Attached to my...... car????

[Shortie]

I'm going to start walking to the station soon for work, and it seriously throw up the question as to 'should I keep my car?'. I can afford to keep it Taxed, MOT'd and maintined so tht's not a problem, it's simply that I'm tying to reduce my Carbon Footprint...

So why oh why, when a Yahoo group I'm a part of, when someone asked if anyone's selling my make and model (but they want a slightly smaller engine size) did I find it so hard to say 'yes, I'm thinking of selling mine' and am now hoping they're not interested so I don't have to think about it any more???

Shortie, for heaven's sake, it's a car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Starchild]

Do you have a transport system the fits in with hospital appointments? Do you ever go away where there is little or no public transport? Do you have any relatives who live off bus/train routes?
What will you do in a transport strike? How will you get to work/shopping/doctors?

[Shortie]

I lik your syle.. I've been trying to find reason not to sell my car too!

But the truth is we have two cars so holidays aren't a problem, and if the trains are down I can bus it to work and if I can do bus either I cn't drive to work anyway (I work in central London and can't park near work for love nor money),

True, hopital appoitments could be a pain in the rear, hadn't thought of that...

I was just really surprised at my reaction when the opportunity to sell my car arose I'm not normally sentimental over material things, lol

[Starchild]

You see we live rural with 1 of us in a wheelchair and 3 of us needing hospital appointments every month and no buses. 23 miles away from a hospital and 9 miles from the chemist.
We couldn't get rid of our car if we wanted to.

[di]

during the week andi has the car for work&although i like walking(spend about 3hrs of my day doing the school/nurseryrun!)ther are occasions when the car comes in handy!~getting to the drs when your ill!waiting for a bus not much fun when you feel like your'e dying!!big harvests from allotment?as Starchild said do you have friends not on a bus route?do you ever have spur of the moment trips to the middle of nowhere?;I'd not be without our car,.also am quite cynical about how much we're being pressurised to reduce our carbonfootprints,I know every little helps,but seems to me all the pressure on normal peeps like us who's footprints are probably minute compared to some/most/all?of the corporate companies polluting our planet.
I say keep your car,maybe just cut down on how much you use it.p.sdid you have a good week off??!

[Alice]

Shortie, I think it really is a question of Do you need 2 cars. I've always resisted that and we manage well with 1. But we do have good public transport. You just have to look at what's practical for you.

[yoanbob]

and even though you love your car in a few weeks you wont think about it any more,

[piskieinboots]

hang me out to dry guys - I just love love love my Mini Cooper S and I would not part with it at all ...does that make me totally ungreen? I am a semi-petrol-head

[Shortie]

Yes, a good week off work ta

I visit rellies with OH who won't be giving up his car for love nor money (it's quite a rare model) so we have a car for those journies anyway.) I guess I can just keep it on teh rive for when needed. That doesn't mean I have to always drive or get rid of it does it...

Thank guys. xx

[Claire72]

A friend lives in London and he gave up his car, it is cheaper for him to hire a van if they need to buy fridges etc, and hire a car if they want to go on a long journey, than to keep a car for a long time unused.
Unfortunately there is only one bus a week that passes anywhere within walking distance of my house, so we need a couple of vehicles here

[terrier]

I listened to an article on R4 yesterday about 'car clubs'. Instead of having your own car, you subscribe to an organisation that hires out cars by the hour. Not only is it cheaper than having a car sitting outside the house costing you money whilst not being used but also encourages you to walk more for short distances. I guess it would work for some but not others.
I have to cover a huge amount of car miles every year for my work so where do I stand morally? If I told my boss I was creating too much carbon waste I'm sure he would easily find someone else to do it. So, Shortie, keep your car if you want it because it's going to make no difference at all to world carbon emissions, that can only be controlled at World Government levels.

[Mrs Dobby]

hang me out to dry guys - I just love love love my Mini Cooper S and I would not part with it at all ...does that make me totally ungreen? I am a semi-petrol-head

Nope definitely not Piskie, as a MINI isnt just a car, its a member of the family!! I've got a MINI Cooper JCW - the performance JCW kit actually makes it do 6 mpg more, so I get 45mpg + (instead of 37mpg for the standard Cooper) aswell as making it more fun to drive! (Yep I am attached to my MINI, she's my pride n joy, the only new car I've ever had - or probably will ever have! She's 3 years old now, and I've done 52K miles, most of which has been travelling to work, as to get on in my company you have to go where the work is!) I too enjoy driving (tho I prefer the term 'Girlie Racer' to petrol head), but in choosing a MINI as a stylish semi performance car, you're definitely doing a lot less damage to the planet than a gas guzzling larger car or car with a much bigger engine!

Unfortunately I now work 23 miles away from work (it was 35 miles each way in my last branch), in totally the wrong direction to Mr D, and we both work shifts (different ones too), so with no local trains, 1 bus an hour that takes an hour to get to the local train station (or to Mr D's work) and no real shops in the village, going car less (or even cutting down to 1 car) really isnt an option to us! Having said that, both our cars are small ones, Mr D has a Fiat Panda, and I have my MINI!

To get bus and train to work for me would involve a 3 hour commute each way (bus 1 hr, tram to Manchester, 40 mins, 35 min wait for connecting train, then an hour on train to Macclesfield, followed by a 20 min walk to the shop. Not being funny, but when faced with that (plus a cast of 20 pounds a day), 45 mins to an hour in my MINI with a petrol cost of 5 pounds is a no brainer!

[jackie j]

Apart from fetching my grandson from school one day a week, driving to work one mile each way late at night once a week and getting to my Lottie plus the occasional visits etc I dont use my car very much. Its a micra so its cheap to run and I wouldnt be without it.

[Two_Sheds]

Think of all the lovely plants you can buy with the MOT, Tax and Insurance money! (or lovely shoes, or even a greenhouse )

I sold my car 20 years ago, and haven't missed it. Sure, I can't just go to wherever, but I don't miss out on anything. I have just adjusted my lifestyle to do without trips to Bluewater NB. I am also the same dress size I was 20 years ago *smug*

[Alison]

One of my best friends sold her car just after Christmas after making a point of not using it for a few months. She felt a bit funny about it to start with but then made a list of all the things she could do with the money she saved - ie £XK for the initial sale + £Y00 saving on insurance, TAX, MOT, services, petrol (ever increasing!), tyres, general repairs etc. It adds up to quite a bit and she had great fun adding up what she could do wtiht he money. Also, just think, if you are doing this for environmental reasons, it'll be harder for you to "nip to the shops" which is a good thing as it means you'll only go when you need to and not buy stuff for the heck of it.