Before you dismiss this article and insist there is no way you could live without your vehicle, hear me out. I was back in America holding down a job, running a business, and excelling at the university when I sold my truck to use a bicycle for transport. It was the best decision I ever made. There are a lot of reasons getting rid of your car is an awesome lifestyle choice. Even where I lived at the time, where nowhere worth going is less than a fifteen minute drive and the city transport system begs for an upgrade, I immediately saw improvements in my quality of life.

Here are some reasons why ditching the automobile is a good decision:

Your Social Life – Without a car, you now have to depend on others more often. Depending on other people for rides makes you associate with others more often. Your socials skills get better and you end up getting invited to a lot more social events.

Even if you’re walking, riding a bike, or taking the bus, you are forced to talk to people more. I often got off the bus and before my bike ride home I’d pop in to see a friend who lived nearby or stop at my favorite brewery for a quick beer and some hot wings. On the bus, I found myself talking and associating with amazing people I never would have met sitting in my air-conditioned truck with the windows rolled up.

This constant companionship is great for your health – humans need this kind of social interaction. As with anything, a balance is good, and being around people so often can be a test in patience, but patience is a skill many people need to cultivate.

Good for your Health – Possibly the most obvious of benefits to not having a car are to your health. Being forced to walk or ride a bike gets you outside in the fresh air and all that pedaling is great exercise. You will soon find there is no need for going to the gym.

Good for your mind – Using the older forms of transportation slows you down. You get a completely different sense of time and place. You see the world in differently. You see the plight of people less fortunate than you and develop a new sense of how your community functions – what it would be like without it. Moving along in a fast-paced world at a slower pace gives you a perspective you would not otherwise have.

Good for your Spirit - Now that you have put new challenges upon yourself, you have to rise and meet them. As you pedal everywhere you go or sometimes struggle to juggle a ride, you find you often earn every small step of your life. This may not seem attractive to some, but it is great for the human spirit.

When I would get back from an exhausting day of school or get off work at two o’ clock in the morning and face the uphill ride home in the rain, I would sometimes doubt my decision, but as soon as I walked in the door to my house I felt a sense of triumph, accented by the fact that I was finally living in line with my beliefs. Which brings up the last point?

Good for Your Soul – Not having a car is better for the environment, of course, and you are participating in the act of change. People around you will see the changes in your life. Some may resist those changes, but others will admire you and eventually follow suit. Living out your principles gives you a sense of purpose.

Adjusting to a car-free lifestyle is not an easy process, but for those who live in cities, this kind of living can even be easier than the former option. With a new emphasis on sustainable city planning, we will see more and more cities and towns built around the idea that living without wheels is a healthier choice.

In my own experience, giving up the my limiting vehicle and all the chains that came with it gave me the freedom and courage to throw some of my things into a backpack, move out of my home, and take off to see the world. Not everyone’s decision will lead to such a drastic change, but I assure you, with a little patience, a little effort, and a little lateral thinking, a car-free lifestyle will change your life. For the better.

When you consider how you live your life, what principles you hold dear to your heart, and the intersection of your actions and beliefs, does everything add up? There are many of us out there who are truely committed to sustainability, yet still struggle to incorporate the concepts into our everyday lives – and that’s OK. As I mentioned in a previous post, there are plenty of eco-sins that I’m constantly trying to overcome, but I still haven’t broken all of my bad habits. And while I feel guilty when I continue to commit actions that impact the Earth negatively, I also understand that my ability to achieve a wholly sustainable lifestyle is tied both to shifts in my thoughts and actions, and also to shifts in how society as a whole thinks and acts.

To better explain this concept, I went in search of organizations that actively promote sustainability. The Sustainability Institute (an organization focused on understanding the root causes of unsustainable behaviors in complex systems, and shifting society toward sustainability) has developed a philosophy that I think defines and explains this concept clearly:

“…unsustainability does not arise out of ignorance, irrationality or greed. It is largely the collective consequence of rational, well-intended decisions made by people caught up in systems – ranging from families and communities to corporations, governments and economies – that make it difficult or impossible to act in ways that are fully responsible to all those affected in the present and to future generations.”

The EPA has basic information about sustainability available on their website, though I must admit that I no longer fully trust the organization’s integrity and commitment to creating and disseminating unbiased scientific information. I loath to make such a statement, and hope that my feelings of mistrust toward the civil servants who work at the EPA will end once this administration is removed from power.

In determining whether my current lifestyle is sustainable, I decided I needed to first ask myself what it means to live sustainably, and from there determine if my lifestyle choices fit the model.

Here are the questions I have been pondering – I haven’t answered all of them for myself yet, but plan to write more about this as I figure out what sustainability means to me. Take some time and ask yourself the same set of questions, let me know if I have missed anything in my list, and feel free to share your definition of what it means to live a sustainable life.

Food: What do you eat? Where are the foods and beverages you consume grown, manufactured, processed and packaged? Where do your food dollars land once spent? Is your food money removed from the local economy and sent to some faceless corporation, or does it benefit others in your community? How is the food you eat produced? Have you ever met any of the people responsible for growing or making your food? How often do you eat out? Do you use reusable mugs for coffee and other drinks? Are fossil fuels used to make,? process, package, distribute what you eat?? How much waste is produced as a result of your food purchases? Do the foods you consume nourish you or simply feed you? Do the foods you eat contribute to your overall mental and physical health?

Housing: How do you live – alone or with others? Do you live in a new building or an old building? Is your building energy efficient? What kind of energy powers your home? How much energy do you use on a monthly/yearly basis? Do you have excess electronics in your home that increase your energy bills? Do you use any reusable resources to power your home? Do you have more space than you need in your home? Do you take measures to ensure you are not wasting excess energy in your home? What products and chemicals are used in the upkeep and maintenance of your home? Do you use eco-friendly products in your home when possible? Do you have a yard? If so, how is it maintained? Do you have grass that needs to be mowed and fertilized? Do you have a garden? Do you use chemicals to maintain your outdoor space? Do you use water to feed the grass and other plants? When working on your home or outdoor space, do you consider the environment and select materials accordingly?

Transportation: How do you get around? Do you walk, bike, take public transportation, drive, carpool, fly? How often and how far do you travel when you leave home? Do you own a car? If so, what kind of gas mileage do you get, how efficiently does your vehicle burn fuel? If you own an older car, does it meet emissions standards? Where do you go and why do you go there? Do you ever carpool? How far do you live from the places you visit the most often? Are there car trips you take that are unnecessary? Do you walk when you need to go someplace within a mile of your home? Have you taken steps to reduce your reliance on petroleum as a fuel?

Consumer Behaviors: What do you buy and why? Do you need all that you purchase? Do you reuse what you can and purchase new things only when you need to do so? Do you throw away things because they’re broken, worn, stained or old? Do you buy goods from environmentally-conscious companies? Do you consider the ecological footprint of your purchases, including the materials used and externalities created? Do you buy eco-friendly products? Do you consider the impact of your consumerism on the environment before you make any purchase? Where, and under what conditions, are the products you purchased manufactured? How far do those products have to travel to reach you? Are your consumer dollars used for corporate profits or are the people who make the products being paid a fair wage (or both, if possible)?

Waste: Do you recycle what you can? Do you compost your organic waste? Do you take the time to sort and process through all of your waste products in order to send as little as possible to landfills? Have you gone paperless in areas where it’s possible? Do you encourage recycling at work or other places you frequent and have an impact on policy? Do you pick up trash on the street? Do you refrain from throwing out recyclables until you can find a recycling container? Do you package food in reusable containers instead of one-use packaging? Do you use things until they can no longer be used? Do you make it easy and convenient to recycle at home? Do you have a dedicated space where you store recycling materials and do you have recycling tagged as a dedicated task assigned to someone each week? Do you resist the urge to print?

Family: Do you encourage your children to reduce, reuse and recycle? Do you feed, clothe and gift your children with organic and eco-friendly goods? Do you explain why it is so important for people to tread lightly on the Earth? Do you encourage eco-practices in your childrens’ classroom? Do you set a good example and practice what you preach to your children (and not just when they are watching)? Do you ever say no to buying things your children want because of the negative ecological impact those purchases have? Do you stick to your eco-principles when it comes to birthday parties, Christmas, and other “special events” and holidays?

These questions are by no means exhaustive – rather, they are meant to get you (and me) thinking about the everyday practices of sustainability, and help us define what we all need to do in order to live sustainable lifestyles. I certainly don’t have the answers to all of these questions, and I fear that some of my favorite things in life (chocolate, coffee) are generally not considered sustainable goods (in my defense, I buy mostly organic, fair trade chocolate). Living sustainably isn’t necessarily going to be easy though – it will require sacrifices and compromises. In an era of uncertainty and impending environmental degradation however, it’s time we all stood together and started making the hard choices and doing what’s not fun and what’s not easy.

Party’s Over Folks, It’s Time To Get Real!

If you’re interested in learning more, check out the Wikipedia entry for sustainability – there’s all kinds of information about the various types of sustainability, as well as links to scientific references, articles and websites.