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Reclaiming Time By Going Green

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Bogota_carfree_AP

This is fifth in a series of guest blogs by the Earth Day Network.

In South America, major cities are taking steps to become more sustainable and improve quality of life for their citizens.

Bogota, Colombia is at the forefront of this movement. In February 2000, Mayor Enrique Peñalosa enacted the city’s first car-free day. Legitimized by a public referendum, the car-free day has become an annual occasion. Beginning in 2014, Bogotá expanded the day to an entire week of no car usage. In the city of 7 million people, roughly 600,000 cars were left idle each day during car-free week.

Quality of life in Bogotá has undeniably improved during the first car-free week. The air is cleaner, the streets are quieter, more people are engaging in physical exercise, and more time is being reclaimed due to not experiencing traffic.

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Buenos Aires, Argentina has a different strategy for going green. Just a few months ago, the city broke ground on its project to retrofit 91,000 of its streetlights with LED bulbs that will cut energy use by 50% and significantly reduce carbon emissions. The new bulbs will also last nearly five times longer than conventional lighting. Already, over 10,000 streetlights have been retrofitted, with the rest to be completed over the course of roughly three years.

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Diego Santilli, Minister of the Environment and Public Space, lists the advantages of the LED lights, “they’re more efficient: longer life-span, less consumption, lower maintenance cost, more visibility. This project will help us reach our goal of reducing greenhouses gases while also cutting operational costs.”

Bogota and Buenos Aires set a great example for other cities to follow. With their leadership, South America’s cities are well on their way to becoming better and more sustainable places to live.

This entry reflects the views of the Earth Day Network and does not necessarily represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State. 


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