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I've decided to get my drivers license! Why?

I’ve decided to get my drivers license! Why?

Posted on March 4, 2019July 8, 2022

Cars are not sustainable, they pollute the air by the carbon dioxide they release. Especially with all the cars we have right now on this planet, we have a problem. For a long while, I had chosen not to be a part of that problem. This had multiple reasons, which I’ll come to later. However, I’ve made up my mind after a long time. I’ve decided to get my drivers license. Today I’ll tell you why.

Cars pollute

In 2014 it was estimated that we had 1.2 billion cars, spread over the whole world. Most cars nowadays run on fossil fuels, so that makes 1.2 billion little vehicles polluting the world. It’s one of those things what people think of when they want to do something for the environment, drive less. That’s because it is so obvious. You are burning fossil fuels at that moment while you are driving, with a bike you are not. Besides that, we are all so horrible inefficient when it comes to cars and I hate inefficiency. I mean, most of us have a huge car that fits about 5 persons and a abnormal amount of luggage while most of the time we sit in there alone. It bothers me.

When I am on the road, all I see around me is people sitting alone in a car, it’s awful. And that makes me come to my next point: even if we drive electric, we won’t solve the problem. Yes, it saves the fossil fuels problem, but then we deal with a whole new problem. There won’t be enough material to make all those batteries for the cars, so thinking that everyone in this world can drive electric is just an illusion. It’s just not possible the way our systems works right now.

Why I never wanted a drivers license

Well, the reasons above are obvious. I don’t want to pollute and a car pollutes, so that is clear. That’s why I have always chosen to go by train, bus or bike. It’s clean and it mostly solves the problem we have with inefficiency too. I mean, trains are made for more than one person and actually get used by more than one person, cars don’t. Also, in a car you can’t do anything else than drive, now that’s inefficient! In a train you can do anything, some extra work, write blogposts, read a book and even more. It’s just much more fun in my opinion.

And besides that, humans make horrible and deadly mistakes in cars. I have so much faith in a self-driving car, it would be amazing in my opinion. If we change the system and have only self-driving cars, the number of accidents can fall dramatically, because all cars are adapted to one system. I mean, that’s what we have done with planes, and it works so well (talking efficiency, because planes are still polluting, that’s why I am boycotting the industry)!

Why I do want a drivers license now

So, even with all the reasons I just mentioned, I have decided to go for a drivers license. I just wanted to write a blogpost on this to explain it a bit. If I can, because right now it feels kind of weird still. Now what is it that makes me want it in the end? It’s freedom. I am so reliable on everybody else in situations I can’t change.

When my boyfriend and I travel to another country for instance. Flying is a no-go, so therefore we prefer the car. However, I can’t drive and so my boyfriend has to drive the whole way there. It’s more sustainable than a plane, so that’s a win anyway. Same goes when I go to visit some family or when my handball team and I go to a game, the train is not an option then and I don’t want to rely on others so much anymore. And I don’t know what the future brings. But right now, traveling temporarily with a van or a tiny house around the world seems amazing to me. But then again, I can’t do that because I don’t have a license. I just want freedom, freedom and independence. So, that’s why I’ve decided to get a drivers license.

Will I own a car?

That does not mean I want to own a car right away. It just means I can drive when I need to. On a holiday for example, or to a handball match. There are so many great options out there today. Electric cars are for rent, and often people share cars too. I don’t think I will ever fully want to own a car, because I don’t think I like it for mainstream. In the future I would like to travel to work by train so I can do something there. I want to bike within my own city, to the farmers market for instance, to keep me healthy. So no, I don’t think I want to own a car. But I do want the freedom of a drivers license.

Do you have a drivers license? Does it give you freedom?

Yours sincerely,
Romee

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34 thoughts on “I’ve decided to get my drivers license! Why?”

  1. Nienke says:
    March 4, 2019 at 7:59 am

    Waar ik woon is geen openbaar vervoer dus een rijbewijs is wel nodig. Veel succes met lessen!

    Reply
    1. Romee Hoeksma says:
      March 4, 2019 at 8:42 am

      Dat is wel jammer! Wellicht dat het ooit nog komt hè. Bedankt, donderdag is mijn theorie examen 🙂

      Reply
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  4. Linda - Zaailingen says:
    April 3, 2019 at 11:15 am

    Ik snap het wel. Toen ik 18 werd ging ik meteen lessen, want in het dorp waar ik opgroeide was geen station. Twee keer per uur ging een bus naar de ene stad en voor de bus de andere kant op moest ik eerst 20 minuten lopen. En dan woonden mijn vrienden vaak net niet aan een van die routes. Toen was de auto ook echt vrijheid en flexibiliteit. In zulke gebieden kun je niet anders en als je inderdaad zo afhankelijk bent van anderen is het ook niet fijn.

    Daarna ben ik naar de stad verhuisd en nu heb ik al zo lang niet meer gereden dat ik niet meer durf, haha. De bushalte ligt voor de deur, een station om de hoek en een auto kun je hier niet eens kwijt, dus die hebben we niet. Maar toch, dat papiertje is best heel fijn om te hebben. Kun je altijd nog zien hoeveel gebruik je ervan gaat maken.
    Succes met lessen!

    Reply
    1. Romee Hoeksma says:
      April 4, 2019 at 9:05 am

      Lastig als het openbaar vervoer te wensen overlaat, zo slecht heb ik het nieteens. Ik ben inderdaad ook een beetje bang om het te verleren ofzo als ik te weinig rijdt, maar goed, dan heb ik ieder geval een optie. Het is een levenslang papiertje, dus dat is toch wel heel fijn.

      Reply
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ABOUT ME

 

Hi! My name is Romee Hoeksma and I am on a journey to an eco-positive life. An eco-positive lifestyle is a lifestyle in which I have a more positive than negative impact on the beautiful planet earth. On this blog you can follow my journey to a life with only positive impact. At this blog you can find all sorts of things, from tips to recipes to personal experiences, but most of all fun (I hope!). I write about how I want to change the world, but don’t look at it as if I’m judging you. If anything, I like responses from my dear readers the most, so don’t hesitate to contact me or respond to any of my posts!

Yours sincerely,
Romee

Here’s what I posted most recently

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Ik ga dit jaar weer de challenge aan om de winter door te komen zonder de warming aan te zetten. Hiervoor ging mijn essential, een warmwaterkruik 💦, kapot. In deze reel laat ik je zien hoe ik een ‘nieuwe’ tweedehands kruik kocht. Vandaag te lezen op whenateengoesgreen.com: een inspirerende documentary over Greta Thunberg: I am Greta. Een documentaire over hoop, maar vooral over doorzettingsvermogen 🔥. Lees het nu via de link in mijn bio. Meer vegan producten in de schappen, yay! Gisteren probeerde ik voor het eerst de vegan lentil tikki masala saus van Patak’s 🧑🏼‍🍳. Zie in deze reel wat ik ervan vond. Vandaag verscheen er een nieuw artikel op mijn blog over: 5 dingen die ik niet koop. Want we denken vaak dat we dingen écht nodig hebben, maar vaak is dat niet zo 🧠. Check het artikel via de link in miijn bio. Vorige week verscheen er een artikel op mijn blog over alles wat ik nieuw kocht in 2022. Dat is een groot deel van mijn negatieve impact. Deze week was het tijd om te kijken naar de andere kant van de medaille. Vandaag lees je op mijn blog een artikel over al mijn positive impact in 2022 🌞. Je vind de link naar het artikel in de link in mijn bio. Afgelopen week verscheen er op mijn blog een artikel over alles wat ik nieuw heb gekocht in 2022. Eén ding op de lijst waren deze onderbroeken (een stuk of 20). En nu denk je misschien: waarom zou je in één keer zoveel onderbroeken kopen? Op 31 december, nog net op de valreep in 2022, kwam er een video online op mijn Youtube-kanaal over voedselcoöperaties. Ik denk namelijk dat voedselcoöperaties ons voedselsysteem democratischer en eerlijker kunnen maken 🥦. Elk jaar stel ik mezelf als doel om geen nieuwe spullen te kopen. Er is weer een jaar voorbij, dus het was tijd om te evalueren. Is het me gelukt om in 2022 geen nieuwe spullen te kopen? 🛒 Je leest het vandaag op m’n blog. Ook tijdens het gourmetten kan je heel makkelijk vegan eten 🌱. Zie hier wat ik at als vegan op de tweede kerstdag 🎄. Gourmetten is een topoplossing als je niet uren in de keuken wilt staan. Lekkere snacks kopen, even snijden en alles neerzetten en bakken maar!

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  • Documentary: I am Greta
  • 5 things I don’t buy
  • My positive impact in 2022
  • All my new purchases in 2022
  • Eco-positive toilet paper: The Good Roll

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