challenge #4 : mobility
Dear participants,
Welcome to the fourth week of our journey towards a more sustainable future! This week, we’re focusing on our travel habits!
Mobility accounts for a significant portion of our carbon footprint, yet easy and sustainable alternatives are within reach. Whether for work, shopping or leisure, we can adapt our daily travel habits to reduce our emissions and promote more active, shared and responsible modes of transport.
🌎 Why it matters?
In Switzerland, transport accounts for around 30% of household greenhouse gas emissions. The majority of these emissions come from private motor vehicles, particularly for short, daily journeys.
Choosing to cycle, walk, use public transport or carpool directly reduces our carbon footprint, limits air pollution and contributes to making cities more pleasant places to live!
Challenge #1: Gentle mobility in everyday life 🚲
Objective: Replace short motorised journeys with active travel or public transport. Even small journeys replaced by cycling or walking directly reduce your impact!
Concrete actions:
- Choose walking or cycling for any journey that can be completed in 10 minutes by bike or 20-30 minutes on foot. It’s often quicker than taking the car, and it’s good for your health!
- Try a car-free week for your daily journeys by taking TPG public transport.
- Take part in Pro Vélo‘s Bike to Work initiative: cycle together, boost your health, build team spirit and reduce your office’s carbon footprint!
💡 Tip #1: Plan your journeys in advance! The night before, take 10 minutes to organise your journey: plan any connections, check the weather and buy your tickets. This will help you manage your time better and reduce stress!
💡 Tip #2: Hire a bicycle via Genèveroule or Donkey Republic.
💡 Tip #3: Borrow a cargo bike via Carvelo2go.
💡 Tip #4: If you work for an SME, take advantage of cantonal subsidies for electric bicycles.
Challenge #2: Rethink how you use your car 🚗
Objective: Reduce the number of kilometres travelled by car, share journeys.
Concrete actions:
- Share at least one journey per week by carsharing: you’ll reduce your carbon footprint, save money… and maybe even meet some nice new people along the way!
- Calculate the number of kilometres you travel each week. Think about how you could reduce this and try to cut it by 10% each month.
- Organise a collective car-free day: invite friends, colleagues or neighbours to spend a day without their cars and discover the city in a different way, on foot, by bicycle or by public transport.
💡 Tips for getting around more intelligently with your car:
- Check your tyre pressure: you can reduce your fuel consumption by up to 5%.
- Accelerate gently: smooth driving can reduce your emissions by 10 to 15%.
- Turn off your engine when stationary, even for short breaks (traffic lights, deliveries, waiting).
- Lighten your car: empty your boot and remove unused bike racks to save 4 to 8% on fuel.
- Limit the use of air conditioning, especially in the city: it significantly increases fuel consumption.
💡 Find more tips on this website.
Challenge #3: Travel more sustainably ✈️
Objective: Reduce the carbon footprint of long journeys and flights. A medium-haul or long-haul flight typically emits between 90 and 155 g of CO₂ per passenger per kilometre (depending on distance and type of flight).
Concrete actions:
- Set yourself a real challenge: go a whole year without flying, or book just one truly essential flight. This is an opportunity to rediscover travel in a different way, to slow down, and to see how much you can experience (and explore) without taking off!
- Turn your next city break into a real adventure: leave the aeroplane on the ground and travel by train, or better still, by night train. You’ll wake up right in the heart of Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Milan or even Malmö with no stress and no queues!
- Spend your next holiday in Switzerland: we are lucky to live in a country that offers incredible landscapes, so take advantage of your next holiday to discover a region of Switzerland you don’t know yet.
💡 Tip: The MySwitzerland website is an excellent source of inspiration for planning 100% local trips.
🌍 Local events & Initiatives
Energ’IA Transition – Dessine-moi un NetZéro
Tuesday 2 December, 4pm – 8pm
An event to imagine and discuss innovative solutions for achieving carbon neutrality.
→ More information
Fresque Du Bonheur Durable et Partagé (Workshop)
Wednesday, 3 December, 5:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
→ More information
Workshop on adapting to climate change
Friday, 5 December, 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
→ More information
Cycle: Meetings to reflect and take action
Sunday, 7 December, 10:15 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
A day at the museum to ‘reflect and take action’ in the face of the climate emergency.
→ More information
→ MORE EVENTS – CLIMATE WEEK
→ MORE EVENTS – MAISON DE L’AVENIR
By adopting a few simple habits such as limiting flights, travelling locally, choosing trains or carpooling, everyone can significantly reduce their carbon footprint and enjoy their travels in a different way.
Every little choice counts for the planet! 🌍