Walk and Roll with VOOMCART for WORLD CAR FREE DAY, SEPTEMBER 22nd

Were you aware that September 22nd is World Car Free Day? For us, this is beyond exciting because we spent years engineering VOOMcart for that exact reason — our desire to leave our car at home while we do errands. World Car Free Day is an international event that is celebrated on September 22nd. Today, 46 countries participate in over 2,000 cities worldwide.

Indeed, it was our dream of being carless that inspired us to create VOOMcart after our children outgrew their strollers. Suddenly, instead of doing errands together in the neighborhood and stashing our groceries and wine under the stroller, we found ourselves jumping in the car. And we hated that. We hated the loss of freedom, the loss of activity, and the chance of connecting together while we walked and shopped. VOOMcart was the perfect solution. It got us outside in the fresh air and enjoying ourselves while we walked our shop together, like before, but maybe even a bit easier without the kids in tow.

One of the silver linings of Covid has been the environmental benefits for our planet Earth. This encourages our VOOMcart team and we want to challenge everyone to keep the good news coming. Says Emma Newburger, writing for CNBC in 2020, “Global greenhouse gas emissions plunged by roughly 2.4 billion tons this year, a 7% drop from 2019 and the largest decline on record, triggered by worldwide Covide-19 restrictions. A decline in transportation activity drove the global drop in carbon emissions. The U.S. had the largest drop in carbon emissions, 12%, followed by the European Union, at 11%. India saw a drop in emissions of 9%, and China had a drop of 1.7%.”

And the WHO (World Health Organization) has long been tracking the benefits of car-free days. Says the WHO, “Car-free days are a massive opportunity for cities to realize how much pollution affects our lives. Vehicle emissions are one of the main sources of outdoor air pollution, particularly in cities. Ambient air pollution alone caused some 4.2 million deaths in 2016. Transport is also the fastest growing source of fossil-fuel CO2 emissions, the largest contributor to climate change.” And, they add, “The results of going car-free are clear to see. For instance, the first “journée sans voiture” (day without a car) in Paris, France was held in September 2015 and was found to reduce exhaust emissions by 40 per cent.

We know, from Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki, “That cars are the largest source of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. And if that doesn’t motivate you to leave the car at home, consider that 30 minutes of daily walking cuts the risk of heart disease by up to half, and reduces the risk of some cancers, diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis.”

And the reality is, that less people are driving. More than one quarter of 16 to 34 year olds, known as Generation Y or the Millennials, do not have a driver’s license. (Reuters) And that’s where we come in to the rescue — not having a car trunk is no problem with the world’s ultimate personal shopping cart, VOOMcart.

VOOMcart is the perfect companion for World Car Free Day. VOOMcart is the modern and environmentally friendly way to replace the car trunk while running errands and it’s designed to hold up to 70 pounds. Years of design and prototypes finally culminated in the first container arriving in Toronto just five months ago. Now VOOMcart can be found on the streets in Canada, the United States, the UK, Australia, and Europe. We couldn’t be more proud.

We invite you to celebrate World Car Free Day with us at VOOMcart. We are offering 10 VOOMcarts by online raffle. Anyone can enter by visiting voomcart.com on September 22nd. Stay tuned to our social media on Facebook and instagram for more details.

VOOMcart is available for sale online at voomcart.com. Retail locations include: Toronto - I.Q. Living, Cookery, Summerhill Market; Ottawa at ALL ECO in The Glebe; Prince Edward County at The Fireplace Store; and Montreal at Cookery.

Thanks to Tim Meyer @tim_meijer for making this photo available freely on Unsplash