Archive for March, 2009

Is Your Car Killing You?? Air Pollution & Heath Risks

March 2nd, 2009 by Buddy Evans
Buddy Evans

Living without a car can seem like a total dysfunction or a step down in statist, but the truth is that life without a car is one small mental inconvenience for you, one giant step for mankind!

Between the effects of global warming, particle pollutants and lack of health benefits in driving;

Yes, your car is killing you!

Your car is killing you - sell your car!
Photo credits: gavinhudson

Let’s take a look at the some simple facts about global warming:

  • In the U.S. there are 232 million registered vehicles which amount to almost one per person including non drivers.
  • One US car per year consumes about 600 gallons of gas each year and emits over 12,000 pounds of carbon dioxide.
  • Automobile emissions account for more than 45 percent of the world’s automotive carbon dioxide emissions each year even though the US has only 5% of the world’s population

The average commute to work is 11.6 miles according to the US Department of Transportation.

That daily commute would produce 0.08932 pounds of Hydrocarbons, 0.638 pounds of Carbon Monoxide, 0.0406 pounds of Nitrogen Oxides, and 11.6 pounds of Carbon Dioxide per day. While that doesn’t seem too bad, if we factor in the 260 days one travels to the job every day then we have the staggering numbers of23.2232 pounds of Hydrocarbons, 165.88 pounds of Carbon Monoxide, 10.556 pounds of Nitrogen Oxides, and 3016 pounds of Carbon Dioxide!

Now just multiple that for everyone that works in our office or lives on your street or passes on your way to work. Now think about all the other times you get into your car when you are not going to work!

Aside from the most general apocalyptical scenarios attributed to global warming and the eventually extinction of mankind, we can still keep this simple and look at basic facts regarding the effects of global warming and health.

Life without a car kills smog: Global warming and the effects of increased organic compounds increase the production of smog.

Smog forms when sunlight, heat and relatively stagnant air meet up with nitrogen oxides and various volatile organic compounds. In addition to your car adding to the nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere, the actual warming of the basic earth temperatures will cause more smog as well. More hot days mean better conditions for creating smog that can trigger asthma and other breathing problems.

According to Dr. John Balmes of the American Lung Association, higher smog levels “may cause or exacerbate serious health problems, including damage to lung tissue, reduced lung function, asthma, emphysema, bronchitis and increased hospitalizations for people with cardiac and respiratory illnesses.”

Exposure to smog can do serious damage to our lungs and respiratory systems. Inflammation and irritation can cause shortness of breath, throat irritatioan, chest pains and coughing and lead to asthma attacks, hospital admissions and emergency room visits. These consequences are more severe if people are exposed while being active.

“The number of people with asthma in this country has more than doubled over the past 25 years, led by soaring rates in children” says Dr. John Balbus, head of Environmental Defense’s health program. “With climate change worsening smog in some areas and altering pollen levels, future air quality may pose a greater threat to our health, especially those of us with asthma and other lung diseases.”

Cure cancer: the soot and fumes from cars, trucks and buses are linked to asthma, lung and heart disease and cancer
directly

Scientists have long known that air pollution from trucks and cars is bad for your health. What’s new is that over the last decade, scientists have looked more closely at street-level exposure and found a high-risk zone of about 500 to 1500 feet. The latest science also points to more severe health risks in localized “hot spots” than air pollution measurements would suggest.

Combustion sources burn fuels and emit gases. These gases can vaporize and then condense to become a particle of the same chemical compound. Or, they can react with other gases or particles in the atmosphere to form a particle of a different chemical compound. Particles formed by this latter process come from the reaction of elemental carbon (soot), heavy metals, sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds with water and other compounds in the atmosphere. Studies validate earlier research showing a strong relationship between particle pollution and illness, hospitalization and premature death.

According to the findings from some of the latest studies, short-term increases in automotive induced particle pollution have been linked to:

  • death from respiratory and cardiovascular causes, including strokes.
  • increased mortality in infants and young children
  • increased numbers of heart attacks, especially among the elderly and in people with heart conditions
  • inflammation of lung tissue in young, healthy adults
  • increased hospitalization for cardiovascular disease, including strokes and congestive heart failure
  • increased emergency room visits for patients suffering from acute respiratory ailments
  • increased hospitalization for asthma among children
  • increased severity of asthma attacks in children
  • Chronic exposure to particle pollution can shorten life by one to three years.
  • Other impacts range from premature births to serious respiratory disorders, even when the particle levels are very low.

Even if you decide that you don’t believe in global warming and you don’t care about children and asthma, other studies have shown that really, walking is the best form of exercise anyway! Join the growing number of walkers in America,
get inspired by reading America’s Most Walkable Cities – Best Cities in the US to Live & Walk
In
. Not to mention, that the average cost of owning a car in the US is almost 20 thousand dollars, so imagine how much one has to stress and work just to pay for their car!

Life without a car is not impossible. You might think that your car is necessary to your life, but really the truth is that your car is not just killing you, your car is killing us all.

Bottom line: Save a life; Sell your
car
!

Read our How to Get Fast Cash for Cars article for some useful tips.

Learn more about why choose us to buy your car and call us today at 1-888-44-BUCKS or 1-888-44-8257

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America’s Most Walkable Cities

March 2nd, 2009 by Buddy Evans
Buddy Evans

Best Cities in the US to Live and Walk in

Even in a most walkable city, walking is vastly underrated and underappreciated

One of America's most walkable cities - NYC

Walking is something that we do every day, but certainly don’t do enough.  For too many American’s the longest walk completed everyday might be from the parking lot where we park our cars to the office, school or mall doors.

The average person takes 2,000 steps per mile. Studies have shown that, on an average, a person walking at 3 mph burns about 4 calories per minute. Often called the “nearest activity to perfect exercise” and aside from the simple calorie burning, there are numerous long term health benefits:

  • Walking reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke
  • Walking can help lower blood pressure
  • Walking reduces high cholesterol and improve blood lipid profile
  • Walking reduces body fat
  • Walking increases bone density, hence helping to prevent osteoporosis
  • Walking reduces the risk of cancer of the colon
  • Walking reduces the risk of non insulin dependent diabetes
  • Walking helps osteoarthritis
  • Walking helps flexibility and co-ordination hence reducing the risk of falls

Over 75% of American’s live in a walkable city where a commitment to walking is not impossible and in fact, walking is easier than driving.

Although 41% of all trips made in the United States are two miles or less, fewer than 10% of all trips are made by walking and biking. In many cases, walking would actually save time when one considers traffic and parking. Only around 15% of all children today walk or bike to school, a significant decrease compared with 50% of children in 1969. This has created 20-30% increase morning traffic congestion in urban areas due to parents driving children to school meanwhile; we have a national issue with childhood obesity! These facts alone have begun a national movement towards promoting children walking to school and supporting community development and legislation towards maintaining “Safe Routes to School”.

There are a surprising number of cities in the US which are considered quite walkable

Sure, we would all think of New York, Boston and Washington off the top of our heads. But did you know that large parts of Denver are walkable?  WalkScore, a project launched in July of 2007, has a website completed dedicated to finding and promoting “Walkable Places to Live”. Walk Score ranks 2,508 neighborhoods in the largest 40 U.S. cities to help you find a walkable place to live. On top of that, they have a list o 138 “Walker’s Paradises” Twenty-two cities have at least one Walkers’ Paradise. New York leads the pack with 38 Walkers’ Paradises including Tribeca, Little Italy, Soho, Chinatown, Midtown and Murray Hill.

America’s most walkable cities overall are:

  • San Francisco, CA
  • New York, NY
  • Boston, MA
  • Chicago, IL
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Seattle, WA
  • Washington D.C.
  • Long Beach, CA
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • Portland, OR
  • Denver, CO
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Milwaukee, WI
  • Cleveland, OH
  • Louisville, KY
  • San Diego, CA
  • San Jose, CA
  • Las Vegas, NV
  • Fresno, CA
  • Sacramento, CA

Basically, if one does their homework correctly, you can live and work in a neighborhood where walking would be the finest form of transportation. Over 55% of Americans are choosing their homes and considering a combination of single family homes, larger urban buildings and walking distances as prime reasons for a home purchase. Many real estate professionals are emphasizing walkable neighborhoods and listing a community’s WalkScore as part of their listing procedures with great results. Even Google has a walking directions map search in Beta at http://maps.google.com/maps. Just find your location and under options, select “walking”.

Bottom line, America has many walkable cities and the benefits and appeal of walking are so numerous, that anyone who does not take advantage of this healthy, money saving, ecological, and positive way to get around is just foolish or lazy. At Big Bucks Auto, we want to help America be healthy and efficient.   When you are ready, especially all you New Yorkers come to Big Bucks Auto and sell us your used car.

And as you walk away, you’ll be happy you did.

Thinking about selling your car and joining America’s growing number of walkers? Read our Best Cities in the US for Living without a Car article for some useful tips.

Walking, in a country of in a city, has been shown to improve self esteem, relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety, and improve mood

Walking, particularly in pleasant surroundings, and with other people, offers many opportunities for relaxation and social contact. It really does allow you to stop, get out of the rat race and smell the roses should you pass some by. Plus, walking allows you to really interact with your community; you get to look other folks in the eyes, stop and say hello. It’s a natural stress reducer.

Overall, people who walk live longer and have healthier lives

For general health, experts recommend accumulating a total of 30 minutes of brisk walking on most, preferably all days of the week. 10,000 steps per day is a great goal for someone trying to increase their physical activity level.  Granted one way of walking more would be to dedicate walking into a normal fitness routine or work the treadmill at the gym, but we can simplify that: stop driving your car.

For more information, please check out these helpful links:

WalkScore; http://www.walkscore.com/
Googel Walking in Beta;  http://maps.google.com/maps
Walk to School; http://www.walktoschool.org
America Walks; http://www.americawalks.org
Safe Routes to School; http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/

Learn more about why choose us to buy your car and call us today at 1-888-44-BUCKS or 1-888-44-8257

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