Stepping off that gas and onto bike pedals is one of the best things you can do to help the environment. Choosing a bike over a car just once a day reduces the average person's carbon emissions from transportation by 67%.
More than half of all daily trips are also less than three miles long — a perfect distance for a climate-friendly bike ride.
In 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change even identified bicycling as a solution to ensure a sustainable world for everyone, both now and in the future. Let’s look at how this one small change in your transportation habits significantly helps protect the environment.
Cleaner Air
Harmful particles, chemicals, and gases are released into the air from the tailpipes of vehicles, contributing to air pollution. This affects our health and the health of the planet.
Human-powered and not reliant on gasoline, bicycles don’t add pollution to the atmosphere.
With a typical passenger vehicle emitting almost five metric tons of carbon dioxide a year from burning fuel, biking cuts back on fuel consumption.
Less Noise
The clamor cars make creates noise pollution. These disturbing sounds have an environmental impact, affecting ecosystems and causing health problems for people.
Replacing noisy vehicles with quiet bikes results in less engine noise and traffic congestion, which both support a healthier environment.
Brighter Future
The effects of climate change, wildfires, droughts, and more severe happenings, pose risks in the present and for future generations. With transportation one of the leading causes of an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere producing that warming effect fueling these extreme events, riding a bike is a legitimate climate solution.
A moderate increase in bicycling each year could save 6 to 14 million tons of carbon dioxide. Rising concentrations of this chemical compound at unsustainable levels result in increased warming, harming the planet.
As clear as a good air quality day, every trip on two wheels, not behind the wheel, benefits the environment. Not only is riding a bike the greener alternative — it's better for your health and more affordable.
