As a teen you wanted to drive.  You wanted that freedom to go anywhere on your own.  When we are young we dont relize the damage driving a car does to our world.  It effects green house gasses, and C02 levels.  In my opinion it also makes the human race lazier, or less athletic you could say.  I'm a high school student, and to be honest I still want to be able to drive.  But with limitation.  I live about at most 3 miles from every place I need to go daily.  Theres thift shops, Family Dollar and game stores within a mile of my home,  and a 7-11 not much farther, Theres also a Naborhood Wall-Mart in 3 miles.  The only place thats not in walking distance is school, and I just take the bus.  My Mom daily drives to atleast one of these, I dissagree with that.  Everytime I go walk with my 3 younger sisters, we go down nd have fun.  While yes our feet hurt later, its still worth it.

"VAUBAN, Germany-Residents of this upscale community are suburban pioneer, going where few soccer moms or commutin executives have ever gone before: they have given up their cars."  In Vauban any street parking is forbidden, along with driveway and garage parking.  They are what you would call a "car-free" suburban area.  While you can own a car, there are only two places to park on the edge of the development and it charges a rediculious fee to park there.  Due to this 70% of Families there don't own a car.  "When I had a car I was allways tense.  I'm much happier this way,"  Said Heidrun Walter a mother who moved their with her family.  They got lots of positive feedback from families in the development.

Are we Americans causing most of our issues with gasses from cars?  Luckily no.  "Recent studies suggest that Americans are buying fewer cars, driving less and getting fewer licenses as each year goes by."  As said by Elisabeth Rosenthal, the writer of the passage "The End of Car Culture" which go's into whether car numbers are increasing or decreasing, and whats in the future for it.  She says that it seems like America has gone down, and pasted the peak on cars.  While you might counter, "Thats just the economy effecting how everyone spends their money and cars werent at the top."  But people who stopped because of the recession may have no reason to restart that habit.

Biking, A healthy way to transport your self from one place to another.  It keeps you fit, more active.  Alot of issues with people today is if they are over weight or not.  While I'm not saying that just because your thin that your healthy.  If you dont exercise or eat well you aren't.  To be Healthy and fit also doesnt mean body builder extremes.  All I'm saying is as a person being healthy is easy, we just make it hard.  When you see that donut instead of the carrot.  or the couch instead of the bike.  It seems like an ultimatum that our mind invents.  When in reality we can have both.  If everyone had to walk places it would make that mind oggling ultimatum easier.  Forcing us to walk more instead of drive everwhere would make couch and donut time more aceptible.

Everyone wants to drive, with the freedom of going anywhere.  I know the feeling.  But overall we over drive, even if the amount has lowered.  It's no secret that it effects our town, our country, our world with C02 levels rising.  I'm notsaying lets get rid of cars completely.  But if everyonce in a while before you pick up your keys to go down to the near by 7-11, take a moment and set down your keys and walk.