Comments on: Eco-Driving is great. But how about less driving in the first place?

By: Charles

Charles — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:06:18 +0000

I am looking for information on the possible fumes given off 2005 Honda dashboards, The interior window of my Honda must be cleaned at least 2x a week of the fog is so bad you have difficulty driving. Any info on this matter would be most appreciated. Even just a link will do. Many thanks. Charles larchman13@verizon.net

By: Lara S.

Lara S. — Thu, 07 May 2009 00:09:00 +0000

I use my bicycle to go almost everywhere, but I travel a lot and though I travel by bus I can’t stop noticing the huge plastic waste in it. They give you food in plastic (although it’s a 4 to 6 hour trip)and disposable plastic cups. Sometimes you can’t even eat the sandwich, because it’s moldy! Disgusting…

By: knutty knitter

knutty knitter — Thu, 07 May 2009 00:05:00 +0000

this year eldest is riding his bike to school. Next year youngest will try that out too. He says he can do it even though its 8 kilometers each way and he will be 11. There is a great new bike path so it should be fine. That cuts most of my trips down to about 5 a week plus the odd visit. I hope to get an electric bike for most of these. I do wish there was better and cheaper public transport!

viv in nz

By: martin

martin — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:01:00 +0000

How about horses as an alternative transportation? Where I am living it looks like horse carts are still a viable service industry. Car ownership is low and people hire horse drawn wagons to move house, to deliver garden supplies and building supplies and as you see in this picture, mopeds :)

http://twitpic.com/3gb01

By: Green Lifestyle

Green Lifestyle — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:38:00 +0000

Its a dilemma really isn't it? Save weight and increase fuel efficiency or ditch the plastics and go for a heavier greener product.

There must be a material out there which is just as light and degrades better.

Im sorry to say though I can't rid of driving all together, its needed for my work.

By: Robj98168

Robj98168 — Wed, 06 May 2009 04:40:00 +0000

I drive.
I drive a super sub compact that gets great mileage and wasn’t made in Detroit- It doesn’t cost much in maintenance, Maybe one of the reasons Detroit is in trouble. Should’ve stuck with the EV1 there gm! ANyway when not driving my car I drive a small honda scooter, They(or rather-I) have yet to find a convienant bus route to my work.

By: Brekke

Brekke — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:38:00 +0000

I have been having a bit of a battle with myself lately about my car driving. My car gets good enough gas mileage, but I am forced to drive more than I would like.

Since losing my full-time job over a year ago I have been working several part-time jobs at a time, almost all of which I need to drive too. Its pretty silly, cause I live in chicago and public transportation is decent here.

This summer I am working a summer camp in the west suburbs of the city, and have made a pact with myself to take the train and then bike from the train station to the farm at least three days a week. It will be good for my health and good for the planet!

Who knows what will happen with working in the fall though. As much as I would like to give up the car, and as much as I complain about having one (mostly to my poor boyfriend) at this point in my life I'm just not sure I can make it happen.

My boyfriend on the other hand has NEVER owned his own car, and hasn't driven one regularly since moving to Chicago after high school. What a role model I have in him :-)

By: Martin

Martin — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:04:00 +0000

People are always saying that having a car is 'necessary' in LA. That seems like something that can and should be fixed.

I had a short and very inconvenient period of carlessness in rural Canada. I was working at the Halifax International Airport. There was no public transit from the nearest community and it was way too far to walk and it would have been dangerous to bicycle. I paid a coworker some gas money to pick me up. He was a sweet old man but he always had an encore performance of his stories when he picked up his second passenger 15 minutes after me.

I had a year long and mildly inconvenient stretch on a small island in the Med. Hot climates can make long walks almost impossible. I lost almost 20 pounds that year.

I plan on staying carless here in North Africa. Public transit is great and taxis are affordable as well. I think I will be able to organize my life so that I don't have to go anywhere during midday in the summer.

By: Anarres Natural Health

Anarres Natural Health — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:52:00 +0000

My family and I walk and bike everywhere.

For the past 3 days, my 3 years old has been learning to ride a bike.

We also sail in my partners bost/home and take ferries, tender boats and public transit.

We live in a neighbourhood that's thoroughly walkable. Motor vehicles aroud here are status symbols. If you are driving a car here, you're either driving through from the suburbs, are disabled, remarkably lazy, or a drug dealer. Although more than half of people here own a car, 2/3 of trips are made on foot or by bike.

All of the stupid cars that park at the bottom of my street are drug dealer or suburbanite SUVs. Sometimes, we can't get our bikes or cart out from between the parked cars that aren't ours. Kinda makes you feel like committing a property crime.

I could go on...

By: The Green Cat

The Green Cat — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:32:00 +0000

On another note: my boyfriend just started a week of training on a temporary job. The training takes place about 2 miles from his apartment in Jersey City. As he put it: It’s a little too far to walk but too close to justify driving. His solution was to pick up a cheap pair of used rollerblades to travel back and forth. Unfortunately, on the first day out he got going too fast on a downhill and managed to fracture one of his fingers on a fence. Luckily he’s not one to be discouraged and will be blading (albeit more carefully) to training anyway.