A New Year’s resolution to save the planet: Try cycling instead of driving
2021 is finally arriving and I’ve been pondering what good I can salvage from the wreckage of 2020? What do I want to leave behind? What do I want to keep? What will I do differently? In past years, my New Year’s resolutions have focused on me: Diets and exercise plans to make me healthier, budgets to improve my bank account, new systems to help me get more organized. But this past year, I have become acutely and humbly aware of how very much my life is interconnected with everyone and everything else on this planet. While I may feel insignificant sometimes, I have realized that my actions during this pandemic—even seemingly small irrelevant choices like whether to go to the store, or take a plane trip, or spend a holiday with those I love—could have enormous and even deadly consequences for everyone around me.
So this year, I’m making a different resolution—one focused on helping our planet and my community (as well as my waistline)—by cycling more and driving less. And I would be delighted to have some company. While there have been many terrible costs of the coronavirus this year, one positive outcome has been the enormous number of people who have started cycling and walking and getting outdoors. What if we could continue this momentum after the pandemic ends and keep on biking and getting outdoors each day rather than jumping back into our cars and returning to the same chaotic, unhealthy lifestyle we had before?
Now for the record, I agree that biking is not the only way to save our planet. I’m totally in favor of people walking to work, scootering to do their errands or skateboarding to school. And if you choose to walk or scooter instead, I’m also thrilled to have you join us in this clean air project. Still for those of you considering trying a bicycle, a bike truly is an almost perfect alternative to a car for short trips under five miles. First, bicycles are relatively fast and efficient. It takes twenty minutes to walk one mile and only five minutes to bike it. Second, bikes can carry lots of weight on the back rack and front basket. On our cycling journey around the world, Lorenz once pedaled onto a truck weighing station by the side of the road to see how much weight we were carrying. The tandem (plus Yvonne and Lorenz) weighed almost 400 pounds.
Subtracting their weight, the bike plus all our gear must have weighed close to 150 pounds. That’s a lot of groceries or mail or shopping you could carry! And third, for those of you who hate sweating and exercise, there are E-bikes which are so easy and fun to use, you’ll forget you are actually working out and saving our planet too! Finally, even if you don’t care about saving the planet, biking is great for your health and waistline. And being able to eat a lot of great food without gaining weight is one indisputable advantage of biking instead of driving. Not to mention your doctor will be very happy with your cholesterol levels (see the article in Healthline below).
So for those of you willing to join me in this New Year’s resolution to bike (or walk or scooter or skateboard) more and drive less, what is a realistic goal? If you want to save the planet, your cycling goal should be to replace car miles. If you drive sixty miles to the start of a lovely weekend bike ride, you are not reducing your carbon footprint. (FYI, driving to fun weekend bike trips is still great for your health—just not the planet’s). Fortunately, the majority of miles we drive are short trips back and forth to local destinations—work, school, shopping and errands.
The goal should be to switch out some of your trips by car, and bike there instead of driving. The beauty of using your bike to commute is that you would already be spending that time to get there by car. In fact, for short trips and in urban areas, biking is usually faster than driving (see references below). And biking to somewhere you would normally drive is an easy way to add exercise and save money (think no gas and free parking) without making major changes in your lifestyle.
For short trips and in urban areas, biking is usually faster than driving
A very reasonable goal is to pick one regular activity that requires you to drive a couple of miles or less each way, and bike instead. It could be as simple as biking (or walking) to your mailbox instead of driving each day. It could be biking to your favorite coffee shop each morning. Or biking once a week to your art class. Or even commuting to work or school (assuming you aren’t stuck working from home during Covid-19). With experience, you can try adding more trips by bike to other destinations as well.
So what if you live miles away from anywhere and it’s just too far for you to bike? You might be a perfect candidate for an E-bike which can easily take you ten miles in half an hour with much less effort, even on hills.
If you’re wondering whether biking (or walking or scootering) a few miles a week instead of driving is worth it, consider this: one six mile car journey produces five pounds of CO2. That’s like opening up a five pound bag of flour and throwing it into the air for all of us to breathe. Every trip! It truly adds up. On our family’s 15,000 kilometer bike trip around the world, we estimate we saved the earth 8,300 pounds or four tons of polluting carbon dioxide simply by pedaling instead of taking cars or buses or planes to visit other countries.
So why not give it a try? You’ll not only help save the planet, but also get in shape, lose weight and save money. Besides, you might just discover the most important reason of all to hop on your bike: cycling is so much fun! And who doesn’t need a bit more fun in their day right now?
If you are interested in starting your own new earth friendly bike (or walk or scooter) resolution, we’re excited to have you join us. Just email us at: paula@bike4breath.com.
Resources to inspire you to get started with your New Year’s bike resolutions
Lloyd Alter, “New study shows urban cycling is faster than driving” Oct. 2018, Treehugger.com https://www.treehugger.com/new-study-shows-urban-cycling-is-faster-than-driving-4856565
Gale Bernhart, “13 tips for your first bicycle commute” ACIVE.com https://www.active.com/cycling/articles/13-tips-for-your-first-bike-commute
BikePortland.org, “New study compares bicycling’s CO2 emissions to other modes.” https://bikeportland.org/2011/12/12/new-study-compares-bicyclings-co2-emissions-to-other-modes-63536
European Cyclists Federation (ECF) “How much CO2 does cycling really save?” https://ecf.com/news-and-events/news/how-much-co2-does-cycling-really-save
Flowing Data, “When cycling is faster than driving.” https://flowingdata.com/2018/12/11/when-cycling-is-faster-than-driving/
Healthline, “Lowering your high cholesterol: 6 exercises that will pay off” https://www.healthline.com/health/high-cholesterol/treating-with-statins/best-exercises
Momentum Mag, “Top ten tips for first time bicycle commuters,” https://momentummag.com/top-10-tips-for-first-time-bicycle-commuters/ Note: they also have many other wonderful “How to” cycling blogs that can get you started.
Molly Hurford, “Everything you need to know about bicycling to work” Bicycling Magazine https://www.bicycling.com/news/a20031666/14-commuter-pros-share-their-secrets/