The Bite:
Go all out...side. If you can, walk or bike with your kiddos to school instead of driving them - even just once in awhile. It'll do wonders for their health (and yours), and 110% for the environment.
Back-to-School Week: Biking and Walking
Wanna do a little more to help your kids stay healthy?
08.18.2009
Submitted by alara on Mon, 08/17/2009 - 11:00pm.
The Benefits:
- Diligently cutting CO2. Commuting students make up about 30% of morning traffic. Walking or biking reduces the load of cars on the road (and CO2 in the air), not to mention the cars idling outside the school.
- Going further for fitness. More than 80% of kids sit on a bus or in a car to get to school. Walking or biking there builds and maintains healthy bones, muscles, and joints, plus helps control weight.
- Not surpassing your budget. It's free - no fuel needed.
Personally Speaking:
Wanna Try:
Walk
Bike
Look for the Biter's Guide to Back to School...coming soon on idealbite.com.
- Start by just trying it once, and mark your calendars for Walk to School Day on Oct. 7.
- Start a walking school bus - a group of children walking to school with one or more adults.
- Once kids can commute without an adult (age varies based on maturity and distance from school), help them find a travel buddy for the trip, and establish a safe stop - a designated neighbor or friend on the route where your child can stop along the way if they get hurt, need help, or just feel insecure.
Bike
- Find a safe route to school - consult a community biking map for dedicated lanes or check out MapMyRide for biking directions from school to home.
- This is the time to teach kids safe biking practices including wearing a proper fitting helmet (mandated by most states), opting for reflective clothes, and using a safety light.
- Kids under age 10 are better off riding on the sidewalk, as long as they yield to walkers; by a certain age (often 10-13 years old - check local laws), all cyclists must ride in the street.
Look for the Biter's Guide to Back to School...coming soon on idealbite.com.
Timeout
Alec Bachman, 6, of Short Hills, NJ, loves walking to school with his mom. He gets her all to himself to chat about what's on his mind.
Bang For The Bite
If 10,000 Mama Biters walk or bike with their kids to school just once instead of driving them, it'll have the same CO2-reducing effect as taking 893 cars off the road for a year.
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