The Vitebsk Regional Committee for Natural Resources urges residents of the region to switch to bicycles on September 22.

September 15, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The Vitebsk Regional Committee for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection calls on the region's residents to walk, switch to bicycles, or, as a last resort, use public transport on September 22. In this way, the Vitebsk region intends to support the international "Car-Free Day" campaign, the chief specialist of the regional committee, Tatyana Yasiulina, told a BELTA correspondent. Events dedicated to Car-Free Day will be held in all districts of the region. Their main goal will be to promote a healthy lifestyle and attract public attention to environmental safety issues. Despite the fact that in the Vitebsk region, the share of transport in total emissions of pollutants is 53%, and in cities it ranges from 65% to 85%, 364 tons of pollutants are emitted into the atmosphere per day on average. Car-Free Day was first held in the French city of La Rochelle in 1997, and a year later the entire country embraced this initiative. In 1999, Italy and Switzerland joined France, after which the idea of holding an International Car-Free Day spread throughout Europe. In 2007, 1353 cities in 37 European countries and Canada participated in this campaign. In 2008, Car-Free Day was held in Belarus for the first time. As a result, over 400 tons of pollutants were prevented from being released into the atmosphere in one day. It is expected that this year 17 Belarusian ministries, the Belneftekhim concern, regional and Minsk city executive committees will join the campaign. -0-