I've decided to do an easy thing and just start thinking more. For the last few years, I have already tried to limit my car use - with a fair amount of success (I take the train to work every day and live in an area where I can walk to most everyday amenities like the bank, restaurants, coffee shops, pharmacy/convenience store, library, etc.). However, I have to admit, I have become complacent about it. I think about the bigger choices I make (commuting by train) and often get lazy about the little choices (sometimes driving the 0.75 miles to my community garden plot instead of walking or biking).
But I've been inspired. If I spend just a little bit more time thinking about how I get around, I think it can make a huge difference.
For example, this afternoon, I went to a gardening class in a neighboring city (Sunnyvale), a short 3 1/2 miles from my house. I could have very easily got in my car and driven 5-10 minutes there and back and not thought a thing about it. But a couple days ago, I decided to spend 5-10 minutes looking into if I could get there by public transit. I found out that I could indeed take the train there. The 25 minute trip if I walked to/from the train station (5 minutes from my house to the station, 5 minutes on the train, and 15 minutes from the Sunnyvale train station to the gardening class). And then I realized if I rode my bike, I could cut the trip to 15 minutes! 5-10 minutes of planning ahead of time and I could feel good about not having to get in my car for an out of the ordinary outing - not bad.
And then when it came time to actually make the trip today... I was running late from lunch, so I was scrambling to get out the door on time to catch the train. And then when I got downstairs, I realized that my tires were a bit low on air so I spent a couple minutes I didn't have pumping up my tires. And then I scrambled onto my bike, booked it to the train station, and... got there 2 minutes too late! For a second, I was peeved by the fallacies of taking public transit. And then I realized that the class was only 3.5 miles away and that I could probably make it there in 15-20 minutes and still be there on time. So I jumped back on my bike and dragged my out of shape ass down there in time for the class. After the class was over, I was tired and it had started to rain, so I biked the 1/2 mile to the Sunnyvale train station and took the train home.
When I got home, it felt so good to have biked and taken public transit to my class. And I realized that all I needed to do was to think just a little bit more. All the info to make these decisions is at my fingertips (Google Maps, Google Transit and/or 511.org). And then I was inspired when I thought of the huge impact we could have on the world just by thinking a little bit more.
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This is a great entry, especially when you think of it in terms of a city like LA. I can't think of how many times I used to drive to a mini-mall to go to say, Home Depot, and then drive the 200 meters to go to say, In and Out, and then drive another 200 meters to go to Vons or something. Even though they were all in the same complex.
ReplyDeleteNow, granted, there's no infrastructure for walking across these mini-malls most of the time. You have to weave your way in an out of both parked and moving cars, and mini-malls are notorious for their orphan side-walks that lead to nowhere. Yet this shouldn't stop us from just stopping to think how ridiculous it is to drive from one store to another.
I've begun to try to do even more than this, walking to stores that I can walk to, and if I have to drive somewhere, parking where I plan to purchase the most stuff and walk to the other places I need to go. Often this involves crossing streets and huge parking lots, but I think it's a small price to pay to start changing the way we live - in a way that's both environmentally friendly, but more healthy!