Going Car-Free Can Make You a Millionaire!

Blog by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Company
Dec 21, 2011 10:33 AM ET

Taiga Company blog by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Compa…

We are paying more for our cars than we realize.    Motor vehicle emissions represent 31 percent of total carbon dioxide, 81 percent of carbon monoxide, and 49 percent of nitrogen oxides released in the U.S. (The Green Commuter, a publication of the Clean Air Council).    According to the Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey, 25 percent of all trips are made within a mile of the home, 40 percent of all trips are within two miles of the home, and 50 percent of the working population commutes five miles or less to work. Yet more than 82 percent of trips five miles or less are made by personal motor vehicle.  60 percent of the pollution created by automobile emissions happens in the first few minutes of operation, before pollution control devices can work effectively. Since "cold starts" create high levels of emissions, shorter car trips are more polluting on a per-mile basis than longer trips.   The solution? Go car free.     As mentioned in our eco friendly consulting practice, cycling as alternative transportation helps the environment by keeping CO2 out of the air and bikes require far less materials, energy and waste in their production than even the ‘greenest’ car.    More so, the University of Wisconsin researchers found that bicycling could answer many of their environmental and health problems. According to the report published in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives, if Mid-westerners replaced half of their short trips with bicycle trips during the warmest six months of the year, they would save about $3.8 billion per year from avoided mortality and reduced health care costs for conditions like obesity and heart disease.  Click here to continue reading Going Car-Free Can Make You A Millionaire.   Home to one third of the earth's trees, the Taiga is the largest land-based biosphere and encircles the globe. Its immense oxygen production literally changes the atmosphere and refreshes the planet. It is this continuous renewal that has shaped Taiga Company's vision to drive similar change in the business world. Taiga Company seeks to be the "oxygen for your business".