(Soloviova Liudmyla / shutterstock.com)
If you live in a major city, owning a car isn’t always a necessity and can be an expensive hassle. But there are times when a trip to the grocery store or a visit to a friend in the suburbs can’t be done simply by public transport.
A creative remedy for this is the wonderful concept of carsharing, a model of car rental where vehicles can be rented by the hour. Carsharing not only saves people money on gas, insurance and repairs - it’s also a whole lot greener.
One Bay area nonprofit, City CarShare, is taking car rental to the good doer level. Environmentally, City CarShare members in the past ten years have reduced the amount of C02 in the atmosphere by millions of pounds. Not only does City CarShare minimize the amount of vehicles on the road, but 1/3 of their fleet consists of hybrids, Electric Vehicles (EVs), and Plug in Electric Hybrids (PHEVs). The unique nonprofit also gives back to the community with a program called CommunityShare, a subsidized membership for moderate to low income customers. They are also the first carshare service in the US to have wheelchair-accessible cars. [Source: City CarShare]
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