Car-Free Challenge

Today I took my bike out for the first ride of any significant length since school got out. Shame on me! I’ve had all kinds of excuses for not riding my bike, but most don’t hold up if you look at them very long. Today, though, I used the bike to pick up a flat of blueberries I purchased through a local buying club (and half of them are now on trays in the freezer).

And there’s no reason I can’t be doing other errands this way, too. Too hot? I can go early in the morning. Too cold? Probably not going to happen right now. Too rainy? Errands can probably wait, or I can take a bus.  Too little time? That’s a tough one sometimes, but I don’t have so much going on during the summer.

But does it really matter now? After all, the oil spill in the Gulf has been capped! We can all go back to business as usual, and just blame BP forevermore, right?

NO. Let’s not waste this opportunity.

We drill ever-deeper in the ocean for oil, even though the oil companies know it’s risky, because we can’t maintain our current lifestyles without it. And if we don’t change our lifestyles, it’s just going to happen again.

And the U.S. isn’t the only place that’s ever been affected by an oil spill like this. The people of the Niger Delta have been living with the effects of oil spills for years, but without the outrage that’s been directed at BP over the Deepwater Horizon spill.

In fact, more oil is spilled from the delta’s network of terminals, pipes, pumping stations and oil platforms every year than has been lost in the Gulf of Mexico… (The Guardian, May 30, 2010)

And yes, this is one of the places our oil comes from.

With 606 oilfields, the Niger delta supplies 40% of all the crude the United States imports and is the world capital of oil pollution. Life expectancy in its rural communities, half of which have no access to clean water, has fallen to little more than 40 years over the past two generations. Locals blame the oil that pollutes their land and can scarcely believe the contrast with the steps taken by BP and the US government to try to stop the Gulf oil leak and to protect the Louisiana shoreline from pollution.

This is NOT OK. Are you mad yet? Are you ready to make a change?  Here’s a challenge for you.

Give me one day. Go car-free for one day of your choice. And I’ll match it! I will do one car-free day for each person who commits to doing a car-free day. My goal is to get at least seven of you to do this, so that I can do a car-free week.

Are there any rules to this? Just DON’T DRIVE A CAR. Walk, bike, ride a bus.  Should you accept rides from others? That’s up to you. For me, I’d feel like I was cheating if I, for instance, asked my husband to drive me somewhere. My intent is to do everything I would normally do without using the car, so I will have to take kids places, go shopping, etc., by bike. If my husband still wants to drive,that’s up to him, but I won’t ask him to take me places or use the car to do things for me.

But for you, car-pooling or ride-sharing might be an excellent strategy, especially if you need to get to work. You decide.

I would like everyone who participates to report back in some way. You can do so by leaving a comment here or on my Facebook page, or by blogging about the challenge on your own blog.

I’d like to do this the week of July 25-31 (with additional days if more people sign up).  You can choose the same day as someone else. You can choose a day that’s not within that timeframe, but please sign up before July 25 so that I know how many days I have to commit to. And don’t tell me you’re going to do it on December 25. Pick something in the near future.

Leave a comment with your name and the date of your car-free day to sign up.  Yes, you need to pick a date. And tell your friends!

ADDENDUM: If you’re already car-free, you obviously don’t need to play.  And no, I won’t be matching Family on Bikes, who have been on a bike trip for two years and counting and will be car-free for at least another eight months!