Go carless on Fridays, Negrenses urged

MANILA, Philippines - Car owners in Negros Occidental are being urged to go carless on Fridays as the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro) launched the campaign “#TGIF, It’s Carless Day. Save Gas, Save the Environment.”

The launch was held last week at SM City Bacolod as part of the celebration of Philippine Environment Month.

TGIF stands for Thank God It’s Friday, an expression used to indicate the end of the work week.

TGIF, It’s Carless Day seeks the commitment of the government and private offices to minimize the use of cars on Fridays to lessen the emission of harmful gases. The campaign aims to mitigate the negative effects of climate change, one of the major causes of which is the emission of harmful gases like carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide from all sorts of vehicles.

Penro officer Andres Untal said that at present there are fewer trees in our forests that could absorb the emissions from vehicles, therefore it is imperative to lessen the use of vehicles to lessen emissions.

“Investing in carless Fridays by walking, car pooling and biking not only saves gas and the environment, it likewise stimulates blood circulation and burns fat,” Untal said.

SM City Bacolod public relations manager May Castro said SM City Bacolod supports the carless Friday campaign.

“We do what we must in minimizing our environmental impact in each of our locations. Taking care of the environment is important but it is also important to take action and in putting in all our efforts, our small acts may make a big global impact,” Castro added.