Planning to Go Carless

We have an ’89 Toyota Corolla, and last time I took it in for a tune-up, I came out with a $2000 + estimate for everything that needed to be fixed sooner than later. The biggest issue is the brakes. The entire system needs to be replaced, and it’s just a matter of time before it’s no longer safe to drive.

Tonight B and I had a good discussion about what it will look like when we go completely carless. We’ve had this discussion in the past, but it never seemed feasible. Until now. We are paying off business start up debt, and we just don’t have the cash flow for a new car or monthly car payments at this time.

We can do this.

We live within walking distance to my son’s school and the “village” area that includes a pharmacy, grocery store, bank, health food store, etc.

We are within walking distance to the ferry terminal.

We have a couple options for our bi-monthly trips to town to pick up supplies for the hair salon. B’s dad lives in Nanaimo, and would be more than happy to pick supplies up for us and either meet us at the ferry, or bring them over once or twice a month in exchange for his ferry fare and a hot dinner.

If my FIL is not available to pick up supplies, my parents have a truck they leave on the Nanaimo side that they have offered to loan to us on occasion, and it would be infrequent enough I’m sure we could work something out.

We both work from home so there’s no commute.

There’s a great taxi service (and they use hybrid cars for the taxi service locally) for times we need to bring groceries home, or the weather is too miserable for walking.

If we need to go to Victoria or Vancouver we can rent a car quite inexpensively, and the car rental lot is within walking distance from the ferry terminal in Nanaimo.

There are some major benefits to going carless.

Physical activity. I often feel guilty for the amount of driving I do when I have two perfectly healthy legs and the time to walk, if I just plan my day more efficiently.

Financial savings. We would save $60/month in insurance, another $60/month in auto fuel, $109/year in roadside service membership fees, about $300/year in maintenance costs. Yes, we would have to fork out a little money for a taxi periodically, but on the other hand we could get a wagon to bring groceries home, or get a trailer for B’s bike (I don’t have a bike yet).

Fun activities. I absolutely loved bike riding when I was a kid and into my teens, but since going over 200 lbs I have a real fear of riding. This could very well force me to take it up again and get over my fear of looking stupid or feeling like a dork on a bike.

B thinks we should just ditch the car now. I’m still holding onto the convenience factor. But I’m really starting to accept that this could be happening in the very near future.

Families on Bikes!

I have been following the Vogels family, John, Nancy, and their twin boys, Davy and Daryl, on their bike journey when they started in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska June 2008.  About thirty months and 20,000 miles later they plan to arrive in Ushuaia, Argentina. Their twin sons are making history – “Upon completion of this journey, Davy and Daryl will be awarded the title of “Youngest Person to Cycle the Pan-American Highway” by Guinness World Records.”

Through their blog I was introduced to the Pedouins family, who will be starting a 7,000 mile journey on August 1, 2009 from Mount Vernon, KY to Alaska on a quint bike! We were excited to discover they will be coming to Vancouver Island, and have invited them to camp in our meadow while they are in our neck of the woods. We have offered the whole family free haircuts in our hair salon, a hot meal, and use of our shower. I can’t wait to meet them! They should be arriving in May or June of 2010.

This is something I would LOVE to do. Hit the road with a bike, some packs, and your family. Wow… I’m in awe of these familys. My pie-in-the-sky dream is to start a trans-canada west to east bike trip from where we live (conveniently as far west as you can come in Canada) in the spring, then go down the east coast, into the USA, and across the southern states, back up the west coast and into Canada again. Because we don’t bike regularly, this is a very far-off dream, but we can start by biking around our little island and getting into shape. Who knows… maybe when my husband and I retire we’ll do it – with our grown kid(s) and their kids? It’s fun to dream… *sigh*

A Treadmill Bike

Save on fuel AND get your workout in the great outdoors.

My Green Report Card

I thought it would be fun to share what we’re doing right and wrong, and welcome any suggestions or comments. Maybe you’ll get some ideas, and I’d love to get some new ideas from my readers.

Things I need to work on:

• Beat my coca cola addiction
• Find an earth friendly ant poison for when I want to get rid of ants in the house
• Take shorter showers
• When the recycling bin is full, take the extras to the recycling depot instead of throwing them in the garbage
• Buy a wagon and walk to the store to pick up groceries instead of driving (it’s only 1 km away)
• Use that same wagon to pick up my son from school (it’s less than 1 km away)
• Buy less frozen packaged organic foods for convenience and pre-cook meals for quick lunches and dinners
• Set up a cistern to collect rainwater to use for watering the garden

Things I am doing well:

• No toxic cleaners in the house
• About 80% of our groceries are organic
• We’re growing an organic veggie garden this year
• We’re growing organic fresh herbs
• We donate our unwanted stuff (clothes, furniture, toys, etc) to our local recycling centre for resale
• We donate our pop/juice/wine bottles & cans to a charitable organization to return for a refund
• Most of our house lights use low-energy bulbs
• At night we turn all the lights off except for one small lamp in the room we’re using
• We have a fuel efficient compact car and combine all our big errands into one trip into town every other week
• We use canvas shopping bags when we go shopping
• We purchase local produce
• We support local businesses and artists
• I am vegetarian and my husband eats vegetarian meals at home
• We rarely eat out and enjoy trying new recipes at home
• We use a Brita water filter jug instead of buying bottled water
• My son wears good quality (free) second hand clothes passed on from friends
• We try to buy second hand clothes and furniture if possible
• We try to utilize the library for books and DVDs instead of purchasing them new
• Both my husband and I work from home and have no commute
• We use the local freecycle group for donating stuff we’re no longer using, or to find stuff we need
• Our computers and accessories are on power bars that we switch off at night
• We recycle everything we can, compost kitchen food scraps, and have very little trash going to the landfill
• When I was singing in a local community choir I carpooled every week with three other women
• We supplement our electric baseboard heaters with a wood burning stove, and use it to burn all our leftover paper/cardboard/newspaper/flyers
• Instead of using a space heater in our unheated bedrooms in the winter we bought electric blankets and only use as needed

Did I miss anything?

How’s your Green Report Card Looking?

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