Jeff is a sustainability hero. I've just spent the last few days in Idaho, learning all about sustainable wheat farming, part of a pilot that General Mills is doing. My new job is all about telling General Mills sustainability story. It's pretty cool that we have one to tell, too.
I love being able to tell people we have one car.
I love telling people we live so close to places we can bike to.
I love the money we save on a second car payment, gas, insurance, maintenance.
The more I learn about the issues facing the planet (growing populations demanding increased food production, which will require farmers to get higher yields from the land), the more it just makes sense to live more sustainably.
Furthermore, I've been reading a lot on living simply. Eliminating clutter from your home, reducing the number of things we buy, limiting the number of commitments we make, can all help us have a happier life. I think this simple living is actually sustainable living.
Personally, I don't think there is a better way to live and am making a priority to change my lifestyle to be more sustainable, simple.
So about that new bike...
Friday, July 13, 2012
So, Commuting . . .
I alluded in my last post to writing about riding my bike to work.
Since last fall, I've been riding my bike to work regularly. In fact, apart from driving into work yesterday, I haven't driven since sometime in January (and then only sporadically).
Here's some background. I initially bought my bike in late summer of 2009 and found out that I really enjoyed riding. I guess it contributed to a lifestyle change, since I started doing regular rides of 20 or 30 miles and started participating in longer supported rides. Between riding, exercise in general, and watching calorie intake, I was able to lose roughly 30 pounds, give or take.
Then, last summer (after I had already dabbled in commuting), Bridget and I were driving to Door County and discussing what we should replace her vehicle with (we'd already started test driving cars), since her lease was up in November. I remember the epiphany we both had in realizing that we didn't need to replace it at all.
Anyway, yesterday's drive into work gave me the occassion to compare commuting by bike with commuting by car.
My ride (roughly 7.5 miles) takes me 25 to 30 minutes on the bike. (To compare, my drive yesterday (no traffic since I left at about 9:45), took about 20 minutes, inclusive of the walk from the parking ramp to my office.) My ride gives me a chance to get a good (twice) daily workout and helps me get rid of any stress that has built up throughout the work day. It is wholly immune to traffic.
I am also lucky to work for a company that is supportive of bike commuting and in a building that has all the features a commuter would want. At my request, my company provides a $20/month bike commuter reimbursement. Although that's not a lot of money (and although it pales in comparison to their reimbursement for parking a car), it does add up. It paid for my new helmet this year. The building has "bike boxes" that are lockable and available for $40/year. It also has a workout facility on the skyway level where I can shower. A normal day for me includes riding to and from work as well as having a mid-day workout.
Then there's the infrastructure. About half of my commute is on well-maintained trails, most of which have lanes for cyclists in addition to a lane for pedestrians. Most of the road riding in my commute is in bike lanes, and I've found that drivers in St. Paul and Minneapolis tend to be very aware of cyclists. I've had very few problems with drivers.
That all adds up to a no-brainer, at least in my mind, about whether it makes sense to commute to work.
Now if I can just convince Bridget that I need a new bike . . .
Since last fall, I've been riding my bike to work regularly. In fact, apart from driving into work yesterday, I haven't driven since sometime in January (and then only sporadically).
Here's some background. I initially bought my bike in late summer of 2009 and found out that I really enjoyed riding. I guess it contributed to a lifestyle change, since I started doing regular rides of 20 or 30 miles and started participating in longer supported rides. Between riding, exercise in general, and watching calorie intake, I was able to lose roughly 30 pounds, give or take.
Then, last summer (after I had already dabbled in commuting), Bridget and I were driving to Door County and discussing what we should replace her vehicle with (we'd already started test driving cars), since her lease was up in November. I remember the epiphany we both had in realizing that we didn't need to replace it at all.
Anyway, yesterday's drive into work gave me the occassion to compare commuting by bike with commuting by car.
My ride (roughly 7.5 miles) takes me 25 to 30 minutes on the bike. (To compare, my drive yesterday (no traffic since I left at about 9:45), took about 20 minutes, inclusive of the walk from the parking ramp to my office.) My ride gives me a chance to get a good (twice) daily workout and helps me get rid of any stress that has built up throughout the work day. It is wholly immune to traffic.
I am also lucky to work for a company that is supportive of bike commuting and in a building that has all the features a commuter would want. At my request, my company provides a $20/month bike commuter reimbursement. Although that's not a lot of money (and although it pales in comparison to their reimbursement for parking a car), it does add up. It paid for my new helmet this year. The building has "bike boxes" that are lockable and available for $40/year. It also has a workout facility on the skyway level where I can shower. A normal day for me includes riding to and from work as well as having a mid-day workout.
Then there's the infrastructure. About half of my commute is on well-maintained trails, most of which have lanes for cyclists in addition to a lane for pedestrians. Most of the road riding in my commute is in bike lanes, and I've found that drivers in St. Paul and Minneapolis tend to be very aware of cyclists. I've had very few problems with drivers.
That all adds up to a no-brainer, at least in my mind, about whether it makes sense to commute to work.
Now if I can just convince Bridget that I need a new bike . . .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)