It's not just the everyday car-commuters and airline travelers who are feeling the effects of soaring gas prices; car racing teams have found themselves cutting corners and skipping events to stay on budget.

The Indianapolis 500 and Nascar drivers aren't feeling the squeeze – increased gas costs represent a minor component of their overall sponsor-supported budgets. But the smaller-scale racers, most of whom have full-time jobs elsewhere, are feeling the full brunt.

The high-octane race fuel costs $8.25 per gallon, but the true hit comes from transporting the racecars and gear around to events. It's the $5 per gallon diesel for the big trucks with towing power and terrible fuel economy that's making racers alter their plans. Drivers are competing at events closer to home, racing less often, and scaling back on their expenses across the board.

Prize money doesn't typically pick up the slack. As racecar driver Bryan Kobylarz told the New York Times, “Basically, you have to finish in the top three [out of an average of 28 competitors] to come out with a positive cash flow.”

Even car racing programs are being forced into reduced car driving and a partial carectomy of sorts. Habits are changing across the board, the nation is driving significantly fewer miles, and the real winner here is the environment and, by extension, ourselves.

Source: NY Times with accompanying cool slideshow feature.

No one expects you to change overnight. For many of us, going completely car-free is a lifestyle change on the scale of switching from big city living to farming in the boondocks; from bone-crunching carnivore to raw vegan; from sinner to saint. It’s major, and best to begin your transformation by taking baby steps.

Here’s a roster of ways to reduce your driving, overhaul your lifestyle, and get you miles closer to car-free.

Consolidate Your Car Trips:

Do you really need to drive across town to pick up that carton of specialty chow mein, or can it wait until Saturday, when you’ll do most of your shopping? Simplify your travel by doing all of the errands that are more easily made by car in one fell swoop. This is far better than making superfluous, isolated trips to satisfy midnight cravings or pick up something you must have at that very moment. I make an effort to do all of the errands made easier by car in one trip, two or three times a month. I’ll also try to streamline trips by the region of the city I’m traveling to, especially if it’s in the far-reaches. Consolidating your car trips is an exercise in smart planning and self-control. Apart from saving you time, it saves money on fuel—and the planet from your excessive carbon emissions.

Beware the Car-ma Police

Yeah, you took the car. So, whatsit to ya? Don’t get defensive; play devil’s advocate. Ask yourself: could you have traveled to your destination another way, without your wheels? Act as your own car-ma police.

Bring A Friend:

Whether you’re going to the grocery store or a game, it’s likely that someone in your circle of friends needs to get there, too. Make the effort to coordinate with friends, family, and others in your community to carpool and car-share, so you’ll reduce the overall number of car trips and cars on the road.

Be Experimental:

If you’ve never used a car-sharing service like ZipCar, treat yourself and try it out. Same goes for any alternate mode of transportation: the bus, the subway, your bike, or your own two feet. If none of these appeal, revive your rollerblades (stashed in the closet since 1995?). The bottom line: enjoy something different. Ditch your killing, car-reliant routine and smell the roses. People-watch on public transportation. While riding the train, read that book you’ve been meaning to crack since Christmas. Reward yourself with a new pair of sneakers or some sparkly streamers. Revive your routine and revel in a novel experience.

Cap The Gas:

The news media is rife with photos of Americans wincing at the gas pump. Why not set some boundaries and save some dough by allowing yourself to fill up a limited number of times per month? If you know you’ve got to ration gas like it’s gold, you’ll be more likely to reduce the number of car trips you make and use alternate modes of transit, instead.

Tap The Backyard:

Why drive clear across town or sit in traffic on a clogged freeway when whatever you need is at your fingertips? Shop locally or online and avoid unnecessary trips by car. The delivery person is driving anyway, and chances are good that he’s making other stops in your neighborhood. If you’re shopping within a small radius of your home, you’re investing in the local economy and giving business to the little guys (more eco-friendly than the Big Box boys), which is always a boon. Same goes for conducting business: maybe you could conduct your meeting via web or phone, instead of driving to the bad buffet lunch? (The bonus? You don’t have to wear a tie.)

There’s a short but stubborn list of excuses that keeps me from turning totally car-free. The foremost reason? I have a dog. (I know, lame!) I also live in a city that’s sick with sprawl and addicted to its gnarly freeways. The public transit here is bogus: urine-soaked buses that go nowhere useful and aren’t ever on time.

There’s hope, however, for my transition to car-free living: I’m relocating to a city with efficient transit and bike lanes galore. I’m preparing to ditch my car altogether when I arrive and get back to being car-free after two years of driving (dreadful, especially following a car-free lifetime).

But, back to the dog: He’s not allowed on most public transit, and there’s a slim chance he’ll pass as a working service dog (unless, by service, they mean slobbering on the bus driver and swatting passengers with a furiously wagging tail). He can run alongside my bike at a snail’s pace for a few blocks, but that’s the extent of his vigor. If I need to tote him to the vet, or anywhere that’s not in walking distance (i.e. a trailhead or a swimming hole—my biggest concern is how we’ll get to the wilderness from the city), how will we manage? Will we woefully give up hikes and fun jaunts about town; summer trips to the lake? I’ve been searching for the solution to my sorry excuse and, doggone it, I think I’ve found it: the dog trailer (coupled with the occasional car rental; ZipCar is pet-friendly, so long as your hairy best friend is caged).

The Wike pet caddy would probably work best for my big dog, or the HunterK9, the Pet EGO ERG Sports Wagon, or the Track’r. There are myriad options for smaller pups, too, like the Snoozer, in which the dog can ride shotgun on the front handlebars or cruise behind. If your dog will stay put and avoid a suicidal leap to the street, there’s also the classic option: a picnic basket tied with a bow, a la the Wicked Witch.

For dogs with more stamina than my beloved, slovenly beast, the Expedition bike attachment clips onto your bike without disturbing your ride or necessitating sudden, dangerous swerves of your handlebars.

Photo via flickr by Sherlock77.

Although most of the planet's man-made greenhouse gas contributions come from cities, that statistic is deceptive – the majority of the Earth's population live in urban settings. Per capita, the emissions of city dwellers is much lower than those living in more rural settings.

According to a recent study by the Brookings Institute focused on 2005 statistics, U.S. residents in the 100 largest metro areas were each responsible for 2.47 tons of CO2 emissions per year, compared to the national average of 2.87 tons.

The 14% reduction per person in cities is significant, and is largely due to population density and transportation choices. Those two factors go hand-in-hand: more compact urban settings make mass transit systems more effective and practicable. Walking and cycling between destinations become more viable alternatives as well, as commute distances shrink.

Sloth isn’t the sole reason kids aren’t riding their bikes to school. At Bridgewater-Raritan High School in New Jersey, student members of the school’s environmental club raised $2,000 and, with it, offered to buy the school a bike rack.

Principal James Riccobono refused the students’ gift, citing safety concerns. The road to the school, he says, is too cluttered with traffic to make cycling conditions safe. (Meanwhile, a student noted, the school provides parking spaces to every senior.)

From the Star-Ledger:

“It didn't seem that logical. It would be at no cost to them," [club co-president Michelle] Slosberg, 18, said yesterday as she slipped on her bike helmet and prepared for a nearly 20-minute ride home.

"Actually, they said no on Earth Day," remarked Katherine Dransfield, a senior who has tried, with a group of other students, to start a bike club. "Essentially what they told us was that they didn't want to promote biking as a way to get to school."

Slosberg and Dransfield said Riccobono expressed concerns over the safety of students jostling with the heavy bus and car traffic in front of the school and biking along busy Garretson Road. But many students don't see it that way.

Senior Talia Perry, 18, dressed in sporty biking gear and sunglasses, said she and her friends were quite "worked up" after the school refused "what we portrayed as a gift to the school." Offended by the snub, students promptly began planning a response.

Yesterday, more than 50 students rode their bikes to school, commuting in pairs and groups. After studying up on state biking laws -- and carrying copies with them -- the students legally tethered their bikes in conspicuous clusters around lamp posts, trees and other poles dotting the circular drive in front of the school.

The students’ protest didn’t change Riccobono’s stance. In response, he issued an unwavering statement:

"In as much as the district provides courtesy busing to students who live within walking distance of the high school, because of the danger on Garretson Road, it does (not) make sense, in my opinion, to promote the riding of bicycles to school," the letter read.

Students who cycle to school are left to lock their bikes to a fence in a swampy area behind the school.

Ricccobono’s refusal to provide his students with so basic an item as a bike rack is shameful. It he truly had the students’ best interest in mind, he would encourage cycling (and walking) to school and take action to reduce the dangerous traffic on nearby streets.

Photos via flickr by kbrookes and pindec

"Do we really have to have a car?"

It’s a question many households ponder, but seldom explore. It’s the very question Erick Cave posed to his wife, Jess, as he drove their sputtering Volvo toward a SoCal freeway, before they went car-free.

The family of three didn’t meet the stereotypical symptoms that lead many to undergo a carectomy. They weren’t a spandex-clad trio, biking to do errands and enjoying long weekend rides on the waterfront. Instead, Erick was significantly overweight. He and his wife didn’t even own bikes. But none of this changed their decision to dump the Volvo and convert to bikes. Erick outfitted the family for under $1,000 and bid farewell to his money-pit clunker.

Like the Durning family in Seattle, the Caves conquered their car-addiction and the myriad complications that arise when one doesn’t have a car in a car-oriented culture. Their biggest obstacle? Overcoming their car-centric attitude. Everything else, said Erick, was a cinch.

Switching to bikes has been a boon for the family, reports the OC Register:

They've discovered new restaurants. Met new people. Rediscovered their own neighborhood.

"It's taken a lot of stress out of our lives," Erick says. "We're not hurrying all the time. And we spend more time together as a family

Within two months they paid off two credit cards. No car meant no car bills. It also meant no quick trips to Taco Bell. No morning jolt of Starbucks. No impulse buys of jeans or toys at Target. Shopping on a bike, says Erick, prompts the question: "Do we really need an extra box of Crunch 'n Munch?"

One day Jess had a strange complaint: too much money in her wallet and no place to put it. Erick figured out they were recouping more than a third of their income. "It's as if your boss came in," he says, "and asked if you wanted a 35 percent raise."

The family’s car-free experiment has also encouraged them to have a greener houshold. Erick told the OCR, “I began reading about the environmental impact of what we were doing, and I realized, 'Wow, you really can make a difference.'" The family now recycles and has reduced their water and energy use.

Photos via flickr by sfbike and jmforest.