Ride to School Day
Hi greenthumbs! It’s scrapboy here!
The countdown is on to National Ride2School Day on Friday 19 March!
This is Australia’s biggest celebration of pedal power and is one of the best days on the school calendar. It’s a day full of fun and colour where kids, teachers and parents can discover the joy of riding and kick-start healthy habits for the future.
pedal power
Did you know that in the 1970s, 8 out of 10 kids rode or walked to school? And today there are only 2 out of 10 kids that ride or walk to school. That’s a big change!
Riding a bike is a healthy thing to do for our bodies. And it’s a healthy thing to do for our planet. Riding, walking, scooting or skating to school means there are fewer cars on the road, which means less pollution.
For every kilometre you ride or walk instead of driving, you save 243.8 grams of carbon dioxide pollution. But what does that actually mean? Well, when we put petrol into our car it changes into a gas called carbon dioxide. Yep, the liquid turns into a gas! The carbon dioxide gas comes out of the exhaust pipe at the back of the car and goes up into the air. And the problem with this is that carbon dioxide is one of the main greenhouse gases that is causing climate change.
So, the more we reduce using our cars, the more we are doing our bit to help the planet! Riding your bike is a top pollution solution! And it’s fun!
On National Ride2School Day last year, kids across Australia saved 27 tonnes of carbon dioxide by riding to school…that’s the equivalent of planting 187 trees. Why do we talk about trees? Because trees naturally absorb carbon dioxide. Incredible!
And that’s only one day of the year. Imagine if we did that every day.
Over a year, we could save 5,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is the equivalent of planting 37,800 trees!
Join in the fun
More than 350,000 kids across the nation will ride, walk, scoot and skate to school on Friday 19 March. Will you be one of them? Click on the button below to find out how to join in.
colour in
Here’s something to colour in.
World Bicycle Relief
As part of National Ride2School Day, you could try to help raise money for World Bicycle Relief. For every $195 raised, a Buffalo Bicycle is given to a student in need. You can find out more about Buffalo Bicycles on the World Bicycle Relief website.
You could have a gold coin donation on National Ride2School Day, or have a bake sale at your school, or a funky sock day! If this is something you’d like to do, talk to your grown-ups and teachers to see if they can help you organise a fundraiser at your school.
Bye greenthumbs! Have fun riding.
Love from scrapboy.
PS. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter below!
