Because March 1st was the wrap-up of the 28 Day Real Food Challenge, I neglected to post about my One Small Change for March.  But first, a quick update on my January and February changes.

January – Goodbye, Dishwasher

This was going really well until my sink broke.  You know what’s hard to do with a broken sink?  Wash dishes.  I figured that washing dishes in the bathroom sink or bathtub would most likely defeat the purpose, so I’m back to using my dishwasher.  However, my water bill reflected a fairly substantial decrease in water usage, so that’s a good thing.

February – 28 Day Real Food Challenge

I haven’t yet found a way to articulate how this challenge impacted my life.  In short, this experience was simply phenomenal, and I am so glad that I participated.  Not only was it beneficial from the standpoint of environmental impact, but I never anticipated the overwhelmingly positive effect it would have on my health.  That is a topic for another time, but I will certainly be continuing with this “small” change in some capacity.

And for March…

I’m giving up horses.  This probably seems like an odd one, so let me explain.

For the past six months, I have shared a lease of several horses who live in a pasture 20 miles away from my house.  It was a self-care lease, which meant that I had to drive to the pasture on a daily basis to feed them, even on days I wasn’t planning on riding.  As is the case in many rural areas, public transportation was not an option.

The fact of the matter is that I can cut my gas usage by almost 3/4 just by giving up the horses.  At this point, I honestly can’t justify driving that much for a recreational activity, when there are other perfectly reasonable alternative activities or the possibility of finding a horse lease within biking distance.

Which brings me to the real change for March.  Beginning now, I will be closely examining the radius of my daily life and will start factoring transportation impact into my choices in a much bigger way than ever before.  This will be the first step in laying the foundation for what I hope will be an increasingly car-free life.

To be honest, I’m not sure how this one is going to go.  I’ll definitely keep you posted.

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• Why I Failed At Driving Less

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