Our World and Everything in It

I wrote about riding bikes to save on gas and get in shape before, but the biking business is really taking off now with high gas prices. I participated in a survey by an environmental group that listed all types of things that can help ease global warming and the bicycle was number one by 34 percent. Prophylactics were second at 19%, but I digress.

It seems the bicycling trend is really picking up. There has been a 100 percent rise in cycling since 1985. There are 3.2 million people that bicycle to work at least once a week. Burning one gallon of gas equals 20 lbs. of CO2 released into the atmosphere.  I would guesstimate the average car used to get about 20 mpg. My old car does anyway. If the average distance to work is 5 miles one way, then two days of biking by just one bicyclist to and from work would equal one gallon of gas and save 20 lbs. of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere. One day would save 10 lbs. of CO2 per bicyclist. Never underestimate the power of one. Never say your individual actions don’t account for much, because other people are doing that same action too. 

One bicyclist times 3.2 million bicyclists cycling an average 10 miles round trip for work saves 32 million lbs. of CO2 from entering the atmosphere IN ONE DAY!  The results are pretty staggering, not to mention those American bicyclists are getting in shape at the same time. It’s healthy for the individual, and healthy for the earth.

My husband just said if work was just a little closer he would bike. We used to bike together. It’s unbelievable how far a person can bike quite easily. I know I did plenty of biking in my day. I used to stash my bike in the trunk of my car and drive my car to get serviced. I’d simply take the bike out and ride it home until the car service called to pick up my car. It was about 5 miles one way. 5 miles on a ten speed is a breeze. I think we are just conditioned to catching a ride everywhere, instead of peddling ourselves. We would do it more if we just thought about it. Well, we have to own a bike too.

Read more statistics about biking in America: http://www.solutions-site.org/artman/publish/article_395.shtml.

I read an interesting article on World Wire about electric scooters. People are fed up with gas prices and are genuinely concerned about the environment. So scooters are selling like hotcakes all over the country. The number one question potential scooter buyer’s ask: “Will it get me to work and back?” Sure will. They run on pennies compared to dollars per gallon for gas, have 1/10th the impact on the environment, a cheap model can be purchased for $200-$300 dollars, and they are quiet.

Cities are beginning to revise their laws to allow these scooters on the streets. Will we have scooter lanes? Some cities have bike lanes. It’s all very Asian I think. It reminds me of pictures of downtown Saigon. Everybody is on a scooter. Unfortunately, Vietnamese scooters are puffing out CO2, but the picture remains the same. Will people in suits use a scooter? I can see the tie trailing behind now. Will everyone have to wear a helmet? This is all pretty new.

Green is a brand new industry waiting to happen. Scooters sales are a good example of a green market that is taking off because it offers a product that does the job with very little environmental impact, comes in all price ranges, and the savings on gas pays for the scooter in a short time. It’s a good green product that the public will buy when offered the choice. An electric scooter dealer reported over 28% increase in his sales on-line and at his Tampa retail-outlet since 2006.

Tampa retail outlet? New picture here. Senior citizens, I love em to death, but many do not drive well. My new mental picture is of senior drivers on the street at the same time as a bunch of electric scooter commuters. Scooter Commuter has got a ring to it. Anyway this could be a recipe for disaster.

My dear departed father was a moped man in Florida. To me, moped is a scooter with another name. I got him a baseball hat that said “Senior on Wheels.” He had all kinds of mopeds. His hobby was restoring them to run like new. We each had our own when we visited and would tear around in the orange groves on them.

My husband set out with my dad on mopeds. When they got back my husband, hair sticking straight up from the wind and eyes wild, swore he’d never go with my dad again. Why? Because they went along side a highway on the shoulder (illegal), my dad then cut across 3 lanes of traffic to a ramp, while cars were winging buy, and then stood up and waved for Ed to come on; it was all right. Mind you my husband has owned 2 Harleys. On top of that my dad had a heart condition and knew it. He shouldn’t have been out there to begin with. See what I mean about scooters in FLA?

Now that I’ve taken you off the subject, if you are interested in becoming a scooter commuter, or want one for fun, to get around your property, or to buy for your kids (scooters come in sizes) check out this website:

http://www.tm-scooterhaven.com/

Hey, I just remembered. Mary, who writes the HR blog, used to wing to her job at the bank on a scooter way back in the 70’s. It was an old gas bike, but I remember that now. She wore a helmet. I can’t remember if she wore a skirt too. Rotten I should blog this huh? LOL