RedHatty - 2 Years

Oil Crisis or no, it has really been almost 2 years since I owned a car.  While I do use one for work, I do not bring it home.  I use mass transit to and from the office and for longer journeys through the city.  I ride a bike for around the town errands.  

I was one of the really spoiled ones a couple years ago, I had a company car & a personal vehicle - I was 1 person in 2 cars, talk about a carbon footprint!  But all that has changed.

What have I gained?  Lower blood pressure, smaller thighs, less weight, healthier lungs, less stuff in the icebox to deal with as i only grocery for a couple days at a time, so I don't have stuff growing & going to waste in there.  More money in my pocket!!!!  What I used to spend in a week for gasoline, I spend for a month of unlimited bus fare ($50).

I find myself shopping less for useless "stuff" and more for essentials.  When we do splurge on something, it is usually something small, electronic & special to us.

Now understand, I have a 60lb dog who eats 50 lbs of dog food every 2 weeks & I manage to get it & bring it home on a bike.  If I can do it, you know you guys can too.

Changes I have made - more shop from home, the internet is a wonderful thing & using the services of USPS, UPS, DHL, etc. is a benefit for someone like me.  Not only has it taught me delayed gratification (as opposed to instant gratification), but it has allowed me to comparative shop without using any gasoline.

I really do grow food in my yard.  My salads come from the yard.  I am still trying to master the knack of asparagus beds - they are a bit tricky, but mine look good this year & maybe I'll get spears this fall, maybe not, but the fern that grows all year long from the plant is quite attractive.  I really grow onions and potatoes in large barrels and I can all my extra produce.

I have been known to make my own soaps - laundry and body, I usually make my own bath salts (Epsom & coarse sea salts & essential oils - it's real easy & a lot cheaper than those specialty stores)  I make my own all purpose cleaners & re-use the spray bottles I have (reducing waste).

These are things I have been doing for years & years, some began due to a need to be frugal, some were crafts I was interested in, gardening started because I wanted a tomato that actually tasted like a tomato, but once began, they became part of my lifestyle.

I watched and lived through my city going to hell two years ago and I watched as the people who live here became more closely bonded, more patient and more sharing - not all of the people mind you, but more than not chose to work together and lean on each other rather than go rogue and hurt people to get what they wanted or needed.

I really believe that there are more good people in this world than there are evil people and I know that while things will be hard, people will come together for the greater good of all.

If there was absolutely NO MORE OIL tomorrow, what changes would you HAVE to make to continue to live?  Would you have to move out of suburbia and closer to the city to get to work?  Would you have to learn ways of storing food that don't require plastic bags?  Would you HAVE to make sure that un used lights and other electric items were off/unplugged when not in use?  Would you be asking your state to develop more commuter mass transit?  What about lobbying for green energy sources to be used for your state?

Well why not do those things NOW?  Before it's too late!  Before you have to find out if there are more evil people than good.  Before you have to watch your children suffer because they can't understand why things are changing for the worse.

Start making your own small changes right now and start learning about & pushing your state for the larger changes that need to be made so that when the oil is really gone we can continue as a civilized world.

Current Mood: accomplished