The Environmental Benefits of the Zipcar

If you live in an urban area or are friends with someone who lives in an urban area, chances are you’ve heard how awesome Zipcar is. But, in case you don’t know, I’m here to tell you: Zipcar is pretty awesome.

Zipcars are available in more than 50 cities and 100 college campuses.

In a nutshell, Zipcar is a car-sharing service. You sign up online for a yearly subscription, and then you’re free to rent cars by the hour or day, either weeks or minutes in advance. It’s convenient and economical — the cars are parked in tons of locations in many major cities, and subscribers don’t pay for gas, insurance or parking. It’s also really hip — you can unlock a Mini Cooper with your iPhone. Yes, please!

But, the most appealing thing about Zipcar for a lot of people is that it’s an environmentally friendly way to get around during those times when mass transit isn’t an option. Let’s say you rely on public transportation to get around most of the time, but you buy furniture off Craigslist a few times a month, or you have a job that requires you to haul heavy garment bags across town every so often, or you’re a parent who has to schlep her kids to tennis matches on the weekends — you could almost justify having your own car, but at what cost to the environment? If you own your own car, you’re likely to drive it even when you don’t really need to, adding significant carbon dioxide emissions in the air.

According to Zipcar, each car in its fleet takes 15 to 20 personally owned vehicles off the road, and each of its members saves 219 gallons of gas per year by joining the service rather than owning a car. Car sharing is also a growing trend, according to the company, with upwards of 10% of the U.S. population expected to eventually adopt car sharing as their primary mode of transportation.

I’m proud to call myself part of that 10%. Zipcar has saved me from carrying a room’s worth of IKEA furniture on the subway countless times, so I try to return the favor by recruiting other people to join as often as I can.