Commute by bicycle to lighten your carbon load

July 10, 10:09 PMSF Bicycle Transportation ExaminerBen Marks

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Bicycles get infinity miles per gallon and produce zero pounds of carbon dioxide.

One of my favorite cycling garments is this vision in green from threadless.com. It pretty much sums up why I ride my bike to work every day, year round, except when it's raining (call me a wimp, but wet pavement freaks me out).

Full disclosure: My commute is only four miles each way, and they are flat miles at that. Many people don't have it so easy. One of my colleagues drives about 100 miles a day, each way, between the Central Valley and Menlo Park, and I once worked with a guy who commuted from Fairfax to Redwood Shores, which is not even half as far as my current colleagues' commute, although the miles from Fairfax to 101 and through San Francisco often feel a whole lot tougher.

But back to the shirt. Even though I've worn it for about a year now, I only recently started to wonder how much gas I was actually saving. I was all set to sit down and noodle it out, but then an even more important calculation occurred to me—the amount of carbon dioxide that my car is not spewing into the atmosphere. So, last night I went to liveneutral.org to compute my meager offset (is that even the right word in this case?). Using the site's DriveNeutral Carbon Dioxide Calculator, I typed in my car's miles per gallon (it's only my best guess because I drive the thing so infrequently these days), entered 2,080 (eight miles a day times five days a week times 52 weeks a year), and got a result of 1,610 pounds. That's the amount of carbon dioxide that I would be personally responsible for if I drove to and from work all year long, without taking a vacation or a single day off. Which means that the amount of carbon dioxide that I am not producing every day by riding my bike to work is 6.19 pounds. (Folks: If my math is screwy, please let me know.)

So, beginning today, I'll be keeping track of the amount of carbon dioxide I have not produced since the first day of this blog on July 10, 2008. I do this not to get all self-righteous on ya'll, although I'd be lying if I did not admit to being a little bit proud of this minor accomplishment. Rather, I've decided to keep track of the number to echo the sentiments of New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert and others, who point out that even small steps can make a difference if enough people are taking them. 

Amount of carbon dioxide not produced since July 10, 2008 thanks to commuting by bicycle: 12.38 pounds