A CALL FOR A MORATORIUM ON WASTEFUL DRIVING
Well folks, your national leaders, nor your pastor during the Sunday morning sermon will tell you the absolute truth. So I guess it's left up to an insightful and fearless blogger like me to put us all on the right track to salvation, as far as our pocketbooks are concerned. The simple truth lies in this one profound declarative sentence:It's time for all of us to cut back on our driving habits to take a proactive stand against over inflated gasoline prices. We all need to stop the selfish, wasteful and spontaneous driving that's primarily based on impulse, whim and the uncontrollable desire to be behind the wheel. We are told the reason for high oil prices, crude and refined, is because the demand for oil exceeds the supply. And the primary driver for this imbalance is due to current economic booms ocurring in China and India, respectively. And that there are other variables as well that affect this inbalance , such as an insufficient number of refineries, especially in the United States. By the way, no one has mentioned another motivating force called "greed" on part of OPEC and the oil companies.
As a very industrialized and individualized society, we here in these United States of America are most wasteful of all industrialized nations. Thus, it's about time we learn from our European and Asian neighbors to conserve more by using public transportation, and to care a bit more about our fellow human beings and society as a whole rather than being all wrapped up -selfishly-in our own little universe.
I've already started cutting back on my impulsive driving by planning before I start up the engine. I keep a pad and pencil on the kitchen counter to write a list of items I need to buy or errands I have to run. What about you? Are you doing your part?
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CREDITS: Special thanks to PQ-WORLD@ www.PQworld.blogspot.com for contributing to the writing of this blog.
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NOTE: This article was written on Friday, August 26th, several days before hurricane Katrina reaped havoc on the southern-gulf coast of the United States. Also, I might add that Bill O'Reilly on the "O'Reilly Factor," Fox News-TV, Wednesday-August 31st, called on all U.S. citizens to self-impose a limit on their driving to combat rising gas prices. So Bill, "Something To Say Blog" welcomes your astute foresight in bringing this issue to the forefront by championing a worthy cause before your vast and loyal viewing audience.
posted by CAVITEMYR-WORLD @ 3:53 AM
1 Comments:
Thank you for this post! I completely agree, and appreciate your efforts - both regarding your driving and encouraging others to reduce their wasteful driving, as well.
Here's one thing I do that really helps: designating one day of the week for errands, rather than just combining errands when driving (which actually can increase driving: trying to do multiple errands on a trip that would better if scheduled once weekly for efficiency. For example, it is easy to get in the habit of stopping by the grocery store almost nightly on the way home, to justify driving two work by adding an errand. But no one needs to grocery shop more than once a week, so multiple stops at the store on the way home per week is actually wasteful.)
It takes a little discipline at first, but works marvelously. Designate one day of the week (Fridays are great!) to do all errands. When one comes to mind during the week, write it down in the day-planner for Friday, which instantly helps resist the urge to hop in the car right away! Even if it seems illogical or too late to wait until Friday, write it down for Friday anyway. This puts it into perspective, and alternate solutions begin to come to mind for solving the problem. On Friday, organize all the errands into a logical route, starting with filling the gas tank and going to the bank for deposits and a week's worth of cash. Then the grocery store, trying to cover as many errands at the grocery store as possible. For example, check the hardware aisle for small items, before driving to the hardware store. Or buy cards or gifts at the grocery store if possible. It's amazing how many errands/trips can be eliminated this way. And of course keeping a grocery list of items to buy on Friday eliminates lots of trips. I plan my next week's menus on Thursday night, finalize the grocery list, put canvas bags in the car, and am ready to grocery shop Friday. This eliminates so much driving, it slows down the pace of life wonderfully. And it's nice to be able to know, predictably, that each Friday, the groceries will be bought, cash gotten from the bank, the gas tank filled, the stationery and hardware supplies purchased, etc.
Thanks again.
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