Day 42: "Ride Bikes Every Day"

Those of you who have me on facebook have probably seen this one already, but I just love this Cyanide and Happiness strip:

Today's topic is transportation, and how we get around.

According to the David Suzuki Foundation cars are the leading source of air pollution and there are 14 million cars in Canada.In his Green Guide Dr. Suzuki writes that North Americans rack up more than 8 trillion "passenger kilometers" every year on the road and in the skies. That is 200 million trips around the Earth at the equator or 21 million trips to the moon. Furthermore, the average North American driver circumnavigates  the planet every year and half - and most of us don't even go very far from home! In the end, one of the most fundamental change that we can make is to drive and fly less often.

This doesn't mean you can't go anywhere, you just have to think more about where you are going, when, how and how often!

Here are a few things to think about:

1) Can you walk or bike there? It takes about 10 minutes to walk a kilometer, plus you save on gym fees by burning some extra calories!

2) Get there faster by cycling! Often trips less than 10km are faster in cities by bicycle than by car. This actually came up today when I was waiting for my carpool to go to the North Shore for some mountain biking. Due to the amount of traffic today I probably would have been able to cycle faster to my friends house, even with my heavy all-mountain bike, than it took him to drive to come and pick me up. This friend also commutes to work everyday in North Vancouver by bicycle, and says that it is often the quickest way as well, because he avoids the traffic on the Lions Gate Bridge

3) Cycling and walking saves you money on gas and/or bus fare! 

4) Walking and cycling improves your health!

5) Reduce air pollution by car-pooling, taking public transit, walking or cycling - this also reduces the congestion on the streets! Transit is actually great, it may take a bit longer to get somewhere, but you can leisurely read the paper or listen to music and is much less stressful than driving!

6) Save money and the environment! It is less expensive and less energy intensive to maintain a bicycle than it is to maintain a car. My parents live about 15 km away from the nearest town where my mother works as a nurse. In the summertime on her day and morning shifts, my amazing mother will cycle into work and home again!

I want to point out that I grew up in rural Alberta and I understand that sometimes there are no other options because it is too far, there is no transit, or it is too cold! However, even if you can't always incorporate any of the above ideas into your lifestyle, here are a few for those who must drive a car.

1) Drive a small fuel-efficient car.

2) Combine trips so you don't have to make several trips.

3) Car-pool!

I will post some more tips on how to be a more environmentally friendly driver sometime in the future, but this will get you started!

As for me, I am going to continue taking public transit, walking and biking. I will incorporate the above tips into my lifestyle, and when I do go farther from home I will try to organize car-pools and fill as many people into the car as possible.

Any other thoughts or suggestions? Do you commute by bicycle or walking? How do you feel about it?