Ditch your car and buy a scooter?

Have you decided to ditch your car this spring?

Maybe you are ready to opt for something cheaper, and something fun. If so, a scooter may be for you. Scooters are great for commuting and bumming around town on errands. Scooters can be used year round, except for extreme weather. A new scooter costs $2000 on average, and with care a scooter can last five to 10 years.

Scooters get better gas mileage than cars and they’re smaller, so they use less materials to produce and ship. We talked to Sean Murnane, co-owner of Metrowest Scooters of Framingham, MA. Murnane compares gas costs of a scooter versus a car, " It depends entirely on the price of gas, but I spend about 20 percent of what I used to spend."

But do scooters pollute?

Scooters emit more pollution than cars, but they take less resources to build, compared to an SUV. Ecomodder.com explains the reasons why scooters emit more pollution.There is much less regulation when it comes to scooters, because market restrictions have made it almost impossible for environmental legislations to pass.

Murnane has some good points about scooters and the environment. "Some scooters emit more than cars but not all--it depends on the manufacturer and the standards the scooter is built with. If you look at the entire process, from building to running to supplying a scooter with gas compared to a car, they are absolutely more environmentally friendly."

So what is the verdict? Scooters do pollute, but it depends on the scooter itself. If you are a die-hard environmentalist, an electric scooter will do away with all harmful emissions.