Did you know that drinking one soda a day can equal an extra 15 pounds of weight per year? While Colorado is known as one of the fittest states in the US, we are not immune to obesity. In fact, 58 percent of Colorado adults and nearly a quarter of our children are overweight or obese. If trends continue, only 33 percent of Colorado adults will be a healthy weight by 2020.
LiveWell Colorado is a nonprofit organization committed to reducing obesity in Colorado by promoting healthy eating and active living. In addition to educating and inspiring individuals to make healthy choices, LiveWell Colorado focuses on policy, environmental and lifestyle changes that remove barriers and increase access to healthy behaviors.
Among other important recommendations, biking is always encouraged as part of an active lifestyle. The organization works to improve bicycle infrastructure, increase youth and adult bike commuting and advocate for community initiatives like Colorado Safe Routes to School. In their partnerships with businesses in towns around the state and as part of its LiveWell@Work initiative, LiveWell Colorado promotes the importance of physical activity in the workplace, including biking to work. They even provide their own employees with annual Denver B-cycle memberships!
“LiveWell Colorado believes in the power of biking to help improve the health of our communities,” states Becky Karlin, LiveWell Colorado communications director. “Ensuring Coloradans have access to and choose to participate in physical activity, including biking around their neighborhoods or to and from work, is an important component of combating our state’s obesity epidemic.”
Many of the 22 LiveWell Colorado Communities throughout the state are working on bike-related policy and infrastructure changes on the local level to ensure their residents have opportunities for physical activity.
BikeDenver is proud to partner with LiveWell on Viva Streets, a special event started last summer that turns beautiful 23rd Avenue from City Park to Stapleton into a pedestrian and bicycle parkway for a day. “The Viva Streets Ciclovia we introduced last year was Denver’s 1st ciclovia, or large car-free event, and we couldn’t have presented this to Denver without LiveWell Colorado,” explained BikeDenver executive director Piep van Heuven. “The partnership was significant on so many levels, including serving as a national model of a great fit between bicycle advocacy and health-oriented non-profits.” Bicycling is good for Denver, and as LiveWell will tell you, it’s good for our people too. Together, our organizations get more people on bikes.
Congratulations and thank you to LiveWell Colorado, our Bike-Friendly Business of the month! For more information about LiveWell Colorado, please visit www.livewellcolorado.org and “like” Viva Streets on Facebook to stay up-to-date with this special event!
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BikeDenver’s Bicycle-Friendly Business (BFB) of the Month Award highlights organizations that are making standout contributions and offering great success stories from among BikeDenver’s Bicycle-Friendly Business (BFB) Program members. The BFB program, with more than 140 honorees to date, recognizes businesses, organizations and workplaces that are leading the way to make bicycling an easy and accepted form of transportation in Denver. Nominate a workplace as a Bicycle-Friendly Business here.
BikeDenver is Denver’s bicycle advocacy organization. BikeDenver promotes and encourages bicycling in Denver and works to make Denver a better place to ride your bike. Why? Because more bicycling has great benefits for you, and for Denver! www.bikedenver.org
Clif Bar & Company started on a bike ride. Founder Gary took a bite of another energy bar and thought he could make a better bar. Today, Clif Bar is a leading maker of all-natural and organic energy and nutrition foods and drinks.www.clifbar.com
Bicycle Friendly Business of the Month Awards: Since partnering in July of 2009 to launch the monthly awards program, Clif Bar and BikeDenver have recognized over 35 work places for their bicycle friendly practices.
April 2012 – Cactus Advertising
February 2012 – Cake Crumbs Bakery
December 2011 – greatBIGcolor, Inc.
November 2011 – Kentwood City Properties
October 2011 – Gates Corporation
February 2011 – Snooze a.m. eatery
December 2010 – Grand Hyatt Denver
November 2010 – Holland & Hart
October 2010 – Solera Green Living
September 2010 – REI Denver Flagship Store
June 2010 – Sweet Action Ice Cream
May 2010 – Denver Regional Council of Governments
March 2010 – Little Man Ice Cream
February 2010 – Salvagetti Bicycle Workshop
January 2010 – The Alliance for a Sustainable Colorado
December 2009 – Denver Pavilions
November 2009 – Human Powered Transit Authority
October 2009 – Jones Lang LaSalle
September 2009 – Downtown Denver Partnership & BID
August 2009 – Historic Denver’s Story Trek
July 2009 (Inaugural) – Watercourse Restaurant
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You can help make Denver a better place to ride a bike by becoming a BikeDenver member: Join us!
Find out more information about BikeDenver in our “About” section!
