Dear World: Drive Less

By Zipcar

Dear World,

Drive less.

We know, we know—it’s odd to hear that from a car sharing company. But hear us out.

Human activity is accelerating climate change at a dangerous rate, and the transportation industry is the second-largest and fastest-growing contributor. In fact, passenger cars are the largest source of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. These aren’t our personal beliefs or anything. They’re just facts.

But trust us, we have personal beliefs on the subject, too. We believe in enabling simple and responsible urban living. We believe in a future in which car sharers outnumber car owners. We believe that car sharing programs should and will be a requisite part of how our cities grow and develop.

These beliefs have kept us going for 17 years and have brought us one million members sharing 12,000 cars in 500 cities and towns around the world. So far, these members have prevented 1.6 billion pounds of CO₂ emissions, and together, we’ve kept almost 415,000 personally owned vehicles off the road.

We’re pretty proud of that, but it’s not enough. So this Earth Day—and every day, really—we’re asking everyone to fight climate change by simply driving less. Lace up those kicks. Dust off that bike seat. Carpool with a neighbor or coworker. And show us how you’re making these (and other environmentally friendly) tweaks to your routine with #DearWorld.

Because let’s face it: Right now is when the Earth needs saving the most—and no action is too small. That’s just fact.

Zipcar