Do you cycle for or at least partly for Enviromental reasons ?

[Drago]

And it's not just the environmental issue. When the oil is gone, its gone- no more road fuel, no more plastics (although in some ways that may not be a bad thing), synthetic materials, asphalt. Large scale food production and distribution becomes impossible at the current state of the art when the oil has disappeared.

And the more we use, the greater dependence we have on foreign enregry sources, the worse our strategic position is in a time of international crisis. These reasons are also very compelling to me.

The reasons not to fritter it away are so vast and varied I'm further astonished at societies careless attitude to its use.

 

[classic33]

I stopped buying Petrol when it went over a quid a gallon, sold the motorbike and have only owned bikes since.

"Bilking" now then?

 

[User66445]

Certainly partly, but often cycling on a terrible day turns to pleasure, plus vice versa on a good one - think being trapped behind a lorry that had tried to make a steep 45° bend and failed, without water on an unmade road next to a steep 600mdrop in Thailand at midday. The lack of a network for the portable the final straw ! That was day 1 of my tour.

 

[Drago]

[QUOTE 5487368, member: 9609"]the 2018 award for Cognitive Dissonance has to go the the Maldives Government; after spending 400 million dollars on a 2 mile sea level runway to cope with more and more of the worlds largest airliners that support their tourist industry - they then complain at the climate change conference that if the rest of the world does not reign it in a bit, then their islands (along with their new runway will flood)

https://maldivesindependent.com/bus...gins-at-maldives-international-airport-136515
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...talk-cop24-global-warming-rising-sea-11029662[/QUOTE]

That'll be the climate change conference to which all the delegates flew in jet aircraft.

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

It's a sad case that the best thing for the planet would be a massive human disaster this would cure so many problems ! In the 90's as a Eco warrior I was an idealist then I slowly changed to being a realist as I realized that we as a species are either too unintelligent or too arrogant, we insist on sawing off the very branch we are sitting on ( and I'm not saying I'm any better !) As pointed out by Richard the cost to the environment because by the car is not just a pollution one, I could not imagine a better world were I could cycle to where ever I wanted to go without the fear of being killed by the same morons I see every day with faulty cars driving half asleep as fast as they can with their windows frosted up because as they do everyday they set out too late before they even start their journey. I saw a couple of videos recently which gave me at least a little hope

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-p30FJxoHA


and

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq28fU2AuMU

 

[KneesUp]

We used to have two cars so we could both leave work at different times. But the cost (financial and environmental) of having a car that was used for a 6 mile round trip Monday to Friday and for the occasional trip to the tip with bits of garden was bothersome, so I got rid of it and now cycle to work 90% of the time, and sometimes walk when the weather is nice. The fact that it's good for me and I enjoy it (most of the time) helps I guess.

 

[JPBoothy]

We are destroying the planet because there are too many of us. Until we have the courage to face up to that and drastically restrict childbirth we are peeing in the wind. No use cutting carbon emissions by 10% per head if we increase our number by 20%.

I wouldn't worry over much though, we were never going to be a permanent fixture here. If we don't destroy ourselves in the meantime the Sun will take care of us eventually.

Happy New Year

 

[Rusty Nails]

I cycle for four reasons:

I love it
It can be quicker than by car
It helps keep me fit
I love it

 

[Alan O]

That'll be the climate change conference to which all the delegates flew in jet aircraft.

Hang on now, if we restricted all the political jaw-jaw to places and people who put their money where their mouths are, and have the meetings where people have been phenomenally successful in advancing cycling over the ever-expanding consumption of fossil fuels, we'd end up with the Dutch in charge of the world.

Ooh, now... that might not be such a bad idea. If it happens, please remember I suggested it here

 

[Drago]

@Alan O wins the coveted Post of the Day award for a wonderfully humorous and adroitly observed post. Well done.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

. However I do enjoy the fact my hobby has very little impact on the environment........I realise we could have a whole debate about manufacturing, air miles etc..............but just cycling is virtually zero impact.

I see a lot of wasteful practices and sheer hypocrisy in cycling; people that just have to buy the latest model year bike just because it's new, are too lazy to use a pump so they create loads of empty CO2 cartridge waste, those who just chuck away their inner tubes instead of patching them, those who bin a nearly new tyre after only a few rides because they didn't like something about it. Cycling can be very low impact if you do it on a shoestring, fixing up old bikes and running everything until you've wrung the last mile of life out of it. For a lot of cyclists, especially the recreational road cyclist, their hobby is far from zero impact because of the consumerist way in which they go about it.

 

[User66445]

Clearly the planet, universe and all things on it are doomed. Does that mean we should accelerate the destruction, which is current policy, or try to slow the rate of destruction by acting responsibly?

Hint: the second choice will never be taken, not enough money in it.

Tell me, skipdiver, and I really don't know the answer, are you a consumer? If not, could you explain to the rest of us how to do it? I see you live in London, which more or less gives the answer.

 

[EltonFrog]

I’ll start to look at the impact my consumerism has on the environment, when multi-story office blocks switch off their lights when the building is empty, when petrol stations turn off all their neon lights when closed, when bus companies run smaller more eco friendly buses on rural routes, when street lamps are turned off when not needed, when ALL new buildings are built with solar and other renewable power sources, when politicians stop letting farm land getting built on, when parents send their kids to school on their own, when water companies stop wasting water, when cities have car free days, when it compulsory for food and grocery suppliers to stop using plastic packaging.

I could go on but I need to drive one mile to the shop to buy milk in a plastic bottle and some crisps in a bag that takes a thousand years to degrade.

 

[Drago]

Problem is, if we each only act when someone else acts first then nothing will ever change.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Yes, but “environmental” in its wider sense - not just carbon/pollution, but also the improvement to the built and rural environment if more of us rode bikes and we could reduce/rethink roadspace.

That is a new way of thinking for me, you are right, of course.
Roads where cycling/walking is unpleasant at the moment could change if more would start cycling or walking.

I see a lot of wasteful practices and sheer hypocrisy in cycling; people that just have to buy the latest model year bike just because it's new, are too lazy to use a pump so they create loads of empty CO2 cartridge waste, those who just chuck away their inner tubes instead of patching them, those who bin a nearly new tyre after only a few rides because they didn't like something about it. Cycling can be very low impact if you do it on a shoestring, fixing up old bikes and running everything until you've wrung the last mile of life out of it. For a lot of cyclists, especially the recreational road cyclist, their hobby is far from zero impact because of the consumerist way in which they go about it.

Well, let's not exaggerate, most people do sell on their old gear, or give it to charity.