Most people would really only classify sustainable mobility as a problem due to the environment. Although this is not exactly true, it is likely that the campaign for it did stem from environmental concerns. Sometimes it can be easy to think that we are being lectured too much about the environment and the damage we are doing. It can also be hard to see how as an individual, any lifestyle changes that we make can have a big enough effect to be worthwhile. However, it is worth thinking about making changes as they can have many benefits to you personally as well as to the environment generally.
Changing from driving short distances to walking instead can actually add up to making a really big environmental difference. Not only will you be preventing that bit of air pollution, but you will also be saving fuel, which takes energy to produce and you will not be wearing out the car. Wear and tear will lead you to need to replace the car more quickly and that could end up with the car being in landfill and there is the cost to the environment of the new vehicle being manufactured. Even if you buy second hand cars, there is still some environmental cost which could have been saved, had you kept the old car running for longer.
It is worth considering that if you start making a difference to the environment, then it sets an example to others. If everyone drives everywhere then it will be considered to be odd to walk and no one will do it. However, if you start walking more and encourage your family to do so and maybe friends as well, then more people will be encouraged to. This will hopefully have a knock on effect and more people will do it. It is rather like recycling where only a few people did it to start with but once others saw them doing it, they began to copy and do it as well, particularly when they saw how easy it was. You could be part of a new revolution of walkers in your local area, who leave the car at home when doing local journeys. You could even start campaigning at local businesses or schools to encourage people to walk or cycle rather than using a car and get more people involved in reducing their car use.
If you do live too far away from anywhere to walk, then consider setting up a local car share scheme where if one person is going to work, shopping or whatever, then they see if neighbours are also going in that direction and share a car. This will not only help the environment but also help form friendships, community spirit and save money all at the same time. With the Internet it is easy to get in touch with people and find out whether you can get together in saving car journeys like this.
So changing from driving to walking could actually lead to you having a much reduced environmental impact and you may even be able to encourage others to do the same. This will help to reduce pollution in your local area as well as generally helping the environment.