Last weekend, I was enjoying a cold one with my girlfriend in my front yard discussing all things ‘green’.  Over smelling lilacs and admiring poppies, the conversation turned to questions about my commitment to an eco-friendly lifestyle. I was explaining how living sustainably involves making choices and at times, that means choosing to settle for the next best thing.  I remembered a situation I had written about 5 years ago involving whether or not to replace our second car that had been deemed terminal. It illustrates the struggle that even us long-time ‘modern greenies’ go through.  I thought it appropriate to re-post in honor of Earth Month:

Living a sustainable lifestlye, for the most part, has been pretty darn easy. The decision to switch to biodegradable, non-toxic cleaners was easy. Choosing natural personal care products – a snap. Kicking up recycling and reducing my need for stuff? Relatively simple. But a recent situation proved to be the greatest challenge of all; giving up the second car.

The Bad News:

The day is etched in my mind – it was a Tuesday. Our mechanic, Eric, called with the bad news; it was terminal. While my husband and I pondered where to lay old Betsy to rest, it hit us that we were down to one set of wheels. We are definitely a two car family. Our offices are over 15 miles apart and schedules are hectic. Our son needs to get from points A to B (and C, D and E depending on the week). My husband has softball and I have meetings. How are we going to make this sudden change work? Granted, we’d been limping along with one car for the last week but could we sustain it?

Then it hit us.

We could do this – at least for a while. My husband would take turns carpooling to work. On days he didn’t drive, he’d ride his bike to the meeting point (6 miles each way). On the days he did drive, he’d handle dropping off our son and I’d ride my bike (only 4 miles each way). On hectic days, well, we’d just deal with them as they happened. We felt empowered.

All’s Well That Starts Well.

My husband Rob (who’s in pretty good shape anyway) was enjoying the extra workout and was wondering why the carpool thing hadn’t happened much earlier. How come he hadn’t suggested it sooner? It seemed so obvious.

I, on the other hand, was having mixed emotions. I’d only ever been without a car for a few days at a time and even then I felt nervous not having the freedom I knew so well. Lame? Yes. But, let’s face facts. Ten years of living in Los Angeles, and a career in sales, had created a dependency on my car that I hadn’t realized was so serious.  What if I needed to go to the bank? The grocery store? Aaaaaahhhhh!!! The stress was just too much to handle.

After my panic attack subsided, I got to thinking and remembered that most of my trips are well organized anyway. I tend to group my tasks and plan my errands. Why am I making such a big deal? I would be fine.

Reality Sinks In – Life On A Bike

Day one: This is great. The weather is cool, the birds are singing and boy, am I out of shape.

Day two: Hmmm. My legs hurt but I fight through it. I wanted to lose weight anyway and here’s a way to do two things at once.

Day five: This SUCKS! Rob is wrong. Riding 4 miles in 102 degrees in the blazing sun with a 10lb laptop is NOT invigorating. Call me a wimp (yes, yes I hear you all) but I am seriously longing for an ice cold Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Two hours later: After my temper tantrum ensued via cell phone, I find Rob scouring the internet. Turns out there are a few used 2004 Prius Hybrids available within a 200 mile radius (authors note: keep in mind, this was originally written in July of 2004 and Priuses had a year waiting list). Ah, yes. My husband has redeemed himself. Suddenly this day is looking up. I grab a cold Pale Ale and jump on the phone.

20 minutes later: Sierra Nevada left to fizzle on the desk, we’ve piled in our wonderfully air conditioned minivan and are on our way to a dealer 2 hours away in Sacramento. It appears that used hybrids are a hot commodity. All but one has sold since they appeared on the lot earlier in the day. Our salesman, Chia, (yes, as in the popular holiday gift) promises to call if the last one sells during our 2 hour drive.

15 minutes to destination: Chia calls. No, no, no!!!!!  This can’t be happening. Pleeez don’t make me ride my bike again. I’ll recycle more, I promise!  He says a couple is taking a test drive and Chia senses they’re interested. I step on the gas and pray that good Karma follows us.

12 minutes later: I miss the driveway into the dealership. Crap. My husband, growling, gets out a block away and walks briskly to the showroom while I turn around. My son and I get out of the car and there, before us, is the car I’ve been longing for. It’s green. Or is it grey? It’s 9:30pm, dark and do I really care what color it is?

Happy Ending

Fortunately, for us, the couple taking the test drive decided to wait the 9+ months for a new one. After a test drive, 15 minutes of intense, but moot negotiation and an hour and a half waiting for paperwork, we are the proud owners of a Toyota Prius. Woot! Our bleary eyed yet amazingly well behaved son, who’s now 3 hours past his bedtime, smiles broadly and wants to know if we can go home now.

Next, we have a 10 minute lesson on how to drive the thing (keyless entry was very new then) and we’re off. My husband and son drive the new car home. I figured since he was the one who found my dream car he should have the honor of the initial drive. I follow in our minivan happily singing along to Def Leppard on the radio. We pull into our driveway exhausted, but happy, at 1:40 am.

Moral Of The Story

Well, I didn’t last as long as I had hoped. However, I learned a few important things along the way.

1. We don’t need to drive two cars every day
2. Riding our bikes is a great way to conserve fuel, save money and incorporate much needed exercise.
3. I’m a fair weather biker. I’m ok with that. I make it up in other ways
4. Even though the one car idea didn’t work out for me, the purchase of a hybrid satisfied my need for convenience yet met my expectations for conservation and lightening my ecological footprint

March 2009 update:

A lot has changed since this piece was written. 4 years ago, my husband joined me at Greenfeet full time so we carpool every day. We shoot for Carbon Free Fridays (I am still a fair weather biker) and my son carpools to school everyday. We’re on our second Prius  and average 42-45 mpg. I still love how my car sips gas (less than $20 to fill my tank at today’s gas prices which are coincidentally about the same as when the article was originally written $2.30/ gallon) and we have consolidated our driving even further. We still have our minivan but it’s hardly ever used – only occasionally on those crazy days or when we have a carload of kids.

Am I perfect? Uh, no. Yet, I am still very much committed to a sustainable lifestyle. It’s all about choices and being happy with the ones you make – even if they aren’t perfect. Oh, and if you see me on my red mountain bike feel free to wave. But, don’t honk. I’m still a bit skittish and might fall over.

Tags: carpool, ecology, green, green living, school, tank

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 at 4:18 pm and is filed under Green Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.