If you are keen to practice living sustainably, but find that you must drive a car every now and then, car sharing can be your green option to driving. Car sharing is a sort of car rental for people who don’t use cars much. The popularity of car sharing is increasing worldwide, but it is still found only in most large urban areas. Car Sharing is basically car hire for people who only want to use a car for a few hours here and there or on an infrequent occasion.
Car sharing is quite a revolutionary transport alternative. It’s simple to use. All you have to do is look up a car sharing network that operates in your city and register as a member. You will then gain access to a fleet of vehicles that you can use if and when you must drive. You pay based upon the amount of time you are using the vehicle.
Car sharing networks are better than car rental services because car sharing is all self-serve. This means that there are no limitations to when you can use a car in the network. The cars can be rented by the hour or by the minute, as well as the day. This means that you only pay for the car during the absolute minutes of usage and not for it to sit on the street or in a parking garage overnight.
Vehicle locations are often set up near public transportation, so picking up a car is conveniently simple. Insurance and fuel costs are costed into the rates and not added on to the price you pay. Car sharing helps to decrease your carbon footprint since it reduces car use and ownership.
Another sort of car sharing is more commonly referred to as car pooling. Car pooling is simply sharing a ride. It is not practical to use a car sharing network to commute to work every day, based on cost alone, but car pooling with other employees (or other parents for taking children to school and sports events) is a great idea for green conscious citizens who don’t want to own a car.
Car pooling can be a better option than public transportation, particularly if your destination is not within reasonable access to buses, trains, or subway stations. If someone is going to drive to work anyway, why not fill the empty seats with fellow employees who can help pay your gas and maintenance costs and give the planet some cleaner air? It seems a reasonable option for driver and passenger alike.
Car pooling is a favorite among those who practice green living because it cuts down on the number of cars in daily circulation. This is a hard statistic to reduce, but a necessary one if we want to clean up the planet. The formula for such a reduction is simplicity itself, put more people in fewer cars. This isn’t always easy to accomplish. The workplace, however, is a practical setting to apply this eco friendly solution.
So, whether you choose to do your car sharing through a vehicle network or to do it as a car pool to and from work, remember that more people in fewer cars is the ultimate aim.
To learn more about ways to go green, save money and help the planet, go here: www.FreeTipsForGoingGreen.com