Eco-Impact
Many of the trips we take by car are short distances, and you can make a big difference in reducing air pollution just by bicycling or walking those distances and leaving the car at home.
Emissions are highest when a vehicle is started cold, so this is the time when we create a great deal of air pollution. In fact, by eliminating five separate one-mile vehicle trips reduces about the same amount of ozone-related pollution as eliminating one 15-mile trip.
Here are other ways you can help the environment by simply riding your bike:
- Biking does not pollute the air: Automobiles are the primary cause of air pollution in the U.S. and the more people bike, the fewer cars there will be on the road causing pollution.
- Bicycles do not create carbon dioxide: Automobiles emit high levels of carbon dioxide which is the main cause of global warming. Biking more and driving less helps to reduce this amount of carbon dioxide pollution.
- Biking does not create noise: Biking reduces cars on the road and the noise that goes with them. This ultimately reduces noise pollution for people who live near busy roadways.
- Biking reduces congestion: Automobile congestion clogs our roadways and adds to our stress while biking helps reduce the number of cars on the road.
- Biking requires less space and fewer roadways: As more cars fill the roads, more roads must be built and extra lanes added to existing ones. After a while this consumes open space that causes more water run-off which contributes to ground and water pollution. But creating bikeways or adding shoulders to roads for cycling has tremendous beneficial effects for our land.
Learn more about how alternative transportation methods like biking helps the environment.