A Healthy Start

Year after year, we resolve to get fit and, increasingly, go green. But studies suggest lasting change requires a bit more specificity than resolutions like "drive less" or "exercise more." To get started: 1. Make a list of short daily or weekly car trips. In the United States, one in four trips is a mile or less. 2. Identify walkable trips on this list that add up to at least 28 miles a week (go farther if you plan to bike). Research shows that people who maintain weight loss burn calories equivalent to this amount of activity. And cutting four miles from daily driving trims about 1,600 pounds of greenhouse-gas emissions annually.