You've got to give TCAT a try ( http://www.tcatbus.com/ ) - it is really great!! Check out http://www.tcatbus.com/passfares.php for special deals on youth fares. Also, you can now travel anywhere in the TCAT route for just $.50 during off-peak times. Also, using TCAT will teach your children lessons in self-sufficiency. If you want to just use a car (or pickup) occasionally, check out http://ithacacarshare.org/ . Also try combining bike/bus modes - this greatly extends your range on a bike (or can at least help you up the hill). Some more ideas: Carpool or borrow a car Plan ahead so that you can combine trips together Give youself more time so that you can walk or use a bike (a 15 minute walk with the family is probably nicer than a 5 minute drive) Revise your shopping habits - for example, if you use a car, buy a lot of groceries so that you can make fewer trips ... if you use a bike, go grocery shopping more often but carry less. Finally, embrace the challence to see how efficiently you can travel. Take care, Kent
--- On Fri, 7/18/08, marlo capoccia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: marlo capoccia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [SustainableTompkins] practical ideas for getting around town To: "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" <[email protected]> Date: Friday, July 18, 2008, 10:00 AM hi andy and all, i haven't been following this conversation, but read what andy said and have been thinking about these things myself. i have tended to ask more practical than philosophical questions here, so i hope you'll indulge me again with another set of questions for immediate application relating to andy's post. any suggestions for moving a family around town? while we do walk and bike a lot, it isn't always workable. what about when you have to go out of town? again, the family is an issue- as is time. with three boys and two working parents, we often have to get places fast. to finish with, we go through bursts of thinking about how to save energy at home and would love to hear more thoughts about home energy use. thanks very much, marlo On Jul 18, 2008, at 9:39 AM, Andy Goodell wrote: > The problem is that we are relying on concentrated forms of energy > - whether > is it coal or gasoline - that both pollute, both cause > environmental issues, > and neither of which can ever be used sustainably. Cars will never > be an > ultimate solution to any energy problem. Electric cars scare me > too, not > just because they potentially pollute more than gas, but because if a > significant portion of this country's cars are electric, the energy > has to > come from somewhere. Plus, we would need to manufacture the > batteries to > store all of that energy. Sure, using power plants at night is a > good idea, > but if we are building more power plants and batteries because of > electric > cars, than we are not helping the situation at all. > > Innovations in energy efficiency are much more important than the > source. > Want to save gas? Stop driving so much. Want to save coal? Stop > wasting so > much electricity. There are so many options out there, and > Americans are so > hesitant to try them unless it fits our comfortable way of life, > while most > of the world uses far less and suffers from the problems created here. > > I specifically chose to live in a place that I knew I would easily > get along > without owning a car. I get everywhere by bike except when I have > been lazy > and use the moped, which is about $2 of gas per month with my > current usage. > Even if the 300mpg plug-in-option car like the Atpera were > available in NY, > I would not buy it. I have absolutely no desire for more efficient > cars, in > fact I would love to see them disappear altogether. What I want to > see is a > community, a whole-system approach, and a way of life that does not > require > owning an expensive, energy wasting, polluting vehicle. Whether it > is coal > or gasoline, they are both heading nowhere near the goal of > reducing our > consumption. > > -Andy > > On Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 1:33 PM, Tony Del Plato > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > >> I was taken aback by the this thought and wondered if anyone on >> the TC >> Sustainability list has a take on whether a Prius, if plugged in to >> re-charge its battery, could indirectly pollute more than and is less >> efficient than a gasoline fueled car. The article below sounds >> compelling >> in >> light of the coal industry trying to get into the transportation >> market. >> Tony Del Plato >> >> http://www.betterworldclub.com/articles/ >> DC_Case_Against_Electric_Car.htm >> >> -- >> >> "Justice is what love looks like in public." >> ~ Dr. Cornel West >> >> >> -- >> >> "Justice is what love looks like in public." >> ~ Dr. Cornel West >> _______________________________________________ >> For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County >> area, >> please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ >> >> RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: >> [email protected] >> http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins >> free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org >> >> >> > > > -- > Andy Goodell > www.IthacaCarshare.org > 607-277-3210 > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County > area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org Marlo Capoccia Garden Gate www.gardengatedelivery.com _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
