Let’s work together to increase…
Active Travel
What is active travel?
Active travel means getting about in a way that makes you physically active, like walking or cycling. Travelling this way, even for short journeys, not only reduces your carbon footprint, it also improves your health and wellbeing, and can save you money too! Sustainable travel is choosing the lowest carbon emitting option when active travel isn’t possible. This simple hierarchy from Energy Saving Trust provides a visual to show modes of transport from the most sustainable option to the least sustainable. Click on the image to read more about each level on the Energy Saving Trust website.
We aim to increase uptake of active travel.
What impact does travel have on Scotland’s carbon emissions?
Reducing our carbon emissions is essential for our future, and our transportation choices can make a big difference. 36% of Scotland’s GHG emissions in 2018 came from the transport sector, with 68% of this from road transport such as cars and vans. Unlike other sectors which have seen big reductions in emissions in recent years, transport emissions have only seen a small decrease since 1990, which is slowing down Scotland’s progress towards meeting net zero in 2045. We aim to advocate, enable and support our community to use sustainable and low-carbon means of transport, including more walking for short trips, cycling, car-sharing and using public transport.
Did you know, each mile you walk rather than drive saves 276g of CO₂ emissions?
What are Sustainable Kirriemuir’s Active Travel Aims?
- Promote and provide opportunities for our community to experience active and sustainable travel.
- Promote the benefits of active and sustainable travel, in terms of individual health and wellbeing, as well as health for our planet.
- Advocate for sustainable and integrated forms of transport (e.g. better cycle networks, accessible public transport, and car-sharing opportunities).
What can you do to help achieve this?
One of the easiest actions you can take is to spend some time thinking about the journeys you take and whether any of them could be replaced by more sustainable modes of transport. Even small changes add up, especially when lots of people are making these changes.
- Walk or cycle for short journeys e.g. to the shop, school, or to work. Find out how to borrow one of our e-bikes.
- Work from home where you can, or lift share to work.
- Park a street away from where you need to be and walk the rest.
- Reduce the amount of trips you need to take by allocating one day per week/month to do all of your errands together.
- Make use of your local shops before taking a trip to Forfar or Dundee when buying groceries. You can visit our Local Food Directory to see what’s available in Kirriemuir and the surrounding area. I bet there’s more than you think!
- Fancy getting social on your bike? Ladies Leisurely Cyclists is an all-women group for all abilities. The focus is on socialising and having fun! Contact them by joining their Facebook group.
- Attend our bike maintenance workshops, group rides and other active travel events.
- Tell your friends and family about us, and encourage them to join in with our activities!
The good news is that travelling actively actually makes us feel better, and building cycling or walking into your day-to-day life means that you don’t need to find additional time to keep fit; it’s a win, win!
Bikeability in Schools
At Team SK we LOVE cycling! It’s quicker than walking and it’s great for your physical and mental health! Rumour has it, kids who travel actively to school concentrate better in class too! In the Kirrie Cluster schools, Bikeability is organised in partnership between John Bremner, Bikeability Coordinator for Angus, and Magnus Moncrieff, Active Schools Coordinator Kirriemuir Cluster.
During the last academic year, a total of 90 children completed their Level 1 training, 123 children completed their Level 2 training, and 6 pupils from S1 also completed their Level 3! Well done kids!!
The training is delivered by qualified instructors who achieved their Bikeability Scotland Instructor qualification through courses organised by John Bremner. Plans are in place for Bikeability in schools again in 2023-24. Would you like to help deliver Bikeability training at a school near you? Contact Magnus to find out more.
You can read more about Bikeability on the Cycling Scotland website.
Partnership Working
We know that feeling confident and safe whilst cycling on a road is incredibly important to making sure more people feel able to travel actively. We are collaborating with a number of partners to make this happen. You can read about our recent award from Cycling Scotland for being a Cycle Friendly Community here. Find our more about what our partners are also doing to ‘drive’ change by clicking on their logos to visit their websites.
Get in Touch
Together we can make good choices and live better, join Sustainable Kirriemuir!
If you would like to know more about what we are doing please get in touch. We are always looking for new members to join our organisation. If you have particular knowledge around climate change issues, or growing, making and mending skills you’d like to share, or just want to know more, we want to hear from you. Everyone is welcome, together we can make a difference.