Car-Free Day. Belarus for clean air!

Annually in Belarus, on September 22, an environmental campaign is celebrated – the Car-Free Day.

Each year, this campaign is dedicated to topics related to drawing public attention to the problems of excessive numbers of motor vehicles, and involves holding events, surveys, bike parades, conferences, and activities with the participation of various age groups of the population, aimed at promoting public urban passenger transport, non-motorized vehicles, walking, a healthy lifestyle, and environmental conservation.

Car-Free Day is not only needed to express concern about the urban environment or the problems of urban infrastructure. This day gives us an opportunity to look at our daily routine differently. A car, indispensable for long trips, may turn out to be not so necessary for a simple trip to the store or to get to work.

Restrictions for motorists have been introduced ever since the personal car became a common phenomenon. It was not limited to mere calls – for example, in the late thirties, laws were introduced throughout Europe directly prohibiting the use of personal cars. Of course, no one thought about ecology then. On the eve of the world war, the armies of all countries urgently needed fuel.

In Belarus, there are over 3 million private passenger cars. The Grodno and Minsk regions lead in terms of passenger car saturation. It is road transport that is one of the main sources of urban air pollution. Up to 99 percent of all aerosols or harmful gases in the air are products of internal combustion engines.

The monitoring of atmospheric air quality in Belarus is carried out by Belhydromet. Observation points are located in 19 industrial cities of the country and determine the concentration of major pollutants (particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, etc.).

The Miory District Inspectorate of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection calls on you to join a planetary-scale celebration and "cultivate" your regular car travel, which is very simple to do. The best way to celebrate World Car-Free Day is to simply not use your vehicle whenever possible.

Car-Free Day is organized differently in various cities around the world, but with a common goal – to reduce the number of cars on the streets. The benefits for society as a whole are a day without traffic jams, help for the environment, and a reduction in the demand for gasoline.