For those who are able (physically and/or mentally able) to go by some proportion of human power, I highly recommend significantly reducing reliance on automobi

For those who are able (physically and/or mentally able) to go by some proportion of human power, I highly recommend significantly reducing reliance on automobiles. Walk and bicycle instead; less need to make time for exercise, plus a sense of self-efficacy, and, if it sounds distasteful now, it might be enjoyable later as the body adapts to the moderate demands. Start slow and often. Easy for me to say, as bicycling has been my primary "fast-travel" mode since my teens, but at scale, automobiles have significant negative ecological impact, from exhaust (ozone, soot, CO2, etc), to tire particles in the waterways, to mining the lithium and other minerals (and all the attendant impacts there), to however the electricity is converted (including electric cars in my criticism here, though from a harm-reduction standpoint, by all means switch from petrol-powered to e-), to the risks to pedestrians and cyclists from these multi-ton monstrosities taking up so much space on roads and in neighborhoods. Again, harm reduction, not abolition, is what I'm harping on; for those who really need it (medical reasons, mainly; which could happen to any of us, on any frequency), expensive fast travel is key. Ditching convenience for self-efficacy can be difficult. Imagine paying $15 in electricity for ~3,000 miles of cycling with a cargo bike, and the holistic tiredness at the end of the day! That's my life, years ago having given up plane, train, and automobile travel except in the case of medical need and an annual family trip within a few hours' drive of home, and I'm richer for it in so many ways. That said, I'm aware of my privilege here (with a spouse who commutes to work and whose income largely supports us, while I do childcare and caregiving as my main, unpaid-but-compensated work), and how difficult "just switch to bike!" would be without systemic shifts. It's prohibitively expensive to live in some cities now, pushing people further out, and who is going to make the time to bike 5+ miles into town without some significant, tangible incentives? What might help shift culture towards meeting a greater proportion of our basic needs using our own chemical-to-mechanical energy?