We live under siege by the very air we breathe. From the day we’re born, the cocktail of black carbon, ground-level ozone and methane we breathe slowly and inexorably wears on our immune system. We grow up constantly defending ourselves from this, and many
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| Image: The Roamning Playtpus - Unsplash. |
succumb: millions die each year of diseases caused by the pollution in the air. Furthermore, our earth’s flora and fauna are also losing this battle.
I don’t need to be a scientist or an expert to say any of this. I have grown up watching the world change around me, and learning about species upon species going extinct, the rise in illnesses such as asthma and conditions like allergies; I know more people with chronic respiratory illnesses than any other. We, and our world are under attack by the pollution brought on by very same mechanism that we rely on to provide us food, basics, creature comforts and everything else that we think we need in life.
This is why the Breathe Life challenge has been issued. Breathe Life is a joint effort by the World Health Organization, the UN Environment Program, and the Climate & Clean Air Coalition, who have issued a challenge to every person on the planet: they propose that we ditch our cars and walk, bicycle, or take public transportation for 26 miles (or 42 kilometers) during the month of May. It’s a reminder that there are other ways to get places every day, and they propose that we take up this marathon challenge of sorts (a marathon is 26 miles long), for clean air and for life.
What will you do?
The obvious things is to stop driving to work if you drive, although I understand that for some this might pose a challenge. It takes 3 minutes to google directions from your home to work and find out how long it would take you to go via public transportation. Why not leave
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| Image: Graeme Worsfold - Unsplash. |
the car at home and for one week, use public transportation even if it takes longer? Not having to drive does free up some of your mental time: why not take that time to read, listen to an audiobook, read the newspaper or simply look out the window? You learn a lot of things about your city just by watching it go by from a bus, tram, or train.
Swap your wheels out
If public transportation takes too long, have you considered bicycling? You can sue that same google directions search to see how long it would take you to bike to work. Even if you don’t own a bike, almost every city has a bike rental service nowadays. And if that won’t work, ask a friend or neighbor to borrow a bike. Who knows, you might get to enjoy it and end up getting a bike of your own!
Or go
I understand that walking is almost out of the question when it comes to getting to work for many people reading this. That doesn’t mean you can’t ditch the car and walk for other things. Here are some suggestions:
- Getting to your local convenience store to pick up something
- Getting takeout instead of delivery
- Look online for one of th following places to go walking after work or on your spare time: a café, a library, a museum. Hey, you’d be supporting your local economy, too!
- Walking any place that you need to go, when you know that it takes 20 minutes or less to walk that distance.
For a better air, and a healthier you
Ultimately, why not consider that you’re also doing your body a favor when you choose to
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| Image: Roxanne Desgagnes - Unsplash. |
bike or walk? We’re all too sedentary nowadays, and every doctor on earth recommends that we find a way to raise our heart rate for 30 minutes a day. Walking and biking, even walking to public transportation rather than just going and getting into the car will mean you’re more mobile, healthier.
If you must drive
If it’s a must for you to drive to work… have you considered not driving alone? Just about every city in the US and many, many worldwide have webpages for carpooling and ridesharing systems; if there isn’t one in your area, consider putting together a ride-swapping on your neighborhood’s Facebook page. It’s a great way to save on gas, sometimes on tolls, help the planet (for every person that drive in a car pool, there’s one less car being used or a fraction less transportation system burden), meet people and get to work in time -or even faster if you have the chance to use the HOV lanes now! -.
A global issue that requires local change
There is only one way to stop global pollution, and it starts with every one of us. Just think for a minute: is there anything in your life that you know you do that contributes to pollution, to environmental damage, and that you know you could change but never got around to doing it? If so, now’s the time to change that. If enough of us set out to change how we relate to the world, it will only be a matter of time before we can see positive changes all around. Like Richard Branson says, there is no Planet B; we need to step up and start cleaning after ourselves.
And if you want to do something more than just this month’s challenge, you might find some inspiration here.
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