01 October 2015
Pupils across Jersey are being encouraged to make greener travel choices by walking, cycling, catching a bus, sharing a lift or scooting to school during the fifth annual Green Travel Fortnight (5 - 16 October 2015).
The campaign is organised by the Transport and Technical Services Department and Eco Active.
Primary schools will record their daily green travel on classroom wall charts, which can be re-used for other green travel events throughout the school year. The greenest class will win a trip to Tamba Dinosaur Park. Primary school pupils can also submit 'sustainable superhero' names and the best name will win a Pony Mania inline cycling prize.
Green travel to schools
For secondary schools, the Minutes in Motion challenge will encourage secondary pupils to record their green travel to school over a period of ten days. Each mode of travel (ten minutes or more) is assigned a value and there is a maximum of 30 points for each pupil to collect:
- three points for walking and cycling
- two points for bus travel
- one point for car sharing
Secondary pupils return their travel postcards to their form/house teacher who submits these to TTS for review. All postcards with a value of 30 points will be entered into a draw where pupils can win a green MET cycle helmet and other prizes sponsored by Creepy Valley Adventure Centre and Schuh shoe shop.
Organisers have delivered free classroom resources to primary and secondary schools, including biodegradable balloons, to encourage participation. The target is to increase this year's participation to at least 26 schools, which would be five more than last year. Schools have also been asked to track their progress using a travel survey and will be able to use the results to update their school travel plan and annual review.
The Transport and Technical Services Minister, Deputy Eddie Noel, said "Green Travel Fortnight is a great way to raise awareness about walking, cycling, taking the bus or sharing a car to get to school. I’d like to ask the travelling public to pay extra attention as there are likely to be more children walking to school and riding their bikes during this fortnight."
Eco Active programme manager, Jane Burns, added "The Green Travel Fortnight is an annual event that helps the Environment Department to meet our energy plan targets. As well as reducing emissions and congestion, active travel also keeps people healthy. We very much hope that all schools, their pupils and families will take part. We aim to encourage those who can to try walking or cycling to school. Those who live too far away could take the bus or car-share."
gov.je