Today, in celebration of World Car Free Week, WildAid released the latest PSA series from its GOblue campaign to promote low-carbon transportation across China.
The series of TV and billboard ads feature Chinese actress Dilraba Dilmurat and actor Zhang Binbin advocating for low-carbon transportation, including bicycling, to combat air pollution and climate change. The PSAs and billboards will appear on television, online and in subway stations, airports and public spaces across China beginning this week.
The new GOblue campaign encourages low-carbon transportation in everyday life. In this ad, Dilraba Dilmurat and Zhang Binbin are representative of the vibrant young people across the country that run, use bicycles, skateboards, scooters, and more to shop, work and play. Instead of being stuck in traffic, the celebrities are immersed in the urban landscape allowing them to savor the surprises of the city and embody the campaign slogan, “car free is care free.”
“I like to walk, always walked more than 10 bus stops back home when I was a kid,” WildAid GOblue ambassador Dilraba Dilmurat said, “This low-carbon lifestyle is very fun to me, walking makes me more energetic, and having more time to think.” WildAid GOblue ambassador Zhang Binbin is keen to ride, adding, “My home is by Wuxi Taihu Lake. I like to ride around the lake, breathing the fresh air and enjoying the beautiful landscape. It lets me see a different side of my city.”
The benefits of a car free lifestyle include reducing air pollution and traffic congestion while improving the urban environment and personal health.
Recently there has been optimism for low-carbon transportation advocates in China due to the growing bike share industry, whose 70 companies have made 16 million shared bikes available for 130 million users nationwide; and, an announcement from China’s vice minister of industry and information technology that China would soon set a date for a full ban on the production and sale of gasoline and diesel cars.
The latest WildAid research, published this week in a new report called Car Free Is Carefree further shows the popularity of low-carbon transportation and its impact on the urban environment in China. Car trips of 5 km or less are down 3.8% in Beijing and 3.2% in Shanghai, while traffic congestion has been reduced in at least three of China’s major cities, Beijing (7.4%), Guangzhou (4.2%) and Shenzhen (3.8%) since the new wave of bike sharing companies began launching last year.
“If more people are going to take up biking and low carbon transport, it has to be seen as convenient, fashionable and aspirational,” said WildAid Chief China Representative Steve Blake. “That’s what we’re aiming for with this campaign, and we have two of the best celebrity ambassadors and media partners to make it happen.”
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WildAid is a non-profit organization with a mission to protect wildlife from illegal trade and other imminent threats. While most wildlife conservation groups focus on protecting animals from poaching, WildAid primarily works to reduce global consumption of wildlife products such as elephant ivory, rhino horn and shark fin soup. With an unrivaled portfolio of celebrity ambassadors and a global network of media partners, WildAid leverages more than $308 million in annual pro-bono media support with a simple message: When the Buying Stops, the Killing Can Too.
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