If you’ve been thinking about making some changes to make your life a little greener, we bet you’ve already tried the basics, like replacing your paper towels with a spongy, reusable alternative or starting to compost instead of tossing your food scraps in the trash. But have you considered hopping on your bike instead of taking your car to visit the farmer’s market? Or even using your two wheels to commute to work a few mornings each week? Adding regular bike rides into your everyday routine can be an easy, fun way to make your footprint on the planet just a little bit smaller and lighter. If you’re curious about how, exactly, that could be, here are five major reasons why riding a bike (including your cute Bluejay) is so good for the environment.
1. Biking doesn’t add to air pollution.
One of the absolute best parts about biking in nature? For some it’s the sights, but for others it’s definitely the access to fresh air. Because if you’ve ever been stuck biking in the city behind a huge truck or a car that’s spilling exhaust, you know how unfortunate and harmful polluted air can be. In fact, 80 percent of the carbon monoxide in the atmosphere comes from vehicles that rely on gas or diesel. Luckily, your bike (and yes, even your Bluejay ebike that tackles hills like a champ) is a zero emission mode of transportation. Which means you can get from home to the office or from your BFF’s house to the beach without adding any pollution to the air you breathe or negatively contributing to climate change.
2. You don’t need fossil fuels for a bike adventure.
As you might’ve already picked up, your bike is zero emission because it doesn’t require the use of gas. That means you don’t have to spend a ton of money at a gas station every week and it also eliminates that unsettling fear that you’ll run out of gas—even when your tank is half full. But when you choose to pedal instead of getting behind the wheel, you’re not only putting less CO2 into the environment but you’re actively choosing not to support the oil industry, which has been known to wreak havoc on our planet. We won’t get into the dirty details there, but just know that they’re the ones responsible for those heartbreaking oil spills that leave adorable ducks covered in the slick fluid.
3. Pedaling leaves a smaller footprint.
If you’ve ever accidentally biked into a pothole (we hope you’re ok!!), you can attest to the damage that cars and trucks have on the roadways. Since they’re so big and heavy, they naturally wear down the concrete and leave behind debris, making it necessary to refurbish roads and clean them regularly. Since bikes are much smaller and lighter, they’re much gentler on roads and paths. Plus, they don’t require the use of chemical-laden fluids—like antifreeze or oil—which have a tendency to leak all over our roads and can often find their way into bodies of water. So yeah, choosing to ride your Bluejay bike will certainly leave behind less of a footprint than driving and it’s generally a better choice for our planet in the long term.
4. Two wheels are safer for wildlife.
Yes, seriously! According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, over 60 million birds are killed by collisions with cars each year. Keep in mind, that doesn’t take into consideration the deer, squirrels, chipmunks and other adorable critters that meet their untimely end because of fast moving cars. While you should definitely keep an eye on the road for wildlife while you’re biking, just know that you’re doing better for all animals by choosing two wheels instead of one.
5. Biking makes it easier to appreciate the earth around you.
Feel the wind on your face, hear the birds chirping, take a second to check out that patch of blooming tulips on the side of the road...Those are just some of the benefits you’ll reap during an average bike ride. Whether you ride the same streets every day or you make it a goal to explore new bike paths each weekend, we encourage you to admire the landscape around you and appreciate it. Biking brings you close to nature—and there are no doors, windows or even a roof to separate you from it. So, even if you get caught in a rain shower or end up covered in mud after your next ride, that’s okay. It just brought you closer to Mother Earth.
