The Wonders of Walking.

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To be honest, this is a weird thing for me to be writing about.  It's something that I do without even thinking about it, and my destination has to be over a 40 minutes walk before it even occurs to me to think of an alternative mode of transport.  But when the NHS has to give advice on how to walk and how to make it part of your daily routine I'm guessing the same is not true for others.  For me, walking feels a very natural, but there are a whole load of reasons it should be a, obviously un-natural, choice for everyone.

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In 2009 the UK Government calculated that transport accounted for a quarter of the UK's domestic transport greenhouse gas emmissions, with cars use being half of this.  When you think about the rest of our domestic lifestyle; lighting, heating, watching lots and lots of tv, eating meat (more of that later), etc, that's quite a large chunk.  So, as a way of reducing our household and nationals carbon footprint, taking to walking instead of driving is a very easy way to start and helps in the fight about climate change.

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But if you really don't believe, or care, about climate change, that's not the only environmental reason to use your feet instead of your wheels.  While not a lot seems to be being done about it, vehicles are one of the greatest contributors to air pollution in the UK.  With nitrogen dioxide being one of the many particles of acids, chemicals, metals and dust that gets pumped out the back of our cars.  Many of these particles affect the wildlife surrounding us, especially the plant life (perhaps the most important group in an ecosystem), which affects everything futher up the chain.  And without these plants whose going to clean the air we breathe and produce the oxygen we need?  Ontop of that, there's the whole issue on the health effects air pollution has on us.  These include eyes, noses and throat irritation, headaches feeling sick, and bronchitis as just the short term effects from breathing in these fumes.  Long term exposure, which basically means any of us to spend time in a built up area, included heart attacks, lung disease, damage to a whole load of vital organs, and cancer.  Hmmm, lions and tigers and bears......  That alone should put us off driving.

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Of course, the lack of air pollution is not the only health benefit you would get from walking instead of driving.  For such a low impact, no need for training, activity it does a lot of good.  Not only does it help you loss weight, loss body fat and improve your overall, it reduces the chances of you getting type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and arthritis (by increase bone and muscle strength), heart disease, high cholesterol, and some cancers.  There are also a number of studies showing the benefits that walking has on mental health issues like depression.


There are so many reasons to go walking that walking instead of driving should be a no brainer, especially for short distances...and its amazing how quickly your body gets used to walking. It is what it evolved to do afterall.  And if all the above reasons aren't enough to get you pacing then just thinking of the money you'll save on fuel!! £1.39 per litre anyone.