According to Dr. Philip Wu, a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente, " Mile for mile, you burn as many calories walking as you would jogging, but with far less stress on your joints." And walking makes your carbon footprint smaller in terms of green house gas emissions.
Of course nothing is simple. According to British scientist Chris Goodall, walking burns more calories, but those calories are typically replaced by eating beef, an energy-intensive food that must be fed, watered, slaughtered, and transported thus creating emissions exceeded the exhaust produced by a reasonably fuel-efficient car.
Goodall conveniently forgot to include the emissions incurred by getting the gas to the gas tank which includes pumping crude oil out of the ground and refining it. An analysis by California's Pacific Institute using more data concluded that, for someone eating the average US diet, walking a mile and a half generates 230 grams of carbon dioxide--less than one quarter the 1000 grams of the carbon exuded by driving the auto.
Lauren O.Foster, author of a walking guidebook of Portland, Oregon,makes a case for walking's psychological benefits,"In a car, people are basically an obstacle. Walking you notice how much time and energy folks put into their property and their homes."
In addition, you have a chance for some spokal networking, chance conversations with folks known and unknown that weave the fabric of the neighborhood. At least that is the truth for me. I've had more and longer conversations while walking or biking than I had in the three decades I was car bound in Riverside Avondale.
More than a song by Bobby Vee, it is the whispered hope of the grandmother when she sees the grandchildren paddle off onto the vast St. Johns in a red canoe. True, their dad is at the stern and their grandfather at the helm. True, a canoe is great non-petrol transport. All true. Still, I wait with the mom on the bulkhead until they return from the visit to Aunt Nancy. They have had a memorable afternoon. It must not have been too terrifying because one of them lay down and went to sleep in the canoe. I read somewhere that no child feels fear until s/he sees it on the face of the mother ( grandmother?) I don't want them to know how fearful I am. I smile.
Love the chambered nautilus bench tucked deep in the garden. I have true prospect and reach on this bench. The camphor is covering my head and yet I can see for miles over the yard and down river. My beloved book The Pattern Language says humans were formed on the African Savanna and always want to be in a place they can been covered and see afar. I agree. When Chester the Wonder Cat comes stalking, and the Mexican petunias part, I know he is coming. Thousands of years ago it was someone with my past DNA watching for the golden lions with the long, sharp teeth. The great cycle continues, even if the lion has been miniaturized by time.
Another one of my personally integrated exercise favorites is gardening. Done mindfully, I can get as much exercise as I do from a good yoga session,( and more basil.) Seriously, I have learned to integrate various yoga postures into gardening. Warrior one gets me over the weed bed and I can use Triangle to extract the weeds themselves. At the more mundane level, pulling a lot of the weeds always reminds me of the old Jane Fonda videos, except she wore color coordinated leotards and I wear my husband's teeshirts.
Zoomed down MacDuff Avenue today with my trusty Action Packer cart filled with pear muffins, freshly baked pear bread, organic apples, cheese and organic carrots. Determined to start Master Gardener Snack time on a nutritious note. The rest of the team answered the call and the tables were full of fresh veggies, black bean hummus and fresh fruit.