Its May everyone, which means its National Bike to Work Month. Do you already have a bike? Good, then we can begin. This diary is intended to outline just exactly what environmental and economic impact riding your bike to work, school, or for running errands will have. As progressives, liberals, DFHs, or whatever we want to call ourselves, we all know the adage about activism that states "think globally, act locally". Well, through statistical analysis I will show just how you can contribute to the effort to combat global warming by "acting locally".
The following statistics are based on my own personal vehicle and its fuel economy but I will provide links to websites where you can input your own vehicle's information to find out the applicable data for you. I'll keep this short and provide you the tools to see how big a difference you can make by riding your bike instead of driving.
Let's start by determining the CO2 emissions released by driving a car. The EPA says that 19.4 pounds of CO2 get emitted per gallon of gasoline as per their website here.
Through the wonders of mathematics, you can determine just how much CO2 gets emitted per mile of driving. First, you take the average fuel economy of your car, for my Toyota Yaris I will estimate it at 35 mpg. To find how many gallons of gasoline per mile (gpm) are used, check this site out. Divide the gallons per 100 mile number down so you get gallons per individual mile.
My gpm is: 2.86 / 100 = .0286
I have a 3 mile round trip to school, so by biking I save .0858 gallons of gas. To determine the pounds of CO2 Not emitted by biking you multiply the gpm by the 19.4 figure to get the pounds of CO2 emitted per mile (ppm).
My ppm of CO2 is: .0286 x 19.4 = .55
Okay, almost done with this part. Now you just multiply the distance you bike by how many days per year you make the trip to get what you aren't emitting each year by riding your bike. I go to school 3 days per week and about 32 weeks per year.
My CO2 saved is: .55 x 3 miles x 3 days x 32 weeks = 158.4 pounds of CO2 each year.
That's just the environmental impact, let's look at the economic savings for you (and me).
My car costs $.44 per mile driven according to Edmunds. You can find yours here.
My annual savings is: .44 x 3 miles x 96 days = $126.72 per year
Not to mention the fact that I don't have to plunk down $150 for a parking permit each semester!
These numbers are all based on my own experiences. If you ride your bike twice as much as me, you'll be saving that much more in money and in pounds of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. I encourage you to use these tools to determine what you already are saving (in $ or emissions) or what you could save by riding your bike.
Bonus Round:
You get exercise by riding your bike improving your cardiovascular system and muscle tone in your lower body. Riding your bike at a moderate pace burns calories too. For me its 363 calories per hour, check out this website to find out what you burn (based on weight, height, gender, and age).
So there you have it folks, it may not sound like much to start with, but if each of us does our part we can do it, start pedaling!