was formed as a European initiative by the European Commission. This led to the week of mobility in Europe.
How is this day celebrated in Spain?
In Madrid, various environmental associations promoted a “Car-free Plenary Session” at the gates of the City Council. At the beginning, the world car-free day 2021 had a great response and citizens left the car in large cities as a rejection of it, but over the years, although there is more awareness of it, on this day cars are also seen everywhere.
What to do this day and to make driving less polluting?
Try other alternative transports
We leave the car and try other alternative transport, such as the bicycle or electric scooters. In addition, there are more and more electric cars that do not pollute.
Stops the engine in stops of more than one minute
According to the Madrid City Council and if we go by car, it is convenient to banish such common practices in summer as waiting for a long time for someone with the engine running and the air conditioning on.
Â
