At the risk of sounding pedantic and maybe even trite!

This has been on my mind and as a draft for a while ....

Someone wise I know said to me, and rightly so, that a car should be a vehicle to get you from Point A to Point B, in a comfortable manner, and with minimal effects on the environment. I know 'comfortable' is a relative term but the fact that we drive a vehicle in itself has enough potential for damage to the world around us. You could say necessity is the mother of invention. When does it go from necessity to luxury, I ask? Have we driven ourselves to such an extent that we actually perceive it as 'need' and not 'want'? What examples are we setting for our kids?

Why are we as a community so driven by what we drive? I listened to an audio book by Bill Maher (When You Ride Alone You Ride with Bin Laden). The book is though provoking and in fact got me to even pen this! Why is our society so fixated on 'big'? Everybody around me who buys a new car, aims to buy big(ger). Maher says it well, the monsters on the road are called, sports utility vehicles, and ironically they neither transport sports nor utility! And the amount of comfort it offers, it practically is the drivers' second or (more likely) third homes! I read somewhere that sports utes, as they used to be fashionably called, are idling on car rental lots, and that they are offered as 'free upgrades' when you arrive with a smaller car booking. What a monster have we created in the name of need?

One could say I of all the people should be championing the cause for driving large vehicles considering I survived a major auto accident. Yes I was driving a sedan while it happened and I hit a big vehicle. I do not believe a larger vehicle would have done me anything different. I fault my driving more than what I was driving. Better safe than sorry, one could argue. Maybe, but at what expense? OK, my life. More importantly, my family's life. Fair. The same wise one from before :) said to me repeatedly after my mishap, 'That is why they are called accidents, one doesn't plan for it.' Let me say, as a knee jerk reaction we did buy that minivan for the safety aspect it provided. But in hindsight, I should not have reacted that way. The accident has given me perspective. I have made consistent effort to change my ways. I plan my travel better, I map out my drives in my head and on the web and keep alternatives available, I leave earlier by a few minutes, and I try to avoid driving in the dark. The van sits more in the garage and has been designated for 'family travel' instead of 'commute' vehicle. I am happy to let it idle.

We have a lot to change. What we wear, eat, and lifestyle in general. It can be done. Little steps, everyday, I tell my kids. R taught me to always carry a trash bag for when you go for a walk so we can collect any plastic or paper trash on the way (I love R for teaching me this). Recycling is good. The whole family helps out with this. We do need to decrease our dependence on plastic and that has been really difficult. I was thrilled when the local grocery stores offered to recycle plastic grocery bags. That is a start for those who absolutely cannot do without it. Home grown is good. We just picked our first batch of peppers...next time I am going to plant at least so I can get >5 peppers at a time :) I love our local farmer's market in summer time. It is a good 2 mi walk, not to forget the trash we pick up on the way! Farmers offer discounts when we bring our own bag! The usual basics mom and dad harped on growing up, will carry us a long way. Turn lights off if not needed, close the refrigerator door when not using. Our A/C died a week ago, and I am actually trying life without it! It isn't that bad, after you accept it in your head (another one from 'lessons learned'). My f-i-l line dries clothes when they visit us! And I plan to continue that till end of summer.

There is so much we can do. I sincerely believe that we should consider leaving a sane and livable world for the next generation. This has become my work in progress. I 'need' and 'want' to change my ways for the kids. Wish me luck!