Drive Less For a Better Life – And a Better Planet

How to Drive Less and Why It Matters

How many hours do you spend behind the wheel of a car each week? If you’re like many people – lots.

You drive to work. You drive to meet friends and family. You run errands, you pick up children from school, and you may just go for a drive to explore your surroundings.

Driving is a way of life for millions of people. And yet it is a significant contributor to greenhouse gases and thus climate change or global warming.

Small changes in your driving habits can actually make a big difference to the environment – and to your overall happiness.

The Downsides to Driving

Let’s face it; driving is stressful.

To stay safe on the road you must be at the ready, alert for changes in the driving behaviour of others. You also need to work with the hundreds of other cars around you to get to your destination safely.

It’s a tense experience on the best of days. People who drive less are happier.

Driving is also a large waste of time. When you’re driving, you can’t do other things. Despite those who try to shave, eat breakfast, and send emails behind the wheel, driving is a task that requires 100% focus. Cutting back on your time behind the wheel gives you more time to be productive and do things you enjoy.

Plus, driving is also expensive. The cost of fuel continues to rise. You also have maintenance, insurance, and a whole host of unexpected car expenses.

And we haven’t even touched on the fact that driving produces CO2, a leading cause of climate change or global warming.

Driving Less Improves Your Life and the Environment

Here are a few ways you can be green and ecofriendly and drive less:

Consolidate your outings. If you need to go to the library, go grocery shopping, take your dog to the veterinarian and pick your kids up from school, why not get as much done as you can in that one outing? It’ll save you time, you’ll be more productive, and you’ll spend less time on the road.

Carpool. Share rides to your place of work. Work with other parents to take children to school. There are ride matches in your community to help you find carpooling opportunities that fit your needs.

Walk/ride your bike. How often do you find yourself running an errand that is about five minutes away from your home? Instead of driving there, walk or ride your bike.
You’ll find that it’s a great way to get in shape and be more environmentally friendly.

Finally, consider taking public transportation. Let someone else drive! The time you spend on public transpiration can be spent on enjoyable activities like reading, or you can get some work done.

There are many ways to reduce your time behind the wheel. Get creative and start thinking about how you can drive less. You’ll feel happier, it’ll make a difference in your budget, and the planet will thank you too.

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How much do you drive? Let me know in the comments below.

Warm regards,

P.S.  Don’t forget to download your free green living handbook “Live Well, Live Green” here.

Related:

• Get some green exercise with these 6 fresh tips!
• There are 3 things you can do that can really make a difference and help slow climate change (spoiler alert: recycling is NOT one of them). Find out in this free climate report now!