Campaigns

Could you drive 5 miles less a week?

Around 40% of CO₂ emissions in the UK are caused by things we do as individuals. Of this, the top four sources of personal CO₂ emissions are:

Personal car travel (26.1%)
Space heating (24.8%)
Personal flights (14.0%)
Water heating (12.0%)

With personal car travel being the single biggest source of personal CO₂ emissions in the UK, what can we as individuals do about it?

The starting point is to think about the impact of our car journeys. Imagine if every car was fitted with an electronic taxi meter displaying the amount of CO₂ and fuel costs generated by each car trip. As with a water meter and water usage, it might help us think twice before we jump in the car.

More than half of all car trips are five miles or less, accounting for approximately a fifth of household car CO₂ emissions.

As a first step, if all UK drivers reduced their driving by five miles a week, we could collectively save around 2.70 million tonnes of CO₂ per year.

Together – with efforts being made by Government to ensure that transport makes a major contribution to the UK’s efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions – we can begin to make a difference.

5 ways to save 5 miles

Pins in a map Know before you go – using a journey planner can help you find the quickest and easiest route to travel by either car or public transport.

Signpost Plan ahead – to combine car trips as part of the same overall journey rather than lots of separate trips. The CO₂ and fuel cost savings add up, and make best use of precious time.

Walking It’s good to walk – its tempting to use the car to travel just a mile down the road, but it is the perfect distance to walk. As well as health benefits, walking the one-mile trips instead can save you over £160 each year in fuel.

Cycling Life on two wheels – nearly a quarter of all car trips are under two miles. Cycling instead can take just 12 minutes and a great way to exercise – each two-mile trip can burn up over 100 calories.