With Heidi Schoen
Healthy Planet Green Living Editor
Welcome back to the GREEN SCENE, where progressive people, places and products aim to enlighten and empower us to live sustainably. Regardless of where our lifestyle is on the green continuum, each one of us can and should take simple steps to improve the state of our local and global environment.
Around Valentines Day I started falling out of love with my car. It’s been a capricious affair lasting too long. A car represents freedom and I am addicted like a junkie to the convenience and independence a car provides. I realized this one day when my car screamed at me to STOP. Yes the actual words appeared on my dashboard and warned me of low oil pressure and impending debit. Like news of bad cholesterol from your healthcare provider it was a wake up call. I began to think of the life implications choosing a car has from a financial perspective and a health stand point. A family of two adults and one child can survive without a car but the spoiled American alter-ego whispers like a little devil on my shoulder – one car is incredibly more convenient. Compromise is ideal so the little devil wins this time; a goal to whittle down the fleet is born. Implementation of this plan may be months away but it seems inevitable. I don’t want to be a slave to this automobile love affair and maybe I can have an extra-vehicular affair with a scooter – it could happen. The positives of more money and more health far outweigh the cons of walking the 9 year old 2 miles one way to school. Another obstacle, the winter weather just won’t go away. I don’t want to take my cute coonhound out for a walk in this icicles hanging everywhere weather and my 9 year old is not consenting to waking up early to walk to school. Trust me you need that level of buy in when negotiating with an adolescent. I have considered an incentive program of special food but I will save that for the dog. Spring is almost here and it’s much easier to walk without snow boots so I move forward with my plans– yes, a spring car diet is just the remedy for the auto-blues.
If you love green and have an interesting idea, product or service, contact me at HSchoenTHP@aol.com.