My household owns 2 cars. I’d rather we only have one and without getting into a long-winded explanation, let’s just say that it would be extremely unlikely that we would become a single car family any time soon.
I drive an energy-efficient 7 year old Honda Civic, while my husband drives an expensive to operate decade-old Nissan Maxima. We chose the Civic, while the Maxima sort of landed in our driveway.
There’s nothing like a simple fill-up at the pumps (especially these days - YOWCH) to remind me of just how much better the Civic is on gas than the Maxima – my heart always seems to skip a tiny beat when I look at the dough my credit card needs to depart with when filling up the Maxima. To be fair, the Maxima does have a bigger tank, and it only takes premium gas, but still - I’m allowed to say “What the Frak” every once in a while.
What does this have to do with Green anyway?
Some people might call me a hypocrite and start to quip and holler about all the things I’m not doing well or could be doing better – for instance:
- Why does she need 2 cars?
- Why is she driving instead of taking public transit or car pooling or biking, or walking?
- OMG – she’s driving a WHAT?
Give me a break.
We all have to choose on our own scales how much, or how little we want to do for our own reasons. When others make us feel guilty about everything we do or do not do, all that happens is some people just won’t do anything at all. Sometimes, doing nothing is the worse thing.
Regarding cars – I’ll keep the Maxima as long as it is working reasonably well. There’s no point in sending more stuff to the landfill. Besides, what were the first of three words back in the first green days? – reduce, reuse, recycle. I’ll try to hold off as long as possible (reduce) by not purchasing a new car until necessary. And when the time comes, I’ll be thrilled to purchase something like a Smart Car. No kidding - have you test driven one? Talk about a car that tells people who I am - Efficient and in a Cute Package.
In seriousness, when the time comes, I’d probably end up with another efficient Civic. Okay, now get out of my way before I run you over. Damn granny driver.
Couldn’t agree more. The green movement often strays into the irrational, and loses credibility with many consumers who might otherwise respond to a more reasoned message. People will hardly respond in droves to a mesage that requres them to spend a dollar to save a penny.
Retailers must encourage people to choose the best option at the time they make a replacement decision (whether a furnace or a light bulb), and the good ones will also try to convince them to replace a bit sooner than they otherwise might (both of these are good for business by the way). Government must create the right regulatory environment to mandate options available; increasingly improving minimum fuel efficiencies, etc. Together this can work.
Jim