11 December 2013

The 12 Benefits of Biking: Environmental

Here we are, numero tres of the 12 Benefits of Biking. It's the last "obvious" benefit that I'll cover. Health, check - definite benefits, economics - check - I saved at least $540 this year by choosing the bike over the car. While most of these benefits also benefit society in some way, I benefited from them directly as well.

The environment is a little different. Yes, I certainly benefit from cleaner air and fewer cars on the road, but I don't see it everyday.

As the folks from Bike to Work Day say, bikes use no fuel, they require much less energy to build and they don't use toxic batteries or motor oil. "Each car is a small pollution factory." Well, ain't that the truth. And I drive an SUV (please don't judge - there's a long story behind that choice). By not driving it, I'm helping the environment even more.

To think about the environment is to be a bit forward thinking. I'm not talking about progressive or even liberal. It's just considering what you do today could impact people in 5, 10, 20 years and beyond. So our choices matter, even if they don't impact us directly or in the moment. Although riding my bike is a small piece of making less of an impact, it's an important one.

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