By: Joann Bally CSCS
Forests, rivers, deserts, mountains, and the like are the natural environment. The changes we humans make to it constitute the
built environment. We have to pay more attention to how we’re building it.
Traditionally, housing was near the places you wanted to go, in mixed-use neighborhoods. Then, in the 1940s and 1950s the
automobile took over. Our cities now devote over 60% of their surface area to cars—roads and parking. Zoning was used to isolate
neighborhoods, and we have the suburbs, which often require a 15-minute car trip to buy a loaf of bread, not to mention how long
it takes to get to work.
Physical activity is higher and obesity rates lower in walkable neighborhoods, where there are sidewalks and streets that actually
connect to each other. Bike paths and walking/hiking trails, nice parks, and nearby recreational facilities, including health
clubs, contribute to increased physical activity. They can even help bring back the neighborhood store, that you could walk to for
that loaf of bread.
Trails are actually cost effective. One estimate says that building and maintaining walking trails costs $98 per person annually.
But an inactive person spends $300-400 extra dollars a year on health care. It may be hard to totally convert neighborhoods
devoted to cars to make them friendlier for non-motorized trips to new recreation areas, but we can make them better. New
developments should definitely factor this in, as well as allowing mixed use so trips to stores and restaurants can also be made
on foot, decreasing the amount of gasoline used.
Consider this. If every American were to spend 30 minutes a day walking or cycling instead of driving, carbon emissions would be
cut by 64 million tons. As a bonus, the populace would collectively lose 3 billion pounds of excess fat.
We cannot afford to just accept the status quo. Do what you can individually by walking and biking more and driving less. Taking
public transportation helps too, and those who travel that way take an extra 2000 steps a day, getting to the train or bus. Then
work in your community to encourage more recreation and better use of existing space. In my neighborhood, they just opened a nice
new bike path under the power lines on the utility’s right of way. This will allow a large number of people to commute to work by
bicycle more quickly and safely than before, as well as providing more recreation. These little things add up. The earth, and your
waistline, will thank you.
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