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"While many American adults enjoy the perk of owning a car, as they pull out of their garage, they overlook one mode of transportation that may very well serve as not only an alternative mode of transportation, but also a key to a healthy life. http://www.quickenloans.com/ has created an infographic entitled "Footloose and Car Free! How Biking Can Improve Your Health and the Environment", illustrating how adding two-wheeled transport to your repertoire can benefit not only you, but the environment and your wallet! "

Sustainable transport

"Fast, efficient and individualistic, the bicycle is no ordinary mode of transport. It's a church, a gym, a community creator, a cash printer, a protest placard, a dopamine generator, a mechanical expression of self-determination, an icon of hope. It is touchable, attainable freedom. It is also a tool for nature conservation and one that the City of Cape Town-indeed, any city-stands to benefit from."

"Alcoa (NYSE: AA) announced today that its $21 million Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products casthouse expansion at its Barberton, Ohio plant is expected to cut in half the total amount of energy used to recycle aluminum for forged wheels, reducing greenhouse gases and increasing the overall efficiency and sustainability of the company's manufacturing process. The recycling facility, the first of its kind in North America, uses advanced technology to produce wheels from re-melted and scrap aluminum. Construction of the 50,000-square-foot facility began in July 2011. It is now up and running at full capacity and has created more than 30 full-time jobs."

"The largest bike-sharing program in the United States is now active in New York City, providing thousands of carless and bikeless residents with a sustainable new form of transportation."

Designed by Croatian architect Ivica Gjurić, the home is primarily intended as a vacation residence. It is a mere 258 sq ft; this figure can be halved in 5-6 minutes when its two sides fold into each other via hydraulic compressors for easier transport. The house can be operated completely off-grid. Solar panels handle electricity; the builders say it can operate with minimal sun for three days with solar-charged batteries. Water is brought in from rainwater collectors. Heating and the stove are fueled by a propane tank. There is a built-in waste water filtration unit so you won't need to get a septic tank.

Today, we produce about four billion metric tonnes of food per annum. Yet due to poor practices in harvesting, storage and transportation, as well as market and consumer wastage, it is estimated that 30-50% (or 1.2-2 billion tonnes) of all food produced never reaches a human stomach. Furthermore, this figure does not reflect the fact that large amounts of land, energy, fertilisers and water have also been lost in the production of foodstuffs which simply end up as waste. This level of wastage is a tragedy that cannot continue if we are to succeed in the challenge of sustainably meeting our future food demands.

"The United States has seen quite the bike boom over the last decade or so, and it doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. According to the Christian Science Monitor, bike commuting grew by 47% nationwide between 2000 and 2011. Unsurprisingly, it was Portland, Oregon that took the lead with 250% growth, followed by Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, and New York City. Still, only 1% of Americans are biking on the regular, compared to 26% of people in the Netherlands, 10% of Germans, and 19% of the Danish population. The growth in the United States is of course still positive, and a great indication that there will be widespread public support as more cities begin to integrate cycling into the transportation grid."

"The federal government wants to increase the number of people who make short trips by foot or bicycle after a report card on the performance of Australia's cities found rapid changes in the labour market would pose big challenges to transport infrastructure. The economy benefits by more than $21 every time a person cycles 20 minutes to work and back and $8.50 each time a person walks 20 minutes to and from work, according to a policy statement released by Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday."

"Over 15 years ago, Melbourne mounted a long-term campaign to change the way it uses energy and has attracted international acclaim for its commitment to sustainability. This has included encouraging bike riding and public transport and improving building efficiency. One notable example of this is the Council House 2 building, Australia's first six-star green star new office design building. Completed in 2006, some of the building's features include recycled water use, automatic windows, sun-tracking facades for shade and roof-mounted wind turbines to draw out hot air."

"With careful design, the same development projects that improve communities, save lives, and increase GDP can also fight climate change. A new study examines the multiple benefits for a series of policy scenarios addressing transportation and energy efficiency in buildings and industry in five countries and the European Union. It provides concrete data to help policymakers understand the broader potential of climate-smart development investments."

"Renewable energy effectively uses natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are naturally replenished. Renewable energy technologies range from solar power, wind power, hydroelectricity/micro hydro, biomass and biofuels for transportation."

"As the world slowly wakes up to the need to electrify personal transport, the range of electric vehicles is starting to ramp up. Lance Turner looks at how Australia is doing in the move away from fossil fuels, and which EVs you can buy now and in the near future."

"AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands - Bike sales dropped with double digit numbers in 2012, but e-bikes did OK as its share on the Dutch market continued to rise. Electric bikes are now the most important segment."

Amsterdam is trying to keep its hordes of bikes under control. In a city of 800,000, there are 880,000 bicycles, the government estimates, four times the number of cars.