Here are some tips to make each day a success!
* Grab a bike, tie up your walking shoes, or even hop on a (non-motorized!) scooter and head to school Friday morning...leave the car at home (don't forget your helmet!).
* Watch for signs along Briar Ridge & other neighborhood streets to educate you on how you are helping yourself and the environment by using your own energy to make your way to school.
* If you do not live within walking distance, consider:
Parking at a friend’s house that’s in the neighborhood and walking together.
Parking at Rice Epicurean (2020 Fountain View at Inwood) and walking from there.
Parking within the Briargrove neighborhood. (Please make sure to respect the parking signs and homeowners' yards and driveways).
* Make sure you enter the school through the park on the Briar Ridge side of the school and pick up your sticker "FEET NOT FUEL"
Why you should participate (on this day and every day you can):
* Time well spent with your child–it is amazing what you can wind up talking about on the way to school. Elementary school does not last forever…it's priceless.
* Walking is good for you. It burns calories. It gets the body and mind moving for the day.
* You're out of the car/SUV so you meet and greet people you may only see a couple of times a year otherwise.
* Not only will you enjoy the walk with your offspring, did you know that:
* If the average American biked or walked to work or shopping once every two weeks instead of driving, we could prevent the pollution of close to one billion gallons of gasoline from entering the atmosphere every year.
* People in cars regularly suffer three times as much pollution as pedestrians because they are sitting in the path of the exhaust fumes from the car in front of them. Motor vehicle emissions represent 31% of total carbon dioxide, 81% of carbon monoxide, and 49% of nitrogen oxides released in the U.S.
* A short, four-mile round trip by walking keeps about 15 pounds of pollutants out of the air we breathe.
* Air pollution contributes to the deaths of 60,000 people nationwide. In urban areas with poor air quality, asthma is becoming a more significant health concern.
* Traffic noise is probably the most serious and pervasive type of noise pollution. Road traffic noise is a major contributor to high noise levels, particularly around schools and places of work. In adults it can affect our sense of well being and lead to sleep disturbance as well as hearing loss if we are exposed to high noise levels for long periods of time. (source: Harvard University)
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