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Transportation
How to Become a Bicycling Commuter
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Written by Rachel Patten
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| Wednesday, 23 July 2008 | ||||
How to Become a Bicycling Commuter!BENEFITS for the Environment: Automobiles are one of the largest sources of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. For every gallon of gasoline burned, car engines spew twenty pounds of carbon dioxide (a harmful greenhouse gas) into the atmosphere. Levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere have been steadily rising over the past fifty years, and a significant portion of this increase can be linked to the added number of cars on the road. In addition to greenhouse gas emissions, pollutants from automobiles have been linked to urban smog and acid rain. Not only does bicycling not add pollutants or greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, the aerobic exercise of cycling can actually improve the health of your heart and lungs. BENEFITS for your Wallet: Now priced at more than $4.50 a gallon in some areas, gasoline can be a big, unwanted expenditure. Cycling to work is one way to save some cash on gasoline, but also on other areas like parking costs and car maintenance. Whether you bike to work every day or a couple times a month, the cost savings will add up quickly. BENEFITS for your Health: Biking to work is one way of building a workout into a busy day. An aerobic exercise, cycling is good for your heart and lungs, and can actually give you more energy throughout the day. Additionally, you can build muscle and reduce the stress caused by road rage and traffic jams. Cycling to work allows you to be the ultimate multi-tasker, getting in your daily cardio while getting to and from work. Cost: Low Actually, biking to work can actually save you money. Don’t worry about going out and buying a fancy bike or all of the accessories right away. Start out with any working bike and build up from there once you have determined that bicycle commuting works for you. If you do end up investing in a high-end bike, the cost savings from parking fees, gasoline use, and car maintenance should more than pay for the investment within a few months. Time and Effort: Moderate This mostly depends on your specific situation and where you are commuting to and from, but you would be surprised at how efficient bicycle commuting can be. Traffic and construction can often add a great deal of time to your daily work commute via car, and these inconveniences can typically be avoided on a bicycle. Some cities even offer special bike trails or bike routes that can be especially speedy, bypassing car traffic altogether and often offering a scenic vista along the way. Biking to Work: It’s never too late to become a bike commuter. If you’ve thought about it at all, you might as well give it a try to see how it works for you. The first step is getting a bike or making sure that the bike you have is in working order. Don’t go out and buy a fancy bike right away. Anything with a couple of gears and two working wheels should be fine at first. Be sure that there’s plenty of air in your tires and that there aren’t any obviously broken parts on the bike. If you do see something that looks amiss, it’s better to get it checked out before you hit the road. Before you begin, you should also make sure that you have a helmet and bike lights (if you’re planning on riding at night). Light or reflective clothing is also a good idea since it will make it easier for cars and drivers to see you. Once you have a bike and a helmet, try going on a few practice bike rides. Don’t worry if you feel a little sore afterwards, as cycling may exercise different muscles than you are used to using, but that’s normal for anyone starting out. After you’ve gone for a few short practice rides you should feel more comfortable on your bike. Many commuters express nervousness at the thought of biking on the road, but as long as you follow the rules of traffic and practice common courtesy to the cars sharing the road, you should be fine. Don’t forget, along with cars, you must abide by stop signs, stop lights, and yielding to pedestrians, in addition to other traffic signs. When biking on the road, always try to make it clear to drivers what you’re going to do, or, in other words, be predictable. Signal when you are going to turn, and do not weave in and out of lanes without giving drivers around you a heads up. After getting comfortable on your bike, try making a few practice commutes to work. Try to practice on a weekend or day off before you bike to work for the first time. This can allow you to ride at an easy pace and experiment with your route. It will also give you an idea about how much time you will need to allot yourself in order to get to work on time. Many workplaces are becoming more biker friendly, and often will provide an indoor bike storage room for employees. Some workplaces even offer showers as a convenience for bike commuters. Check with your workplace to see what’s available, or what options they might consider for the future. If you don’t have those amenities available to you, don’t worry. Check to see if you might be able to store your bike in a closet somewhere or even shoved to the side of your office or cubicle. Otherwise, there may be bike racks nearby or other permanent objects that you could lock your bike securely to. U-lock bike locks are generally the most secure locks if you’re planning on leaving your bike outside. Check with a local bike shop to find the best option for you. Lastly, plan your wardrobe and decide whether it’s better for you to ride to work in your work clothes, or whether you should change at work. This will most likely depend on the commute that you’ll be making. If it’s a short, easy commute, you could probably get away with wearing your work clothes. Otherwise, consider wearing loose fitting, comfortable clothing, and packing your work clothes with you. Often a wet paper towel and some deodorant suffice for bike commuters to be comfortable once they get to work, but you should experiment with what feels right for you. If you decide bike commuting is a viable option for you, you might think about investing in a bike made specifically for the type of commuting you will be doing. Or perhaps you might think about panniers, or side-satchels that will attach to the sides of the bike. Local bike shops should be able to answer any questions you may have about your specific biking needs. In the meantime, here are a few links to get you started exploring the wonderful world of bicycle commuting. Good luck! http://www.bikecommute.com/ http://commutebybike.com/ http://www.sierraclub.org/e-files/bike_commuting.asp Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin - http://www.bfw.org
1. 25-05-2011 01:34 Jack Cycling is very important for our health. Cycling increases our height and stamina. Cycling keeps us fit because in action we burn lots of calories. Cycling benefits for environment. Used trucks[URL=http://www.toptrucksonline.com]Used trucks[/URL] Registered 2. 08-03-2011 19:57 Jack I am also thinking of taking up bike commuting seriously as it helps to keep our self fit and saves our money which we spend on fuel as well as decrease pollution. recreational vehicles Registered Only registered users can write comments. |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 26 April 2011 ) | ||||
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Green Facts
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77% of people who commute to work by car drive alone.
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Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute.
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States with bottle deposit laws have 35-40% less litter by volume.
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A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water.
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Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every 3 months
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In California homes, about 10% of energy usage is related to TVs, DVRs, cable and satellite boxes, and DVD players.
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Current sea ice levels are at least 47% lower than they were in 1979.
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Nudge your thermostat up two degrees in the summer and down two degrees in the winter to prevent 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.
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Americans throw away more than 120 million cell phones each year, which contribute 60,000 tons of waste to landfills annually.
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Washing your clothes in cold or warm instead of hot water saves 500 pounds of carbon dioxide a year, and drying your clothes on a clothesline six months out of the year would save another 700 pounds.
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American workers spend an average of 47 hours per year commuting through rush hour traffic. This adds up to 23 billion gallons of gas wasted in traffic each year.
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Shaving 10 miles off of your weekly driving pattern can eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
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The World Health Organization estimates that 2 million people die prematurely worldwide every year due to air pollution.
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Recycling 100 million cell phones can save enough energy to power 18,500 homes in the U.S. for a year.
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You’ll save two pounds of carbon for every 20 glass bottles that you recycle.
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An aluminum can that is thrown away instead of recycled will still be a can 500 years from now!
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If every U.S. household turned the thermostat down by 10 degrees for seven hours each night during the cold months, and seven hours each weekday, it would prevent nearly gas emissions.
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For every 38,000 bills consumers pay online instead of by mail, 5,058 pounds of greenhouse gases are avoided and two tons of trees are preserved.
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Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy used to make the material from scratch.
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Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year.
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Refrigerators built in 1975 used 4 times more energy than current models.
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A tree that provides a home with shade from the sun can reduce the energy required to run the air conditioner and save an additional 200 to 2,000 pounds of carbon over its lifetime.
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It takes 6,000,000 trees to make 1 year's worth of tissues for the world.
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Glass can be recycled over and over again without ever wearing down.
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Recycling for one year at Stanford University saved the equivalent of 33,913 trees and the need for 636 tons of iron ore, coal, and limestone.
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Americans use 100 million tin and steel cans every day.
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A steel mill using recycled scrap reduces related water pollution, air pollution, and mining wastes by about 70%.
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Turning off the tap when brushing your teeth can save as much as 10 gallons a day per person.
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Less than 1% of electricity in the United States is generated from solar power.
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You will save 300 pounds of carbon dioxide for every 10,000 miles you drive if you always keep your car’s tires fully inflated.
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Every week about 20 species of plants and animals become extinct.
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A laptop consumes five times less electricity than a desktop computer.
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Recycling 1 million laptop computers can save the amount of energy used by 3,657 homes in the U.S. over the course of a year.
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Due to tiger poaching, habitat destruction, and other human-tiger conflicts, tigers now number around 3,200—a decrease in population by about 70% from 100 years ago.
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One recycled aluminum can will save enough energy to run a 100-watt bulb for 20 hours, a computer for 3 hours, or a TV for 2 hours.
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In the United States, automobiles produce over 20 percent of total carbon emissions. Walk or bike and you'll save one pound of carbon for every mile you travel.
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82 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. come from burning fossil fuels.
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You will save 100 pounds of carbon for each incandescent bulb that you replace with a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL), over the life of the bulb.
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Bamboo absorbs 35% more carbon dioxide than equivalent stands of trees.


