Change is good: Share the pain
Okay, how seriously are you taking it? Is the rising cost of food and gas and just about everything else making you cut back? Is guilt over global warming making you behave more environmentally sane?
The other day I drove the highway up to New Hampshire and, as I often do to amuse myself as I travel, counted cars. There are definitely (proportionately) fewer SUVs on the road, confirming all the news articles I've been reading about car dealers who can't give them away. Have you stopped driving yours? We own two aging (8- and 15-year-old) Honda Civics, so what are we going to trade down to? Still, it costs more than $40 to fill. On the up side, isn't the air cleaner and traffic lighter these days?
And the cost of food! It's not that I've changed what we eat, but it takes me twice as long to shop. I stand there, staring longingly at produce that I refuse to pay that kind of price for. $1.99 a pound for green beans *on sale*?? Seens like the only bargains any longer are cabbage and beans (pinto, white, kidney, black-eyed peas...). That Home Depot caged tomato in a patio pot at $14.99 suddenly seems like a bargain.
Are you growing vegetables to compensate?
In the name of cost cutting and environmental sanity, these days I--
- Bring my own bags to the market
- Rarely water my garden; if it doesn't survive, it wasn't meant to be
- Belong to an organic farm cooperative
- Take the T whenever I can and meet more by phone
- Rarely throw out leftovers, cooking creatively what's in the fridge instead (soy sauce is my new best friend)
- Agonize over whether to do 'virtual' book tour for the February release of "Never Tell a Lie" or bite the bullet and travel
- Spend longer in the discomfort zone before turning on the a/c or heat
The other day I drove the highway up to New Hampshire and, as I often do to amuse myself as I travel, counted cars. There are definitely (proportionately) fewer SUVs on the road, confirming all the news articles I've been reading about car dealers who can't give them away. Have you stopped driving yours? We own two aging (8- and 15-year-old) Honda Civics, so what are we going to trade down to? Still, it costs more than $40 to fill. On the up side, isn't the air cleaner and traffic lighter these days?
And the cost of food! It's not that I've changed what we eat, but it takes me twice as long to shop. I stand there, staring longingly at produce that I refuse to pay that kind of price for. $1.99 a pound for green beans *on sale*?? Seens like the only bargains any longer are cabbage and beans (pinto, white, kidney, black-eyed peas...). That Home Depot caged tomato in a patio pot at $14.99 suddenly seems like a bargain.
Are you growing vegetables to compensate?
In the name of cost cutting and environmental sanity, these days I--
- Bring my own bags to the market
- Rarely water my garden; if it doesn't survive, it wasn't meant to be
- Belong to an organic farm cooperative
- Take the T whenever I can and meet more by phone
- Rarely throw out leftovers, cooking creatively what's in the fridge instead (soy sauce is my new best friend)
- Agonize over whether to do 'virtual' book tour for the February release of "Never Tell a Lie" or bite the bullet and travel
- Spend longer in the discomfort zone before turning on the a/c or heat
When my car's air conditioning gave out, I had this fantasy that I'd forgo it. I'm driving less, after all. What's a little perspiration? Then the thermometer hit 98 on the day when I drove Portsmouth. Next day, I got that sucker fixed.
Are your habits changing, too? Where do you draw the line?
Labels: food, fuel, hallie ephron, inflation
posted by Jungle Red Writers at 9:51 AM
7 comments
