Monday, June 09, 2008

Buying a car is an eco-option?

Well sometimes. I (sadly) bought a car last week. Now, I own 4 motorized vehicles. Pathetic isn't it. I justify them like this:
  • Minivan - for obvious reasons. Especially when baby # 3 arrives. Not much else will do.
  • Pickup Truck - For home renovations and my business
  • 1965 Rambler Marlin - This is just plain cool. Plus, it's a piece of history.
  • Cavalier - I bought this to offset the fuel consumption that is at a preposterous level from my 6.0 liter, 4X4 3/4 pick up truck.

While many people are giving up their cars altogether and reaching for their bikes, I still reach for my bike, but I've also reached for a car. Mileage, mileage, mileage. I will end up using roughly 1/3 the gas I would use if I continued to use my truck. While I will still ride my bike as much as possible, days when I've got soccer and night and can't afford a 1 1/2 hour commute, I'll be driving the car. It's nice to know that I'll be driving something that doesn't have such a monstrous carbon footprint. Add to that the cost savings of driving a small car, and it's a no-brainer.

2 comments:

Smudgemo said...

I think you should just finish that bad-ass motorcycle project and ride that.

Jerome said...

Yeah you're right Smudgemo, only problem, the seat is going to be a piece of sheet metal with a thin piece of foam on it. It's also a rigid frame so I'm not sure any body whould stand up too well riding this on the highway for long periods of time. I kind of made this to be a bar hopper. I'm not even going to have a key switch, just a hidden rocker switch and start button. Buy you're very right, I should just get the blasted thing done!