- Cycling to work can help cut down on greenhouse gas emissions from cars.
- A recent study published in Scientific Reports points out that you also need to think about where the extra fuel you need for a more active commute comes from.
- Eating a diet full of foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, and grains have much lower emissions than meat and dairy, plus they are often the healthier choice, too.
Cycling to work is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint or even avoid public transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic. But a recent study published in Scientific Reports points out that if you are eating more to power a more active commute, make sure to think about where that additional food comes from.
Fueling your commute with foods such as meat and dairy may actually cause higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions, especially in high-income countries that produce more of these types of foods. In turn, that may make your effort to be more sustainable futile.
While there are many factors involved in how many calories you burn on your commute, the study found the estimated additional energy expenditure required to bike one kilometer (.62 miles) ranged from 25 to 40 calories, and 48 to 76 calories if you choose to walk instead.
But depending on what you eat to compensate for the extra calories burned (depending on how the food is produced), each extra kilometer you travel could actually result in an increase in greenhouse gas emissions by 0.14 kilograms CO2-equivalents—the unit of how you measure greenhouse gas emissions—per kilometer for cycling and 0.26 kilograms CO2-equivalents per kilometer for walking.
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“The race is on to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to stop us suffering the worst effects of climate change. It is easy to just think about one source of emissions, such as cars, in isolation, but we need to be thinking about the whole picture,” study author Anja Mizdrak, Ph.D., a research fellow in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington, told Bicycling.
What exactly does this mean for cyclists? Though the environmental impact depends a lot on the commute, cycling would probably have half the emissions of driving on average in a high-income country where diets are high in emissions. However, the emissions from cycling would be even lower if you “fuel”yourself with lower-carbon food—such as fruits, vegetables, and grains—Mizdrak said.
Keep in mind that emissions for driving cars for short trips tend to be higher (due to the energy needed to warm up the engine, etc.) than average driving emissions, Mizdrak explained. So there’s probably still emissions savings when walking or cycling short distances, even in the context of high-emissions diets.
To help reduce your overall carbon footprint, some simple dietary swaps you can make include reducing red meat and dairy consumption, which are the foods that have the biggest emissions impact, Mizdrak said.
“This could include having a ‘meat-free’ day every week, or swapping some of the meat with other ingredients in a meal. For example, you could try replacing some of the ground beef in a spaghetti Bolognese with some veggies or lentils,” Mizdrak said.
So, whether you’re thinking about going totally meat- and dairy-free or just cutting out these foods one day a week, making sure any extra food energy eaten when you add more exercise to your routine is coming from low-emissions food sources helps lower your environmental impact, Mizdrak explained.
The bottom line: Choosing foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, and grains have much lower emissions than meat and dairy. But even if you’re not up for making any dietary changes, cycling or walking to work can still help reduce air pollution and congestion on the road, Mizdrak said. Plus, there’s a slew of evidence that shows any time you exercise—such as an active commute—is beneficial for your mental health and physical health, too.
