Super Eco

Photo credit: richardmasoner, Flickr

Do you really need a car? Your family budget will look fat if you simply ditch it. Here are five ways to get around if you decide to reduce your dependence on the family car.

1. Bike or walk to work—this is a good idea anyway. You'll stay fit and you'll enjoy watching the world go by at a more pleasant pace than it does in traffic.
2. Bike or walk to get around town—people who are withdrawing from their automobile habit will be advised to look at trailers and helmets for the little ones. The trailer is handy for marketing as well as toting toddlers. Another helpful hint I'll share has to do with bicycle seat soreness. If you're not used to riding, you'll likely want to be sure that you have Anti Monkey Butt Powder (or its equivalent) available. Truckers and motorcyclists as well as bicyclists find AMBP to be practically a medical necessity.
   
3. Take public mass transit. There is often room for your bike.
4. Car pool locally, or car share for regional trips. Explore alternatives. Does your city have a service like Zipcar available? We're all getting attuned to carrying cloth bags in the supermarket, but we haven't begun to scratch the surface of car pooling. Next time you're stuck in traffic, look at all the single passenger cars around you and think how much faster the traffic would flow if people doubled up!
5. Drive a hybrid. While this represents a compromise, not all of us are equipped to rough it day-in and day-out, regardless of how much AMBP we use. But if you can double your gas mileage with a hybrid, cutting your fuel use in half, you'll have come halfway to auto independence. If you go with this option, just be sure that the car is designed well enough that you can have a bike rack mounted!