Tonight, millions of people around the world will turn off their lights for one hour to celebrate Earth Hour, to make a statement about climate change.

Apparently, I make a statement about climate change EVERY Saturday night almost year-round, because my lights are always off at that time for a simple reason: Why the hell would I be sitting around at home on a Saturday night?!

So, watched a friend’s place for him while he was out of town for a few days and one of the perks was that I also had access to his car the whole time. And, I have to say… I’m convinced that I’m officially happier to be car-less.

Until now, I would cite things like the cost of having a car given the payment/lease, insurance, gas, etc., and of course, the big issue is finding a place to park near my apartment, but after this weekend, I’m changing my tune. None of those things matter as much as the fact that I really was just bored driving around.

Some of this is the fact that it wasn’t my car, of course. For example, when I walk around the city, I usually listen to podcasts or new music on my iPod. But the car didn’t have a line-in, so when I drove down to a party on Saturday, it was all just… the radio.

On top of that, it just seemed like such a waste of time. Nearly an hour of making sure my car stayed between painted lines at a high rate of speed (within 5 miles of the speed limit, so of course, I was being passed quite a bit), listening to radio, and having to deal with all the aggressive drivers trying each lane out to see which would get them to their destination faster. Blah, such bad energy.

By contrast, without a car, I would have been on the train. While sitting there and relaxing for an hour, I could have read a book, listened to an audiobook, brought a laptop and worked on something there, watched some video on my iPod… all of which seem like so much more civilized options.

I understand that driving a car is supposed to be some primal, masculine thing, but you can have it. I’m sticking with sneakers, buses, and trains.