Hello friends! With all the dreary weather we’ve had today, I’ve been hankering to get outside. I want to go on a bike ride and feel the wind in my hair, but it’s a bit too wet out right now to do that, unfortunately. As a result, I thought I would channel my desire to bike into this article and share the environmental benefits of biking.

Biking is a great, sustainable alternative for driving. Choosing to bike over driving only once a day reduces one person’s carbon emissions by 67%. 

Biking is also helpful in reducing carbon emissions in terms of manufacturing; it takes far less energy to make a bicycle than it does to make a car.

One thing that biking does—that you might not have realized—is improve air quality. Less driving means less exhaust, affecting our health for the better. Vehicle exhaust also contains many icky chemicals, some of which can even cause cancer. Imagine living in a city where you aren’t surrounded by stinky smells; it sounds pretty appealing to me.

Biking also prevents another type of pollution: noise pollution. Bikes are much quieter than the incessant honkings and screeching of cars. Opting to bike instead of driving creates a more enjoyable atmosphere for everyone.

In addition, reducing noise pollution is also better for animals. Studies have shown that noise pollution reduces the number of chicks a bluebird has and makes it difficult for them to find food, attract mates and avoid predators.

Another benefit of biking is that it is far better for your health than driving. Biking counts as a form of aerobic exercise, which physicians emphasize as an important weekly activity. In fact, estimates suggest that if you switch over to biking for 30 minutes a day, you’ll lose an average of 13 pounds and save $544 in medical bills.

Not only does biking increase your physical health, but it also helps your mental health. In fact, 75% of cyclists noted an improvement in their mental health after biking.

With gas prices rising, biking will also be increasingly useful in saving money. Once you buy a bike, cycling is essentially free, while cars require pricey fuel and constant repairs. 

The average sedan costs 8,876 dollars a year to drive and maintain, while biking only costs 350 dollars–huge savings. 

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to fully incorporate biking into your life if you live in the United States. Everything is just so far spaced out; for example, I have to drive 30 minutes to get to school everyday and it would be unsafe to bike on the highway. It’s simply not possible for me and for many others to bike to school or work. 

For this reason, it is imperative that local governments invest in more biking trails and lanes.

I’ve traveled to places like Copenhagon, Denmark where biking is a huge part of the culture. Just about everyone uses bikes to get around, and the city has an immense biking infrastructure built that lets you bike to just about anywhere.

While it may be unrealistic for those who live in the suburbs to bike into the city every day, we can still make efforts to increase how often we bike. Those who live in a clustered city have a particular opportunity available. And for those like me who live in spaced-out communities, we need to try to bike whenever possible, maybe to the grocery store or Walgreens. 

So when you have to make a quick run up to UDF to get milk, opt to bike instead. Not only will this help the environment, but I think you will also find the experience to be enjoyable and perhaps peaceful!

Elena