Walk Yourself Greener: The Journey That Costs Nothing and Needs No Electricity
Walk Yourself Greener: The Journey That Costs Nothing and Needs No Electricity
Perhaps the greenest vehicle you own is the pair of legs you've had all along.
When we talk about greener transport, the conversation very quickly turns to technology.
Electric cars. Charging points. Batteries. Public transport. E-bikes. Hydrogen. Sustainable fuels.
All of these have their place. But there is another form of transport that needs no battery, no petrol, no charging cable and no expensive upgrade.
Walking.
It sounds almost too obvious to be worth discussing. Yet that is precisely why I think it deserves more attention.
Going green is often presented as something we have to buy. Walking reminds us that sometimes the greener choice involves buying absolutely nothing.
And unlike many environmental choices, walking can give something back immediately: better fitness, time outside, opportunities for photography, conversations with neighbours and a chance to notice what is happening in the place where we actually live.
Perhaps we should stop thinking of walking merely as exercise.
Perhaps it is transport.
We Make an Extraordinary Number of Short Journeys
Before reading any further, try a simple experiment.
Think about every journey you made during the last seven days.
How many were less than a mile?
How many were less than two miles?
The local shop. The postbox. Visiting somebody nearby. Collecting something. Going to a café. Taking a small parcel somewhere. A trip into the local high street. Driving to somewhere from which you then went for a walk.
In England in 2024, 25% of all trips were under one mile, according to the Department for Transport. Walking was already the most common choice for journeys that short, accounting for 81% of them.
That is encouraging.
But it also raises an interesting personal question.
Which of my short car journeys could I realistically turn into walks?
Not all of them.
But perhaps some of them.
This Isn't About Giving Up the Car
I have little interest in environmental arguments which suggest that everyone should simply stop driving.
Cars are extraordinarily useful.
If you are carrying something heavy, travelling a substantial distance, transporting children, helping somebody with limited mobility, travelling somewhere without a safe walking route or trying to keep an appointment when time is tight, taking the car may be entirely sensible.
And walking itself is not equally accessible to everyone.
The question is not:
"How can I eliminate the car?"
A much more useful question is:
"When don't I actually need it?"
That small change in thinking makes this a practical exercise rather than an environmental lecture.
The One-Mile Challenge
For the next week, make a note every time you get into your car.
Before starting the engine, ask:
How far am I going?
If it is less than a mile, could you walk?
If it is between one and two miles, could you sometimes walk?
You do not need to make an absolute rule.
You might decide:
- I'll walk to the local shop when I'm only buying a few things.
- I'll walk when collecting a small prescription.
- I'll walk to visit somebody living nearby.
- I'll walk to the postbox.
- I'll walk into town when I don't need to carry much home.
- I'll combine two or three small errands into one longer walk.
- I'll park once and walk between several destinations instead of moving the car each time.
Do that several times every week and something interesting begins to happen.
Walking stops feeling like exercise you have to schedule.
It simply becomes how you get somewhere.
Transport and Exercise at the Same Time
This, for me, is one of walking's greatest advantages.
Many of us complain that we do not have enough time to exercise.
Yet we also spend time travelling.
Walking can combine the two.
Instead of driving somewhere and then later finding another half-hour to exercise, the journey itself becomes the exercise.
The NHS describes walking as a simple, free way to become more active and notes that even a brisk 10-minute daily walk contributes towards the recommended 150 minutes of weekly activity for adults.
There is an important word there:
brisk.
You don't necessarily need running shoes, Lycra or a fitness tracker.
Walk quickly enough to raise your heart rate and make yourself slightly warmer and the humble journey to the shops starts becoming useful physical activity.
Over a week, those little journeys accumulate.
You May Save More Than Petrol
It is tempting to calculate walking purely in terms of fuel saved.
If I avoid driving a couple of miles, how much petrol have I saved?
But the true economics of a car journey are broader than that.
Every mile contributes, however slightly, towards:
- tyre wear;
- servicing;
- brake wear;
- depreciation;
- fuel or electricity consumption;
- eventual vehicle replacement.
None of those costs disappear because the journey was short.
You may not notice the saving from deciding to walk to the shop this afternoon.
But environmental savings often work like financial savings.
Small amounts repeated frequently become significant.
And perhaps more importantly, walking requires no upgrade.
You do not need to buy an electric car before starting.
You do not need solar panels.
You don't need an app.
You don't even need specialist walking equipment for an ordinary local journey. The NHS notes that comfortable, supportive everyday shoes or trainers are sufficient for many walks.
You can start today.
The Unexpected Benefit: You Start Seeing Where You Live
Something else happens when we walk.
We notice things.
A car is remarkably good at separating us from our surroundings.
We travel through a place without necessarily experiencing it.
Walking is different.
You begin noticing the trees.
You see which gardens attract butterflies and bees.
You notice the first conkers appearing.
You discover a footpath you have driven past hundreds of times.
You see litter that needs collecting.
You notice where new houses are being built.
You discover a small independent shop.
You recognise the same dog walkers.
You notice which gardens survive droughts particularly well.
You see how streams and verges change through the seasons.
For somebody interested in the environment, this is particularly valuable.
It is much easier to care about the environment when you actually spend time in it.
Take a Camera — Even If It Is Only Your Phone
Walking and photography make particularly good companions.
You don't need to go to a national park to photograph nature.
Try documenting the wildlife within a mile of your own house.
Look for:
- bees;
- butterflies;
- birds;
- unusual plants;
- fungi;
- trees;
- cobwebs;
- reflections after rain;
- interesting architecture;
- changing skies;
- seasonal colour;
- insects;
- local waterways.
Suddenly the trip to buy a newspaper or post a letter can become a tiny photographic expedition.
You also begin creating a visual record of where you live.
Photograph the same tree every month for a year.
Photograph the same view through the seasons.
Find five species of butterfly.
Record the first autumn leaves.
Photograph wildlife returning to an area that has been planted differently.
That makes walking far more interesting than simply recording 6,000 steps on a watch.
Walking Reconnects Us With People
There is another environmental benefit that cannot easily be measured in kilograms of carbon dioxide.
Community.
Drive somewhere and you are enclosed inside a metal box.
Walk down the same road and somebody says hello.
You see a neighbour gardening.
You stop to talk.
Somebody asks about your dog.
You meet people walking children home from school.
You recognise the same faces.
Over time, anonymous streets become communities.
The NHS also highlights social connection as one of the potential mental-wellbeing benefits of being active.
Perhaps the most sustainable communities are not simply those with efficient buildings and electric vehicles.
They may also be the ones where people actually know one another.
Walking Forces Us to Slow Down
We have become extraordinarily good at removing small inconveniences from life.
We drive because it saves ten minutes.
We order something online because walking into town takes longer.
We rush from one task to another.
But perhaps efficiency is not always the same thing as quality of life.
A twenty-minute walk is not necessarily twenty minutes lost.
It may be twenty minutes spent thinking.
Twenty minutes outside.
Twenty minutes away from screens.
Twenty minutes noticing the seasons.
Twenty minutes of exercise you otherwise wouldn't have done.
Twenty minutes talking to somebody.
That changes the calculation considerably.
Try the Seven-Day Walking Audit
Here is a simple Going Green experiment.
For seven days, record every journey under two miles.
| Journey | Distance | Normally travel by | Could I walk? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local shop | Under 1 mile | Car | Yes |
| Postbox | Short | Car | Definitely |
| Supermarket | 1–2 miles | Car | Sometimes |
| Visiting friends | 1 mile | Car | Probably |
| Heavy weekly shopping | 1–2 miles | Car | Probably not |
At the end of the week, do not make an unrealistic promise to walk everywhere.
Instead choose two journeys.
Turn those into regular walking journeys.
Once they become habitual, find another.
That is how environmental changes become sustainable.
Not through guilt.
Through routine.
Make Walking Easier
There are a few simple things that make the habit much more likely to survive.
Keep a lightweight waterproof jacket somewhere convenient.
Have comfortable shoes ready rather than buried in a cupboard.
Use a backpack for small shopping trips.
Find quieter routes rather than automatically following the roads you normally drive.
Walk with somebody.
Give yourself enough time so that walking doesn't make you late.
And don't assume the shortest route is necessarily the best one.
The nicest route may pass through a park, beside a river or along a footpath.
If walking becomes pleasant rather than merely virtuous, you are far more likely to keep doing it.
What About Electric Cars?
An electric car is certainly capable of reducing some of the environmental impact associated with driving.
But an electric car still needs:
- energy;
- tyres;
- roads;
- parking;
- manufacturing;
- maintenance;
- batteries and materials.
Walking needs remarkably little infrastructure by comparison.
That doesn't make electric vehicles pointless.
It simply reminds us of an important principle running through much of my Going Green series:
Replacing something with a greener version is useful. Needing less of it in the first place can be even better.
The greenest two-mile journey isn't necessarily one made in the latest electric car.
It may be the one where the car stayed on the driveway.
The Green Journey That Gives Something Back
There are plenty of environmental choices where the benefits seem remote.
Use less electricity and somewhere a power station needs to generate slightly less.
Recycle something and hopefully those materials eventually return to useful production.
Reduce carbon emissions and the benefit is shared globally over many years.
Walking is different because the reward can be immediate.
You use less energy.
You spend less money.
You exercise.
You get outside.
You notice wildlife.
You may take photographs.
You meet people.
You learn more about where you live.
And occasionally you simply get twenty minutes in which nobody is asking you to do anything.
That seems a remarkably good return on an environmental decision.
Start With One Journey
So don't sell the car.
Don't promise to walk everywhere.
Don't buy £200 walking boots.
Just look at tomorrow.
Find one journey you would normally make by car that is less than a mile or two away.
And walk it.
Then do it again.
Because perhaps one of the easiest steps towards a greener lifestyle really is a step.
And perhaps the greenest vehicle you own has been carrying you around all along.
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