London - Millions of children driven to school each day by their parents are “killing the planet” with the pollution they generate, green campaigners claim.
Ferrying pupils to the school gates may be be reassuring for parents worried about safety but it “costs the Earth”, they say.
Sustainable transport charity Sustrans claims that every time a child is driven to school and back the car releases into the atmosphere the equivalent of 84 balloons of carbon dioxide – the greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.
They want parents to encourage their children to walk, cycle, use a scooter or take a bus instead. According to Sustrans, if a child is driven to school every day they generate 183 379 balloons of CO2 over the course of their education. Overall, school journeys by car are responsible for releasing more than 363 075 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year, claims Sustrans. Their report says: “Currently more than 1,760,000 children are driven to primary school across the UK – even though pupils live an average of 1.8 miles from their school, which takes just 20 minutes by bicycle or scooter.”
They released the report to coincide with the start of The Big Pedal, which runs for the next fortnight from today. It is an inter-school competition organised by Sustrans which encourages families not to use their car and this year is partnering with Climate Week. More than 1 520 schools will take part.
- Daily Mail