Walk to School Day

by John Harrison and Christian Yoo

Bronxville, along with eight other high schools in Westchester, is participating in “Westchester Walks” on Thursday May 21st. (Save the date: May 21st) We’re teaming up with the high schools of Ardsley, Eastchester, Edgemont, Irvington, Mamaroneck, Rye, Scarsdale, and White Plains. Our objective: to have as many kids as possible from each school walk to school for the sake of the environment. We take so many things for granted, such as our rides to school. Many people casually recognize, but do not really understand the damage that carbon dioxide emissions from our cars are causing our home’s – Earth’s – atmosphere.

In a step to make this cause clear, the Environmental Club has represented Bronxville in a coalition of nine high schools across Westchester County set on improving our relationship with our environment. This coalition, Westchester SAFE, or the Westchester Student Association For the Environment in full, was created for the purpose of sponsoring this countywide Walk-to-School Day on May 21st.

Well, why shouldn’t we drive and burn fossil fuels? Answers, both environmental and economic, abound. In 2004, the U.S. emitted 6,049,435,000 metric tons of CO2. Just guess how many Chihuahuas you would need to weigh that much. That’s a lot of CO2 if you didn’t understand the Chihuahuas analogy. In order to make the connection clearer, that’s a lot of harmful gas added to our atmosphere. Also, people can save money by not driving. During the past few years, gas prices have been skyrocketing. In Europe, the price rose up to about 10 Euros per gallon, a cost equivalent to roughly 13 dollars.
So wouldn’t it be nice if we could learn to live our lives more independently from our cars?

Walking to school is one of the easiest things to do in Bronxville. It is only an eight-minute or less walk for many. (Source: Snapple bottle cap) Just think: approximately no one here lives over a mile away from the school, while up in Bedford, just a half hour away, the walk for some kids is three miles. Moreover, some schools in Connecticut and Massachusetts are initiating “Healthy Wednesdays” and “Walking School Bus” programs. Groups of kids will get together, the younger students accompanied by volunteer parents, and walk to school. If they can make the effort, why can’t we?

So, remember the date: May 21st. Please walk to school that day. There will be a petition at the Pondfield and Meadow entrances for those lucky walkers to sign. We, the Environmental Club, encourage you – yes you – to walk to school and to wear a green shirt on May 21st for the heretofore-specified reasons.