Progress
Three weeks in and things are going pretty well.
Riding my bike has been no big deal, and it really didn’t take a huge mental switch to continue this habit. I thought I would want to drive my car more than I do, but biking really hasn’t been so bad. Sometimes when I have to go to campus alone I think it would be easier to drive, but when I go with someone else (as is usually the case), riding my bike is the natural choice.
I did drive to campus once but it was kind of necessary at the time. I was making an evening trip, and I had lost my bike light, so the safer choice was to just drive instead. Plus, I didn’t want a $100 ticket for biking without a light (I actually know someone who got one)!
Problems
The food portion of my promise has been getting slightly more difficult as time progresses. Purchasing food in bulk hasn’t been too hard since I made a major grocery shopping trip last week, and I still have lots of bulk food left. I have not purchased any microwave meals since starting my promise, and I have not eaten any that are in my freezer either. In addition to individual microwave meals, I have also not purchased or eaten any frozen family-size meals, so I think I am doing pretty well on that front.
The problems have arisen in my elimination of prepackaged snacks from my diet. At first I thought, “This is simple; I will replace packaged snacks with fresh fruit.” But this has not proved quite as simple as I had thought. Fruit snacks come in large boxes and can provide two snacks a day for several days, and I can buy several boxes at once so I always have a snack on hand. With my new promise, I have had to go to the grocery store more often to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables, and sometimes I just don’t want to go to the grocery store. But…. I suck it up and go anyway. And of course there is a time issue. When I am running out the door in the morning because I overslept because I was up late studying (or not), making a nice healthy homemade snack isn’t always my first thought.
This looks nice,
but this is soooo much easier! Unfortunately.
I normally have time in the mornings to fully prepare for my day, but on the off chance that I don’t, it is nice to have a packaged snack to fall back on. I will have to work on this because I like replacing granola bars and fruit snacks with healthier and fresher options and knowing that I’m not producing so much trash.
Money in my pocket
As for the bulk food, I recently made a large shopping trip to restock my fridge and cupboards, and I noticed that I spent quite a bit less money than I normally do. My shopping cart looked different than normal, as it was full of fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, and bulk food items, but I believe that I bought enough food to feed me for the same length of time as I normally do. I always knew that bulk food was more economical, but it was nice seeing the almost $15 difference on my receipts! I made some new, delicious, and healthy meals with these foods as well, so I think that this is something I would like to continue indefinitely.
Biking has definitely saved me some money too. Short around town trips are the worst for gas mileage, and these are the kinds of trips I normally make. I filled up my car last time I was in Portland, about a week before this class began, and I don’t think I will need to refill it again until I am back up in Portland in 2 weeks! I don’t know exactly how much money I am saving, since some weeks I am a heavy car user and other weeks I hardly use it at all. But it has been nice that for these past few weeks I have barely had to drive at all because I have even taken my biking promise one step further and been riding it around town too.
Money in yours too…
Biking instead of driving has saved me some direct costs, but it can also contribute to the economy. Ditching your car can have widespread effects, especially if many people do it.
Less driving –> less stops at gas stations –> less money leaving your pocket and going into a large oil company’s –> more money in your pocket for supporting local businesses –> better economy!
And on another track:
More biking –> more exercise –>better health –> less obesity and sedentary lifestyle related disease –> healthier community and nation –> better economy!
A 2008 study in Portland “clocked bicycle-related industry alone as contributing $90 million to the local economy every year” due to increase in bike shops and bike related business (Bikenomics). That’s pretty amazing. And here is another little tidbit about bicycling contributing to the economy: “Construction of bike paths offers more job creation per infrastructure dollar than investment in roads” (The Bicycle Divided). I think more cities are starting to realize that if they supply biking infrastructure, people will ride.
In addition to saving gas, biking also cuts back on greenhouse gas emissions, which really benefits everyone by providing cleaner air and slowing climate change, and ultimately saving lives. The benefits could really be infinite if more people made the switch.
My Motivation
I am motivated to continue with my personal sustainability promises because I feel healthier, I like getting extra exercise, and I am saving money. Oh, and helping the environment is nice too.
Blue, E. (2011, Mar 1). How bicycling will save the economy (If we let it). Bikenomics. Retrieved from http://grist.org/biking/2011-02-28-how-bicycling-will-save-the-economy/
Folbre, N. (2011, July 4). The Bicycle Divided. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/the-bicycle-dividend/
Sustainability for the Common Good 