Tasmanians got a rain-free day to Park it for the Planet but still had to rug up against a chilly winter wind on Wednesday 26 August.
Park it for the Planet encouraged people to think about their transport for the day and where they could to swap a car trip for walking, riding or catching public transport. It was run in support of the ABC series Fight for Planet A, which challenged a group of NSW households to cut their climate emissions.
Each kilometre we drive in an average sized car creates about 244 grams of carbon dioxide and transport makes up 19% of Tasmania’s emissions and close to half of that is from cars (not including land use emissions).
We asked people who were swapping a car trip to pledge the distance they travelled on foot or bike on our national carbon calculator. By the end of the day people around Australia who pledged had avoided more than 5 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
Our staff and volunteers got out and about in Hobart to promote the website pledges in the leadup to the day.
We set up stalls and chatted with passersby on the Hobart Rivulet path and in Elizabeth Mall in the city.
One of our volunteer rider leaders Greg took on the challenge of coming up with a ride that would help people gain the confidence to ride to work or the shops while also understanding the impact of their choice to ride.
He mapped the route along the Intercity Cycleway then ran rides from Austins Ferry into the city, with "kilogram stops" along the way. From Austins Ferry people save 4 kg of CO2 by riding, at Berriedale 3 kg, at Glenorchy 2 kg and at New Town 1 kg.
And on the Wednesday morning of Park it for the Planet we set up the blender bike at Mawsons Place in Hobart – the blender bike makes a great smoothie and is always popular with younger riders. And again chatted to passersby to tell them about the website pledge. If you saw our intrepid volunteers Peter and Daphne waving the Park it for the Planet signs on Davey Street, we hope you gave them a honk or wave.
That was also the day that ABC Hobart's Breakfast presenter Ryk Goddard parked it for the planet and rode into work - at 4.30 am! Ryk also ran a challenge on his show for a group of listeners who watched Fight for Planet A and talked about the changes they intended to make in their lives to reduce their climate change emissions.
We were also lucky to partner with Hobart Rotary Club, which heard about Park it for the Planet and offered a brand new bike as a prize for local pledgers.
Rotary bought a Jamis Renegade gravel bike and had it fitted out with mudguards, second set of brake levers, and pack rack with bag so the winner can use it to get to work and shops as well as go for a spin. We’ll be drawing the prize next week and will email the winner.
If you want to explore what you can do to cut your emissions you can download the One Small Step app.
Bicycle Network thanks ABC for their support of Park it for the Planet. You can catch up on all episodes of Fight for Planet A now on iView.
