"Car Sharing: Cutting Costs and Conserving"

In the fast pew years, an abundance of information has been unearthed regarding the ill-desired impact that automobiles have on the environment. Many admirable changes have been made including the creation of hybrid and electric cars, as well as the use of flex-fuel, a blend of ethanol, a renewable fuel, and petroleum, a non-renewable resource. However, many believe that each alternative has its faults; and at the end of the day, the fact still remains that we are addicted to our cars.
Truthfully speaking, who can blame us? Today, the sixteenth or seventeenth birthday marks eligibility for a permit or license, and it is usually perceived as the first moment of freedom. The ability to drive a car, translates a sense of self-reliance, a concept that is key to our car addiction. How do we break that addiction? A zipcar, perhaps?

Zipcar is a car sharing program designed to provide an alternative to car ownership and rental, and it may prove to be a viable solution to our car woes. Think about it. If we were all required to rely on limited access to a vehicle, we would have to make smarter decisions. How many of us take an unnecessary drive to the supermarket more than once a week in order to pick up a handful of things? Or how many of us have coworkers that live within a reasonable distance, but yet we insist on driving our respective cars to work?

According to the statistics from the Zipcar website, one zipcar removes 15-20 vehicles from the road. Also, 90 percent of the members that participate in the car sharing program drive less than 5,500 miles per year. That's less than half of the Environmental Protection Agency's estimation of 12,000 miles a year per average driver. Incorporating a car sharing program into mainstream society would be one of the most environmentally sound decisions of our lives.

Signing up for the zipcar sharing program is easy and convenient. Eligibility for the program is largely based on your driving history. Once you have been approved, you receive a zipcard, which you activate online. The card gives you access to any zip car that is available, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. You can reserve a zipcar online, on your mobile device or by calling a toll free number. When you arrive at the location of your car, you hold your zipcard to the window to unlock the car. For more information on locations, rates, and vehicles, visit the Zipcar Website.