Way back at the beginning of this year, which is already 1/12 over, I posted here about how my husband and I had decided to try and lower our footprint even more, and so we were parking the truck for one month.
So guess what? We did it. And guess what else? It was totally easy. I’ll admit that it was easier on me than on my husband because I just don’t go out at night that much, so walking everywhere during the day was just fine. The weather was pretty mild too, which helped. A couple of times we car pooled with neighbours who were going by our house to the same destination, and we hitch hiked (no problem getting a ride and safe here) and Victor spent a lot of time on his bike too.
Our three biggest challenges were water, night, and Victor’s gigs. We have a water dispenser and have to refill it at the store about a mile away. We stocked up with 17.5 gallons on Dec. 31st, and then Victor carried one gallon a few times a week on his bike. And in the middle of the month, we hitched a ride with the neighbour and refilled all the empties.
Victor didn’t have a light on his bike though, so he had to walk to evening meetings. And we got rides with other musicians in the neighbourhood to the music gigs Victor did in January (in 2009, he did 3…this year, he’s done 5 already!)
We were most proud of finding a solution to the following challenge. Victor heard about a house concert at a friend’s house up island. Not our island, but on Vancouver Island. That meant a ferry ride and somehow getting north 35 km and then getting back in time for the last ferry home. He ended up posting an ad on a local Yahoo group asking if anyone wanted to drive and he would pay for the ferry and he got a taker right away and they had a blast! He also took the ferry/Greyhound bus down to Victoria for a rehearsal this past week.
My biggest accomplishment was not so much solving a problem, but increasing my exercise by a lot. Each weekday, I walked about 2-3 miles on my treadmill while writing my new book (see, you knew I could work writing into this post somehow, didn’t you?) and then did the two mile loop to the Village to get library books and a few groceries. On average, I increased my walking about 10 miles per week. Not bad, if I do say so myself.
And how much did we spend on gas for the truck? Yep. $0
Victor wrote about his experience here. And I think it pretty much says what I didn’t. I know that my critique partner, Kim, has been eating all her evening meals by candlelight to save electricity. Have you done anything I should know about and try to do to save energy or reduce my impact on the Earth? I’d love to hear about it!
After reading your post, I spent the better part of half an hour wondering how I could possibly park my car for a month and thus become greener. I’m still pondering how to do this, living where we live. It’s a 30 mile round trip to go to the grocery store, hitchhiking isn’t the norm around here, etc. Certainly, i can limit my trips (which I do, somewhat) and I can try harder. But I do think it’s great that you and Victor managed to do it for a month, despite the challenges you faced. Thanks for the inspiration.
Joelle, we’re in LOVE with candlelight dinners! We are going to do them every night, from now on (except in summers, of course, when it stays light up here until nearly 10 p.m!). We’re thinking of making our own candles, too. THANK YOU for the great idea!
Congratulations on your increased exercise! 10 miles per week is so great! You must be loving your treadmill desk. And it sounds like Victor is rockin’ with the gigs! You guys are inspiring.