Did you know?

Did You Say BOW WOW?

Did you know that the City’s Child Safety Program has a program called

BOW WOW?

It stands for Bike on Wednesday. Walk on Wednesday. And it applies to all campuses in Austin!

One of the biggest environmental, energy security, & health decisions your family makes takes place every morning before 8 am. Motorized transport represents 28% of the nation’s carbon footprint.

We are already 60% reliant on other nations for our petroleum needs, and this number is growing. Walking at least 1 mile a day is a top recommendation for all Americans, burning roughly 100 calories, or an 8 oz glass of 1% milk.

Idling a car for more than 10 seconds wastes money while exposing the motorists and nearby children to far higher levels of carbon monoxide, fine particulate matter, and other forms of air toxins that are contributing to record levels of asthma and associated disabilities. (And exposure is actually highest inside your vehicle.) Two minutes of discontinued idling should get you a mile of added travel.

Walking & biking to school is COOL! Please help your kids & families become accustomed to new travel habits that can become healthy lifetime habits. You’ll feel better about your family’s carbon footprint.

If you live too far to bike or walk, you can drive part of the distance, and walk the final half mile. If you do have to drive into campus, please turn that engine off for any stops of more than 10 seconds (this can include red lights).

Carpooling also helps eliminate car trips.

Did you know that 5 out of every 10 trips in Sweden & the Netherlands are by walking or biking? And 4 out of every 10 in Italy & France. Somehow it’s just 1 out of every 10 here in the U.S. We possess 3% of the world’s oil reserves and 5% of the world’s population, but consume 25% of the planet’s oil supply. We can (and need to) change that. It starts here, with you & your terrific children!

No matter where you live, please pick at least one day every week to walk or bike in: get fit, protect the planet & have fun.

Further reading: Jacobsen PL. (2003) Safety in numbers: more walkers and bicyclists, safer walking and bicycling. In the journal Injury Prevention 9:205-209.

Other items to note (from www.walktoschool.org & cleanairforce.org):

· Children are at highest risk to air pollution exposure because they breathe faster than adults & take in more air per pound of body weight.

· In 1969, 42% of American youngsters walked or bicycled to or from school – versus just 16% today.

· Under 50% of those who live within a mile of school walk or bike to school even once a week.

· In some cities, up to 25% of morning rush hour traffic is school-related.

· Childhood asthma rates more than doubled between 1980 and 1995, and they remain very high. Asthma is a top childhood disease and a major cause of childhood disability.

· The walk or bike to school offers stress reduction, relief of ADHD symptoms in children, and increased cognitive and motor functioning. It also offers children an opportunity to spend time in the natural environment, while developing a sense of independence that is important for human development.

· You can very effectively teach your children about safety while walking & biking to school: Stay to the side of the road, watch out at driveways, look & listen, and make eye contact with drivers near your crosswalk.