Let’s get something straight: Bolt is a huge fan of Earth Day!

And since 22nd April every year is dedicated to environmental courses and dubbed Earth Day, we at Bolt are excited to mark this day!

It is as part of this love for mother earth that SeedBolts, a partnership between Bolt and Seedballs Kenya plans to plant over 11 million tree seeds in different areas across Kenya where natural afforestation is low to avert the emissions from Bolt rides and Bolt Food deliveries.

Whether it’s encouraging people to plant more trees or use less plastic, anything to increase global warming awareness and reduce carbon emissions is a hit in our books. The truth, however, is that at Bolt, every day is Earth Day!

For us, it starts with our drivers. You’ll notice that most of them use fuel-efficient cars averaging in the region of 35 miles per gallon for city and highway driving. That’s kinder on the environment than the average car owner’s fuel efficiency.

Secondly, Bolt drivers generally don’t idle their engines. Why would they, seeing as they just need to park and wait for their next rider to call them through the app? In fact, idling has been proven to be a major source of pollution. Even though the car is still, the fact that the engine is still running means that harmful carbon is being emitted into the air. That’s the difference that technology makes.

Third, we can’t speak highly enough about the benefits of ride sharing apps like Bolt. Hailing a Bolt means that the number of cars on the road potentially reduces by one. So, where we have a whole city that’s accepted Bolt as part of the public transport system, riders are able to move from point of pick-up to destination without the need to have their own vehicles. This collectively reduces the carbon footprint of the city, leading to cleaner air, a healthier population, and a more protected environment.

And what about traffic? The fewer the number of cars on the road, the quicker we’ll all get to our destinations. And that’s great for the environment as well. It means that there are lower carbon emissions while cars jam up in traffic. And frankly, it leaves us all with fewer stressed drivers and passengers.

Finally, with Bolt’s push globally to move to more electric car models, the future is indeed green. It’s only a matter of time before Ghana begins to catch up with the electric car revolution, and Bolt will be right there leading the push.

We must admit that as Bolt, we are proud of our green credentials, but we know that more needs to be done to save the planet. As Earth Day approaches, we’re doing our bit – not just one day in the year, but every day.

By David Nikoi Kotei
The writer is the Country Manager of Bolt in Ghana