I'm seeing that it is very difficult to get our weekly mileage much lower. The only way that could reduce it further would be to move closer to my MIL or.... that's really all I can think of. Unfortunately, that's not really going to work because, although I love my MIL, she lives near a bad elementary school. I also prefer living close to town.
image from xtracycle.comI have thought about getting an xtracycle to make hauling the kids around a little easier, but I'm not sure if it would really cut down on car trips.
What are the main reasons that we drive?
- car pool -- we share with 2 other families, so we only drive every 3 days. If we biked the kids to school, it would not cut out that much mileage. Plus, it would be a big pain. Next year, my daughter will be able to ride this bus so this will not be an issue. If I wake up late, the xtracycle would help get the kids to school without driving, however.
- camping -- I'm not in good enough shape to haul the kids and all the gear at least 30 miles.
- grocery shopping -- could be done on an xtracycle -- kind of a long ride (10 miles round trip unless I want to go to ExpensiveMart)
- have to pick up large heavy objects and transport them around town. Could be done on xtracycle.
- Bring kids to MIL -- can be done on bus, but takes a long time. Too far to be realistic for xtracycle.
- Going to work in bad weather -- besides the car, the bus is the best option here. Unfortunately, out of the 4 jobs that C and I have, only one can be reached without transferring or walking a long way. All jobs could be reached via bike, but would arrive wet. Hmmmmmm....
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3 comments:
I understand your frustration with not being able to reduce your mileage, but it seems like at some point we just have to accept our limitations in certain areas. You've done all you can to avoid driving (walk, ride bikes, take the bus, etc.), and, certainly compared to the average family you drive very little. You need to first, recognize how much you've accomplished and then accept the fact that maybe, for now, there's not much you can do in the area of driving. Perhaps it would be best to focus some of that energy on another area, such as water use, electricity use, general consumption, etc. or convince your MIL to move closer to you!!! ;)
It looks like you actually cut down on 80 miles from last week. (If you don't count the camping.) Which seems pretty freaking spectacular (unless you go camping once a week.)
True Arduous -- I feel much better now that you have pointed that out. We have been trying REALLY hard to minimize our car use -- for the last month, we have made virtually no unnecessary trips, and all trips close to home have been by bike. i guess that what you can see with these numbers is that when you have time limitations and small children, it can be hard to get the mileage down.
Belen -- I also agree with you :) With the buy nothing challenge, April has been a low-consumption month (which incidentally really cuts down on the mileage). My daughter has been begging to go to Target (it's interesting that a 4 yo even knows what Target is), but we haven't gone.
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