Walking Or Biking Can Save More Money Than You May Think!

According to one source (it.Ly/VwIRc0), 10% of automotive trips are for distances of less than one mile and more than 20% are less than two miles. If you went to walk or bike for some of these trips, you’d use your car less, save money, protect the environment and get something worthwhile exercise. Here are a few ideas to help you walk more and drive less.

1.  Prepare a list of places you’ll walk rather than drive. You may need to keep track of where you drive for a while for this to work, but note not only those places where driving requires a trip of less than a mile or two, but also note where you can walk shorter distances than you can drive—many subdivisions feature bike and walking paths where you can’t legally drive, allowing you to shortcut a driving trip. (for instance, to drive to the grocery store is about 1 mile from my home, but the walk is almost exactly half as far.)

2.  Measure the distance you’d drive to each of the places you choose to walk or ride.

3.  Measure the distance you walk or ride to go to each of these places.

4.  Follow up the miles you avoided driving. If walking and biking enables you to get rid of a car, you’re saving more than 50 cents per mile; if you keep the car, you’re still likely saving about a quarter (unless you have a plugin electric vehicle).

5.  Follow up the miles you walk or ride. Note that a typical person burns more than 100 calories (it.Ly/Ee4T7) per mile walked and up to 50 calories (it.Ly/YNNxSa) per mile on a bike.

6.  Make walking and biking for your errands a key part of your exercise program. Instead of walking 30 minutes on a treadmill or riding an hour on your spin cycle, go walk or ride an errand instead.

7.  If nothing else, the money you cut down on gas can go to something much more fun, like a donut or ice cream while you’re out and about. If you’re disciplined, the money can be kept for something much more meaningful and the calories burned can translate into a skinnier, healthier you.

By systematically organizing your exercise plan to be productive you can save time and money and lose weight too—all while you do something tangible to help the environment!