“Why the Zipcar Deal Means You'll Finally Be Able to GIVE UP YOUR CAR”

After yesterday’s post it would be rude not to use this quote from Wired. Here’s the article. And here's Give Up Your Car.

Quote of the Week

“You don’t buy a cow when you want a pint of milk.”
Who said it? Me actually, referring to car ownership versus car hire when I was talking on the radio last week. I said it during a live www.GiveUpYourCar.com piece on LBC’s evening radio phone-in with Iain Dale. I got my 12½ minutes of London phone-in fame in a conversation with Ian that went from the rational to the surreal. Here’s a sample:
Ian: “If you don’t have a car, how would you do what I have to do tomorrow: go to Sky Studios in Osterley in the morning and pick up a puppy in Bedford in the afternoon?”
Me: “I probably wouldn’t be going to Sky Studios, but if I did, I’d do what I’m actually doing this weekend – I’d hire a car.” (It’s parked at the kerb outside my place right now).
The conversation then took a surreal turn, centring on the likelihood and consequences of the puppy disgracing itself in a hire car vs your own car. (One of the more bizarre reasons I’ve encountered for owning a car).
In fact, I might use public transport – train and tube to Osterley and then train to Bedford. A puppy will fit into a pet carrier – some friends collected the ducks for their pond in a cat box which they took on the train (presumably, making sure the cat was out of the box first). Which just shows that being carfree occasionally means you need to get your ducks in a row. Boom boom.

How To Save Fuel

The BBC’s online magazine has a feature today, How Are Motorists Saving Fuel? which includes a list of handy hints. Useful, with petrol prices passing £1.30 a litre, and heading north. But there is only one hint you really need for a sure-fire way to save on fuel costs. If you live in an urban area, like over half of the world’s population, and 80% or so of Europeans, just give up your car. Do the maths - the results are amazing. Not only that, you’ll also be more healthy, less stressed, and less likely to die in a crash. And you won’t be supporting unsavoury oil-based regimes (Libya, anyone?),  fouling up the air or clogging up our green and pleasant land. What’s holding you back?

New Year's Resolution

Spend less money? Get thin? Stay fit? Be relaxed? Stay alive? If your New Year's Resolution includes any of the above, here's a sure-fire way to get there: Give Up Your Car. If that's not on the agenda right now, try this one, which I read somewhere and which sounded like an attractive idea: "Let The World Be Your Pavement."