As you know, my One Small Change for March was to drive less. Let’s just say that I failed.
Okay, fine. So I didn’t fail.
I expected that simply giving up my horse lease as a recreational activity cut my gas usage by 3/4 automatically. It actually ended up being pretty close to that: I used just under half as much gas in March as I did in February. I also had my move to factor in, which definitely changed my driving patterns for a few weeks.
So why do I feel like I failed, or at least cheated?
No Pain, No Gain
I cheated. I just changed what I was doing, I didn’t change how I was getting there. Yes, it did make a big difference. But it wasn’t hard or painful or irritating. It didn’t take any great sacrifice on my part. It didn’t require any research.
In fact, it made my life easier. My new super fun thing, roller derby (yes, roller derby), happens to be right by the co-op, which used to be way out of my way. It’s also on the way to the farmer’s market, which is back in season now. So I’m eating better, and having to plan my grocery shopping less.
Roller derby is also cheaper than riding horses, without even factoring in the gas. And I had a really inexpensive horse lease. I’ve been able to get everything used except for my pads (safety first, people), and had a blast scouring thrift store racks for pieces of cute outfits.
And…shh… don’t tell anyone. At least right now, roller derby is way more fun than riding horses.
Positive Change Doesn’t Have To Be Hard
I’m really torn on this one. On the one hand, if changing one optional activity can make that big of a difference, isn’t that great? I mean, nobody is going to say that using half as much gas is a bad thing. Particularly since it’s not like I gave up recreation entirely. I just changed what I was doing in a way that reduced my vehicular gas usage by over 50%.
I feel like this shouldn’t bother me. I always tell people that positive change doesn’t have to be hard. The whole concept behind my deliberate optimism is that we can make choices that are better for the planet and better for ourselves. But this one really felt like it should be harder! So I’m not stopping here.
Busses, Bikes and Skates
A car-reduced life has become more of an ongoing project than a one small change moment. I’ve started to explore the bus routes. Honestly, it doesn’t look so good. Busses only run every 30 minutes, and I have to transfer lines to get to my primary walkable area. It looks better if you add some sort of faster ground transportation – a bicycle or, I suppose, skates – to either end. But it looks worse in bad weather, and gets harder at night, as the walkable destination lacks sidewalks and lighting.
I’ll keep you posted with updates on how this “second phase” of the project goes. Right now, what is most striking is the need for conscientious civic planning that takes alternate forms of transportation into consideration. We’re talking about deep walkability, which is sadly something that my current route lacks.
How does your community fare as far as public transportation? What gives your community deep walkability or what is it still missing?
I don’t think that’s cheating. I make those kinds of choices all the time — if it’s too far away, I often don’t do it. And that’s how it would be if we simply didn’t have cars any more — we’d have to make choices about the activities we do. We might not across town on a whim to see a movie. Or whatever.
Yay! Thanks so much for your comment. I appreciate the vote of confidence, particularly coming from you. And I think you’re right – it’s about the choices, which sometimes might involve opting out or changing our activities, rather than finding alternate ways of getting there.
I love walking around in the city. It’s not a hard choice for me, really, because driving would be crazy. I live in downtown Seattle, and if I were to hunt for a parking spot, I’d probably spend more time than if I’d just walked from my flat. Seattle is almost car unfriendly, but there are several paid parking lots around. So if you drive to Seattle, plan on paying for parking. I really enjoy using public transportation, too. These are not painful changes, but I think they do help in the overall over-usage of personal cars.
I felt that way about DC – car unfriendly. Urbanization is necessarily going to play a big part in reducing our transportation (and heating, development, … the list goes on) impact, particularly as the world’s population continues to increase. And, as gas prices get more expensive, urban areas are going to become more and more attractive places to live.
I smiled a little bit at your perplexity that driving less was supposed to be harder–I think the car-culture is so ingrained in American society, that we expect that giving up driving (at least to a degree) is going to be insanely difficult. For my part, you inspired me to attempt the same thing. The most difficult part I’m encountering is actually remembering that I’m wanting to drive less. (“Oh crap. I was going to do all my errands today so I won’t have to drive at all tomorrow. I completely forgot!”) I don’t know if it was the same for you, but breaking the habit of driving wherever and whenever you want is the hardest part.
Yeah, car culture is definitely ingrained! I actually didn’t struggle with breaking the driving habit. My isolated, hermit-like nature means I tend to batch my errands anyways, and minimize (or procrastinate) leaving the house as much as possible. I guess that’s one good thing about being a total recluse! Hah!
I’m so glad I inspired you though
. Go, go driving less!
Jess, the goal is to reduce car emissions and gasoline consumption. You didn’t fail! You did all those things and now you have a fun, new hobby. I’m proud of you!