Make it Work

Please stop driving.
Just make it work for you.
What a waste of money it is to have a car!
What a waste of resources it is to have a car!

I'm 23 years old and I've never had a license and never driven a car.

Why?

• I grew up in Providence where I either took the RIPTA bus or walked 3 miles to and from high school. Uphill both ways.
  
• My family didn't have money, so I knew not to expect a car on my 16th birthday. Instead I received a blender from my parents.
  
• I never signed up for drivers ed because I was too busy being cool and subversive (smoking pot on the regular while maintaining honor roll).
  
• My mother was in a near-fatal car crash when I was 6 years old. She was hit by a drunk driver and underwent experimental surgery having several of her vertebrae fused together, leaving her bedridden for 6 months and in chronic pain for the rest of her life (don't drink and drive). So perhaps there's also a psychological element to my lack of desire to operate a motor vehicle.
  
• I went to college in Boston where it's totally lame to have a car. I am a subway expert and fanatic.
• I had a serious boyfriend who I basically lived with when I wasn't in Boston. We would carpool almost everywhere. He was always Designated Driver, and for that, I owe him a lot (I'll repay you somehow, Harold!).
• Back in Providence since 2006 and walking has never been more pleasant. The architecture of this city is brilliant and I love looking pedestrians in the eyes and saying hello when I pass them on my walks cross-town. Community building.
  
• I have two jobs. Since I don't drive, I have to make strategic decisions about where I love and work. Each job is no more than a 20-minute walk from my apartment, and an even faster trip on the bus or bike.
  

It has become so normal to have a car in the society we have constructed for ourselves, and hopefully we all realize that we cannot maintain this lifestyle without doing harm to our global and personal health. Consider leaving the car at home sometimes. Go for a walk. Bike! Use public transportation. Take time to experience your city or town from the perspective of a pedestrian. Or even from the perspective of the natural world.

If you biked to work instead of drove, you would save money on gas, cut down on your contribution to pollution, and get in shape in no time. Hug that tree, get physically fit, and save money while doing it.

Consider a lifestyle change that feels soooo gooood.

xoxo
carla