Parents interested in eco-friendly transportation can get some tips from a new guide published in Britain by the York Steiner School, written by parent Anna Semlyen.

The Sustainable Travel Guide is chock full of suggestions for walking and biking, and includes carpooling information. Parents will find directions, maps and contact information so they can call to ask about bike parking or other logistics. Cutting down on car journeys helps parents and students cut their carbon footprint.

Semlyen points out that school transportation systems have decreased over time and parents are making up for it with their own vehicles. Parents are also sending their kids to schools further away from home and logging more vehicle miles, adding to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

With parents driving their children to school, fewer kids are biking and walking -- not only because they no longer have to, but also because more vehicles on the road means greater safety issues for kids. Showing parents how walking and biking can work for their family commute helps them save money by cutting fuel costs, keeps the family healthy and, of course, decreases a family's environmental impacts.

When she's not being a York Steiner mom, Semlyen works as a circulation consultant, helping minimize traffic congestion in York neighborhoods. The Sustainable Travel Guide is just one of her several publications that address greener ways to get around. Her guide, Cutting Your Car Use, with accounts of how families have successfully reduced their vehicle miles, has sold more than 100,000 copies in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The Sustainable Travel Guide will go a long way toward getting parents and students out of their cars and back on their feet. Semlyen has also written eco-travel booklets for the University of York.