Shorter journeys to the workplace reduces impact on the climate

Car-queues are increasing and the traffic jams are huge. Long journeys to the workplace by car cause a negative impact on the climate.
How is this problem going to be solved? There is an easy way, which is economical and advantageous and that can to a large extent be the solution to this problem.
Namely to ask people to over time take a personal responsibility for the situation and to plan their place of living and choice of workplace considering whether a shorter journey to work would be favourable. This in cases where they for any reason are about to move or to apply for a new job.
As a result the individual will have more strenght left for the actual work. He or she can raise his or her earnings and at the same time the profitability of the company they are working for.

This idea is so easy that it has been overlooked. It also points to a possibility for the individual to do something to contribute to a better climate.
Every year there are hundreds of millions of changes to living- as well as to workplaces. In the western world we move as many as ten to fifteen times in a lifetime.
If more of these changes seriously to a larger extent took into consideration possible personal as well as company benefits and also climate-related impacts, much would be won.
Shorter journeys to the workplace will also mean more free time for everyone. This idea is therefore implying a unique win-win-win situation.

There is also a responsibility for employers to consider the length of the journeys for the employees. Already today some companies do not employ workforce living too far away from the job.
New workplaces ought to be located nearby were people already live or new places of living built near the places of work. It is obvious that shorter journeys to work means not only a better climate but also more possible achievements on the job and thereby increased productivity.
As an example, in Sweden amongst other places, in 1952 the suburban area Vällingby was created based on the idea of workplaces, living-places and shops in the same area.
A new way of thinking about distances between living-places and workplaces and application of earlier experiences will lead to reduced contamination and contribute to reduce global warming. Today the western lifestyle is seen as attractive and is copied in new economies. The globe can not sustain this today and even less in the future. Therefore it is in our own interest to lead as a positive example for other parts of the world.

It is feasible to calculate that people in the most polluting parts of the world, let us assume, move ten times in a lifetime. If they when doing so seriously considered the impact of the climate, as well as the personal benefit of a shorter journey to the workplace and thereby reduced the length of the journeys by half, it would result in a decrease in negative climate influence and that would be the most important achievement.