There’s plenty of ways we can get around, but not all of them are as harmless as they might seem. The damage we can to do the environment, especially in high-traffic areas, means that there are always new alternatives being produced that can still be effective whilst heavily cutting down on emissions and fuel consumption. Which is why we have teamed up with Go Green Leasing to round up a guide to green travel.
Walking
It seems obvious, but a lot of people forget that walking is an option when they need to travel short distances – whilst the extra speed and carrying capacity of a car is always useful, you’ll sometimes be able to make the same trip with little more than some shortcuts and a backpack. With no emissions and complete control over where you go, as well as no need to park or secure any vehicle, travelling on foot can alleviate many of the problems drivers and cyclists may face.
You don’t even have to walk the whole way – if you complete half a journey and realize you’re too tired to head back home, you could call somebody to pick you up or hop on public transport – both are still more efficient than driving a normal car the whole way, there and back.
Even if it’s not the primary way you get around, incorporating a short walk into a trip can do wonders for your physical health, and can give you a chance to use shortcuts that a regular vehicle can’t access, potentially cutting down your travel time by a significant amount.
Cycling
Although it’s nowhere near as fast as a car, using a bike to get around can be a really relaxing experience, and there are enough types of bicycle available to tackle most terrain, even hills or rough terrain. You could even attach a bike trailer pram if you’re taking children with you, or baskets to help carry extra supplies – as long as you’ve got the right bike for the job, it can be an excellent alternative to walking or driving.
Some larger cities even rely on bikes more than cars, since they can dart through traffic and smaller alleyways with ease. If there’s not much support for bikes, and you’ll need to stick to roads most of the time, they may not be such a great choice – since you could end up holding up traffic – but otherwise they’re a reliable, consistent choice that can be easily hired in almost any town or city.
Low-emission and hybrid cars
Cars with low emissions come in many forms, from regular vehicles to hybrid cars or even a pure electric vehicle. If you’re used to driving and know somewhere you can find cheap car lease deals or borrow a vehicle from a friend, then they can be a very solid choice for both single long-distance drives and repeated short-distance trips.
The car’s efficiency and emissions will differ between models and types, of course. For example, a regular car with low emissions will be more or less a standard car, whereas a hybrid may be slightly better or worse depending on the engines used. Electric cars are often the weakest of the three but are, generally, also the least-polluting form of car on the market.
Many cities, and quite a few towns or villages, have showrooms that allow electric vehicles to be leased or rented for short amounts of time, with many of them being extremely cheap. This means that you could hire one for part of a journey, since it may not be feasible to take a hired electric car for your whole trip. Regardless, they’re an excellent choice for a quick, accessible and emissions-free way to travel in a smaller area, especially if they’re taken as lease cars.
Electric mopeds
They’re usually seen as a vehicle for old people, but a proper electrical moped can be an excellent choice in urban areas if one’s available. Some are slow, but they can be an excellent way to travel a local area whilst also resting your legs, making them ideal for people who’ve just come back from a hike or haven’t had a chance to rest all day.
That being said, they have their uses, with the most obvious being as a vehicle for people who otherwise struggle to keep up with people on foot. Given that they’re allowed in most places, including many shops, a moped can be handy for older people who can’t carry everything they need by themselves. In addition, their classification as a bicycle in many countries means that they’re fairly easy to acquire, even as a rental or hired vehicle.