Challenge: Use Person Power

By choosing to ride our bicycles and walk instead of driving in our cars everywhere we need to go, we can lower our dependence on foreign oil imports, have a minimal impact on the natural landscape, and have more opportunities to socialize with others than driving often allows. But that's not all...

 

What You Should Know

There are numerous and significant advantages to walking or biking instead of driving, which include:

• Reduces air pollution and noise pollution. Also reduces water pollution by preventing oil, antifreeze, and brake fluid from dripping from our cars and getting washed into our waterways where they pollute our drinking water and poison our fish and wildlife.

• Walking and biking are lifelong forms of exercise that are not only free but also easy on your joints and help relieve stress. Plus bicycling burns approximately 400 calories per hour, walking burns 200-300 calories per hour.

• Saves on parking, bridge tolls, and car maintenance, in addition to gas, and on insurance, registration and licenses (if you go completely without a car)

Easy Things You Can Do

Go for a walk. Walking is the cleanest mode of transportation you can use. It's not only completely pollution-free it's also good for your health, and it doesn't cost a dime. If the weather is nice and the trip is under a mile, walk, don't drive!

Ride your bike for nearby errands. Forty percent of all automobile trips in the U.S. are two miles or less in length--perfect for a bike ride! Outfit your bike with a sturdy large cargo basket to make errands easier and go! But don't forget to wear a helmet.

Commute by bike. You'll get a workout, skip traffic jams and parking spot battles and save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in gas and parking costs if you make it a regular habit. Even biking to work once a week will reduce your commuting costs by 20%.

• If biking to work seems too daunting, why not combine biking with public transportation to reach your destination? Most trains and buses have exterior (buses) or interior (light rail) bike racks and CalTrain has designated BikeCars as well. For more information, visit: http://bicycling.511.org.

Travel electrically. If your biking commute is strenuous and you want to avoid breaking into a heavy sweat, try an electric version. A rechargeable electric bike is one type of lightweight electric vehicle (LEV) that is like a regular bike but with a small battery-powered motor to give extra power for hills or heavy loads. They emit 99.5 less CO2 than gas-fueled cars and batteries can be charged overnight. Electric scooters and one-person electric cars are also becoming increasingly popular with commuters. They do use more electricity than electric bikes do, but they also emit much less CO2 than cars. Try www.electric-bikes.com for more information.