Swapping Tail Pipes For Pedals: Small Changes Could Pay Huge Dividends For Public Health And Economy [HuffPost]

Like a growing number of Americans, Jonathan Patz rides his bike to work. He even drags a wheeled blue bin behind his bike for trips to the grocery store. Sure, this environmental scientist naturally wants to do his part to preserve the planet's future, but his motivation is also personal: He knows his wallet, waistline, heart, lungs and neighbors will benefit today.

"If we were to think about reducing greenhouse gases to solve the global warming problem, we could have some immediate major health benefits," says Patz, director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and lead author of a new study highlighting the "four-way win" that comes with swapping cars for bikes: reduced greenhouse emissions and gains in air quality, fitness and the economy. Patz is also a professor in Madison's Nelson Institute and Department of Population Health Sciences.

[Continue reading at Huffington Post]