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Bikes drive down carbon emissions

More than five tonnes of carbon emissions were saved from being spewed into the environment yesterday by Bicycle Network's Park it for the Planet event.

Inspired by ABC TV's Fight for Planet A series, people all around Australia swapped out car trips for bike rides and pedalled more than 23,000 kilometres.

Riding a bike instead of driving is one of the easiest things that you can do to reduce individual carbon emissions, with each kilometre saving more than 240 grams of carbon.

Not only does riding help the planet, it's also fun and healthy, as shown by the good folk who shared photos of their #ParkItForThePlanet ride for social media.

While people in Melbourne had to keep their ride within 5kms of home and only for exercise or to the shops, those in other areas were able to get out further from home and ride with others.

In Hobart, Bicycle Network was able to hold a public event for people to come and celebrate bikes together.

While we are able to make a nice dent in Australia's carbon emissions yesterday, the challenge is to now keep it going so we can have an impact on climate change – transport accounts almost 20 per cent of Australia's overall emissions and we need to bring this down.

Try and swap bike rides for any small car trips you take, like going to the shops, school, work or cafe. If you do the latter you'll also be able to justify more croissants.

There are also plenty of other simple things you can do to reduce you carbon footprint – for tailor made ideas and inspiration, you can download the One Small Step app.

Bicycle Network thanks ABC for their support of Park it for the Planet. You can catch up on all episodes of Fight for Planet A now on iView.

To see all the photos from the day follow Bicycle Network on Instagram and Twitter or check out #ParkItForThePlanet.

Winners of the KeepCup prize draw will be contacted by Bicycle Network this week.

Click here to see more about Park it for the Planet and the total amount of carbon saved.

Click here for more information about bike riding and climate change.

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