At Lighter Footstep, we've long been fans of bicycle commuting. And with record crude oil prices and gasoline again edging up above $3.00 a gallon in the United States, a lot of people are starting to agree.

When it comes to green transportation, bikes are tough to beat. They’re cheap, quick in traffic, and pollution free. But it’s tough to tote the weekly groceries unless you’re properly equipped. That’s where this burly CETMArack comes in.

The CETMArack is plenty big enough to handle that weekend beer run — or pretty much anything else you can think of doing. They come in three, five, and seven rail configurations, and can be purchased with a handy “fence” too keep things from sliding around.

Wait until you see what you can do with this thing. Click through to see just how much a bicycle can haul.

Want to lose 500 pounds in a year?

We're talking carbon dioxide, of course. While non-toxic and good for plant life, humans simply make too much of it. Carbon dioxide is a prime greenhouse gas, and scientists say it's connected to climate change -- more popularly known a global warming.

You're producing carbon dioxide right now. Not just through your breathing, but through the energy you consume every day. It's a byproduct of power generation. Virtually all human activity -- from food production to heavy industry -- produces some amount of carbon dioxide.

One of the biggest producers is automobiles. Nobody is expecting you to turn over the keys to your family's car, but every mile we save in transportation is money in the bank, and less carbon dioxide (along with more noxious pollutants) in the atmosphere.

Ready for a fairly painless way to start making a difference? Take the Ten Mile Pledge.

But a lot of people find the idea intimidating. What if it's raining? Can I really depend on a bike for the most important trip of the day? Won't I be tired and dirty when I arrive?

Commuting by bicycle takes planning. Do your homework, and you'll be surprised how easy it is to lighten your environmental footstep. Let's get started!

This article is a reader submission from Jenny Deupree of Franconia, New Hampshire. Jenny spent part of her Earth Day weekend jotting down how she's saving gas. Thanks, Jenny!

!With U.S. gasoline prices up 8-cents in the past two weeks, and the price of a gallon hovering just under its August, 2006 all-time high, it's time to take a close look at our driving habits.

Slow saves gas 

Here’s an action almost everyone can do immediately that will reduce global warming: drive slower.

I read somewhere that if the whole country went back to the 55mph speed limit (as we did in the first oil crisis back in the Seventies) it would save the amount of oil we import from the Persian Gulf.

Searching for the original article I found the Drive 55 Conservation Project. Their website answers a lot of questions.

Remember those long, lazy, carefree days?

You know the ones. Think back to early September of last year, when gasoline dropped nearly 50 cents a gallon from its $3.00+ summer highs. It stayed that way through Christmas, too. By January, some gas prices had actually slipped below the $2.00 mark.

Didn't that feel great? No more talk of those silly hybrids.  No gas lines. No reason to look at smaller cars.