Photo courtesy of madaboutbike.com

Last Friday I left work at the usual time, climbed into my car, and then waited through heavy Pittsburgh traffic for the next half hour. A half hour commute sounds pretty decent, right? But not when my apartment is only 2 miles from the office. On a good day, it takes me five minutes to get to work. Friday traffic is particularly awful, and couple that with beautiful spring weather and a desire to get home, open the windows, and let in some fresh air, and sitting in a car moving 4 miles an hour is that much worse.

So, I thought about it. I run about a 10 minute mile. That would mean I could run home in about 20 minutes. Not bad! And what about biking? It would surely take me less than 20 minutes. Either way, a car seemed like the least practical option for my Friday commute.

Since it also happens to be the month of Earth Day, and to be totally honest with you, I don’t really ever do enough for the the holiday, I’m going to commit to biking or running to and from work every Friday in April. In total, I will save nearly one week’s worth of gas, gain more than an hour of my time, and spare the Ozone a tiny bit of unneeded exhaust.

How are you celebrating Earth Day?

Cheers!