What is resource sharing and why is it important?
Our Earth has finite resources. And yet we act as if it doesn’t, constantly producing and accumulating more stuff, keeping what we buy to ourselves. What this means is that most of the time, products go unused (or at least not used enough to justify the environmental cost).
A far more effective model is one where resources are shared, which maximises the use of items already in circulation and reduces the need for more new things to be produced. When you know we don’t have unlimited resources, this sounds pretty intuitive right?
What is car sharing?
There’s a whole bunch of things we can share with others – office spaces, clothes, books, even cars! Cars have long since been thought of as personal, especially in countries like Australia and New Zealand where there’s a social expectation that we all need our own, even in the same household. But there’s a shocking statistic that cars are parked 95% of the time, meaning they are only used a measly 5% of the time.
Thankfully we seem to be moving away from the idea of a personal car, as the concept of shared mobility and car sharing is growing. People are slowly waking up to the idea that that big hunk of metal sitting in our driveway most of the time could actually be used more often, reducing the strain on our environment and in some cases generating additional income. Let’s dive more into the benefits.
What are the benefits of car sharing?
Reduced emissions
Car sharing has a smaller carbon footprint than outright car ownership, as it reduces the number of vehicles on the road and subsequently the emissions required to produce and run them: a study by UC Berkeley found that some forms of car sharing can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent per user. And when car sharing is done with electric vehicles only, like the evee platform, the reductions are significantly greater since EVs have zero tailpipe emissions!
Maximise existing resources
The second major environmental benefit of car sharing is that it maximises existing car usage, reducing the need for more to be produced and preserving our planet’s resources. In 2022, there were more than 15 million registered passenger cars in Australia, despite a population of 26 million people. That is a whopping 57% of people owning a car, which is a totally inefficient use of resources when you consider the previous statistic that most people only use theirs 5% of the time.
Not only because of the precious minerals that go into making a car, but also because of how much space they take up in the ways of roads and parking. When you think about the invaluable resources we could preserve, as well as all the natural land we could reclaim (think more green spaces instead of parking buildings), car sharing becomes the obvious choice.
Earn money
Sharing your car is good for the planet AND your pocket, as you can use it to generate additional income. Car sharing marketplaces like evee make it easy to list your car and rent it out to others for a fee. And if you’re hoping to purchase an EV to replace your ICE car, you can leverage the money you make from car sharing to offset the cost of ownership and make the switch to electric sooner.
Sharing is caring
Once we let go of that initial hesitation that comes at the thought of sharing our stuff with others, it becomes a huge weight off the shoulders (and in the case of car sharing, a huge weight off the roads!). Plus, evee’s verification process means you can rest easy knowing your car is in safe hands. To do your bit for the planet and be rewarded for it, visit evee and start sharing your car today.
