My eco-calculator tells me that if I walk to and from school every day, for an approximate total of 720 miles, I'll conserve 49.2 pounds of CO2. But what does that really mean for preserving the health of our environment? According to cutdowncarbon.com, carbon is "responsible for about 80% of the problems related to greenhouse gas emissions." I want to know more specifically how I'm directly impacting the environment and our economy by driving less.
Tomorrow will be an interesting walk - if it keeps snowing, there'll be about 6 inches on the ground. Shoveled sidewalks cover about 50% of the distance. That means about half the folks living along my route are inside, maybe sipping hot chocolate, and the other half will go out and clear the way. Well, to all I say, "Either enjoy the cocoa", or, "Thanks!"
Zoomba class starts tomorrow. We'll have to leave school in plenty of time to get home. Since half the sidewalks my be covered in snow, it could be slower going. What does one wear to a zoomba dance class?
What impact have cars had on our daily social lives? How have changes in transportation impacted history, the economy, and society as a whole? We were at Barnes & Noble yesterday, and I thought I'd do some reading about transportation. (Yes we drove, but it was a carpool of three - that's OK with me.) So, I wondered over to the "Transportation" section. In one word, it was all about "destinations". Clearly, I need to cast a broader net of inquiry in order to answer these questions.
Committing to driving less will help me understand how using a car for transportation truly effects my life and help me appreciate more of what I already have. It's the "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" theory, but applied to driving. But my wondering goes deeper. I'm interested in knowing more about the indirect effects so I can make more informed decisions about how I live my life. Every action causes a reaction. Each decision has an outcome. What are the hidden effects of driving?
One result is clearly more exercise. I walked 14 miles last week. And it occurred in regular, small intervals. That seems like a good thing. Sore muscles and blisters were my biggest challenges, but because the intervals were small, those things merely slowed me down, forced me to do a little problem-solving. All for the benefit of free exercise, quiet time to meditate, and more meaningful conversations with Anne. So far the effects of not driving seem to be only good. What's more, yesterday I felt like getting out for a walk.
Feeling a desire to get out and move refreshed my spirits, and gave me faith that my body still contains the capacity to enjoy exerting itself. With my 40th birthday just around the corner, this begins to relieve a secret dread I harbor: What will happen when my body starts to get older? Clearly, grey hair, wrinkles, perhaps a few achy joints all come with age. But some people look younger than their years.
In general my body has been fairly resilient. Three major events that could have had devastating effects on the human body seemed to have left me fairly whole: I've been bounced across the floor four to six times (don't ask), fallen off a 10-foot bridge, (again, probably better not to go there), and had a successful pregnancy/delivery. After all that, I have my balance, all unbroken bones, and a stretch-mark free tummy. So, maybe aging will be kind to me like the other traumas. Maybe aging will be more of a progression than an trauma. Perhaps walking more will teach me more about my physical being.
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