Friday, June 27, 2008

Biking Saves The Environment and Pocketbook

With the price of gas at an all time high and currently still rising, it has definitely begun to impact the way we think about using our car and how often we really could be walking or biking. Going out for groceries tonight proved that its actually possible to bike uphill both ways to get somewhere.

Even though we are a dual income family (for the moment anyway) we had decided that we really don't need a second car. We are in a very good routine right now where my wife (still getting used to saying that, I just got married in early June!) drives the car to work most days so she drops me off when possible. Somedays she needs the car but isn't going in to work or some days she leaves early, so in April and May I was taking the bus to work, walking 10 minutes to the bus stop. I would either take a bus home or on nice days I will simply walk. It is 45 minutes which would probably keep most non-walkers from even trying it, but really its not that bad when you get used to it.

So after a 45 minute walk home today and a quick rest in our basement to cool down, we decided we needed some groceries for dinner. Just green onions and wraps but for some reason we decided that it took two of us to bike down to the grocery store. One to carry the backpack and one to carry the money :)

Biking is a great way to get active, maintain wellness, and if you do it with a partner you can deepen your relationship!

Anyway, the trip worked out great. It was a bit of a work out, it only took about 5 minutes to get there, we saved the gas money and the environment, and we even saved one of our dinner gift certificates (wedding gifts) for a day when we can really celebrate! Plus, it was my first time on my bike this year, and we are planning to bike down to the local Farmers Market (the Kitchener Farmers Market) tomorrow to get fresh produce. It will be a longer ride but we are lucky to live close to pretty much everything.

Now if we can just my wife a job in KW that she can walk to... we almost wouldn't need a car at all!