Car-free vs Car-light
People who want to reduce their environmental impact and driving costs sometimes have to decide between being "car free" or "car light".
[edit] Why Car-free?
Often a person is considered "car free" if he or she does not own a car. This can provide extra motivation to stick to eco-friendly (and usually inexpensive) transportation habits such as bicycling and riding public transportation. There's no temptation to drive your car on that cold winter day, because you don't have one. You may find yourself tolerating (or enjoying) all kinds of weather. You may find exercising more if there's no car available. You may find yourself connecting more with your neighbors and with goings-on in your community, because it's more difficult to go to a big box store or a multiplex movie theater.
[edit] Why Car-light?
Being car-light can be very convenient. You can drive to a date, a hiking trip, the beach, etc. without renting. Depending on your habits, this may be cheaper than alternatives such as taxis, renting cars, or taking trains and airplanes.
Sometimes, driving one's own car is more eco-friendly than the alternatives. For example, having someone drive to pick you up because you don't have a car may require twice as many miles to be driven, in total. Traveling by airplane instead of sharing a car ride also may increase one's carbon footprint.
