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jaunthieEver since the price of gasoline started rising again, the news stories about:
a) Americans screaming bloody murder about the increasing expense of fueling their cars and
b) the inability of anyone in government or industry to do anything about it right away
have been all over the airwaves. Republicans scream that the only option is more drilling for oil; Democrats scream that more drilling is not the answer, but fail to scream any answers themselves. Personally, while I find stories like this extremely encouraging - and concrete evidence that we do indeed have other options than continuing to pour our American dollars into Middle Eastern oil, an alternative we should have committed ourselves 100% to on 9/12/2001 - I haven't seen much in the way of stories about what people can do RIGHT NOW to help themselves and their country. And it doesn't require any new technology at all. In fact, it's such an old idea that the cartoon Blondie has featured it for years.
It's called carpooling. Yes, it's a little less convenient than being able to go to work and leave work whenever you want, but the savings on gas, wear and tear on vehicles, and traffic are just a few of the benefits that far outweigh any inconvenience. If you carpool even just one day a week, that's reducing your travel costs by a fifth every week. Not to mention that if everyone carpooled one day a week, we'd reduce traffic congestion by a fifth every day. Spending less money on gas AND improving traffic - what's not to like?
It's also called drive less. (Whatever happened to the wartime "Is this trip really necessary?" and nationwide drives to save fuel to support the troops?) Last year, when I was training for the Breast Cancer 3-Day, I got very used to walking to the grocery store instead of driving there. Sure, it takes a little more time, and you want to have a good, reusable carry bag, but it's exercise (which you have to take time out of your schedule for anyway, so kill two birds with one stone), it's good for you and the environment, and it really isn't that inconvenient. Granted, I live in the city, where I have three good grocery stores within a mile of my house. If you're out in the 'burbs or the countryside where the nearest store is five miles away, that's a different story - but most folks I know in that situation plan their weekly trips to the store very carefully, and don't go more than once or twice a week. My fellow city-dwellers, however, tend to go to the grocery store almost every day for something or other. And most of them drive there.
Me? Oh yes, I practice what I'm preaching here - not perfectly, but regularly. I'm lucky to work for a company that subsidizes carpooling and vanpooling; most days I take (or drive) a vanpool of folks. I almost never drive to work by myself. I still try to walk to the grocery store unless it's late at night, raining buckets, I'm on my way back from a long-distance errand, or it's the big weekly run. And in 2003, when it came time to replace my beloved 13-year-old hatchback (which reliably got mid-20's to mid-30's MPG), I thought of my sister and her husband, both in the Marines at the time, and the situation in the Middle East - and I flatly refused to consider any car that didn't get decent gas mileage. My husband and I wound up buying a hybrid. (And yes, the South Park episode "Smug Alert" was hilarious.)
Short of buying that hybrid (most people can't run out and buy new cars, nor should they), everything I'm talking about is something everyone could start doing today. It's like exercise - hard to get started on a workout program, but you can get into the habit. Set a goal of using a gallon less of gas a week, or starting a carpool, or cutting down trips to the grocery to once or twice a week, or walking at least one regular errand a week instead of driving it. Anything will help.
And it will start saving you money right away, no new technology required.
At least consider it. And pass the idea along.
a) Americans screaming bloody murder about the increasing expense of fueling their cars and
b) the inability of anyone in government or industry to do anything about it right away
have been all over the airwaves. Republicans scream that the only option is more drilling for oil; Democrats scream that more drilling is not the answer, but fail to scream any answers themselves. Personally, while I find stories like this extremely encouraging - and concrete evidence that we do indeed have other options than continuing to pour our American dollars into Middle Eastern oil, an alternative we should have committed ourselves 100% to on 9/12/2001 - I haven't seen much in the way of stories about what people can do RIGHT NOW to help themselves and their country. And it doesn't require any new technology at all. In fact, it's such an old idea that the cartoon Blondie has featured it for years.
It's called carpooling. Yes, it's a little less convenient than being able to go to work and leave work whenever you want, but the savings on gas, wear and tear on vehicles, and traffic are just a few of the benefits that far outweigh any inconvenience. If you carpool even just one day a week, that's reducing your travel costs by a fifth every week. Not to mention that if everyone carpooled one day a week, we'd reduce traffic congestion by a fifth every day. Spending less money on gas AND improving traffic - what's not to like?
It's also called drive less. (Whatever happened to the wartime "Is this trip really necessary?" and nationwide drives to save fuel to support the troops?) Last year, when I was training for the Breast Cancer 3-Day, I got very used to walking to the grocery store instead of driving there. Sure, it takes a little more time, and you want to have a good, reusable carry bag, but it's exercise (which you have to take time out of your schedule for anyway, so kill two birds with one stone), it's good for you and the environment, and it really isn't that inconvenient. Granted, I live in the city, where I have three good grocery stores within a mile of my house. If you're out in the 'burbs or the countryside where the nearest store is five miles away, that's a different story - but most folks I know in that situation plan their weekly trips to the store very carefully, and don't go more than once or twice a week. My fellow city-dwellers, however, tend to go to the grocery store almost every day for something or other. And most of them drive there.
Me? Oh yes, I practice what I'm preaching here - not perfectly, but regularly. I'm lucky to work for a company that subsidizes carpooling and vanpooling; most days I take (or drive) a vanpool of folks. I almost never drive to work by myself. I still try to walk to the grocery store unless it's late at night, raining buckets, I'm on my way back from a long-distance errand, or it's the big weekly run. And in 2003, when it came time to replace my beloved 13-year-old hatchback (which reliably got mid-20's to mid-30's MPG), I thought of my sister and her husband, both in the Marines at the time, and the situation in the Middle East - and I flatly refused to consider any car that didn't get decent gas mileage. My husband and I wound up buying a hybrid. (And yes, the South Park episode "Smug Alert" was hilarious.)
Short of buying that hybrid (most people can't run out and buy new cars, nor should they), everything I'm talking about is something everyone could start doing today. It's like exercise - hard to get started on a workout program, but you can get into the habit. Set a goal of using a gallon less of gas a week, or starting a carpool, or cutting down trips to the grocery to once or twice a week, or walking at least one regular errand a week instead of driving it. Anything will help.
And it will start saving you money right away, no new technology required.
At least consider it. And pass the idea along.
